Mohammed was born in Mecca, Arabia about 570 A.D. into a respectable tribe. His father had died before he was born and when he was six he lost his mother. His uncle then raised him and he became a trader toward Syria. He was quiet and honest and became known as "the trusted one" in his tribe. In Syria he managed a rich widow's business who was very impressed with how good of a businessman he was. When Mohammed was 25 he married her, instantly increasing his own wealth.

A typical criticism of Mohammed found on some websites goes something like this:

"Citing passages from the Hadith, the collected sayings of Mohammed, ... by his own account, the founder of Islam was often possessed by Satan. The phrase "Satanic Verses" refers to words that Mohammed first claimed had come from God, but which he later concluded were spoken by Satan. Mohammed married 11 women, kept two others as concubines and recommended wife-beating (but only as a last resort!). His third wife was 6 years old when he married her and 9 when he consummated the marriage. To say that Mohammed was a demon-possessed pedophile is not an attack. It's a fact." (quoted from Murder for Fun and Prophet)

Mohammed most likely heard Christians and Jews talking about their religions in fairs in Mecca. It is said that he would go meditate in a cave when he was troubled about some of the questions they would bring up. There he was when he supposedly had a vision of the archangel telling him he was God's prophet. He didn't know what to think of this but his wife reassured him and he had many revelations afterwards. His wife and cousin were his first followers. While preaching he would recite from his revelation which was written down by various persons. Over the years, these collected utterances were collected, and conflicting versions were destroyed, to form what is now known as the Koran. Like others have done since (e.g., Joseph Smith) Mohammed claimed to be God's last prophet with the last book. Some followers claimed that the large mole on his shoulder was proof of divine selection as "the government shall be upon his shoulder" from Isaiah 9:6.

This teaching was not very fruitful at first. He had a few followers but he continued preaching social reform, monotheism, and economic justice. The rich merchants in Mecca did not like the idea of economic fairness especially when Muhammad concentrated so much on raising up the poor. These merchants persecuted some of his followers and Muhammad had them evacuated to Medina.

After his wife and uncle died in 619 he began to lose hope, especially after failing to convert a nearby town. Soon after, however, another city offered him a position of great authority and asked him to break up the feuds in their city. He negotiated and accepted the position. He fled Mecca just before his enemies could carry out their plan to murder him. His trip marks the beginning of the Islam calendar. It is known as Hegira, which means emigration. There are differences of Medinan and Meccan surahs in the Koran.

Was Mohammed a man of peace, as proclaimed by current Islamic literature, or a military leader? The Prophet announced the concept of holy war (Jihad) in 624 AD. The Koran records his words, "I will instill terror into the hearts of the unbelievers: smite ye above their necks and smite all their finger-tips off them. ...And slay them wherever ye catch them...." Most experts agree that in the next nine years Mohammed personally led nine of at least 27 military campaigns. However, an Islamic website (http://www.al-islam.org/restatement/20.htm ) brags, "roughly speaking, the Prophet launched 80 campaigns during the ten years from his migration in A.D. 622 to his death in A.D. 632."

In parts of Africa, Islam is held as a "black man's religion" even though Muhammad was a fair skinned owner of black slaves which he called “raisin heads”. Conquest for slaves and women led to roughly seven centuries of Arabs enslaving Africans before the Europeans tied into the existing routes of trafficking humans. Perhaps Islam in Africa was forced to become a black man's religion after the Holy Prophet institutionalized the three day rape clause that resulted in an increase of black Muslim babies.

On one such Jihad expedition (holy war) Muhammad's men came to him very frustrated. Ibn Masud reported, "We were fighting with the Messenger of Allah, and our wives were not with us. We asked the Messenger of Allah, 'Should we castrate ourselves?' The Holy Prophet forbade us from that, and then he allowed us Muta (temporary) marriage. So, we all married wives for a fixed time (usually three days) for the dowry of a piece of cloth." (Al Hadis, Vol. 2, p. 686) This Hadith instituted the Islamic theology of Muta marriage which some Muslim soldiers declared Sunnat (lawful) to justify rape during the Iraqi "Jihad" invasion into Kuwait. Other abuses against women are imbedded in the Koran.

