The Systemic Elimination of Critics in Islam: A Pattern Rooted in Mohammed’s Life

One studying a religion cannot isolate the practices of its founders from the religion itself. No matter what later apologists claim in defense of that religion, it remains that what the founder practiced, how he interpreted the text, and how he used the text offer the most accurate description of that religion. In this light, there is one frankly troubling and undeniable pattern in the life of Mohammed: his systemic elimination of all critics for nothing except criticizing him. The implication of this for the modern world cannot be exaggerated.

We begin with the narrative of Ka‘b ibn al-Ashraf, a Jewish poet. Mohammed complained that Ka‘b insulted him with his poetry and therefore asked for a volunteer to kill him. He allowed the use of trickery to accomplish this task. The volunteer went and killed him. In Sahih Bukhari (5:59:369), Mohammed declared, “من لكعب بن الأشرف؟ فإنه قد أذى الله ورسوله” (“Who will deal with Ka‘b ibn al-Ashraf? For he has insulted Allah and His Messenger”), explicitly tying the assassination to Ka‘b’s verses mourning Quraysh losses at Badr and mocking Muslims (Sirah, Ibn Hisham, p. 548). Muhammad ibn Maslama volunteered, sought permission to lie—“أذن لي أن أقول شيئاً” (“Permit me to say something”)—and lured Ka‘b out at night, slaughtering him with companions like Abu Na’ila (Sirah, p. 551). Ka‘b’s head was brought to Mohammed, who praised the act. One must not lose sight of the fact that Mohammed refused to do it himself but asked for a volunteer from his followers to act on his behalf. This idea of a Muslim volunteer doing it for Mohammed is a theme embraced by the majority of Muslims. When somebody from a different background critiques Mohammed or the Quran, even if it’s a valid academic critique, the Islamic world erupts with angry emotions—“إلا رسول الله” (“except the Messenger of Allah”), meaning no one may insult him. Furthermore, a Muslim volunteer attempts, often successfully, to assassinate that person. Modern examples abound: the 1989 fatwa against Salman Rushdie for The Satanic Verses, inciting volunteers worldwide; the 2004 murder of Theo van Gogh in Amsterdam for his film Submissioncritiquing Islam’s treatment of women; the 2015 Charlie Hebdo massacre in Paris over cartoons of Mohammed—all echoing this pattern of volunteers acting for Mohammed’s honor.

The next example is Asma bint Marwan. Her tribe suffered great injustice. Mohammed slaughtered the chief of her tribe. So she complained about this injustice of murdering an honorable man. The chief was Abu ‘Afak, an elderly Jew killed in 2 AH/624 CE for his poetry (Sirah, Ibn Hisham, p. 995). Asma, from the Aws tribe, mourned him in verse: “أطعتُمْ أمرَ غريبٍ جاءَ من غيركمْ، قتلتمْ سيدَكمْ أبا عفكٍ بغير حقٍ” (“You obeyed a stranger from elsewhere, you killed your chief Abu ‘Afak unjustly”) (Sirah, p. 996). For her to declare this murder unjust was considered by Mohammed an insult. So he ordered her assassination. The Islamic text described what happened. The Muslim assassin found her sleeping with her young children and, without any consideration that this woman was the mother of these young children, slaughtered her. In Sirah (p. 996), Mohammed asked, “من لي بابنة مروان؟” (“Who will rid me of Marwan’s daughter?”), and Umayr ibn ‘Adi entered her home at night, stabbing her amid her children: “فقتلها وهي نائمة بين أولادها” (“He killed her while she slept among her children”). Ibn Sa‘d (Tabaqat, 2:31) specifies “أولادها الصغار” (“her small children”), underscoring their youth. This cannot be emphasized enough: In modern days, those people some Muslims seek to murder for insulting Mohammed, the Quran, or Islam are nothing but victims of Islamic injustice. Their crime is raising their voices about the murder, rape, and persecution of non-Islamic minorities, including women and children. Even women and children have not been spared from their extreme violence. The 2023 slaughter of 500 Christians in Nigeria’s Plateau State by Fulani Muslim militants, followed by threats against critics, mirrors Asma’s fate—protest, then death.

