CHAPTER II: Arab Conquests Companions Were Agents Sent by Qorayish to Spy on Muhammad and to Remain Near him:

Introduction: Between the Pharaonic Cunning and the Qorayish Cunning:

1- Moses' Pharaoh oppressed, tortured, and killed countless persons among the Israelites, and he monopolized wealth, power, and authority to the extent that Moses, as a child, had no place for the purpose of protection except in the Pharaoh's palace. Conditions were different within tyrannical ways of Qorayish; as a tribe, its power and authority were divided on the progeny of Abd-Manaf: the twins Hashem and Abd-Shams, and the latter begot Umayya. Thus, the Hashemites as well as the progeny of Umayya and Abd-Shams shared power and authority. The Hashemites monopolized the protection of Kaabah and pilgrims, whereas the progeny of Umayya took care of summer and winter caravans of trade as well as intertribal relations inside Arabia and the Levant. The emergence of Prophet Muhammad with the monotheistic call of ''there is no God but Allah'' posed as a challenge to Qorayish, a defiance not only to its leadership of all Arabs outside Mecca, but also to its unity and roots, that harked back to the powerful ancient tribe Kenana, and to its trade and internal affairs. Hence, the emergence of Islam posed a threat to the relation of Qorayish with the other tribes as well; Muhammad belonged to a powerful clan within Qorayish: the Hashemites who were the paternal relatives of the progeny of Umayya, and the number of followers of the new religion was increasing fast among other clans and tribes. Accordingly, the cunning and evil scheming of Qorayish had to reach unprecedented levels of genius: "They planned their plans, but their plans are known to God, even if their plans can eliminate mountains." (14:46).        

2- The Pharaonic violence was excluded from the cunning ways of Qorayish; Moses' Pharaoh was trying to eliminate foreign non-Egyptian newcomers and felt very pleased to torture and control them, and he even considered their flight out of Egypt as an effrontery to his power and control, and that was why he followed them until he drowned. 

Firstly: It Is Noteworthy:

1- The drowning of Moses' Pharaoh and his troops was the very last act of divine retribution known within stories of prophets and their peoples in the past: "We gave Moses the Scripture, after We had annihilated the previous generations, as an illumination for humankind, and guidance, and mercy, so that they may remember." (28:43). Hence, this page of history of humanity was turned forever; annihilating the whole tribe of Qorayish was excluded from the divine plans. Qorayish had a mission to do, unwittingly, while they violated the teachings of Islam in the Quran: conveying the Quran to the world, preserved by God in its unique message and way of writings as evidence of true Islam; see 9:33, 48:28, and 61:9. These verses mean that the Quran will be conveyed to people even by those who violated its teachings and were its enemies. From the age of the crimes called Arab conquests until modern times now, the Muhammadans in their earthly, man-made fabricated creeds spread, honor, and revere the Quran and at the same time abandon and desert it in their daily life and in terms of practice and application; for they are polytheists as per the Quranic rules and teachings. Thus, despite the fact that the Qorayish-led Arab conquests are a crime against the Quran, they were the means to spread the Quran to the world, despite of Qorayish itself because the divine preserving of the Quranic text is beyond any human endeavor, even when human efforts are used.   

2- However, Arab conquests did NOT spread Islam; rather, they re-introduced notions of earthly man-made creeds prevalent before the emergence of Islam using Arabic and 'Quranic' terms. For instance, the Persian Shiite creed is a reproduction of Persian chauvinism and local creeds. Another well-known example in history is Egypt; it was invaded and conquered by the Hyksos, the Persians, the Assyrians, the Greeks, and the Romans, and lastly by Arabs. Yet, Egyptians preserved and retained their religious character and creed notions via a process of Egyptianization of all foreign influences coming with every wave of invaders and conquerors. Egyptian creed notions were spread among conquerors and invaders themselves; hence, the same Pharaonic creed notions were rechristened under new names in every single wave of conquest. Hence, the Jewish, Christian, and Islamic creeds were Egyptianized by insertion of the ancient Pharaonic creeds and notions under new names. These new names were in Arabic in the case of Islam. For instance, the holy trinity of the Pharaohs that included Isis, Osiris, and Horus was reincarnated into the Coptic Christian holy trinity, and later on into Allah, Al-Hussein, and Sayeda (i.e., Lady) Zeinab. Hence, the Coptic creed repeated the Pharaonic one, and Egyptian form of 'Islam' is no exception to this rule. The Egyptian form of Sufism after the Arab conquest of Egypt was a repetition of the Pharaonic religious heritage and traditions; for more details on that subject, please refer to our book published here on our website titled ''The Character of Egypt". Hence, we conclude then that the Arab conquest of Egypt never influenced Egyptians in terms of religious beliefs; religious creed notions of Egyptians remained essentially the same, albeit with changes in language and names within the linguistic gradual change between hieroglyphic, demotic, Coptic, and Arabic languages. The only new item introduced by the Arab conquest of Egypt was the Quran: the argument against all Egyptians and their creeds, among those who remained Christian and those who converted to 'Islam' that was distorted by earthly, made-made, fabricated creeds.        