Mohammed's enemies were supported in Medina by what Muslims call the hypocrites. War was inevitable and Mohammed decided to weaken Mecca by cutting off the trade caravans. After many battles Mecca was unable to retaliate because of their great loss in the trade route but in 630 they submitted to Mohammed.

He then declared all people equal, given the condition of dhimmitude, and had all the idols (except for one meteorite) destroyed and set up the Islamic Empire with the Kaaba as the focal point in Mecca. Muhammad was eventually poisoned by the widow of a man he murdered. Unlike Jesus Christ, who gave his life to take away the sins of the world, and whose tomb is empty, Muhammad died due to his own sin on June 8, 632 and his remains are still entombed. Abu Bakr became the first Muslim caliph after Mohammad’s death. Which led to a split between Sunnis and Shiites

Islam has spread throughout the world and is practiced in all countries. Growth rates climb due to more to high birth rates than reasoned conversion to Islam. Once born a Muslim, death threats are required to keep Muslims from reasoning away from Islam. The saber rattling language (e.g., Surah 2) of the militant founder of Islam is still echoed by leaders in such countries as Iran and Sudan.

Source Document:
"...[T]he Prophet (Muhammed) said to her (Aisha), 'You have been shown to me twice in my dream. I saw you pictured on a piece of silk and someone said (to me). 'This is your wife.' When I uncovered the picture, I saw that it was yours. I said, 'If this is from Allah, it will be done.'" (Hadith, Sahih Bukhari 5:58:235)

"[T]he Prophet (Muhammed) married her (Aisha) when she was six years old and he consummated his marriage when she was nine years old, and then she remained with him for nine years (i.e., till his death)." (Hadith, Sahih Bukhari 7:62:64)

About these sources:
Of the six story collections, or hadiths that were completed nearly two centuries after the death of Mohammed, the one hadith by scholar Bukhari is considered to be the most historically reliable followed by Al-Muslim's hadith. The other four also have high value, but most Muslims find the hadiths problematic. On one hand they believe the Koran to be complete and closed. On the other hand, much of Muslim theology and Sharia law is based on the hadiths.

A reader from India commented on 9/26/04:

"There are so many factual committed by you intentionally to tarnish the image of the Prophet of Islam and Religion of Islam.

For your information:

1. Prophet was not possessed by Satan [The essay didn't say he was.]
2. That he was not a padophile [The essay didn't say he was. The Hadith speaks for itself.]
3. One of his wife was 6 years old is wrong. There was no woman married by him at this age [check: Hadith, Sahih Bukhari 7:62:64]
4. He had not kept 11 wives at a time. [We know from the Islamic source Sahih Bukhari that he had at least nine wives at one point in his life, and this would have been after his first wife's death. Volume 7, Book 62, Number 142: Narrated Anas bin Malik: "The Prophet used to pass by (have sexual relation with) all his wives in one night, and at that time he had nine wives."]
5. He did not die mysteriously [fixed in revision, thanks. -ed.]
6. He did not believe in war and blood shedding. He asked for mercy and peace. War was always thrust upon him [fixed in revision from www.al-islam.org] "Kill disbelievers wherever you find them." (Surah 2:191)
7. He did not go to mountains for meditation just because of confusion but he wanted to be closer to Almighty. [We didn't say he confused.]

These are some of them. Please correct immediately and confirm...

...Please also read Qur'an which the only criterion between truth and untruth. I hope you will make correction, before things get escalated." [Yipes! - ed.]

[Ed. note: Since this essay was first published in 2003, we have received numerous emails claiming that the essay is not true, but none has been able to counter the documented facts of this essay. On 11/2007 a reader commented, "thanks to idiot like you who think that they will throw out some fake n awful truth bout our prophet for exampe n consequently will destroy our image, the opposite of wat u think is actually happening :)" In countries such as Sudan, under Sharia law, insulting Islam is punishable with 40 lashes, a jail term of up to six months or a fine. Given the insulting nature of truth, we are still waiting for someone to provide alternative documentation to counter the "awful truth bout our prophet".]