[KENNETH MATIBA]

Unable to count - or worse, unable to remember - the fighting angels have been increased by two thousand. As such, it took forty of them to kill each merchant. Qur'an 3:124 "Remember you (Muhammad) said to the faithful: 'Is it not enough for you that Allah should help you with three thousand angels (specially) sent down? Yea, if you remain firm, and act aright, even if the enemy should rush here on you in hot haste, your Lord would help you with five thousand havoc-making angels for a terrific onslaught." Another Islamic first: havoc-making angels ready for terrific onslaughts. Allah's angels and Lucifer's demons have a lot in common.

Ibn Ishaq, Muhammad's first biographer, felt that it was important to comment on this verse. Ishaq:392 "Allah helped you at Badr when you were contemptible, so fear Allah. Fear Me, for that is gratitude for My kindness. Is it not enough that your Lord reinforced you with three thousand angels? Nay, if you are steadfast against My enemies, and obey My commands, fearing Me, I will send five thousand angels clearly marked. Allah did this as good news for you that your hearts might be at rest. The armies of My angels are good for you because I know your weakness. Victory comes only from Me because of My sovereignty and power for the reason that power and authority belong to Me, not to any one of my creatures." If Lucifer wants to convince us that he is God, he's got to be less transparent than this.

Assisting terrorists is hardly hopeful: Qur'an 3:126 "Allah made it but a message of hope, and an assurance to you, a message of good cheer, that your hearts might be at rest. Victory comes only from Allah that He might cut off a fringe of the unbelievers, exposing them to infamy. They should then be turned back overwhelmed so that they retire frustrated."

The reason Allah was stingy with his killer angels at Uhud was that Muslims didn't Qur'an 3:131 "Fear the Fire, which is prepared for those who reject Faith: and obey Allah and the Messenger." So Allah decided to harvest some martyrs. Qur'an 3:140 "If you have received a blow (at Uhud) and have been wounded, be sure a similar wound has hurt others. Such days (of varying fortunes) We give to men and men by turns: that Allah may know those who believe, and that He may take to Himself from your ranks Martyrs." While harvesting martyrs is a shoddy reason for fighting, it isn't as lame as god saying that battles are needed so that he can figure out who believes.

I find it interesting that Ishaq's rendering of the Qur'an is so much more vivid, even incriminating, than the modern translations. And considering that he was the foremost authority on Muhammad, and wrote a thousand years before the first English translation, his interpretations are worthy of our consideration. Ishaq:394 "Allah said, 'I let them get the better of you to test you. So fear Me and obey Me. If you had believed in what My Prophet brought from Me you would not have received a shock from the Meccan army. But We cause days like this so that Allah may know those who believe and may choose martyrs from among you.

Allah must distinguish between believers and hypocrites so that He can honor the faithful with martyrdom.'" So, let me get this straight: Allah kills the good, loyal Muslims as his way of bestowing honor on them? Islam continues to be a dogma to die for.

The Qur'an is as unambiguous: good Muslims kill. Ishaq:394 "Did you think that you would enter Paradise and receive My reward before I tested you so that I might know who is loyal? You used to wish for martyrdom [and entry into my brothel] before you met the enemy. You wished for death before you met it. Now that you have seen with your own eyes the death of swords...will you go back on your religion, Allah's Book, and His Prophet as disbelievers, abandoning the fight with your enemy? He who turns back [from fighting] in his religion will not harm Allah. He will not diminish His glory, kingdom, sovereignty and power.'" The greatest sin a Muslim can commit is to refrain from fighting.
Qur'an 3:141 "This is so that Allah may test the faithful and destroy the unbelieving infidels." Another translation proclaims: "Allah's object is to purge those that are true in Faith and blight the disbelievers." A good Muslim kills; a bad Muslim is blighted for being peaceful. "Did you think that you would enter Paradise while Allah does not know those of you who really fights hard (in His Cause) and remains steadfast? You wished for death before you met it (in the field of battle). Now [that] you have seen it with your own eyes, (you flinch!) This passage is pretty tough to reconcile with the "peace-loving" myth. And it's even harder to square with a god who claims to know everything Muslims think, say, and do.

Another translation reads: "Did you think you would enter Paradise without Allah testing those of you who fight in His Cause?" To pass Allah's test, Muslims must fight.

The Sira says: Ishaq:392 "It is not your affair whether Allah changes His attitude to them or punishes them, for they are evildoers. You are not to be bothered with My judgment of My slaves except in so far as I give you orders concerning them [i.e., to kill or rob them]. I may change My mind toward them. Punishing them is my prerogative. They deserve this for their disobedience to Me.'" Muhammad was in a pickle, and Satan knew it. The Medina Muslims were in revolt. If Muhammad lashed out at them too forcefully they would exterminate him. If he were too lenient, they would ignore him. Muhammad had to woo them back into the fold with carrot and stick.

As proof, I offer this evidence: Ishaq:393 "Fear Allah that you may be prosperous. Obey Allah and perhaps you may escape from His punishment of which He has warned you and attain His reward which He has made you desire. And fear the fire which He has prepared for the disbelievers, a resort for those who disbelieve Me." Satan knows what men desire and seduces them with whatever they covet most. He knows what men fear and threatens them with it. It's so considerate of Ishaq to expose the spirit behind Islam. Ishaq:393 "Then Allah said: 'Obey Allah and the Apostle and maybe you will attain mercy.' Reproaching those who disobeyed the Apostle in the orders he gave them that day [to fight] He said, 'Vie with one another for forgiveness from your Lord and for the Garden of Bliss prepared for those who fear, a dwelling for those who obey Me and obey My Apostle.... They have wronged themselves by disobedience. But they must not continue disobeying Me for I have prohibited the worship of any but Myself.'"

Satan needed his militants back under his control, so he said: Ishaq:396 "Allah pardoned the great sin in that He did not destroy you for having disobeyed your Prophet. I did not exterminate all for the debt you owed Me. You have suffered for disobeying Me." Then he added: Ishaq:397 "It was by the mercy of Allah that you (Muhammad) were lenient to them. Had you been stern and rough they would have dispersed and been no longer around you. They would have left you. So overlook their offence and ask pardon for them and consult with them about the matter." In other words: beg them to come back because Islam is useless to us without stooges. "They have the duty to obey their prophet." Ishaq:398 "Show them that you listen to them and ask them for their help. Thereby make the religion of Islam agreeable to them. And when you are resolved in the matter of religion concerning fighting your enemy you will have the advantage." The Hadith says that the prophet eased up on the religious stuff as a result. Bukhari:V1B3N68 "Muhammad used to take care of us in preaching by selecting a suitable time, so that we might not get bored. He abstained from pestering us with sermons and knowledge."

Ishaq:397 "Then Allah said, 'It is not for any prophet to deceive." Since Islam is about war and since Muhammad said, "War is deceit," I think I smell a contradiction.

Returning to the Qur'an, the next line is in reference to the humiliating retreat at Uhud. Qur'an 3:144 "And Muhammad is no more than a Messenger. Messengers have passed away before him. If then he dies or is killed will you turn back upon your heels? And whoever turns back upon his heels, he will by no means do harm to Allah in the least and Allah will reward the grateful. No person can ever die except by the permission of Allah, the term being fixed as by writing. If any do desire a reward in this life, We shall give it to him," so long as he doesn't retreat from fighting in Allah's Cause. Allah needs to seduce men to do his bidding. He is otherwise impotent. Further, this Qur'anic passage confirms Islam's predestination problem. Everything is fixed by Allah; the religion can't save men.