[KENNETH MATIBA]

With the Muslim ranks broken and his militants either money-grubbing or in full retreat, Muhammad tried to avert disaster and save his sorry soul. He cried: Wackidi:107 "Don't run away! Come back! I am Allah's Apostle! Return!" Muhammad didn't bother calling upon Allah or his demonic angels. Apart from rain and wind, they were useless, and it was a little late to be saved by bad weather. Muhammad was learning that being a pirate is a bloody, rough business. On this day his unruly mercenaries were whipped by some pudgy salesmen.

The prophet's call was unheeded; the retreat went unchecked. Rocks and arrows flew around Islam's bad boy. A stone, we are told, wounded the stone worshiper in the under lip, chipping a tooth. Another dented his helmet. Presuming Muhammad was dead and that the terrorists were defeated, the Meccan merchants collected their belongings and went home. The scene was reminiscent of Desert Storm, although the weapons were not so high tech. Ishaq:380 "The enemy got at the Apostle who was hit with a stone so that he fell on his side and one of his teeth was smashed, his face scored, and his lip injured." Tabari VII:124 "Abd Manat came and threw a stone at Muhammad, breaking his nose and his lateral incisor, splitting his face open, and stunning him. His Companions dispersed and abandoned him, some of them going to Medina and some climbing up Uhud and standing there. The Messenger cried out to his men, 'To me. To me." Caught up in the moment, Muhammad confessed. "It's all about me."

Ever willing to lure his pirates to their doom with bribes of booty and never-ending sex, we find the pathetic prophet promising that which he could not deliver. Well over a million souls have succumbed to this temptation: Muslim: B19N4413 "When the enemy got the upper hand at Uhud, the Messenger was left with only seven Ansar and two Emigrants. When the enemy advanced towards him and overwhelmed him, he said: 'Whoso turns them away will be my companion in Paradise.' An Ansar man came forward and fought until he was killed. The enemy advanced and overwhelmed them again so Muhammad repeated: 'Whoever turns them away will attain Paradise.' Another Ansar fought until he was slain. This state continued until all seven Ansari were killed, one after the other. The Prophet (peace be upon him) said to the Muslims: 'We have not done justice to them.'" That was true enough.

Ishaq reports: Ishaq:380 "When the enemy hemmed him in, the Apostle said, 'Who will sell his life for me.' Five Ansar arose. All were killed. Abu Dujana made his body into a shield for the Apostle. Arrows were falling and sticking in his back as he leaned over him." Men sacrificing their lives for this con man is enough to make you sick.

Stress brings out the best in good people and the worst in others. Tabari VII:120 "When the enemy overwhelmed the Holy Prophet he said to the Ansar, 'Who will sell his life for me?'" Muslim:B19N4420 "The Prophet said: 'Great is the wrath of Allah upon a people who have done this to the Messenger.' At that time he was pointing to his front teeth. The Apostle said: 'Great is the wrath of Allah upon a person who has been killed by me in Allah's Cause.'" Ishaq:380 "Muhammad cried out, 'How can a people prosper who have stained their Prophet's face with blood while he summoned them to their Lord?'" It was the summons of terror and sword, rather than words and religion.

Next we discover: Tabari VII:126/Ishaq:383 "The Prophet went up the mountain. He had become stout and heavy with age. He was wearing two coats of mail. When he tried to climb up, he could not manage on his own. Talba Ubaydullah squatted beneath him and lifted him up until he settled comfortably on a rock."

As soon as the salesmen cleared the field, Muhammad and his fellow Muslims surveyed the extent of their ignominious defeat. Seventy-four corpses were strewn upon the plain; four were Emigrants, seventy were Ansari. The Meccans lost fewer than twenty. (They probably died laughing.) The battle of the Bulge this was not. If it weren't for the propensity of Islam to corrupt men's minds, this would have been a meaningless tussle between misfits. Bukhari:V4B52N70 "Some people drank alcohol in the morning of the day of the battle of Uhud and were martyred on the same day." As a result, there was dissention in the ranks. Bukhari:V4B52N147 "Allah's Apostle and the pagans faced each other and started fighting. When the Apostle returned to his camp somebody talked about Quzman, a Muslim who had killed many pagans. The Apostle said of him, 'Nobody did his job of fighting as well as that man. Indeed, he is amongst the people of the Hell Fire." So why did Muhammad condemn his most valiant militant to hell?

