You appear to be in a lose-lose scenario Fellow-Human.

If you go WITH traditional Islamic history then Mohammad is portrayed as a callous man with a large sexual appetite.

If you go AGAINST traditional Islamic history and question its reliability (as you suggest!) then the Sunnah begins to collapse.

What's amazing Fellow-Human is that you are willing to cast doubt on both Bukhari and Ibn Ishaq. And I shouldn't have to point out to you that these two gentleman provide the PREMIER FOUNDATION of early Islamic history. The Koran contains very little biographical data about Mohammad, it is mainly through men like Bukhari and Ibn Ishaq that we learn anything at all about the Prophet and the supposed supernatural origins of the Koran

I should also point out that Saad is not your 'get out of jail free card.' I don't think that we can put too much store or the decision made by an elderly gentleman who was dying from his battle wounds.

Besides, Mohammad's response to Saad's bloodthirsty decision implies a 'stitch-up';

'Sahih Bukhari
Volume 5, Book 58, Number 148:
Narrated Abu Said Al-Khudri:
Some people (i.e. the Jews of Bani bin Quraiza) agreed to accept the verdict of Sad bin Muadh so the Prophet sent for him (i.e. Sad bin Muadh). He came riding a donkey, and when he approached the Mosque, the Prophet said, "Get up for the best amongst you." or said, "Get up for your chief." Then the Prophet said, "O Sad! These people have agreed to accept your verdict." Sad said, "I judge that their warriors should be killed and their children and women should be taken as captives." The Prophet said, "You have given a judgment similar to Allah's Judgment (or the King's judgment)."

Fellow-Human, which ever way you cut it, Islam has a blood thirsty Prophet at its heart. This may make him a pragmatic and clever politician. But a religious inspiration? You've got to be kidding me!

TR,

Now I am puzzled, the way you quoted the story you have just confirmed that it was a war treason and that the Banu Quraysa got the judge they asked for! You just refuted your own 'pow massacre'claims?

“What's amazing Fellow-Human is that you are willing to cast doubt on both Bukhari and Ibn Ishaq”

I don’t take a dogmatic approach I question everything about my faith and its references. It seems you are cherry picking whatever confirms your pre-set opinion about Islam. As long as you are OK with prejudice I have no problem : -)

Peace,

Fellow-Human, you havn't noticed the important last sentence from the quotation. That is;

'The Prophet said, "You have given a judgment similar to Allah's Judgment (or the King's judgment)."'

I don't notice any protestations from Mohammad nor the slightest bit of compassion.

Nor do I hear something like, "Would you like to think about it a bit longer Saad?"

No, instead we get something like, "Well thank God for that. Now we hack their heads off!"

Charming, and typical of the barbaric example set by the Prophets n' Kings of the Biblical Old Testament.

F_H

You said:
"I will assume you have good intentions and have been mislead. I would like to correct you from your own quotes (Using the Pickhall translation available at Dymmocks for $9.95):"

One of my intentions is to correct the misinformation spread by people like yourself. I guess from your side my intentions look bad, but from my side I simply feel the need to speak out.

The copy I am refering to now is the one printed in Saudi Arabia which was translated by professors of an Islamic University in Madinah, and endorsed by the King Fahd Complex. Pickhall was a Western convert, so I would put more trust in the one from Saudi Arabia. It was given to me by Muslims doing their dawa. You probably chose the Pickhall translation because it is softer, more palatable. You do seem to have a habit of ignoring the yukky stuff and fluffing things up a bit.

So that the readers here can see for themselves, I will quote some of the verses and include the footnotes from this King Fahd Complex version.

Q2:190. And fight them in the way of Allah(1) those who fight you, but transgress not limits. Truly, Allah likes not the transgressors. [This Verse is the first one that was revealed in connection with Jihad, but it was supplemented by another (9:36)]

Q2:191. And kill them wherever you find them, and turn them out from where they have turned you out. And Al-Fitnah(2) is worse than killing. And fight not with them at Al-Masjid-Al-Haram (the sanctuary at Makkah), unless they (first) fight you there. But if they attack you, then kill them. Such is the recompense of the disbelievers.

Q2:192. But if they cease, then Allah is Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful.

Q2:193. And fight them until there is no more Fitnah (disbelief and worshipping of others along with Allah) and ( all and every kind of) worship is for Allah (Alone). But if they cease, let there be no transgression except against Az-Zalimun (the polytheists, and wrong-doers).

Footnotes.
(1) (V. 2:190) Al-Jihad (holy fighting) in Allah's Cause (with full force of numbers and weaponry) is given the utmost importance in Islam and is one of its pillars (on which it stands). By Jihad Islam is established. Allah's Word is made superior, (His Word being La ilaha illallah wich means none has the right to be worshipped but Allah), and His Religion (Islam) is propagated. By abandoning Jihad (may Allah protect us from that) Islam is destroyed and the Muslims fall into an inferior position; their honour is lost, their lands are stolen, their rule and authority vanish. Jihad is an obligatory duty in Islam on every Muslim, and he who tries to escape from this duty, or does not in his innermost heart wish to fulfil this duty, dies with one of the qualities of a hypocrite.

(2) (V. 2:291) Al-Fitnah: polytheism, to disbelieve after one has believed in allah, or a trial or a calamity or an affliction.

One last piece of blasphemy.

I know that Mohammad's marriage to Aisha has been debated to death but Bukhari's hadith still defy imagination. For those who haven't been exposed to them before here they are in all their glory;

'Volume 5, Book 58, Number 234:
Narrated Aisha:

The Prophet engaged me when I was a girl of six (years). We went to Medina and stayed at the home of Bani-al-Harith bin Khazraj. Then I got ill and my hair fell down. Later on my hair grew (again) and my mother, Um Ruman, came to me while I was playing in a swing with some of my girl friends. She called me, and I went to her, not knowing what she wanted to do to me. She caught me by the hand and made me stand at the door of the house. I was breathless then, and when my breathing became Allright, she took some water and rubbed my face and head with it. Then she took me into the house. There in the house I saw some Ansari women who said, "Best wishes and Allah's Blessing and a good luck." Then she entrusted me to them and they prepared me (for the marriage). Unexpectedly Allah's Apostle came to me in the forenoon and my mother handed me over to him, and at that time I was a girl of nine years of age.'

AND

'Volume 5, Book 58, Number 236:
Narrated Hisham's father:

Khadija died three years before the Prophet departed to Medina. He stayed there for two years or so and then he married 'Aisha when she was a girl of six years of age, and he consumed that marriage when she was nine years old.'

http://www.usc.edu/dept/MSA/fundamentals/hadithsunnah/bukhari/058.sbt.html#005.058.234

I must admit that the unfortunate image of a 40 year man bouncing up and down on the fragile pelvis of a 9 year old doesn't endear me to the cult of Mohammad. Does anyone else feel any different?