Mohammad and the 8th Commandment

“You shall not steal.” Exodus 20:15

Both public and private sins are included in this prohibition. The eighth commandment condemns theft and robbery. It demands strict integrity in the minutest details of the affairs of life. It forbids overreaching in trade and requires the payment of just debts or wages. Solomon stated this truth when he wrote, “Do not withhold good from those to whom it is due, when it is in the power of your hand to do so” (Proverbs 3:27). This commandment declares that every attempt to advantage oneself by the ignorance, weakness, or misfortune of another is registered as fraud in the books of heaven. It requires us to practice the golden rule, always treating others the way we desire them to treat us. The eighth commandment requires honesty and fairness in all of our dealings.


As to Mohammad(PBUH) - It is ok to steal from Jews:

Bukhari 5:59:362 The Prophet killed the men of the Jewish tribe Bani Quraiza (some 600 to 800 of them) and distributed their women, children and property among the Muslims All the other Jews of Medina were exiled.

Noble Quran 33:27 "And He made you heirs of their lands, their houses and their goods, and of a land which ye had not frequented before, And Allah has power over all things."

As to Non-Jews - It's ok to steal from them too!:

NOBLE QURAN 8.041 And know that out of all the booty that ye may acquire , a fifth share is assigned to Allah,- and to the Messenger,

First part: start attacking all the caravans travelling towards mecca, even if the innocent merchants were not meccans. Take as slaves the women and children and after muhammad took 20% for himself the rest was to be distributed amongst his followers.
Allah divided the booty stolen from the first caravan after he made spoils permissible. He gave four-fifths to those He had allowed to take it and one-fifth to His Apostle.Ishaq 288

Muhammad summoned the Muslims and said, ‘This is the Quraysh caravan containing their property. Go out and attack it. Perhaps Allah will give it to us as prey. Ishaq 289

Meanwhile the Prophet was praying, bowing and prostrating himself, and also seeing and hearing the treatment of the slave. They beat him severely and continued to interrogate him but they found that he had no knowledge of what they were looking for.Tabari VII 30

A Meccan said, ‘As soon as we were confronted by the raiding party, we turned our backs and they started killing and capturing us at their pleasure. Some of our men turned tail humiliated. Allah smote some of us with pustules from which we died.’Ishaq 310

Tabari VIII:131 "Allah's Apostle sent Umar with thirty men against the rear of Hawazin. They traveled by night and hid by day. However, word reached Hawazin and they fled." Tabari VIII:132 "According to Waqidi, a thirty-man raiding party led by Bahir went to the Banu Murrah. His companions were killed and he was carried away wounded with the dead. They returned to Medina." So... "The Messenger sent Abdallah al-Kalbi to the land of the Murrah. During the raid, Usamah and one of the Ansar killed Mirdas. When they overcame him, Usamah said, ‘I testify that there is no god but Allah.' but we killed him anyway."

Tabari VIII:133 "The raiding party led by Ghalib went to Abd Tha'labah. One of Muhammad's slaves, said, ‘Prophet, I know where the Abd can be taken by surprise.' So Muhammad sent him with Ghalib and 130 men. They raided Abd, and drove off camels and sheep, bringing them back to Medina."

And What were Mohammad's (PBUH) Motivations?

Bukhari:V4B52N267 "The Prophet said, 'Khosrau will be ruined, and there will be no Khosrau after him, and Caesar will surely be ruined and there will be no Caesar after him, and you will spend their treasures in Allah’s Cause [Jihad].'"

Bukhari:V4B56N793 "The Prophet said, 'If you live long enough the treasures of Khosrau will be opened and taken as spoils. You will carry out handfuls of gold and silver.'"

Bukhari:V4B56N795 "I have been given the keys of the treasures of the world by Allah."

It was all about treasure!

WHo was Khosrau? Khosru Parvez, was a Persian King and contemporary of Muhammad. In 626 A.D., adjusted for today’s dollars, he had stashed away over $2 billion in silver and gold. His annual income exceeded $700 million. Relative to others of his day, he was the richest man alive.

And that's whose money Mohammad (PBUH) wanted!

But what did Mohammad (PBUH) say about theft?

Hadith Malik 497:1541 The Prophet ordered the cutting of the hand for the theft of a shield worth three dirhams.

Hadith Malik 497:1542 The Prophet said: "The theft of fruit hanging from a tree or of a sheep straying on the hillside will not entail the cutting of a hand. When the sheep comes home or the fruit are picked and cut and they are stolen the hand will be cut off provided the price is 3 dirhams or more.

Hadith Malik 499:1549 Safwan fell asleep in the mosque with a sheet of cloth under his head. A thief stole the sheet but Safwan woke up, caught him and took him to the Prophet. When Muhammad ordered his hand to be cut off Safwan relented and tried to say that he had given the thief the cloth. The Prophet said that it was now too late to rescind the decision.

Hadith Malik 500:1551 A stranger from Yemen who already had his right hand and foot cut off stole a necklace at Medina. Abu Bakr (the first caliph) ordered his remaining hand cut off.

Bukhari 8:81:78 The Prophet said, "By Him in whose Hand my soul is! If Fatima (his daughter) stole aught I would cut off her hand."

Abu Dawud (38:4396) A thief was brought to the Prophet four times and his punishments were amputations of the right hand, the left foot, the left hand and then the right foot On the fifth occasion the Prophet had him killed "We then dragged him and cast him into a well and threw stones over him."

Abu Dawud (38:4397) On another occasion, the Prophet ordered that the thief's hand be hung on his neck




So he is against stealing once he becomes wealthy... But Allah has made it so that all war booty (stoken property) is owed to Mohammad (PBUH)... Contradictory, but only if you look at it from an equality stand-point. not contradictory if you look at it from a "what benefits Mohammad (PBUH)" standpoint!