Sore loser, perhaps. Tabari VII:136/Ishaq:383 "During Uhud, Quzman fought hard and killed seven to nine polytheists with his own hands, being brave, bold, and strong. But he got wounded so seriously, he had to be carried off by his comrades. They said, 'Rejoice, you fought valiantly.' He replied, 'For what have I fought.' When the pain of his wounds became too severe he decided to bring about his death more quickly." Bukhari:V4B52N147 "He planted the blade of the sword in the ground directing its sharp end towards his chest. Then he leaned on the sword and killed himself. A Muslim in Muhammad's presence said, 'The man whom you described as one of the people of the Hell Fire got severely wounded, and hastening to die, he eased on his sword and killed himself.'" Tabari VII:136/Ishaq:384 "Upon hearing this, Muhammad proclaimed, 'I testify that I am truly the Messenger of God, Allah's Apostle.'" The moral of the story is: Don't die trusting a false prophet.

Then, in a single sentence Muhammad defined the nature of Islam and the terror it inspires: Bukhari:V4B52N147 "Allah's Apostle said, 'A man may seem as if he were practicing the deeds of Paradise while in fact he is from the people of Hell.'"

Remember Talha, the man who lifted the prophet's fat behind up on a rock? Ishaq:383 "That day I heard the Prophet saying, 'Talha earned paradise when he did what he did for the Apostle.'" It's hard to imagine a more self-centered man. The battle lost, Muhammad wanted his Companions to know that the dead had failed to serve his interests and thus they were unworthy of paradise.

Upon hearing this, two of Muhammad's militants got up and said, Ishaq:383 "Perhaps Allah will grant us martyrdom.' So they took their swords and sallied out until they mingled with the [retreating] army. One was killed by the Meccans, the other by his fellow Muslims who failed to recognize him. One of the young men's fathers confronted Muhammad and said, 'You have robbed my son of his life by your deception and brought great sorrow to me.'" His tear-filled eyes saw more clearly than do ours today.

Yet others believed the deception and forfeited their lives for booty. Ishaq:385 "Amr Jamuh was a very lame man. He had four lion-like sons who were present at the Apostle's battles. At Uhud he came to the Prophet and told him that his sons wanted to keep him back and prevent his joining the army. 'Yet, by Allah, I hope to tread in the Heavenly Garden of Paradise despite my lameness. The Apostle said, 'Allah has excused you, and Jihad is not incumbent on you.' Then Muhammad turned to his sons and said, 'You need not prevent him. Perhaps Allah will favor him with martyrdom.' So the lame old man went into battle and was killed." This Hadith, like the Qur'an, makes Jihad "incumbent" on all Muslims who are not lame. And it proclaims that martyrdom is rewarded. It is one of a thousand reasons Islam must be repudiated.

Bukhari:V4B52N276 "Abu Sufyan [the Quraysh leader] shouted, 'Our victory today is a counterbalance to yours at Badr. Fighting is always undecided and is shared in turns by the belligerents. You will find some of your men mutilated. I did not urge my men to do so, yet I do not feel sorry for their deed.' After that he started reciting cheerfully, 'O Hubal [a high-ranking Meccan idol worshiped in the Ka'aba], be high.' On that the Prophet said to his companions, 'Why don't you answer him back.' They said, 'O Allah's Apostle, what shall we say?'" They were bewildered. The militants hadn't gone out on a religious crusade. They were there for the booty. They didn't know how to respond. "Muhammad said, 'Say, Allah is Higher and more Sublime.' Then Abu Sufyan said, 'We have Al-Uzza, and you have no Uzza.' The Prophet said to his companions, "Why don't you answer him back.' They asked, 'O Allah's Apostle! What shall we say.' He said, 'Say Allah is our Helper and you have no helper.'" This drama is being played out at the level of a grade-school tussle between pre-adolescent bullies. To think a billion people submit to this foolishness is mind boggling.

But beyond foolish, the previous admission is devastating to Islam. The first Muslims, Muhammad's disciples, were unaware of the most fundamental claim of their religion.