A few stories from the Medina period I haven't shared yet.

1. A poem from a convert that may be relevant to Christians.
2. The original Jewish expulsion - the Banu Qaynuqa.
3. The violent story of Muhayyisa and Huwayyisa... a moral minefield if there ever was one.

1. O you covered up in your clothes!

2. Arise and warn all.

3. Revere your Lord alone.

4. Purify your garments.

5. Continue to shun idols.

6. Do not do a favour expecting more in return.

7. And persevere for the sake of your Lord.

8. For when the Trumpet will be sounded,

9. that will truly be a difficult Day—

10. far from easy for the disbelievers.

11. And leave to me O Prophet the one I created all by Myself,

12. and granted him abundant wealth,

13. and children always by his side,

14. and made life very easy for him.

15. Yet he is hungry for more.

16. But no! For he has been truly stubborn with Our revelations.

17. I will make his fate unbearable,

18. for he contemplated and determined a degrading label for the Quran.

19. May he be condemned! How evil was what he determined!

20. May he be condemned even more! How evil was what he determined!

21. Then he re-contemplated in frustration,

22. then frowned and scowled,

23. then turned his back on the truth and acted arrogantly,

24. saying, “This Quran is nothing but magic from the ancients.

25. This is no more than the word of a man.”

26. Soon I will burn him in Hell!

27. And what will make you realize what Hell is?

28. It does not let anyone live or die,

29. scorching the skin.

30. It is overseen by nineteen keepers.

31. We have appointed only stern angels as wardens of the Fire. And We have made their number only as a test for the disbelievers, so that the People of the Book will be certain, and the believers will increase in faith, and neither the People of the Book nor the believers will have any doubts, and so that those hypocrites with sickness in their hearts and the disbelievers will argue, “What does Allah mean by such a number?” In this way Allah leaves whoever He wills to stray and guides whoever He wills. And none knows the forces of your Lord except He. And this description of Hell is only a reminder to humanity.

32. But no! By the moon,

33. and the night as it retreats,

34. and the day as it breaks!

35. Surely Hell is one of the mightiest catastrophes—

36. a warning to humankind,

37. to whichever of you chooses to take the lead or lag behind.

38. Every soul will be detained for what it has done,

39. except the people of the right,

40. who will be in Gardens, asking one another

41. about the wicked who will then be asked:

42. “What has landed you in Hell?”

43. They will reply, “We were not of those who prayed,

44. nor did we feed the poor.

45. We used to indulge in falsehood along with others,

46. and deny the Day of Judgment,

47. until the inevitable came to us.

48. So the pleas of intercessors will be of no benefit to them.

49. Now, what is the matter with them that they are turning away from the reminder,

50. as if they were spooked zebras

51. fleeing from a lion?

52. In fact, each one of them wishes to be given a personal letter from Allah for all to read.

53. But no! In fact, they do not fear the Hereafter.

54. Enough! Surely this Quran is a reminder.

55. So let whoever wills be mindful of it.

56. But they cannot do so unless Allah wills. He alone is worthy to be feared and entitled to forgive.

Examining Peter in the Gospels and Acts... and the issues these passages present for Islam. Jesus is presented as divine in every Gospel... often by Peter himself. How to reconcile these accounts with a Quran who claims Peter as a righteous man?

The companions of Allah's Messenger used to practice manual labor, so their

sweat used to smell, and they were advised to take a bath.

Evaluating the moral aspects of the second trench... massacre or justified act in different times? This was, is, and will be a major theme of Jewish history, and how you think of this can vary greatly on the lens you look through and what you believe. Jews, Christians, Muslims and the non-religious all see this differently, and we go over why in this episode.

I do swear by the Day of Judgment!

And I do swear by the self-reproaching soul!

Do people think We cannot reassemble their bones?

Yes ˹indeed˺! We are ˹most˺ capable of restoring ˹even˺

their very fingertips.

Still people want to deny what is yet to come,

asking ˹mockingly˺, “When is this Day of Judgment?”

But when the sight is stunned,

and the moon is dimmed,

and the sun and the moon are brought together,

on that Day one will cry, “Where is the escape?”

But no! There will be no refuge.

On that Day all will end up before your Lord.

All will then be informed of what they have sent forth and

left behind.

In fact, people will testify against their own souls,

despite the excuses they come up with.

Do not rush your tongue trying to memorize ˹a revelation of˺

the Quran.

It is certainly upon Us to ˹make you˺ memorize and recite

it.

So once We have recited a revelation ˹through Gabriel˺,

follow its recitation ˹closely˺.

