CHAPTER 5
MUHAMMAD THE POLITICIAN ( 1 )
The very nature of prophethood requires
its claimant to be a prominent person. Therefore, he must be driven, not only by
the zeal of dominance-urge to seek the highest possible social dignity, but also
possess sufficient wisdom and courage to achieve this goal. As a Prophet is
supposed to be the Representative of God, who is the All-mighty, All-wise and
All-Magnificent, the Prophet cannot represent Him unless he is a clever man.
Thus, it is reasonable to assume that, without political skill, and the ambition
to use it adeptly, nobody can gain the necessary clout to look a God's
appointee. Since God is power, and power is God, the Prophet must be powerful to
appear godly. This is why, the Prophet must be a politician: politics is the
fountain of supreme power.
It is not just a logical conclusion but an historical fact. Abraham, the
founder of the major Semitic religions i.e. Judaism, Christianity and Islam, was
a prominent socio- political figure of his time. To start with, he left his own
country and migrated to an undesignated land, when Yahwe (the Jewish God)
promised him that he would become the founder of a new nation. It is certainly a
high and prestigious ambition to be the Father of a nation. Chapter 14 of
Genesis, contains a narrative about the local kings. Since many of these kings
were Abraham's confederates, he was certainly a political magnate himself. This
is further certified by the fact that, when the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah fled
from the battlefield, and in an orgy of plunder, kidnapped Lot, Abraham's
nephew, it was he, who "armed his trained servants, born in his own house,
three hundred and eighteen, and pursued them (the kidnappers) unto Dan"
(Genesis 14: 14).
Abraham's household, consisting of 318 well-trained servants born there, was
certainly a princely home. A prince, a king, a prime minister, a president or a
dictator is essentially a politician because government is nothing but a
political practice. This is the reason that all well known Semitic prophets were
political leaders of their people. Moses, David and Solomon are some of the
examples. Muhammad, who claimed to be the Last of the Prophets, also belonged to
the Semitic group. Therefore, he had to be a politician in the tradition of
Prophethood.
The truth is that he possessed more consummate political skills than any of
his predecessors. He used the old principle of creating personal and family
alliances through nuptial ties for political aims. This is the reason that all
four members of the Caliphate that succeeded him, were matrimonally related to
him. Abu Bakr and Omar were his fathers-in-law, and Uthman and Ali were his
sons-in-law. Without the contributions of these men, Islam would have faced
extinction in its embryonic form.
It goes without saying that prophethood has nothing to do with spirituality
and religion. It is a complex, compulsive and cunning political doctrine of the
Middle East, which treats God as the biggest pawn in the political game to
realise the personal and national ambitions of the man, who claims to be the
Prophet.
In a small treatise as this, it is not possible to examine careers of all the
major Semitic Prophets. Therefore, I shall discuss the political role of the
Prophet Muhammad in relation to Abdullah b. Ubayy.
Who was Abdullah b. Ubayy?
For being the Chief of the Khazrajites, he was the most powerful man in
Medina. He was considered an uncrowned king by the people of the locality. As
Muhammad took refuge there, his message started spreading among the locals, and
the converts were enthused by loyalty to the Prophet. Thus, the old tribal feuds
of the Aus and Khazraj (Abdullah bin Ubayy's tribe) began to subside owing to
their newly found religious fervour. This novel spirituality gradually tilted
the political balance against Abdullah b. Ubayy, who had enjoyed power almost
exclusively.
His dislike of Muhammad, and Muhammad's policy towards him is reflected by an
episode, reported by an early historian of Islam, Ibn Hisham:
"Sa'd Ibn Obada fell ill, and Muhammad rode an ass to enquire after the
health of Sa'd. On his way, he saw Abdullah bin Ubayy sitting in the company of
his friends under the shade of house-trees. As a matter of courtesy, the Prophet
alighted, and after greeting him and his companions, he recited certain portions
from the Koran and invited them to accept the Faith that he preached. Abdullah
bin Ubayy listened to him quietly and then remarked: "Nothing could be
better than this discourse of thine, if it were true. Now, therefore, do thou
sit at home and whoseover cometh to thee, preach thus unto him, and he that
cometh not unto thee refrain from troubling him with that which he
dislikes."
