Yesterday 5:49 am
The oldest known is Sirat Rasūl Allāh by Ibn Ishaq. All versions are derived solely from oral traditions.
There is a growing body of intellectual and academic challenges to the accuracy and veracity of the Muslim texts, very similar to the challenges raised a century or two ago in those same quarters against Jesus Christ’s existence and the Christian narrative. Unlike the Christian narrative, which has largely been supported by recent archeological discoveries, numerous archeological finds contradict the Muslim narrative.
However, for purposes of this discussion, the truth or falsehood of Islam’s narrative is irrelevant. The mere fact that many hundreds of millions believe and follow these texts is all that matters. Their beliefs and actions are informed by the three texts above and by the ways Muslim clerics interpret them.So, what do these texts instruct Muslims regarding Infidels (i.e., non-believers)? An answer is found in a corner of American history.
In the years of the Articles of Confederation, 1782-1787, the fledgling United States sent John Adams as American Commissioner (ambassador) to the Court of St. James (Britain) and Thomas Jefferson in the same role to the Court of Louis XVI of France.
During this time, the Barbary States, particularly Algeria and Tripoli, had taken it upon themselves to prey upon American flag merchant ships plying the Mediterranean Sea. They seized ships and cargoes, sold crewmen and passengers into slavery, and held monied passengers for ransom.
The American-Algerian War of 1785-1795 saw pirates take 55 American flag vessels, including, in 1785, the brig Dauphin. Adams and Jefferson took it upon themselves as America’s official representatives in Europe to meet with Sidi Haji Abdrahaman, Tripolitan Ambassador in London.Adams and Jefferson reported to then-Secretary of Foreign Affairs, John Jay, what happened when the confronted Abdrahaman:
We took the Liberty to make some Inquiries concerning the Grounds of their pretentions to make War upon Nations who had done them no Injury, & observed that we Considered all Mankind as our friends, who had done us no Wrong nor had given us any provocation? The Ambassador answered us, that it was founded on the law of their great Profet: that it was written in the Koran, that all Nations who should not have acknowledged their Authority were sinners: that it was their right & duty to make war upon them wherever they could be found, & to make slaves of all they could take as prisoners; & that every Musselman who should be slain in battle was sure to go to Paradise That it was a Law, that the first who boarded an Enemy’s Vessell should have one slave, more than his share with the rest, which operated as an Incentive to the Most desperate Valour & Enterprize. That it was the practice of their Corsairs to bear down upon a ship; for each sailor to take a Dagger in each hand & another in his Mouth & leap on board, which so terrified their Enemies, that very few ever stood against them. That he verily believed the Devil assisted his Country-men, for they were almost allway’s successfull.
There is a growing body of intellectual and academic challenges to the accuracy and veracity of the Muslim texts, very similar to the challenges raised a century or two ago in those same quarters against Jesus Christ’s existence and the Christian narrative. Unlike the Christian narrative, which has largely been supported by recent archeological discoveries, numerous archeological finds contradict the Muslim narrative.
However, for purposes of this discussion, the truth or falsehood of Islam’s narrative is irrelevant. The mere fact that many hundreds of millions believe and follow these texts is all that matters. Their beliefs and actions are informed by the three texts above and by the ways Muslim clerics interpret them.So, what do these texts instruct Muslims regarding Infidels (i.e., non-believers)? An answer is found in a corner of American history.
In the years of the Articles of Confederation, 1782-1787, the fledgling United States sent John Adams as American Commissioner (ambassador) to the Court of St. James (Britain) and Thomas Jefferson in the same role to the Court of Louis XVI of France.
During this time, the Barbary States, particularly Algeria and Tripoli, had taken it upon themselves to prey upon American flag merchant ships plying the Mediterranean Sea. They seized ships and cargoes, sold crewmen and passengers into slavery, and held monied passengers for ransom.
The American-Algerian War of 1785-1795 saw pirates take 55 American flag vessels, including, in 1785, the brig Dauphin. Adams and Jefferson took it upon themselves as America’s official representatives in Europe to meet with Sidi Haji Abdrahaman, Tripolitan Ambassador in London.Adams and Jefferson reported to then-Secretary of Foreign Affairs, John Jay, what happened when the confronted Abdrahaman:
We took the Liberty to make some Inquiries concerning the Grounds of their pretentions to make War upon Nations who had done them no Injury, & observed that we Considered all Mankind as our friends, who had done us no Wrong nor had given us any provocation? The Ambassador answered us, that it was founded on the law of their great Profet: that it was written in the Koran, that all Nations who should not have acknowledged their Authority were sinners: that it was their right & duty to make war upon them wherever they could be found, & to make slaves of all they could take as prisoners; & that every Musselman who should be slain in battle was sure to go to Paradise That it was a Law, that the first who boarded an Enemy’s Vessell should have one slave, more than his share with the rest, which operated as an Incentive to the Most desperate Valour & Enterprize. That it was the practice of their Corsairs to bear down upon a ship; for each sailor to take a Dagger in each hand & another in his Mouth & leap on board, which so terrified their Enemies, that very few ever stood against them. That he verily believed the Devil assisted his Country-men, for they were almost allway’s successfull.