Then it is surely upon Us to make it clear ˹to you˺.

But no! In fact, you love this fleeting world,

and neglect the Hereafter.

On that Day ˹some˺ faces will be bright,

looking at their Lord.

And ˹other˺ faces will be gloomy,

anticipating something devastating to befall them.

But no! ˹Beware of the day˺ when the soul reaches the collar

bone ˹as it leaves˺,

and it will be said, “Is there any healer ˹who can save this

life˺?”

And the dying person realizes it is ˹their˺ time to depart,

and ˹then˺ their feet are tied together ˹in a shroud˺.

On that day they will be driven to your Lord ˹alone˺.

This denier neither believed nor prayed,

but persisted in denial and turned away,

then went to their own people, walking boastfully.

Woe to you, and more woe!

Again, woe to you, and even more woe!

Do people think they will be left without purpose?

Were they not ˹once˺ a sperm-drop emitted?

Then they became a clinging clot,1 then He developed and

perfected their form,

producing from it both sexes, male and female.

Is such ˹a Creator˺ unable to bring the dead back to life?

Paul and Muhammad discuss angels, Satan, revelation, heaven and the re-writing of sacred texts. They compare their visions of the afterlife in this second installment of Paul and Muhammad.

It is not permissible to take the life of a Muslim who bears testimony (to the fact that there is no god but Allah, and I am the Messenger of Allah, but in one of the three cases: the married adulterer, a life for life, and the deserter of his Din (Islam), abandoning the community.

The Muslim army turns from north to south... besieging a Jewish tribe of questionable loyalty. The aftermath remains one of the most controversial chapters in Muslim history.

1. Is there not a period of time when each human is nothing

yet worth mentioning?

2. ˹For˺ indeed, We ˹alone˺ created humans from a drop of

mixed fluids, ˹in order˺ to test them, so We made them hear and see.

3. We already showed them the Way, whether they ˹choose to˺

be grateful or ungrateful.

4. Indeed, We have prepared for the disbelievers chains,

shackles, and a blazing Fire.

5. Indeed, the virtuous will have a drink ˹of pure

wine˺—flavoured with camphor—

6. ˹from˺ a spring where Allah’s servants will drink,

flowing at their will.

7. They ˹are those who˺ fulfil ˹their˺ vows and fear a Day

of sweeping horror,

8. and give food—despite their desire for it—to the poor,

the orphan, and the captive,

9. ˹saying to themselves,˺ “We feed you only for the sake of

Allah, seeking neither reward nor thanks from you.

10. We fear from our Lord a horribly distressful Day.”

11. So Allah will deliver them from the horror of that Day,

and grant them radiance and joy,

12. and reward them for their perseverance with a Garden ˹in

Paradise˺ and ˹garments of˺ silk.

13. There they will be reclining on ˹canopied˺ couches,

never seeing scorching heat or bitter cold.

14. The Garden’s shade will be right above them, and its

fruit will be made very easy to reach.

15. They will be waited on with silver vessels and cups of

crystal—

16. crystalline silver, filled precisely as desired.

17. And they will be given a drink ˹of pure wine˺ flavoured

with ginger

18. from a spring there, called Salsabîl.

19. They will be waited on by eternal youths. If you saw

them, you would think they were scattered pearls.

20. And if you looked around, you would see ˹indescribable˺

bliss and a vast kingdom.

21. The virtuous will be ˹dressed˺ in garments of fine green

silk and rich brocade, and adorned with bracelets of silver, and their Lord

will give them a purifying drink.

22. ˹And they will be told,˺ “All this is surely a reward

for you. Your striving has been appreciated.”

23. Indeed, it is We Who have revealed the Quran to you ˹O

Prophet˺ in stages.

24. So be patient with your Lord’s decree, and do not yield

to any evildoer or ˹staunch˺ disbeliever from among them.

25. ˹Always˺ remember the Name of your Lord morning and

evening,

26. and prostrate before Him during part of the night, and

glorify Him long at night.

27. Surely those ˹pagans˺ love this fleeting world,

˹totally˺ neglecting a weighty Day ahead of them.

28. It is We Who created them and perfected their ˹physical˺

form. But if We will, We can easily replace them with others.

29. Surely this is a reminder. So let whoever wills take the

˹Right˺ Way to their Lord.

30. But you cannot will ˹to do so˺ unless Allah wills.

Indeed, Allah is All-Knowing, All-Wise.

31. He admits whoever He wills into His mercy. As for the

wrongdoers, He has prepared for them a painful punishment.