The next example is Abu ‘Afak. An elderly Jewish poet, over 100 years old, from Medina. After the Battle of Badr, Mohammed came to the Jewish city of Medina and exiled the Jewish tribe of Banu Qaynuqa. He took all their belongings and money and kicked them out of the city they built. In Sirah (p. 363), post-Badr, Mohammed besieged Banu Qaynuqa for 15 days after a market clash, expelling them: “فأجلاهم من المدينة وأخذ أموالهم” (“He expelled them from Medina and took their property”). Al-Sira al-Halabiyya (2:215) confirms no slaughter: “لم يقتل منهم أحد” (“None were killed”). Abu ‘Afak did not like what he saw. He complained that Mohammed separated him from his Jewish loved ones. His verse reads: “من يقوم لهذا الفتى الذي قد فرق بيننا وبين أحبائنا؟” (“Who will stand against this youth who has divided us from our loved ones?”) (Sirah, p. 995), likely lamenting Qaynuqa’s exile or Jewish oppression. Just because he expressed these sentiments of seeing his loved ones kicked out of their city after their money was stolen, and the oppression Mohammed brought, Mohammed considered it an insult. And again ordered his murder. “من لي بهذا الشيخ؟” (“Who will deal with this old man for me?”) led Salim ibn Umayr to kill him at night (Sirah, p. 995). Non-Muslim minorities—Christians, Jews, Yazidis—have suffered greatly in modern times under Islamic countries. Accompanying this wide persecution is the murder of those who speak against the injustice and oppression of their people. The 2014 ISIS genocide of Yazidis in Iraq saw critics like Nadia Murad targeted, her family killed for decrying the slaughter.

Another example is Al-Nadr ibn al-Harith. Mohammed always boasted about the superior language of the Quran. In fact, the Quran claimed boastfully that even if all humans and demons gathered together, they could not compose one verse to its literary level. Many Arabian poets took the challenge. One was Al-Nadr ibn al-Harith. He challenged Mohammed, claiming his poetry was superior. He was captured and slaughtered for challenging the Quran. In Sirah (p. 308), Al-Nadr mocked the Quran pre-Badr: “أنا أحسن من محمد، أقصص عن رستم واسفنديار” (“I am better than Muhammad; I narrate about Rustam and Esfandiar”). Captured at Badr (2 AH), Muhammad ordered Ali to behead him (Bukhari, 4:52:270). The Quran’s dare—“قل لئن اجتمعت الإنس والجن على أن يأتوا بمثل هذا القرآن لا يأتون بمثله” (Surah 17:88)—met defiance, then death. This is only one example, but the discerning reader should observe that if not for his superior poetry over the Quran, he probably would not have been killed. Mohammed ordered the killing of poets who challenged the Quran and even ordered others to stop uttering poetry. He told Muslim poet Hassan ibn Thabit to limit poetry (Muslim, 19:4324), guarding the Quran’s supremacy. This has not stopped even in the 21st century! Not all Muslims seek to slaughter critics, but the overwhelming majority seek to silence them by any means: legal means, technical means, and even the manufactured word “Islamophobia” to silence scholarly academic critics. The 2021 French teacher Samuel Paty’s beheading for showing Quran-related cartoons exemplifies this ongoing silencing.

Abdullah ibn Khatal was a Muslim poet who left Islam. His experience with Islam gave him in-depth insight to critique it with poetry. Mohammed, of course, felt insulted. Probably the most insulting aspect was that he left Islam. Leaving Islam is punishable by death. In Sirah (p. 819), during the Conquest of Mecca (8 AH/630 CE), Mohammed ordered his death: “كان عبد الله بن خطل يهجو رسول الله بعد أن ارتد” (“Abdullah ibn Khatal verbally attacked the Messenger after he apostatized”). Abu Barza al-Aslami killed him, and one of his singing girls, Fartana, was executed for singing his critiques (Bukhari, 5:59:582). In fact, Abu Bakr waged a major war against tribes that left Islam after Mohammed’s death. The Ridda Wars (11 AH/632 CE) saw thousands killed for apostasy (Tarikh al-Tabari, 2:509). For Islam, leaving is unacceptable in any scenario. That conviction continues today. It does not matter if the former Muslim lives in a Western country; for many Muslims following Mohammed’s example, this is no obstacle. Over the years, many former Muslims were murdered in Western countries. Ex-Muslim Ayaan Hirsi Ali faces relentless threats in the Netherlands, and in 2015, Bangladeshi ex-Muslim bloggers like Avijit Roy were hacked to death in Dhaka, their killers citing apostasy and critique.

There are more examples, but the above suffice to establish the Islamic pattern of silencing critics. What kind of person, speaking of Mohammed, gets insulted and hurt by critique in such a way that he seeks the murder of his critics? But more importantly, what kind of people embody Mohammed’s spirit today, executing the same intent to silence—even murder—critics of the Quran, Mohammed, and Islam?

© 2025 Daniel Amari, All Rights Reserved.