who claim that Islam calls for a holy war betray their ignorance of this great religion. Nowhere in the Qur’ān or the Prophet’s statements or in the writings of leading Islamic jurists does this term occur. In Islamic terminology, the adjective ‘holy’ applies to God only.
When we say all this, people are entitled to ask about the reason for the large number of expeditions that the Prophet sent out of Madinah, particularly in the first few years of his settlement there. A proper understanding of these may be gathered from reading this book that attempts to document the main events in the Prophet’s life. We may say here that a new state established in one city in the middle of a vast, hostile area where tribal warfare was an everyday event could only expect to be attacked. Indeed, attacks were expected from several quarters. Hence, it was necessary for the Prophet and the Muslim community to take every possible precaution, so as to be fully prepared to face any danger that could threaten its existence at any time. Such danger was indeed imminent, culminating in an alliance of all hostile forces moving forward with the declared aim of exterminating the entire Muslim community. That Islam could overcome all this danger was due to God’s help and mercy in the first place, the wise policy of the Prophet and the solid commitment of the Muslims to their cause.
It is impossible to document the Prophet’s life without giving due prominence to such military activities. Indeed, early historians who wrote about the Prophet Muhammad felt that these were the most important events, because they involved hostile forces. Hence, they called their histories, Al-Maghāzī, or The Expeditions. They might have felt that it was easy to gather the social and human dimensions of the society the Prophet had built, because these could still be seen in the Muslim community and the way it conducted its life. Later, a biography of the Prophet and a history of the period which witnessed the rise of the first Muslim community could not overlook the importance of the military aspect, because it was through such military events that the community could establish its right to exist and prosper.
For Muslims, studying the life of the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) is a duty that gives them an insight into how Islam is to be implemented in practice. Hence, putting the military element into proper perspective acquires, particularly in the present day, added importance. Is it possible to bring about a complete Islamic revival without waging war against existing society? Which society is to be considered hostile? Could a revivalist movement resort to a pre-emptive strike against an unfriendly society? What restrictions apply to the use of military force in the context of Islamic revival? The proper answers to these questions, and similar ones, are to be deduced from studying the Prophet’s life, as it provides the model to be followed in putting Qur’ānic teachings into practice. Such a study is bound to show that when the Prophet preached his message in Makkah and the Muslims suffered persecution, no military activity was allowed. Later, when the Muslims established their new state in the midst of hostile forces, war was allowed as the situation demanded. A few years later, when the Muslim community was able to wrest the initiative, war was avoided by all means. Even when the chance to wreak vengeance against those who for many years persecuted the Muslims and turned the Prophet out of his home town was there to grasp, every effort was made to shed no blood, and to make yesterday’s enemies today’s friends. The building of a closely-knit community based on faith, in which all maintain a bond of brotherhood, was the ultimate goal.
In our modern world, advocates of Islam want to see Islam guiding humanity again, because they believe that such guidance can only bring peace and happiness to a world that has suffered much injustice. In trying to achieve this, they must be guided by the Prophet’s example, realizing that their task, for the fulfilment of which they are accountable to God, does not go beyond delivering the message of Islam to mankind. If they try to go beyond that, they run the very real risk of making their efforts counterproductive. They should always remember that God has limited the Prophet’s role to this because He knows that it is the role that brings about the best results. It is not for them to try to extend their role beyond this point.
For the rest of mankind, a proper understanding of the nature of Islamic advocacy is most helpful in shaping their attitudes to Islam and Islamic revivalist movements. Such an understanding will tell them that all they need to do in order to live in peace with the advocates of Islam is to ensure that freedom of belief and expression is part of the real, not the ideal, world. After all, such freedom is an inalienable right of every human being. Islam gives it the highest rank among all human rights. It takes precedence over the right to life. Evidence in support of this is found in two Qur’ānic verses: “Persecution is even worse than killing.” (2: 191) “Persecution is an even greater crime than killing.” (2: 217) According to Dr M.H. Khayat, a contemporary scholar, “These verses give a clear principle that persecution, which means a ‘denial of freedom’ is a far worse and greater offence than killing, which is a ‘denial of the right to life’. This principle leads to a logical conclusion that freedom is more important than life. This is by no means strange, bearing in mind that the very humanity of man is the result of such freedom.”1 With such emphasis on freedom, Islam treats its opponents with respect, provided that they respect people’s rights to free choice. From its own perspective, Western civilization could find no reason to quarrel with this attitude since it takes pride in guaranteeing such freedom to all people.
| London | Adil Salahi |
| January 2002 |
NOTE
1. M.H. Khayat, Health as a Human Right in Islam, World Health Organization, Cairo, 2004, 41pp.
Introduction to the First Edition
I CANNOT REMEMBER how old I was when I completed the first book I read which gave a proper history of the life of the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him). But I was probably 12, or a little younger, when my Arabic teacher, Mr Muhammad al-Jābī, gave me a book on the Prophet’s character as a prize for being top of the class in Arabic. Although I read the book at that time, I confess I did not understand it well. Maybe its superb literary style, or its philosophical outlook, was a little too hard for me. Yet I treasured the book and kept referring to it now and then, using it to much advantage eventually.
My first job after graduation was with the Syrian Radio in Damascus. I was still receiving training when the post of Controller was given to a man with a clear vision of what a radio station being monitored in neighbouring countries should be broadcasting. In his brief spell at the post, he changed the whole outlook of Syrian Radio and gave unwavering encouragement to young talent. It took him only a few minutes to accept my proposal to write the Life of the Prophet in the form of a radio play, to be serialized in thirty 15-minute episodes. That proposal might have reflected a young man’s enthusiasm rather than a well-considered project. I praise the Almighty for the success of that first venture in writing about the Prophet. Those two experiences must have left a profound influence on me so as to herald a strong relationship with the events of that remarkable and unique period in the history of mankind when the Prophet moulded the first Muslim community and established the first Islamic state.
There was a period of time, during my early years in England, when I could not put down the Life of the Prophet by Ibn Hishām. I do not recall how many times I read that invaluable book, written over a thousand years ago, but I kept reading it again and again, feeling that each time I could learn something new. I cannot adequately describe its great appeal to me. I could see the events it related taking place in front of me. Those were the events of a period with great and everlasting influence on the area which later came to be known as the Muslim World, and indeed on the world at large. As I pictured those events, I was not a passive spectator. On the contrary, I experienced a keen sense of belonging to that community which did not only make history while it lived, but also determined the course history would follow for centuries to come.
I