3- The evil plotting and scheming turned against its authors; Moses' Pharaoh tried hard to oppress the Israelites; yet ironically, he was the one to bring up Moses in his palace to be the cause of his downfall, when he drowned while chasing the Israelites. Likewise, Qorayish hated the Quran and its men fabricated and made up the so-called hadiths (i.e., sayings and deeds attributed falsely to Muhammad) to distract people away from the message of the Quran, and this tribe waged wars against Muhammad and early Muslims to annihilate them, using utmost cunning and schemes, thinking itself victorious in the crime of Arab conquests; yet, the Quran eventually spread all over the world despite of all this. 

4- Moses' Pharaoh, despite all his might and tyranny, could not kill Moses though he wished it: "Pharaoh said, "Let me kill Moses, and let him appeal to his Lord. I fear he may change your religion, or spread disorder in the land."" (40:26), because God protected Moses and Aaron as he promised them of this: "He said, "We will strengthen your arm with your brother, and We will give you authority, so they will not touch you. By virtue of Our signs, you and those who follow you will be the triumphant."" (28:35). Likewise, the cunning evil ways of Qorayish that might have eliminated mountains were defeated' Qorayish spies/agents, among the famous ones of the so-called companions, could not kill Muhammad in both Mecca and Yathreb despite being close to him in both cities. Qorayish could not kill Muhammad in battles, and the same applies to hypocrites among Yathreb dwellers and immigrants to it. The reason: God protected Muhammad to enable him to do his mission of conveying the message of the Quran, and once the Quranic revelation was completed, Muhammad died peacefully in bed: "O Messenger, convey what was revealed to you from your Lord. But if you do not, then you would not have delivered His message. And God will protect you from the people…" (5:67). Verses revealed in Mecca show that Muhammad would die in an ordinary manner: "You will die, and they will die. Then, on the Day of Resurrection, you will be quarrelling before your Lord." (39:30-31). When it was rumored that Muhammad was killed in a battle, God asserts in the Quran that Muhammad as a person/messenger does not matter in comparison to the importance of the message itself: the Quran, and that the time of Muhammad's death is postponed to a certain time determined by and known to God only: "Muhammad is no more than a messenger. Messengers have passed on before him. If he dies or gets killed, will you turn on your heels? He who turns on his heels will not harm God in any way. And God will reward the appreciative." (3:144-145). Hence, despite the assassination plots and attempts against Muhammad, he was protected by God, whereas the so-called 'righteous' pre-Umayyad caliphs were assassinated after his death.         

Secondly: The Various Types of the Qorayish Cunning that Could Eliminate Mountains:

 The main focus of the cunning evil scheming and plotting of Moses' Pharaoh was on violence, whereas those of Qorayish focused on other means beside military aggression and violence; i.e., planting spies and agents around Muhammad under the pretext of their being new converts to Islam and then driving Muhammad and early Muslims out of Mecca to force them to immigrate to Yathreb. This chasing of the early believers out of Mecca aimed at relocating the problem outside main center to deal with it away from dangers threatening the status and stature of Qorayish in Mecca, and simultaneously, Qorayish aimed at controlling and watching Muhammad and the early believers all the time if possible. After immigration to Yathreb, Qorayish raided and sieged Yathreb many times to assert the tyranny, haughtiness, and control of the Qorayish tribesmen. Wars began once God gave permission, in the Quran, to believers to defend themselves against their enemies. When Qorayish was defeated in the Battle of Badr, its fearsomeness was dispelled as a debunked myth; hence, strategies of Qorayish changed within extreme violence in the Battle of Uhud that came as retribution, when early Muslims were defeated. The Battle of the Confederates was the means by which Qorayish wished to annihilate all Muslims, once and for all, to assert its control over trade routes of caravans, but Qorayish was defeated this time yet again. Thus, Qorayish had but one thing to do: to try to contain the situation and to make use of it via its spies and agents who feigned to be new converts to Islam who came to Yathreb. Such agents and spies surrounded Muhammad most of the time, obeying him in all possible manners and ways to prove their sham loyalty to him, while their true loyalty remained ONLY to Qorayish. In addition, Qorayish manipulated the Bedouins of the desert to create problems to early believers in their new city-state, after failing to attract them into fruitless open-field battles with military wars whose results would not have been certain.          

