Was Muhammad a Terrorist?

By today's standards, Muhammad engaged in an appalling amount of violence--but he brought peace to the Holy Land.

BY: Alex Kronemer

The Biblical period did not end with Moses or David. It was not over with the last Hebrew Prophets, or even with Jesus. In fact, 600 years after the last words of the Bible were written, the tribalism and lawlessness that characterize the Biblical period, as well as the battles between monotheism and Near Eastern Paganism, still raged on much as they did when Abraham first walked the Holy Lands.

Then, in 610 C.E., a 40-year-old Arab merchant named Muhammad claimed he was another in the line of Biblical prophets, met the ancient challenges that confronted all the Biblical figures, and won. Monotheism at last triumphed in the Near East, and the Children of Abraham were finally at the center of a great and growing religious empire.

But there was a problem. Another religious empire, dedicated to the same God, was also on the rise across the Mediterranean. Christianity and Islam have challenged and competed with one another ever since. The relationship has spurred both civilizations to greater creativity, but has also been the source of conflict over the centuries, which is now reignited on both sides of the divide.

In a recent 60 Minutes broadcast, the Rev. Jerry Falwell calls Muhammad a "terrorist." Falwell says, "In my opinion.Jesus set the example for love, as did Moses, and I think that Muhammad set an opposite example." This comes on the heels of comments from conservative Christian leaders such as Franklin Graham and Pat Robertson that Muhammad was an inherently violent man.

One answer to these kinds of charges is to point out that Moses was a much bloodier figure than Muhammad. Leviticus 20 might be one place to cite. There Moses proclaims the penalties for various crimes, including death for anyone who curses his father or mother, commits adultery, or engages in homosexual sex. Or Numbers 31, where Moses chastises his army for sparing the women and children of the vanquished Midianite and orders his men to "Slay every male child and every woman who has had intercourse with a man. But you may spare and keep for yourselves all the girls who had no intercourse with a man."

There are more examples. David is praised in Samuel 18 for slaying his "tens of thousands," and in Judges 14 Samson kills 30 random Philistines in revenge for losing a bet.

There are other examples that could be offered. But citing such examples to say that Muhammad was either more or less violent than other Biblical figures is meaningless and anachronistic. By the standards of the world we live in today, there is an appalling amount of violence associated with many of these people.

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