These remarks of Abdullah bin Ubayy were so uncouth, unbecoming and
undesirable that the Prophet felt grieved. Reaching his destination, when he
told Sa'd bin Obada what had happened, Sa'd replied: ~Treat him (Ibn Ubbay)
gently, for I swear that when God sent thee unto us, we had already strung
pearls to crown him, and he seeth that thou hast snatched the kingdom out of his
grasp.
Early Islamic history reveals that Sa'd bin Obada's word: "treat him
gently" became the guiding political principle of Muhammad towards Abdullah
bin Ubayy. Realising the expanding power of the Prophet, he soon calculated that
he was not in a position to mount an open challenge to topple his rival from the
political pulpit that he had occupied. So, he organised an underground movement,
which in the Koranic terms is known as the "Hypocrites." This was a
class of people, who apparently professed to be true Muslims, but at heart,
hated the Prophet and wished him ill. Abdullah bin Ubayy became their leader.
As I shall discuss later, hypocricy is the worst form of unbelief, and
carries a terrible punishment under the Islamic law. With a view to curtailing
this discussion, I shall narrate only three events, which demonstrate clearly
that Muhammad's role was not consistent with the stated spirit and principles of
Islam. Since it was politically motivated, and it did lead to the Prophet's
total grip on Arabia, he was simply a statesman, who used the old Semitic
tradition of Prophethood, which has proved an effective political weapon over
the centuries:
1. In the Battle of Uhad, the Prophet had initially 1,000 combatants: 300 of
them belonged to Abdullah bin Ubayy. As the cry for morning prayer was raised,
and the whole Muslim army knelt in prayer, Abdullah bin Ubayy collected his 300
men and marched back to Medina, leaving the Prophet to face the enemy with his
700 followers.
This was an example of high hypocrisy, yet the Prophet never invoked the
Islamic punishment against the Chief of Hypocrites. Not only religiously but
also militarily, it was a most heinous crime because it led to the defeat of
Muhammad, causing death of his many followers.
When the Prophet won the Battle of Badr, which gave the real start to his
apostolic career, he claimed Allah had sent angels to fight for him,
contributing to his victory.
One wonders, why Allah did not send any angels to assist His Messenger when
His reinforcement was really needed after the desertion of the Hypocrites.
2. Imputing adultery to Aisha, was another most dreadful act of Abdullah bin
Ubayy. This slanderous charge caused untold misery to the Prophet's household.
According to Hadith no. 6673 (Muslim), Aisha said: "Woe be upon those, who
harboured doubts about me, and the most notorious among them was Abdullah bin
Ubayy, the great hypocrite."
It was a dreadful conspiracy, capable of undoing the entire work of the
Prophet. Even Allah took serious notice of it and revealed the following verses:
"And those who cast upon women in
wedlock, and then bring not four witnesses,
scourge them with eighty stripes, and do not
accept any testimony of theirs ever ..."
(Light, XXIV: I)
The Prophet as God's appointed Judge did flog the other false accusers of his
wife but he did not touch Abdullah bin Ubayy, the chief instigator of this
mischief.
A true Judge of God would have imposed the Divine punishment on such a
despicable calumniator as Abdullah bin Ubayy. Only a politician could ignore it
to suit his convenience. So grave was the nature of this crime that the
innocence of Aisha debarred all considerations of mercy, yet the Prophet's
inaction amounted to an honourable discharge for the perpetrator.
