1. Divine Sanction of Mass Slaughter:
Muhammad explicitly codified the mass execution of hundreds of surrendered prisoners as a divine decree from Allah (Bukhari 6215).
2. Sanctioned Deception:
Muhammad authorized his followers to use religious lies and treachery to assassinate critics like Ka'b al-Ashraf (Bukhari 4037).
3. Theocratic Divide:
Muhammad used the sword to build an earthly kingdom; Christ suffered the sword to offer an eternal one.
There are several incidents that bear witness to the cruel nature of Muhammad.
The mass execution of the Jewish tribe Banu Qurayza remains one of the most contentious episodes in the life of Muhammad.
According to the earliest Islamic biographies (Sira), such as those by Ibn Ishaq and Ibn Hisham, the tribe was accused of conspiring with the Meccan Quraish during the Battle of the Trench. After a 25-day siege, the tribe surrendered.
Sa'd ibn Mu'adh, an ally of the tribe who had been wounded in battle, was appointed as arbitrator. He ruled that the men be killed and the women and children enslaved.
Ibn Hisham, Sira: Records that after the Battle of the Trench, the men of the tribe (600-900) were executed by order of a mediator chosen by the tribe itself, Sad ibn Muadh.
According to Sahih al-Bukhari 6215, after Sa'd gave the verdict to slaughter the men, Muhammad explicitly endorsed it by saying: "You have judged among them with the judgment of the King (Allah)." Muhammad did not merely permit it; he validated it as a divine decree.
A group of men from the Ukayl and Urayna tribes came to Medina and converted, but later killed a shepherd and stole camels. Muhammad punished them and chose eye-for-an-eye torture (Qisas).
Muhammad ordered their hands and feet cut off, their eyes branded with heated irons, and left them in the desert heat to die. The text explicitly notes that they begged for water, but Muhammad ordered that water be denied to them.
Jesus explicitly repealed eye-for-an-eye retaliation in Matthew 5:38-39, commanding mercy and handing ultimate judgment over to God.
These targets were leaders and poets who mocked or opposed Muhammad, and their assassinations are recorded in Sahih al-Bukhari—the highest level of Islamic textual authenticity.
Sahih al-Bukhari 4037 and Sahih al-Bukhari 4039.
In the case of Ka'b al-Ashraf (Bukhari 4037), Muhammad went so far as to explicitly grant his assassins permission to use lies and religious deception to lower the victim's guard before executing him.
Surah 5:33, which mandates severe punishments for those who "wage war against Allah and His Messenger":
"The punishment of those who wage war against Allah and His Messenger... is only this, that they should be murdered or crucified or their hands and their feet should be cut off on opposite sides..."
The severity of these executions is not merely an isolated military decision, but a reflection of a system that merges religious authority with coercive state power. Muhammad acted as a sovereign judge who utilized the sword to punish treason and establish a political-religious order. While modern apologists attempt to equate this with Old Testament warfare, Biblical executions were localized, descriptive histories of an ancient covenant; Muhammad's actions stand as a universal, prescriptive template for all time.
The Gospels portray Jesus Christ as the "Prince of Peace" who consistently renounced violence, famously commanding his followers to "love your enemies" and choosing to heal his captors and forgive his executioners while on the Cross. While Muhammad used the power of the state to execute judgment upon his enemies, Jesus used his own execution to offer mercy to a fallen world, signaling that His kingdom was not of this world.