Muhammad and his followers arrived in Medina with no reliable means to support themselves. They turned to raiding non-Muslim groups, seizing war spoils as their main source of income. In these attacks, they stripped everything from the victims, goods, livestock, and even people. Women and young children, who had played no part in any fighting and were completely innocent, were captured and turned into slaves.
These captives faced a lifetime of bondage or were sold off for profit. Worse still, under the Islamic practice known as “hereditary slavery,” the children born to these slaves automatically became slaves themselves from birth.
Muhammad, however, pushed for a bigger cut of these spoils for himself and his close family members. He repeatedly invoked “divine orders from Allah” to justify his personal grabs for wealth.
Take time to read these details and decide for yourself: Were these supposed revelations truly messages from a god, or did Muhammad craft them to serve his own interests?
The Muslims targeted trade caravans for raids, using the looted goods as their earnings. At first, these spoils were divided equally among those who took part. One such caravan attack in the second year of the Hijra sparked the Battle of Badr.
In that battle, the Muslims defeated the Meccans and captured a massive haul of spoils. This time, Muhammad tried to keep it all for himself, denying the fighters their fair shares. To make this seem legitimate, he came up with a new verse claiming that all war spoils belonged only to Allah and his messenger, meaning Muhammad alone, leaving nothing for the others.
From Surah Al-Anfal, verse 1: “They ask you concerning the spoils of war. Say, ‘The spoils are for Allah and the Messenger.’ So fear Allah and set straight the matter between yourselves. And obey Allah and His Messenger, if you are believers.”
Through this verse, Muhammad attempted to claim every bit of the spoils from Badr, refusing to share with his companions. To back this up and shut down their claims, he argued that their role in the fight was insignificant because Allah had sent 1,000 angels to do the real work, defeating the unbelievers. So, he insisted, the entire haul was for Allah and his messenger, essentially, for Muhammad’s benefit alone.
From Surah Al-Anfal, verse 9: “When you appealed to your Lord for help, He answered you: ‘Indeed, I will reinforce you with a thousand from the angels, following one another.’”
The Muslims were outnumbered compared to the non-Muslims in this battle, so Muhammad stressed that their only real support came from Allah. They begged for divine help, and supposedly, Allah responded by sending down 1,000 angels one after another to join the fight. Therefore, the spoils were Allah’s and Muhammad’s, do you see the logic here?
Muhammad exploited the blind superstitions common among his followers. How else could they fully buy into these fabricated tales of 1,000 invisible angels battling alongside them?
As you’ve already seen, Muhammad first tried to pocket all the spoils from Badr using verse 8:1 from Surah Al-Anfal. But he failed in that attempt. The reason? On the day of Badr, he had promised his companions rewards from the spoils if they killed or captured enemies. This forced him to abandon his initial plan of taking everything for himself.
From Sunan Abu Dawud (2738), Book 9/Jihad, Chapter 156: Regarding Giving a Reward from the Spoils: Narrated from Ibn Abbas: The Messenger of Allah announced on the day of Badr: “Whoever kills an enemy will get such-and-such (reward), and whoever captures an enemy will get such-and-such (reward).”
This created a clear contradiction. Muhammad started by trying to claim all spoils for himself, cutting out his companions entirely. But then he shifted tactics, settling for one-fifth of the spoils under the name “khums.” To support this new rule, he revealed yet another verse, this time from the same Surah Al-Anfal, verse 41.
From Surah Al-Anfal, verse 41: “And know that anything you obtain of war booty, then indeed, for Allah is one fifth of it and for the Messenger and for his relatives and the orphans, the needy, and the traveler, if you have believed in Allah and in that which We sent down to Our Servant on the day of criterion, the day when the two armies met. And Allah, over all things, is competent.”
In reality, the entire one-fifth share ended up under Muhammad’s control. He kept a substantial portion for himself, labeling it as the share for Allah and the messenger. Another part went to his immediate relatives. The portions meant for the poor, orphans, and travelers also fell into his hands, since he alone decided how to distribute them at his discretion.
Muhammad collected this large khums share from every set of war spoils, using it to build his personal fortune. But that wasn’t the end. He went further, inventing more verses to seize non-Muslims’ entire properties without even fighting.
From Surah Al-Hashr, verse 6: “And what Allah restored to His Messenger from them, you did not spur for it any horses or camels, but Allah gives His messengers power over whom He wills, and Allah is over all things competent.”
Analyzing this verse logically reveals it as a clever ploy driven by Muhammad’s greed. In the expedition against the Jewish tribe of Banu Nadir, there was no actual battle, they left Medina peacefully. Yet Muhammad’s companions participated, using their horses and camels, putting in real effort. Still, the verse claims they did nothing, declaring all the property (fay’) solely for Muhammad because “Allah” supposedly granted him authority. This was outright deception! It stemmed from his desire to hoard everything, robbing his followers of their deserved portions.
From Surah Al-Hashr, verse 7: “What Allah has bestowed on His Messenger from the people of the townships belongs to Allah, to His Messenger, and to kindred and orphans, the needy and the wayfarer; in order that it may not circulate among the wealthy among you. So take what the Messenger assigns to you, and deny yourselves that which he withholds from you. And fear Allah; for Allah is strict in punishment.”
Here, it states that fay’ property is for Allah, Muhammad, his relatives, orphans, the poor, and travelers, so it doesn’t just cycle among the rich. But Muhammad and his family weren’t poor. For instance, he gave his daughter Fatima a garden called Fadak, valued at around 50,000 dirhams back then. Later, during Umar’s rule, Ali took control of Fadak. Ali’s wealth was such that he could comfortably support nine wives, several concubines, and 17 children. Meanwhile, the distribution to the truly needy was left to Muhammad’s judgment, with no records of how much actually reached them. In effect, Muhammad and his family swallowed up all the assets.
All these events and evidences make it clear that Muhammad manipulated the name of Allah for his own gains, clashing with basic ethical principles. A rational breakdown shows these aspects of Muhammad and his system as morally indefensible, and they stand against human decency.
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