PROPHET OF PEACE, OR OF VIOLENCE

DUE to the intolerance and violent extremism of small groups of people who call themselves 'Muslims', Islam is currently widely perceived to be a religion of violence, with objectives that appear to be achievable only through terrorism. This, however, is untrue.

Islam is not the name given to the behaviour or the actions of a particular group of people who call themselves 'Muslims'. Islam is a system of beliefs and ethics, and people who say that they hold those beliefs and value those ethics are called Muslims. It follows, then, that the behaviour of Muslims must be judged by the principles of Islam and not vice versa. Islam cannot be evaluated based on the actions of Muslims.

If individuals calling themselves 'Muslims' adopt terrorism or violence, then the responsibility for their actions lies with them, not with the religion they profess. In spite of their professed Islamic agenda, the actions of such people cannot be deemed Islamic.

Islam is not the name given to the behaviour or the actions of a particular group of people who call themselves Muslims.

Ali bin Abi Talib was the son-in-law of the Prophet of Islam. When a boy was born in his household, Ali named him Harab, meaning war. Arab tribes were frequently at war and took pride in names that displayed a warrior like nature. When the Prophet heard about the boy’s name, he asked Ali to change the name to Hasan, meaning goodness. From this incident we can get an idea of the personality of the Prophet of Islam. His was a peace-loving personality in the complete sense. His peace- loving nature was so heightened that he did not even like to hear the word Harab which had connotations of violence. Whereas Harab was a symbolic name for violence, Hasan was a name that symbolised peace. The Prophet of Islam believed in cultivating a peaceful character.

Zaid bin Muhalhil, a poet from Najd, was born before the Prophet. He was also a skilled swordsman and horse rider, because of which he was known as Zaid-ul-Qail. Qail means horse, and in those days, horses were associated with cavalry. When Zaid embraced Islam, the Prophet did not like his title and changed it from Zaid-ul-Qail to Zaid-ul-Qair. Qail was a symbolic name associated with battles and violence. Qair on the other hand was symbolic of peace and goodness.

The Prophet changed the direction of Zaid’s character by changing his name. He instructed him to be a professor of goodness giving the gifts of peace and prosperity to people instead of being a harbinger of death and violence. He wanted his followers to do good works for the people, giving them the message of peace and prosperity and not of death and destruction.

If we were to objectively study the entire 23 years of Muhammad’s prophetic life, it would be absolutely clear that Muhammad was a Prophet of peace, not a prophet of violence.

With these examples we can understand that peace was the guiding principle of the Prophet's character. The battles that took place during his life were only incidental and under exceptional circumstances, rather than being the main feature of his life. However, most of the Prophet's biographers have painted an altogether different picture of him. Instead of presenting him as a Prophet of peace they have portrayed him as a prophet of violence.

The battles which were fought during the Prophet's time were related to the culture then prevailing amongst the Arab tribes.

The Prophet Muhammad was born in the Banu Hashim clan of the Quraysh tribe of Arabia. At that time, Arabia was divided by many different tribes, each with several clans, all vying for domination. Fights between tribes and clans over trivial issues were common. Due to this culture, there were skirmishes between the Prophet's followers and their opponents. Most of the incidents that have been presented by the biographers of the Prophet as battles can be better classified as minor skirmishes instead.

Prophet Muhammad was born in the year 570 in Makkah and attained prophet-hood at the age of 40 in the year 610. He began his mission of conveying God’s guidance to mankind in a peaceful manner. There was never any act of violence by the Prophet against those who objected to his teachings or oppressed him and his followers during the entire thirteen years of his life as a prophet in Makkah. While he was in Makkah, his teachings were always those of patience, tolerance and avoidance.

If individuals calling themselves Muslims adopt terrorism or violence, then the responsibility for their actions lies with them, not with the religion they profess.

The Prophet and his followers had to face the hardships of a threeyear social boycott by the tribe, and they spent this time in tolerating and patiently enduring their difficulties. His enemies plotted to kill him, so he quietly escaped from Makkah with a few of his companions to Medina. He gave the same advice to his followers.

The outcome of these hostilities were the battles of Badr and Uhud. Even after this when the Prophet got to know that his opponents were marching towards Medina with an army of 10,000, he employed a strategy of avoidance by creating a trench outside Medina because of which an armed conflict was averted.

The Prophet was on a divine mission to present God’s message to mankind. Any mission of communication can only be successful when the circumstances are harmonious and peaceful. In an atmosphere of violence and warfare, no mission, however strong can be successful.

In such a situation, even minor differences can instantaneously escalate to violent conflict and war. For an atmosphere of peace, though, a price has to be paid, and that was in the form of perseverance in the face of all obstacles; in ignoring the problems whilst availing of the opportunities. The Prophet’s opponents were constantly provoking him and his followers to engage with them in battle over small issues, but the Prophet and his companions always chose the divine teachings of patience and forbearance to circumvent conflict.

In his 6th year in Medina, the Prophet entered into a ten-year peace treaty called the Treaty of Hudaybiya with his opponents by accepting all of their conditions.

Peace was the guiding principle of the Prophet's character.

Two years later, when the Makkans were forced to surrender to the Muslims, his opponents were brought before the Prophet. These people had troubled the Prophet and his companions for many years, having forced them to leave their homes and properties in Makkah. They had committed many atrocities on him and his people. They were established war criminals and captives. According to the prevailing tribal custom, the punishment for such crimes was death.

If we were to objectively study the entire 23 years of Muhammad’s prophetic life, it would be absolutely clear that Muhammad was a Prophet of peace, not a prophet of violence.

If we compare the Prophet's battles with other battles in history, we will find that the mission of the Prophet was a non-violent mission; and the battles that happened were defensive in nature and under exceptional circumstances.

The number of people killed in these battles were very few when compared to the casualties of many other battles in history. Sorting in order of the number of casualties or by the duration of battles in history, the armed conflicts of the Prophet Muhammad and his people were forced to engage in, do not even figure in the records.

The mission of the Prophet is not to rule over people but to change their minds and hearts towards spirituality.

As a comparison here are some details of some of the famous battles in the history of mankind.