Against Backdrop Of Palestinian Authority Crackdown On Militants In West Bank, Presidential Advisor Mahmoud Habbash: Prophet Muhammad Gouged The Eyes And Severed The Hands And Feet Of Rivals, To Protect Stability

Mahmoud Habbash, who serves as an advisor to Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, said in a Friday, July 14, 2023 sermon in Ramallah that "We are the ones who are the biggest protectors of human rights," but that with regard to the "criminals" who threaten the stability and existence of society, the example of the Prophet Muhammad should be followed, by gouging out their eyes and chopping off their hands and feet. He said that after the Prophet Muhammad did this in Medina, nobody dared to repeat these people's crimes and "society was stabilized". Habbash's sermon came on the backdrop of the Palestinian Authority's crackdown on militant groups such as PIJ and others in the West Bank, and it was aired on Palestine TV.

Mahmoud Habbash: "What did [the Prophet Muhammad] do to [people] who terrorized others, undermined the security and stability of society, and shattered the unity of the Muslims, in a society that was designated by the Prophet Muhammad to be secure, stable, and strong in the face of its rivals? What did he do to those criminals? He ordered to have their hands and feet chopped off. He chopped off their hands and feet. But was that all?

"Perhaps when one of those hair-splitting pedants who claim to champion human rights, or whatever, hears this... When it comes to our society and our nation's right to have security, and when it comes to the very existence of our nation as an entity – no one should split hairs with slogans about human rights or whatever.

"We are the people most respectful of human rights. Our religion commands us to respect human rights. But when it comes down to the very existence of the nation, you must be harsh, resolute, and determined. [The Quran says:] 'Oh Prophet Muhammad, wage jihad against the infidels and the polytheists and be harsh with them. Their abode is Hell. What a miserable destiny!'

"He chopped off their hands and feet, gouged out their eyes, and threw them in Al-Harrah, which is a place near Medina with black, burnt, pointed rocks, where people cannot even walk. He cast them there to crawl until they died.

"After this, did anyone dare to do such things? Of course not. Society became stable."