The Sacred Muslim Practice of Beheading
- Информация о материале
- Автор: Andrew G. Bostom
http://www.frontpagemagazine.com
| May 13, 2004
Reactions to the grotesque jihadist decapitation of yet another "infidel
Jew," Mr. Berg, make clear that our intelligentsia are either dangerously
uninformed, or simply unwilling to come to terms with this ugly reality:
such murders are consistent with sacred jihad practices, as well as Islamic
attitudes towards all non-Muslim infidels, in particular, Jews, which date
back to the 7th century, and the Prophet Muhammad's own example.
According to Muhammad’s sacralized biography by Ibn Ishaq, Muhammad
himself sanctioned the massacre of the Qurayza, a vanquished Jewish tribe.
He appointed an "arbiter" who soon rendered this concise verdict: the men
were to be put to death, the women and children sold into slavery, the
spoils to be divided among the Muslims. Muhammad ratified this judgment
stating that it was a decree of God pronounced from above the Seven Heavens.
Thus some 600 to 900 men from the Qurayza were lead on Muhammad’s order
to the Market of Medina. Trenches were dug and the men were beheaded,
and their decapitated corpses buried in the trenches while Muhammad watched
in attendance. Women and children were sold into slavery, a number
of them being distributed as gifts among Muhammad’s companions, and Muhammad
chose one of the Qurayza women (Rayhana) for himself. The Qurayza’s property
and other possessions (including weapons) were also divided up as additional
"booty" among the Muslims, to support further jihad campaigns.
The classical Muslim jurist al-Mawardi (a Shafi’ite jurist, d. 1058)
from Baghdad was a seminal, prolific scholar who lived during the so-called
Islamic "Golden Age" of the Abbasid-Baghdadian Caliphate. He wrote the
following, based on widely accepted interpretations of the Qur'an and Sunna
(i.e., the recorded words and deeds of Muhammad), regarding infidel prisoners
of jihad campaigns:
“As for the captives, the amir [ruler] has the choice of taking the
most beneficial action of four possibilities: the first to put them
to death by cutting their necks; the second, to enslave them and apply
the laws of slavery regarding their sale and manumission; the third, to
ransom them in exchange for goods or prisoners; and fourth, to show favor
to them and pardon them. Allah, may he be exalted, says, 'When you encounter
those [infidels] who deny [the Truth=Islam] then strike [their] necks'
(Qur'an sura 47, verse 4)”....Abu’l-Hasan al-Mawardi, al-Ahkam as-Sultaniyyah."
[The Laws of Islamic Governance, trans. by Dr. Asadullah Yate, (London),
Ta-Ha Publishers Ltd., 1996, p. 192. Emphasis added.]
Indeed such odious “rules” were iterated by all four classical schools
of Islamic jurisprudence, across the vast Muslim empire.
For centuries, from the Iberian peninsula to the Indian subcontinent,
jihad campaigns waged by Muslim armies against infidel Jews, Christians,
Zoroastrians, Buddhists and Hindus, were punctuated by massacres, including
mass throat slittings and beheadings. During the period of “enlightened”
Muslim rule, the Christians of Iberian Toledo, who had first submitted
to their Arab Muslim invaders in 711 or 712, revolted in 713. In the harsh
Muslim reprisal that ensued, Toledo was pillaged, and all the Christian
notables had their throats cut. On the Indian subcontinent, Babur (1483-1530),
the founder of the Mughal Empire, who is revered as a paragon of Muslim
tolerance by modern revisionist historians, recorded the following in his
autobiographical “Baburnama,” about infidel prisoners of a jihad campaign:
"Those who were brought in alive [having surrendered] were ordered
beheaded, after which a tower of skulls was erected in the camp." [The
Baburnama -Memoirs of Babur, Prince and Emperor, translated and edited
by Wheeler M. Thacktson, Oxford University Press,1996, p. 188. Emphasis
added.]
Recent jihad-inspired decapitations of infidels by Muslims have occurred
across the globe- Christians in Indonesia, the Philippines, and Nigeria;
Hindu priests and "unveiled" Hindu women in Kashmir; Wall Street Journal
reporter, and Jew, Daniel Pearl. We should not be surprised that these
contemporary paroxysms of jihad violence are accompanied by ritualized
beheadings. Such gruesome acts are in fact sanctioned by core Islamic sacred
texts, and classical Muslim jurisprudence. Empty claims that jihad
decapitations are somehow "alien to true Islam," however well-intentioned,
undermine serious efforts to reform and desacralize Islamic doctrine. This
process will only begin with frank discussion, both between non-Muslims
and Muslims, and within the Muslim community.
Andrew G. Bostom, MD, MS is an Associate Professor of Medicine at
Brown University Medical School, and occasional contributor to Frontpage
Magazine. He is the editor of a forthcoming essay collection entitled,
"The Legacy of Jihad".
Russian version
An introduction to MAOF
Haim Goldman
Haim Goldman
Dear Friends,
Would you believe that the undersigned has anything in common with
-- Professor Victor Davis Hanson (Senior Fellow at the Hoover Institution, Stanford University),
-- Dr Charles Krauthammer, (Washington Post, Time, The Weekly Standard),
-- Caroline Glick (Deputy Managing Editor of the Jerusalem Post),
-- Jonathan Tobin (Executive Editor of the Philadelphia Jewish Exponent).
Amazingly, the editors of the MAOF website decided that the missives of the undersigned are worthy of translation and posting along the articles written by these distinguished authors.
The first letter was published without the consent of the undersigned.
However, after thorough examination of the laudable attitude of MAOF and of the excellent contents of the website, the undersigned had most graciously granted his permission for publication of his missives in both English and Russian.
“Analytical Group MAOF” [1] is an organisation founded about ten years ago by Russian-speaking Jewish intellectuals. The attitude of MAOF is definitely pro-Zionist -- unambiguously and unapologetically.
One of MAOF’s primary purposes is providing information and analysis about Middle-Eastern and world affairs as well as about Israel’s history, values and dilemmas. In addition to extensive publication activity in various media, MAOF also organises excursions and seminars. While the vast majority of the contents of the MAOF website is in Russian, texts originally written in English are provided in the original [2] as well as in Russian.
There are arguably about 250 millions of Russian-speakers worldwide and many of them do not read English. The indisputable motivation for the author’s permission was to grant those millions of disadvantaged people the grand benefit of reading the author’s ruminations. If the author is ever maliciously accused that his tacit motivation for authorising the publication was his craving to be listed along with the above-mentioned distinguished writers, his plea will definitely be “nolo contendere”.
The editors of MAOF expressed their gratitude by granting the undersigned a privilege that no other author got – the opportunity to review and correct the Russian translation before publication. The original letters of the undersigned are at [3] and their Russian version is at [4]. At of today, only two letters are posted but several other letters are pending translation.
You are kindly ENCOURAGED TO RECOMMEND the MAOF website to your friends and colleagues worldwide, particularly those who speak Russian. Those who do not enjoy the benefit of proficiency in the exquisite Russian language can find many thought-provoking and inspiring articles about Middle-Eastern and world affairs in the English section [2].
Sincerely,
Haim Goldman
28.10.2006
REFERENCES:
[1] http://maof.rjews.net
[2] section.php3? sid=37&num=25
[3] authorg.php3? id=2107&type=a
[4] authorg.php3? id=2166&type=a