3. Chapter MCLIII of Muslim contains hadiths nos. 6677 to 6681, all dealing
with the various aspects of Abdullah bin Ubaw's burial. In a nutshell, they
state, when Abdullah bin Ubayy, the Chief of Hypocrites, died:
a. The Prophet brought him out of his grave (just before his body was to be
covered with earth), placed him on his knee and put his saliva in his mouth (to
sanctify him). He had already given his shirt to use it as a shroud for Abdullah
bin Ubayy.
b. Abdullah bin Ubayy's son begged the Prophet to say his father's funeral
prayer. As he got up to pray for the deceased Hypocrite, Omar, realising the
enormity of such an act, caught hold of the garment of Allah's Messenger (may
peace be upon him) and said: "Allah's Messenger, are you going to conduct
prayer for this man, whereas Allah has forbidden you to offer prayer for
him?" .... the Prophet replied: "Allah has given me an option as He
has said: Ask pardon for them, or ask not pardon for them; if thou askest pardon
for them seventy times, God will not pardon them. (IX: 80), and I am going to
make an addition to the seventy."
However, I should also mention the addition that has been made to the Hadith
no. 6680: "Do not offer prayer for anyone of them at all and do not stand
upon their graves (IX: 84)."
Nobody knows the exact chronological sequel of the Koranic verses. This is
why the Western scholars have remarked that the Koran has been written
"back to front.'' The above mentioned addition to hadith no. 6680 appears
to be a far-fetched endeavour to justify the Prophet's action. The fact that
Umar caught hold of the "Prophet's garment" to stop him from praying,
clearly shows that the Prophet's followers knew well that it was un-Islamic to
pray for a hypocrite, a polytheist or an unbeliever. If this was not true, Omar
would not have dared interfere with the Prophet.
It should also be remembered that, according to the Muslim scholars, there
are some fifty occasions when Omar's thoughts, opinions and suggestions were
confirmed by Allah in His revelations and afterwards formed part of the Koran,
yet Muslims insist that this is a book from Allah, who admits no associates in
anything He does!
The Hadith no. 5903 (Muslim, IV) confirms that the Koranic verses about
determining Kibla, veiling women and deciding the fate of the prisoners of Badr,
are Omar's judgements that have been incorporated in the Koran.
What Muhammad did was a political exercise to woo the rest of the hypocrites.
Omar's judgement *(IX: 85) was made a part of the Koran as an act of
rationalisation, which seeks to conceal the political nature of Prophethood.
Considering the close sequence of the verse IX: 80 and IX: 85, one wonders why
this total forbiddance should come to Allah's mind so quickly after the event!
Judging by the Koranic Law, the Prophet had no such option. See for yourself:
" .... and slay them (hypocrites) wherever you find
them; take not to yourselves any one of them as
friend or helper ...." (Women, IV: 90)
---------
* And pray thou never over any of them when he is dead, nor stand over his
grave; they disbelieved in God and His Messenger, and died when they were
ungodly.
---------
This is because hypocrites are unbelievers, and a Muslim has the duty to
despise, detest and destroy them. See the following:
1. "The hypocrites seek to trick God, but God
is tricking them .......
O believers, take not the unbelievers (hypocrites)
as friends instead of the believers .... surely the
hypocrites will be in the lowest
reach of the Fire (hell)." (Women, IV: 140)
2. "O Prophet, struggle with the unbelievers and
hypocrites and be thou harsh with them; their refuge
is hell ....." (Repentance, IX: 70)
In fact, hypocrites are twice as evil as unbelievers because the former will
receive double the punishment.
3. "And some of the people of the City are grown bold
in hypocrisy .... We (Allah) shall chastise them
twice ......" (Repentance, IX: 100)
4. " .... They (hypocrites) are the enemy;
so beware of them. God assail them!
How they are perverted." (The Hypocrites: LXIII: 4)
The Koran does not allow a Muslim to pray for his own parents if they happen to
be unbelievers. According to hadith no. 2129 (Muslim), Allah would not allow the
prophet to pray for his own mother! How could he have legally prayed for the
Chief of the Hypocrites? It is all politics. It is interesting to know how the
Prophet achieved his political aims.
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