While I generally approve of the idea of judging our ancestors by the standards of their day and not by our modern perceptions, I think there is still a flaw here in this reasoning. If we’re only judging Mohamed as a warlord or monarch of his time then yes we can wink at his indiscretions. I mean I’ll be the first to admit that as a warlord he wasn’t really that bad of guy. He was certainly reasonably fair in distributing booty amongst his warriors. He also was not all that bad to those he defeated as warlords go.
However, that is not what he claimed to be. Nor is it what his follower’s claim that he was. No he is the “seal of prophets”. We are supposed to believe that his life was sinless. He is also the best of men and so the best example to follow. The problem is that if he truly was supposed to possess all of these messianic like qualities he must be held to higher standard. The age that he lived in cannot be an excuse for his personal behavior.
Why would anyone follow the teachings and example of a man who led a less moral life than the average person today? While Mohammed may have been exceptional as a war lord of the ancient world, he leaves much to be desired as an eternal role model for humanity. If we want to excuse Mohammed’s excesses because of his era that’s completely legitimate, but then we can’t claim him as the “Seal of the Prophets”. If however, we want to claim him as the last and greatest prophet, and to be sinless, then he must be held accountable for his actions.
Excellent Point!!!

…if Muhammad is considered to be the last prophet and a prophet for all mankind a universal prophet, then his actions are also universal!!!..
Even if the claims of Islam about Mohammed were relaxed a great deal it would make a difference. The old Jewish prophets were flawed men. Sometimes it was those very flaws that made their messages powerful. Christian saints have also been flawed individuals. Since Muslims though insist that Mohammed is the best person ever they open him up for scrutiny. The same goes for Jesus, since Christians claim that He was sinless. The difference is that while people are still trying to live up to the standards of Jesus, humanity has passed Mohammed in moral character.