Muhammad's earliest biographer, Ibn-Ishaq, describes how the prophet approved the beheadings of between 600 and 900 men from the Jewish Quyraza tribe following the Battle of the Trench. Decapitation of a dead enemy on the battlefield was the "primary form of symbolic aggression among Ottoman soldiers," according to this history of the Ottoman Empire. However, Christian Crusaders were known to do likewise--Fulcher of Chartres chronicles how, in 1099, 10,000 Jews and Arabs were beheaded in the Temple of Solomon during the capture of Jerusalem.
« Bill Moyers: Genetically-Encoded to Hunt Gays? | Main | Totten on the Next Israel-Hezbollah War » On Islam and Beheading23 Feb 2009 02:12 pm
Slate has an interesting piece on beheadings, in light of that most unfortunate incident in Buffalo:
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