02/04/2006

Muslim Response to Danish Cartoons was Predictable
Mohammed Himself Authorized the Assassinations of Those Who Satirized Him (See examples below) “Muslims who attack or threaten death to those who mock Mohammed are following in the footsteps of Mohammed himself.” -- Randall Terry, President, Society for Truth and Justice

Feb. 3 /Christian Newswire/ -- According to Islamic law, satirizing Mohammed has been a capital offense. Here are historic examples:

It is a capital offense under Islamic law (punishable by up to death) to satirize or mock Mohammed.

Islamic law (the Shari ’a) is the political aggregate of the Quran, the sayings of Mohammed (the hadith), and the deeds of Mohamed (the Sunna - not to be confused with Sunni Muslims)

In Mohammed's lifetime, he ordered the assassination or the execution of individuals who satirized him. His actions are the foundation for why it is a criminal offense to satirize, speak ill of, or in any way publicly deny the authenticity of Mohammed's mantle, mission, and message.

We can expect the following:

Muslims worldwide will demand that no cartoons or satirizing of Mohammed be allowed in any nation that enjoys freedom of speech and press.

Some newspapers will bow to these demands, others who cherish the freedom of speech and the press will resist such political and cultural incarceration.

We can expect and Islamic religious leader to issue a fatwa (judgment and condemnation) against the author(s) of such cartoons, calling for their death for the crime of blasphemy.

Threats of death or assassination attempts will be levied against those who authored the cartoons.

Threats, assassination attempts, or destruction of property for the newspapers who ran the cartoons will begin to happen.

Here are two historic examples of Mohammed orchestrating the assassination of someone who satirized him: (Please Note: the following accounts are recorded by one of the most respected Islamic historians in the world, Ibn Ishaq; his work dates from the 700s A.D. THESE ARE NOT THE WORDS OF A DETRACTOR, BUT RATHER OF A DEVOUT MUSLIM.)

Example 1) Ibn Ishaq recounts the killing of "the enemy of God" named Ka'b son of al-Ashraf. After Badr, Ka'b "began to inveigh against the apostle . . ." He wrote satirical verses of poetry that were insulting to Mohammed and Islamic women. Mohammed said, "Who will rid me of the son of Ashraf?" Muhammad son of Maslama said, 'I will deal with them for you, O apostle of God, I will kill him.' He said, 'Do so if you can.'" Mohammed then gave the assassin permission to lie and deceive the target of his wrath. Amazingly, the killer recruited the victim's foster brother, who had become a Muslim. Together, with the foster brother having the victim's confidence, they led him on a midnight stroll pretending to visit and conduct business with him. On signal, they lunged on him. The assassin reported: "I thrust [my dagger] into the lower part of his body, then I bore down upon it until I reached his genitals, and the enemy of God fell to the ground... Our attack upon God's enemy cast terror among the Jews, and there was no Jew in Medina who did not fear for his life" (See page 365 -- 368, Ibn Ishaq)

Example 2) Tragically, we see that women are not exempt from this type treatment. When Abu 'Afak was assassinated for publicly speaking against Mohammed's killing of another man, Asma daughter of Marwan wrote verses of poetry against Mohammed for Abu 'Afak's murder. Ishaq records: "When the apostle heard what she had said he said, 'who will rid me of Marwan's daughter?' Umayr... who was with him heard him, and that very night he went to her house and killed her. In the morning he came to the apostle and told him what he had done and he (Mohammed) said, 'You have helped God and his apostle, O Umayr!' When he asked if he would have to bear any evil consequences the apostle said, ' Two goats won't but their heads about her...'" (Ibn Ishaq, 675-676)

Source: The Life of Mohammed; Ibn Ishaq. Translated by A. Guillaume. Oxford University press, Pakistan, 1967. Randall Terry, President, Society for Truth and Justice, comments:

“If we are going to understand the Islamic mind, we must study the life of Mohammed. ‘What would Mohammed do?’ needs to be the grid through which we view Islamic culture, law, and acts of terrorism. If you want to understand the Middle East: study Mohammed.”

“Muslims who attack or threaten death to those who mock Mohammed are following in the footsteps of Mohammed himself.”

“The best thing that newspapers in America and around the world can do is to run the cartoon of Mohammed over and over and over; in this we will simultaneously show the true nature of freedom, and the true nature of Islam.”

Randall Terry can be reached for further comment at: 904-819-9450

Randall Terry has spent the last year and a half studying Islam. His studies have included: beginning his Arabic studies at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem; college courses on Islamic history and sociology; spending seven weeks studying historic sites in Jerusalem, Israel, Palestine, Turkey, Jordan, Egypt, and Greece; doing research in Islamic primary sources for a lengthy project comparing Christ and Mohamed. Mr. Terry is the author of five published books; he is currently the President of the Society for Truth and Justice.

Mr. Terry has a B.A. (with a concentration in communications) from the State University of New York; a B.A. from Whitfield College School of Religion; and a three-year degree from Elim Bible Institute, majoring in Scriptural Studies.