Thirdly: The Qorayish Cunning Manifested by Driving Early Muslims out of Mecca:

1- It was the top of cunning evil scheming methods to draw the route for your foes to tread on, making those foes thinking they had chosen this route out of their own accord. Such devilish plotting is still used by big countries now; it was the same scheme adopted by Qorayish. When powerful tribesmen of Qorayish held a meeting to tackle the issue of how to get rid of Muhammad, they discussed three options/solutions: to murder, imprison, or drive Muhammad away from Mecca: "When the disbelievers plotted against you, to imprison you, or kill you, or expel you. They planned, and God planned, but God is the Best of planners." (8:30). They opted for the last option: to force him to flee Mecca. Muhammad's immigration to Yathreb was their best solution for many reasons: murdering Muhammad would have caused civil war in Mecca; the Hashemites would have sought revenge to avoid being disgraced. The same applies to imprisoning Muhammad; the Hashemites would have sought to liberate him and revenge themselves against the rest of Qorayish to make it pay the price. Riving Muhammad and early believers out of Mecca meant that their possessions, houses, assets, and money would be confiscated by Qorayish and that the problem will be relocated into a far place outside Mecca, to deal with this problem as a one linked to external relations, and the Hashemites remaining in Mecca would be forced either to join forces with Qorayish in dealing with this external enemy after disowning Muhammad, or to get out of Mecca to join Muhammad in Yathreb.

2- the Quranic context within this topic of immigration does NOT use the term 'to immigrate', but rather use the term 'to expel', to assert of course the compulsion of this act of driving away early believers by force out of Mecca, as a form of oppression and persecution, with no other options left for early believers. "If you do not help him, God has already helped him, when those who disbelieved expelled him…" (9:40). "How many a town was more powerful than your town which expelled you..." (47:13). "To the poor refugees who were driven out of their homes and their possessions…" (59:8). "…They have expelled the Messenger, and you, because you believed in God, your Lord…" (60:1). "As for those who have not fought against you for your religion, nor expelled you from your homes, God does not prohibit you from dealing with them kindly and equitably. God loves the equitable. But God prohibits you from befriending those who fought against you over your religion, and expelled you from your homes, and aided in your expulsion…" (60:8-9). "Those who were unjustly expelled from their homes, merely for saying, "Our Lord is God."…" (22:40).

3- In order to make this forced displacement successful, persecution of believers reached the highest possible levels so that the oppressed persecuted ones would find immigration as the only safe haven to get out of Mecca secretly as soon as possible, imagining that Qorayish would not approve of this; Qorayish tribesmen chased them when they fled in order to give the impression that they want to keep them. The plan succeeded and Meccan tribes got rid of all followers of the new religion. The scene ended by relocating the problem, or the threat, outside Mecca and Qorayish.  

4- Hence, the Qorayish cunning plotting, described as able to eliminate mountains, combined both forced displacement and the Pharaonic cunning ways of violence and persecution; the Qorayish tribesmen had to go on attacking believers in Yathreb for two reasons: 1) to assert the dominance and hegemony of Qorayish, and 2) to preserve the dignity and reputation of Qorayish among other tribes of Arabia. Thus, Muhammad and the believers in Yathreb had to suffer being sieged and frightened by Qorayish and its power and awe, as the Qorayish tribesmen can resort to violence against them outside Mecca. The Meccan tribesmen were encouraged to attack the Yathreb dwellers and immigrants as God in the Quran, at that point, commanded them not to defend themselves as yet; the self-defense commands in the Quran had not been revealed at that point. Thus, Qorayish tribesmen used to attack Yathreb and cause harm to believers and return to Mecca unscathed, until God grants permission, in the Quran, to the believers to defend themselves militarily: "God defends those who believe. God does not love any ungrateful traitor. Permission is given to those who are fought against, and God is Able to give them victory. Those who were unjustly evicted from their homes, merely for saying, "Our Lord is God."…" (22:38-40).       

