The Quran is a violent law and the law of death

Chapter ten

Tenthly, we must consider that the Quran is not the law of God because it is violent. And to put it briefly, this law can properly be called the law of killing and death, not only because it leads to eternal death but also because it forces men through | 204r | death and bodily killing to believe what is said in it ^[1] .

(8) In the Koran, however, in the chapter Elbachera which is interpreted "cow", it is said that in the law of God there is no compulsion, and that the horse has already been defined from the beginning. But there is no greater compulsion than by killing. Therefore that law which compels by killing is not the law of God. But the Saracens themselves call it anthonomasically din ellessalem ^[2] , which is interpreted as the law of salvation and the law of God, when properly - as has been said - it should be called the law of damnation and killing. And this was the only way that was suitable for such a law and such a legislator that they would consent to the law of eternal death through fear of bodily death; just as, on the contrary, Christians, by despising bodily death, attain eternal life.

(17) Seeing therefore that Muhammad, or rather his disciple, namely the devil, that that law was at variance with all the laws of God, new and old, and that it was also discordant with itself, and that it was without miracle and without reason, and that it contained open falsehoods and from this it was bound to have many contradictors, he gave to Muhammad himself a fitting instrument, namely the sword ^[3] for killing. And he himself gave in addition to this a command in the law that those who contradicted and also those who did not believe should be killed ^[4] . And therefore it is not said in one chapter, but in the whole book it is commanded as if universally, "Kill, kill" ^[5] .

( 25) This is clearly the way contrary to Christ, who commands us to love our enemies, to pray for those who persecute us, and to do good to those who harm us. This Mohammed was the forerunner of the antichrist, who prepared the way for the "son of perdition" in the world.

( 28) How irrational this way and method is was made clear above in the eighth chapter. For, as Augustine says, "A man can do other things even if he does not want to, but he cannot believe unless he wants to" ^[6] . Therefore, he who is forced will say with his mouth "I believe", but he will not believe at all with his heart; although the Lord requires the heart most of all from man, according to the saying "Son, give me your heart".

(33) But his uncle was brought to Mahomet to be a Saracen, who said: What will happen if I do not do this, O son of my brother? To whom Mahomet: I will kill you, O uncle. | 204v | Who said: It cannot be otherwise? No, he said. And he said: I will follow you on whatever you wish, only with tongue not with heart and with fear of the sword.
Homar ^[7] also, the son of Cateb Maadi, when he was compelled said: Lord, you know that I do not become a Saracen except through fear of the sword.
The son of Eby Hastaa also became a Saracen through fear of the sword; whence he sent letters to Mesques, which a woman had hidden among the hairs of her head ^[8] , announcing to them the arrival of Mahomet so that they should beware of violence in his doctrine ^[9] .

(44) It should be noted, however, that there are four parts of those who hold the error of Mohammed. The first part entered Saracenism, those who entered by the sword, as has been said; and now also, knowing their error, would repent if they did not fear the sword. Another part entered, those who, deceived by the devil, believe that what is true is false. The third part, however, is those who do not want to depart from the error of their forefathers, but say that they hold what their fathers held; from whose fathers' opinion they rather depart, who - instead of the idolatry they held - chose the sect of Mohammed, which was undoubtedly less evil. The fourth part is those who, because of their more relaxed life with a multitude of wives and other granted licenses, loved the eternity of another world more than the ^[10] eternity.

( 57) And with these also those who are called wise and literate among the Saracens feel, not because they believe that law to be true or good simply, but “because the vehemence of pleasure absorbs the judgment of reason”, as the Wise Man says ^[11] . In the same way, many literate Christians do not keep the law of the Gospel, which they nevertheless believe to be true and good simply, but rather imitate the way of the Koran, which they nevertheless believe to be in truth a fiction ^[12] . And the sign of this is in both, that while some Saracens become Christians and some Christians become Saracens, a Christian never becomes a Saracen in death but in life, but a Saracen rather becomes a Christian in death than in life. Therefore, each of them | 205r | chooses to die a Christian rather than a Saracen, unless the aforementioned violence is withdrawn.

(69 ) There are three clear signs of the violence of the law, apart from what has been said, that it so often says and commands, "Kill . " ^[13] One is that Mohammed told them that that law would last only as long as their victory in arms and temporal power lasted. But certainly, as Chrysostom said, "such is the nature of truth that when attacked by many it grows stronger, just as, on the contrary, falsehood promoted by many fails in itself." ^[14] Truth, therefore, does not need the support of temporal power, and especially "the truth of the Lord which endures forever." [ Ps . 116:2] For the law of the Christians, during the time of persecution, which lasted three hundred and ten continuous years, was most promoted both in the number of believers and in the evidence of miracles.

( 80) The second sign is the aforementioned violence, because when they gather for preaching and for the law to be explained to them, the teacher of the Saracens who must present the word, first draws his sword and holds it in his hand while he preaches, or places it in a prominent place to strike fear . ^[15] But Christians, when they preach, do not raise a sword but a cross to show signs not of violence but of innocence, like men who are sent by Christ "like sheep in the midst of wolves."

( 87) The third sign is that of murder and violence, because the Saracens themselves alone nourish the Assassins ^[16] , murderers of men, to whom they promise eternal life by the very act of active and passive murder, and send them throughout the world to treacherously kill the princes of the world. For these Assassins have their camps and fortresses around Mount Lebanon, and are obedient to the sultan of Babylon, who is the head of the Saracens, and they themselves are Saracens by custom and law; and they are not called Assassins by the Saracens, but are called Ishmaelites ^[17] , as it were the root and stock of the Saracens, and the principal defenders and preservers of the law of Mahomet. For to this end they are specially instructed and nurtured to practice murder. This crime is horrified not only by Christians, who have the most holy law, but also by the Tartars , who say that they have no law but the law of nature ^[18] .

(99 ) From these things, therefore, it is clear that | 205v | the law of the Saracens is a law of killing and violence. But it is violent whose movement is from without, «nothing imparting force to the victim», as Aristotle says ^[19] . And consequently it is clear that the law itself is not the law of God.