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>From “Fascist-Islamophobia”: A Case Study in Totalitarian Demonization - Part 3
by Dr. Robert Dickson Crane
The true facts of this “notorious” event were quite different, and the
lessons to be learned from it were the exact opposite of Spencer’s
conclusions. This Nakhla episode is recorded in great detail in the
eight-volume Encyclopedia of Seerah, published in 1981 by the Seerah
Foundation of London, with a foreward by Abdullah Naseeef, then
President of King Abdulaziz University, beginning on page 567 of
Volume One.
Shortly before the first major war between the Quraysh from Mecca and
the Muslims in Medina, known as the Battle of Badr in the Year 624,
The Prophet sent out eight reconnaissance patrols to monitor the
enemy’s movements. Four of them, known as sarayah (sing. sariyah),
were not accompanied by the Prophet himself, and four, known as
ghazawat (sing. ghazwah), were. Of the eight, with one exception,
no-one on either side was either attacked or killed. During some of
them peace treaties were made with local tribes. The single exception
was the sariyah with twelve men led by Abdullah ibn Jahsh. He was
carefully instructed to lead twelve men on a reconnaisance mission,
not a military action. Instead, he attacked a Quraish caravan passing
between Makkah and Ta’if and killed one man, Amr ibn al Hadrami, and
captured two others.
When he returned, the Prophet Muhammad condemned him and his
actions, because he had been told strictly to avoid all hostile
actions, especially since it was during one of the sacred months.
Jahsh tried to explain that he thought it was the last day of Rajab.
The Prophet then told him that, regardless, he had been ordered not to
engage in fighting. Therefore, the Prophet refused to take any of the
stolen goods, released the two prisoners, and paid blood money to the
relatives of the deceased. Since this history of the Nakhla as
recorded in the Sirah conforms with all the principles of the just war
doctrine embodied in the Qur’an, one must question how one can call
this the first Muslim raid of a caravan on Muhammad’s order and why
one would term this the origin of war as the essence of Islam.
[end quote]
On Fri, Dec 31, 2010 at 12:58 AM, Iskandar Hai, M.D.
<[email protected]> wrote:
> The Baha'i Studies Listserv
>
> On Fri, Dec 31, 2010 at 12:48 AM, Gilberto Simpson
> <[email protected]> wrote:
>>
>> The Baha'i Studies Listserv
>> On Thu, Dec 30, 2010 at 11:55 PM, Iskandar Hai, M.D.
>> <[email protected]> wrote:
>> > The Baha'i Studies Listserv
>> >
>> > Oh, that's interesting. Someone from Atlanta steals your stuff. You
>> > can't
>> > find him. You just go and steal some stuff from a person who is
>> > traveling to
>> > or from Atlanta.
>>
>> First we aren't really talking about a modern metropolis so that's not
>> the right analogy. Its a tribal society so its more like a particular
>> street gang has a certain territory. They have your belongings and on
>> top of that, it is likely that your belongings are actually part of
>> the caravan and being sold elsewhere. So you interrupt the caravan to
>> a) prevent your belongings from being traded and b) to recoup some of
>> the loss.
>
>
> But, you don't know if you have the right guy. That's the point. You are
> just assuming.
>
>>
>> > The four months are regarded in a special category in Islam. Nether did
>> > Muhammad abrogate the four months thing. Actually many of the
>> > pre-Islamic
>> > rite and rituals are carried over right into Islam. Besides, being
>> > deceitful
>> > is not terribly ethical behaviour.
>>
>> It's not clear what you are saying. Did the raids occur in Rajab or not?
>
> The Nakhlah raid was in Rajab and one of Abdullah ibn Jahsh's guys, Ukkash
> ibn Mihsan had shaved his head, deceitfully.
>
>>
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