5- The awe, hegemony, and reputation of Qorayish among Arab tribes were given a fatal blow when Qorayish was defeated in the Battle of Badr; moreover, the Qorayish trade was threatened, and the Holy Mosque of Kaabah began to lose its stature as a center of worship for tradesmen who stopped coming to Mecca. When Qorayish defeated the Yathreb dwellers in the Battle of Uhud, this was of no use to Qorayish in terms of regaining its reputation and awe among other tribes; the Qorayish tribesmen had to make pacts of alliance with other parties to try and vanquish and exterminate believers in Yathreb once and for all, during the Battle of the Trench, a.k.a. the Battle of the Confederates. Yet, Qorayish was defeated once more in an insulting manner that brought more disgrace and shame to it. Meanwhile, the Quran succeeded with its eloquence and uniqueness in enlightening Arabs and showing the silliness of the notion of worshipping stones and idols. That was why at that time, Mecca lost its stature as a center for worship; the Kaabah was surrounded by statues of deities and idols rejected by many tribes, who discerned how Qorayish tribesmen used to deceive and manipulate them to protect Meccan trade in return for revering some myths and falsehoods. This turnabout was caused firstly after the Battle of Badr which made a huge difference; the Quran calls it the Day of Distinction (see 8:41). Thus, Qorayish had to change its strategy after such repeated defeats; spies and agents loyal to Qorayish had to be planted in Yathreb around Muhammad, trying to achieve gains and profits from the current situation by containing it and controlling the affairs, while the Qorayish tribesmen stayed in Mecca, via those agents. Meanwhile, Qorayish enlisted the help of Arab Bedouins to urge them to attack Muhammad and believers in Yathreb by proxy, on behalf of Qorayish, before and after the death of Muhammad. Details of such relation between Qorayish and Arab Bedouins will be further mentioned in a coming chapter.  We will focus here on the cunning plotting of Qorayish in planting spies and agents around Muhammad during his stay in Mecca and later on in Yathreb.

Fourthly: Planting Spying Agents around Muhammad:

1- The cunning ways of Qorayish, that were about to eliminate mountains as per the Quranic expression, included manipulation of the specific conditions of Islam and early believers in Mecca and later on in Yathreb; it was easy to convert to Islam by meeting Muhammad and declaring to him this conversion. Muhammad was NOT to test the minds and hearts of anyone; he was to accept whoever declared being a Muslim, and God is to judge hearts and minds. What was required by Muhammad was peace and security: the meaning of belief in terms of peaceful behavior; Muhammad never tested new converts by investigations and interrogations or used a lie-detector devise. Muhammad and early believers in Mecca used to feel happy with new male or female converts with warm hearty welcome offered to them, especially if this convert was a powerful one with certain stature. Within such conditions, it was very easy for Qorayish to recruit spies and agents around Muhammad from the very beginning, and the number of such agents increased with the passage of time as Islam spread all over Arabia.

2- Muhammad established the Yathreb city-state once he immigrated to it; it was a city-state in the modern sense, with certain borders and participators in governance that included all its dwellers, as well as relations and treaties with its neighbors that included Jewish tribes. Within such conditions, immigrants continued to flow into Yathreb, coming from Mecca and other cities as well. Immigrants included women whose number grew in a remarkable manner; Qorayish sent some women as well to be spies in Yathreb. Hence, we find the Quranic command in Chapter 60 to test these women NOT in terms of faith and belief but a security test to show the reason for their immigration: was it for the sake of Islam and avoiding persecution or to spy and deceive believers? Hence, this test is to assure peaceful behavior and demeanor as part of the meaning of faith and belief, not to test the religious belief; this is left to God in the Last Day. Thus, these women used to be tested in terms of security and peace only to make sure they can be trusted. If any woman was tested and she turned out to be a safe trusted person, she was allowed to enter and live in Yathreb and never left to return to her aggressive persecutors among the polytheists; otherwise, if she was doubtful and others felt sure she was sent as a spy, she was expelled out of Yathreb, never allowed to enter it again. "O you who believe! When believing women come to you emigrating, test them. God is Aware of their faith. And if you find them to be faithful, do not send them back to the unbelievers…" (60:10).   

