The Surah At-Taubah or Al-Tawba (repentance), which the passages you quote come from, were a result of the Quraish tribe breaking it's treaty (treaty of Hudaibiyah) and engaging in combat with Mohammed and his followers. Ironically, Mohammed himself was originally a member of the Quraish tribe, and they became his major opponent after he broke away from them.
PS: Apologies to the rest of you for not properly implementing my 'filter'
Cheers, Brad
First, the winners get to write the history. Second, was that tribe made up idol worshipers, Christians and Jews? Very eclectic group that. Apologists for Islam have an alternative explanation for all the war verses in the Koran and the Hadith. The problem is that almost no one in the Moslem world believes them. It’s just for Western consumption. Rather like the PR stuff put out by the PLO and Arab governments. The English version is all sweetness and light, the Arabic version is all jihad and destruction.
Actually the treaty, or peace, of Hudaibiya was a treaty whereby Mohammed was allowed to visit the pagan shrine at his old hometown of Mecca if he refrained from calling himself a prophet and praying in the Islamic manner, which he did for a time. Perhaps you could elaborate on what part the Jews and Christians played?
We all like to think of ourselves as rugged individualists. But when push comes to shove most of us are sheep who do what we are told. Worst of all, a lot of us become unpaid agents of whoever is controlling the agenda by enforcing the current dogma on the few rugged individualists who actually exist.
