| He fought as
the leader of his army, in both offensive and defensive conflicts, and was once severely
wounded. He took and ransomed hostages. He had a group of seven hundred Jews of the Banu
Quraiza tribe massacred after they surrendered to him and became his prisoners, when he
determined that he could not trust them. He at times approved of his followers
performing assassinations to eliminate enemies of the faith (for example Asma, a woman
poet of Mecca, who was killed by Omeir, one of Mohammed's followers for criticizing
Mohammed). He even burned down the date orchards of his enemies, not even sparing the
trees. This is at least what traditional Islamic
records of him relate. Mohammed is credited with introducing Islamic law codes which like
most medieval law codes contain much that the modern world regards as unnecessary cruelty,
including cutting off of the hands and feet of criminals for certain offenses. Orthodox
Muslims today say that Islamic law cannot be changed because to do so would be to alter
what the Prophet has said. We do not see in Mohammed
the practice of non-violence emphasized in Yoga traditions or found in the life of Christ.
Mohammed forgave all those who embraced Islam and tried
hard to promote non-violence among Muslims but his record with non-Muslims was quite
different. |
