101 Reasons Why We Left Islam – Chapter 4: Islamic History – Reason 48
In Islam, we tend to blame everyone for the violence we see, never acknowledging that much of that violence is ‘built-in’ to the religion. Here, we present a timeline of violence within the Muslim community during the early Islamic eras, challenging the notion that such conflicts are solely attributable to external Western or CIA influence.
First Khalifa Era**:
- Uthman (3rd Caliph) was assassinated by fellow Muslims.
- Ali (4th Caliph) was assassinated by fellow Muslims.
Umayyad Khalafa:
- Hussein (grandson of Muhammad) was killed and beheaded by Muslims.
- Al-Hassan (another grandson of Muhammad) was poisoned by Muslims.
- Talha and Al-Zubayr, early Muslim figures, were killed by fellow Muslims.
- The Battle of the Camel, between Ali and Aisha, resulted in the deaths of approximately 3,000 Muslims.
- Battles between Ali and Muawiyah, Ali and the Nahrawan, and Al-Hussein and Yazid resulted in numerous Muslim deaths.
- The Battle of Karbala resulted in the slaughter of many members (some estimate between 50 to 70) of the Prophet’s family by Muslim forces.
- The Madina Revolt against Umayyad rule led to the deaths of 700 supporters at the hands of 12,000 Umayyad Muslim forces.
- Muslim ibn Uqba killed Maqal ibn Sinan al-Ashja’i during the Battle of Al-Harra along with around 500 other Muslims from both sides.
- Al-Husayn Bin Nameer’s army damaged the Kaaba during the siege of Mecca – something the infidels never dared to do! Not to mention the many casualties.
- Yazid Bin Muawiya’s army used the Prophet’s Mosque as a stable, where horses urinated and defecated for three days.
- Abd Allah ibn al-Zubayr was killed by Muslims during the succession of Abd al-Malik bin Marwan.
- Zaid bin Zain al-Abidin bin Al-Hussein was killed and crucified by Muslims during the succession of Hisham bin Abd al-Malik.
- Caliphs Marwan bin Al-Hakam, Omar bin Abdul Aziz, Al-Walid bin Yazid, and Ibrahim ibn al-Walid were all killed by Muslims.
- The last Umayyad caliph killed was Abu Muslim Al-Khursani by the Abbasid forces.
Abbasid Khilafa:
- Abu al-Abbas, the first Abbasid caliph, ordered the slaughter of Umayyad descendants.
- He also ordered the exhumation and desecration of Umayyad caliphs’ graves.
- Battles between Abu Muslims army and the Abbasid army resulted in many Muslim deaths.
- Ezz al-Din Aybak was killed, and the wife of Aybak was also killed.
Ottoman Empire:
- Ottoman killed his uncle Dundar to take power.
- Murad, I killed his brothers Ibrahim and Khalil and ordered the execution of his son Jacob.
- Mehmed II issued a fatwa legalizing the killing of brothers by future sultans. Thereby starting the practice, known as fratricide, an Islamic tradition to prevent power struggles and ensure a stable succession.
- Murad III killed his five brothers.
- Muhammad III killed nineteen brothers, including five children and three infants. He later killed his own son Mahmoud to ensure only one son was not disputed as the next leader.
- The Ottoman Empire killed thousands of Egyptian Muslims during their conquest of Cairo (estimated between 20,000 to 50,000).
- Sultan Selim killed his two brothers.
This is just what we know and is being reported in Islamic sources. There are a lot of smaller rebellions and events that were erased from history. But what these historical events demonstrate is that internal conflict and violence within the Islamic community predate modern Western or CIA involvement. An objective review of our history challenges the simplistic narrative of Islam as inherently peaceful and external forces as the sole source of violence. Many of these conflicts only stopped because of the new world order. If that ever fails, you can bet we will be back at slaughtering each other. There is a lot of blood among those who claim “We are all 2 billion Muslims” that masks infighting that has lasted 1400 years.
**PS: There is a big question about who assassinated Umar (2nd Kahlifa). A Persian slave killed him – some argue he is Shia, but to keep the peace, scholars attributed him to a pagan cult. But if that is not the case, we would say that infighting killed three out of the four first Khalifas! Wow- I know!