The people Muhammad murdered

Here is an impressive list of the people that Muhammad murdered or commanded to be murdered. There is nothing especially atrocious about such a record for a leader from his region and his day. What is, however, obscene and insulting is to claim that such a man was a paragon of gentleness and humility and was ultimately a peaceful man. Such an argument is simply not tenable.

Also, it is very clear that the times when he murdered people or commanded their execution he was rarely acting in self-defense. So that old saw that Muhammad would only take a life in self-defense (something most Christian ethicists would permit) is also patently false.

I present to you a section and the link for further reading, from Answering Infidels:

Ka’b wrote poetry against the Muslim women, and Muhammad subsequently called for his assassination:

The apostle said . . . “Who will rid me of Ibnu’l-Ashraf [Ka’b]?” Muhammad bin Maslama . . . said, “I will deal with him for you, O apostle of God, I will kill him.” [Muhammad] said, “Do so if you can.” . . . The apostle said, “All that is incumbent upon you is that you should try.” [The assassin] said, “O apostle of God, we shall have to tell lies.” He answered, “Say what you like, for you are free in this matter."

Muhammad bin Maslama, having received from Muhammad permission to lie, proceeded with his plan to murder Ka’b. The Muslims sent Silkan, a lover of poetry, to befriend Ka’b. Silkan and Ka’b spent some time reciting verses to one another, until the former asked a favor of his new friend. Silkan said that he and his companions wanted to buy some food from Ka’b and that he would put down a number of weapons as a pledge until payment could be made. He did this so that Ka’b “would not take alarm at the sight of weapons when they brought them.” The Muslims came later with their weapons and invited Ka’b to join them for a walk, and he gladly joined them.

[A]fter a time Abu Na’ila ran his hand through [Ka’b’s] hair. Then he smelt his hand, and said, “I have never smelt a scent finer than this.” They walked on farther and he did the same so that Ka’b suspected no evil. Then after a space he did it for the third time, and cried, “Smite the enemy of God!” So they smote him, and their swords clashed over him with no effect. Muhammad bin Maslama said, “I remembered my dagger when I saw that our swords were useless, and I seized it. Meanwhile the enemy of God had made such a noise that every fort around us was showing a light. I thrust it into the lower part of his body, then I bore down upon it until I reached his genitals, and the enemy of God fell to the ground.”

The assassination of Ka’b had the desired effect: “Our attack upon God’s enemy cast terror among the Jews, and there was no Jew in Medina who did not fear for his life.”