robert spencer-did muhammad exist__ an inquiry into islams obscure origins-intercollegiate studies institute (2012) (1)

When Ibn Umar says that yes, he did know that, the Egyptian has more: “Do you know that Uthman was
absent on the day (of the battle) of Badr and did not join it?”
When Ibn Umar again says yes, the Egyptian comes back with a third question: “Do you know that he
failed to attend the Ar-Ridwan pledge and did not witness it?” This pledge was a declaration of loyalty to
Muhammad that his closest companions made after the Islamic prophet concluded a treaty with the pagan
Quraysh; the treaty of Hudaibiya, as it is known in Islamic tradition, was disadvantageous to the Muslims
in numerous particulars.
For the third time, Ibn Umar says, “Yes.” The Egyptian responds, “Allahu akbar!”—in this case, an
expression of indignation and dismay. Then Ibn Umar explains, saying that Allah “excused” Uthman and
forgave him for being absent from Uhud, although he does not explain the absence. As for Badr, Ibn Umar
says that Uthman was not there because he was obeying Muhammad: “The daughter of Allah's Apostle
was his wife and she was sick then. Allah's Apostle said to him, ‘You will receive the same reward and
share (of the booty) as any one of those who participated in the battle of Badr (if you stay with her).’”
Finally, Ibn Umar explains Uthman's nonappearance at the Ar-Ridwan pledge of allegiance by saying that
Muhammad sent Uthman elsewhere, and “had there been any person in Mecca more respectable than
Uthman (to be sent as a representative), Allah's Apostle would have sent him instead of him.” In fact,
while Uthman was absent, Muhammad “held out his right hand saying, ‘This is Uthman's hand.’ He stroked
his (other) hand with it saying, ‘This (pledge of allegiance) is on the behalf of Uthman.’” Ibn Umar tells
the Egyptian: “Bear (these) excuses in mind with you.” 33
Not only did this tale exonerate Uthman by invoking Muhammad himself; it also exalted him beyond all
rivals as being “more respectable,” and even showed Muhammad acting as his proxy. How, then, could
anyone favor Ali's claim to the caliphate over Uthman's? That is, at least until the party of Ali invented
another hadith in favor of its champion. This hadith describes the siege of the oasis of Khaybar, home of
the last Jewish settlement in Arabia after Muhammad (according to still other hadiths) exiled two of the
three Jewish tribes of Medina and massacred the third. Muhammad sends Abu Bakr, Umar, and Uthman—
here again, the first three caliphs and Ali's rivals—in turn against one of the Khaybar forts, but they cannot
capture it. When he sends out Uthman, Muhammad refers to his reputation for cowardice and sticks up for
him: “Tomorrow I will give the flag to a man who loves Allah and his apostle. Allah will conquer it by
his means; he is no runaway.” But even Uthman fails, so Muhammad summons Ali, heals him miraculously
from an eye ailment, and sends him against the fort. Ali, of course, succeeds. 34
The various Muslim factions produced a steady stream of hadiths defending their leaders or attacking
those of their opponents. The Umayyad side invented a hadith defending the Umayyad governor of Iraq,
Khalid al-Qasri (d. 743), whom pious Muslims hated for his brutality in governing. Khalid is redeemed in
a hadith in which Muhammad is made to say, “O God, let thy victory and the victory of thy religion take
place through the offspring of Asad b. Kurz,” Khalid's ancestor. 35 But opponents of the Umayyads had
Muhammad disparage the caliph al-Walid (705–715). In the hadith, Muhammad confronts a man who has
just named his newborn son al-Walid: “You name your children by the names of our Pharaohs. Verily, a
man with the name al-Walid will come who will inflict greater injury upon my community than ever did
Pharaoh upon his people.” 36 A later transmitter of this hadith notes that while it was initially believed to
refer to al-Walid I, once al-Walid II (743–744) began committing his own atrocities, it became clear that
Muhammad had actually been referring to him. 37