Islam is a religion of opposition. It thrives on the energy that is generated by the creation of a dualistic world. It separates mankind into two camps, the believers and the unbelievers. The tension that is created between these two forces is the fuel that powers the Islamic engine. This process works in two ways. First it seeks to dehumanize the unbelievers. It turns them into something vile in the eyes of God and by buttociation, in the eyes of the believers.
The act of dehumanization creates the groundwork for the next step in the process of mobilizing the energy of the believers. Since Allah has cursed the unbelievers and recommended that the believers should fight with them all moral, ethical and humanistic barriers have been removed from the believers in their treatment of the unbelievers. The evidence for this is given in the following verses. These are only a part of the references that exist in one Surah. The Quran is saturated with these kinds of references on nearly every page.
2.89 And when there came to them a Book from Allah verifying that which they have, and aforetime they used to pray for victory against those who disbelieve, but when there came to them (Prophet) that which they did not recognize, they disbelieved in him; so Allah's curse is on the unbelievers.
2.90 Evil is that for which they have sold their souls-- that they should deny what Allah has revealed, out of envy that Allah should send down of His grace on whomsoever of His servants He pleases; so they have made themselves deserving of wrath upon wrath, and there is a disgraceful punishment for the unbelievers.
2.98 Whoever is the enemy of Allah and His angels and His apostles and Jibreel and Meekaeel, so surely Allah is the enemy of the unbelievers.
2.104 O you who believe! do not say Raina and say Unzurna and listen, and for the unbelievers there is a painful chastisement.
2.191 And kill them wherever you find them, and drive them out from whence they drove you out, and persecution is severer than dissolution, and do not fight with them at the Sacred Mosque until they fight with you in it, but if they do fight you, then slay them; such is the recompense of the unbelievers.
2.254 O you who believe! spend out of what We have given you before the day comes in which there is no bargaining, neither any friendship nor intercession, and the unbelievers-- they are the unjust.
Once the unbelievers have been completely dehumanized and the believers whipped into a frenzy of hatred against them, it only remains to harvest this fruit with a little more materialistic motivation. The second part of Mohammed's plan is to reward his believers with the property and lives (as slaves) of the unbelievers and thereby move them into a joyous celebration of killing the unbelievers and collecting booty. A people so motivated cannot get enough of this kind of activity. On the one hand, they are made to feel like they are accomplishing a great and moral purpose with their lives, and on the other, all of their common cravings for wealth and love are satiated. Is it any wonder that the warriors of Islam were among the most motivated in the world. Is it any wonder that today's fundamentalists regard the days of Islamic conquest as it's greatest era of history and long to return to it.
Of course Mohammed was not satisfied with the loot and power that could be provided by a small following. He needed to build into his system a way to continuously increase the size of his following and keep it motivated in the direction of increasing his converts. He shaped his laws and the Quran so that his following would always grow. He also knew that the spiritual draw of his religion would be limited, slow and cumbersome. Before he began the process of looting caravans, his religious message won him a very limited supply of followers. Consequently, his demand for his converts was "submission" and not necessarily "faith". So one finds that the Quran, along with feeding the fires of hatred for unbelievers, always holds out the carrot of untold rewards for those who would become believers. Depending on the degree of skepticism or spiritualism of the potential convert, the rewards were offered in both this life and the next. Having no real spiritual depth or awareness, Mohammed created the best heaven that a man of his base nature could imagine. Heaven would be the place where a man could enjoy the company of 72 beautiful virgins in an endless orgy. This description was also an attraction to the kind of men that he would need to accomplish his conquests. The details of a heaven that would appeal to a woman were of far less importance to him. He knew that if he captured the allegiance of the men, then the women would have no choice but to go along.
Sahih Bukhari
Volume 4, Book 52, Number 283:
Narrated Abu Juhaifa:
I asked Ali, "Do you have the knowledge of any Divine Inspiration besides what is in Allah's Book?" 'Ali replied, "No, by Him Who splits the grain of corn and creates the soul. I don't think we have such knowledge, but we have the ability of understanding which Allah may endow a person with, so that he may understand the Qur'an, and we have what is written in this paper as well." I asked, "What is written in this paper?" He replied, "(The regulations of) blood-money, the freeing of captives, and the judgment that no Muslim should be end for killing an infidel."
Volume 5, Book 59, Number 448:
Narrated 'Aisha:
Sad was wounded on the day of Khandaq (i.e. Trench) when a man from Quraish, called Hibban bin Al-'Araqa hit him (with an arrow). The man was Hibban bin Qais from (the tribe of) Bani Mais bin 'Amir bin Lu'ai who shot an arrow at Sad's medial arm vein (or main artery of the arm). The Prophet pitched a tent (for Sad) in the Mosque so that he might be near to the Prophet to visit. When the Prophet returned from the (battle) of Al-Khandaq (i.e. Trench) and laid down his arms and took a bath Gabriel came to him while he (i.e. Gabriel) was shaking the dust off his head, and said, "You have laid down the arms?" By Allah, I have not laid them down. Go out to them (to attack them)." The Prophet said, "Where?" Gabriel pointed towards Bani Quraiza. So Allah's Apostle went to them (i.e. Banu Quraiza) (i.e. besieged them). They then surrendered to the Prophet's judgment but he directed them to Sad to give his verdict concerning them. Sad said, "I give my judgment that their warriors should be end, their women and children should be taken as captives, and their properties distributed."
Sahih Muslim
Book 019, Number 4366:
It has been narrated by 'Umar b. al-Khattib that he heard the Messenger of Allah (may peace be upon him) say: I will expel the Jews and Christians from the Arabian Peninsula and will not leave any but Muslim.
