…as to Muhammad, the people of Europe and America have heard
certain tales about the Prophet, to which they have given credence even though
the providers of these accounts, many of whom belonged to the ranks of the
Christian clergy, were either ignorant or ill-intentioned. Likewise, a number
of ignorant Muslims relayed unfounded tales concerning Muhammad, which in their
minds redounded to His glory. Thus some benighted Muslims made His polygamy the
object of their highest praise and held it to be a sign of His wondrous powers,
since these ignorant souls considered the multiplicity of wives to be a
miraculous thing. The accounts of European historians rely for the most part
upon the sayings of such ignorant people.
For example, a foolish individual once told a Christian
priest that the proof of true greatness lies in surpassing bravery and
bloodshed, and that in a single day one of the followers of Muḥammad had
beheaded a hundred men on the battlefield! This led the priest to surmise that
the proof of Muhammad’s religion consisted in killing, which is nothing but
vain imagination. On the contrary, Muhammad’s military expeditions were always
defensive in nature. The clear proof is this: For thirteen years both He and
His companions endured in Mecca the most intense persecutions and were the
constant target of the darts of hatred. Some of His companions were killed and
their possessions pillaged; others forsook their native country and fled to
foreign lands. Muhammad Himself was subjected to the severest persecutions and
was obliged, when His enemies resolved to kill Him, to flee Mecca in the middle
of the night and emigrate to Medina. Yet even then His enemies did not relent,
but pursued the Muslims all the way to Medina and to Abyssinia.
- ‘Abdu’l-Baha (Table talks in Akka, authenticated by ‘Abdu’l-Baha; ‘Some Answered Questions’ –
2014 revised translation by the Baha’i World Centre)