3- Immigration to Yathreb was a decisive factor that added to the power of believers who increased in number; yet, it was also a weak point as it allowed spying agents sent by Qorayish to infiltrate into Yathreb. Those spies came from Mecca and among Arab Bedouins as well coming from everywhere. It was expected from Qorayish cunning leaders to focus on sending agents as immigrants to Yathreb who feign being new converts to Islam; this resulted in the existence of many hypocrites inside Yathreb especially from Arab Bedouins. This is reflected in the repeated mentioning of hypocrites in the Quranic verses revealed in Yathreb. The Quranic Chapter 8 mentions hypocrites one time, linked to the Battle of Badr, while there are several revealed-in-Yathreb verses about hypocrites in the Quranic Chapters 2, 3, 4, 5, 9, and 63. These verses tackle various types of hypocrites and their conspiracies, intrigues, plots, and plans as well as doubtful relations with other hypocrites among Yathreb dwellers and with outside disbelievers and polytheists. Hence, this asserts that hypocrites were not only confined to be among Yathreb original dwellers like some persons within tribes of Al-Aws and Al-Khazraj, but also included some of the newcomers among the immigrants. There are some verses showing that hypocrites included some Yathreb original dwellers; see 63:7-8, and some other verses show that hypocrites included some wealthy ones, and Muhammad is commanded in the Quran not to admire their wealth and progeny; see 9:55 and 9:85. Thus, the variety of the Quranic discourse about hypocrites and their conspiracies and plotting asserts that they existed in great numbers, especially in the verses revealed at the last shortly before Muhammad's death in Chapter 9, asserting that hypocrites enjoyed good audience. We believe that such an audience was among the immigrants who were actually agents and spies, and not emerging suddenly among Yathreb original dwellers, but it was at the service of Qorayish as well as hypocrites among Yathreb dwellers within tribes of Al-Aws and Al-Khazraj. To further explain this, we quote the only verse mentioning hypocrites in the Quranic Chapter 8, showing that they were not so many at first, as this Chapter was revealed in Yathreb once Muhammad settled in it: "The hypocrites and those in whose hearts is sickness said, "Their religion has deluded these people." But whoever puts his trust in God; God is Mighty and Wise." (8:49). There were at first a minority of hypocrites in contrast to a majority of true believers among immigrants and Yathreb dwellers described in these verses: "To the poor refugees who were driven out of their homes and their possessions, as they sought the favor of God and His approval, and came to the aid of God and His Messenger. These are the sincere. And those who, before them, had settled in the homeland, and had accepted faith. They love those who emigrated to them, and find no hesitation in their hearts in helping them. They give them priority over themselves, even if they themselves are needy…" (59:8-9). The number of hypocrites increased and their voices grew louder after the believers were defeated in the Battle of Uhud; see 3:118-120, 3:154-180. Such hypocrites in Yathreb were vociferous and outspoken during the Battle of the Trench (the Confederates); see 33:12-20, 33:60-62.  Later on, they continued to be outspoken once battles ceased between Qorayish and Yathreb; this indicates a change in the strategy of Qorayish by sending more agents and spies who spread rumors and plotted against believers and Muhammad; see 9:42-110. We quote only one verse showing hypocrites doing their activities in public within Yathreb: "The hypocrite men and hypocrite women are of one another. They advocate evil, and prohibit righteousness, and withhold their hands. They forgot God, so He forgot them. The hypocrites are the sinners." (9:67). Hence, the cunning ways and plots of Qorayish that would have eliminated mountains were responsible for increasing the number of hypocrites in Yathreb after battles ceased between Qorayish and Muhammad.      

Lastly:

1- Shortly before the death of Muhammad, Yathreb was teething with latent changing elements and factors that emerged to the surface once he died. Qorayish went on with her cunning ways and plots to get on top of the Islamic city-state, unlike what was expected. The expectation was that the defeated enemy, Qorayish, would stay behind feeling grateful for being spared, and forgiven for aggression and persecution of early Muslims, after the believers seized Mecca. Ironically, this same enemy, Qorayish, dominated the arena once more speedily, using the wiles and cunning evil ways that would eliminate mountains, as per the Quranic expression. History tells us a strange occurrence; both Abdulla Ibn Massoud and Ammar Ibn Yasser were persecuted and tortured by polytheists in Mecca at the early stages of the call for Islam, and they were persecuted yet gain in their old age during the caliphate of Othman within the hegemony and dominance of the same Qorayish leaders and retinue!   

2- The cunning plots of Qorayish that would eliminate mountains were the cause of putting off the light of Islam once Muhammad died, and soon enough, the Middle-Ages culture dominated to get back obscurantist dark ages that have been going on until this very moment in the countries of the Muhammadans.

3- Yet, the evil cunning harms its authors as well, and Qorayish is no exception to this rule. Muhammad succeeded in conveying the message of the Quran, and even Qorayish unwittingly spread this message to humanity, because God preserves the Quran Himself, even of disbelievers hated it, to be a refutation of all earthly, man-made, fabricated creeds of the Muhammadans until the Last Day.