Qur'an, Hadith and Scholars:Muhammad and Jihad: Difference between revisions

The early Islamic tradition delineates two distinct phases to the career of the prophet: the Meccan period, characterized by peaceful exhortations to the pagan people of Mecca to abandon their gods and embrace Islam, and the Medinan period, characterized by expanding conflicts with neighboring Jewish tribes and the pagans of Mecca. According to the [[sira]] and many [[hadith]] traditions, during this period Muhammad both ordered and condoned numerous confrontations and assassinations against his enemies in Mecca and Medina. These military operations constitute [[Jihad]], Arabic for struggle, a holy duty incumbent upon all able-bodied Muslim men to engage in armed struggle to expand the reach of Islam. Men who die "on the path of Allah" will be [[Shaheed (Martyr)|shahids]] who will enjoy [[Houri (Heavenly Virgin)|72 Virgins]] in paradise, and those who live and are victorious will enjoy divinely-approved [[Qur'an, Hadith and Scholars:Muhammad and Booty|booty]] in this world. The first target of the jihad are the pagans of Mecca and their holy shrine the [[Ka'bah]], however the [[Qur'an]] and many of the sayings of the prophet make clear that jihad is a duty incumbent upon all Muslims until "the religion, all of it, is to Allah" (Qur'an 8:39). Muhammad was the leader of these military campaigns and played the role of supreme commander. He also took part in the battles himself, fighting and even being wounded. Jihad was thus a fundamental part of early Islam according to its own tradition and a central occupation of its prophet.  

{{Quote|{{citation|title=The Life of Muhammad|trans_title=Sirat Rasul Allah|ISBN=0-19-636033-1|year=1955|publisher=Oxford UP|author1=Ibn Ishaq (d. 768)|author2=Ibn Hisham (d. 833)|editor=A. Guillaume|url=https://archive.org/details/GuillaumeATheLifeOfMuhammad/page/n1/mode/2up|page=300}}<br>{{citation|title=سيرة ابن هشام ت السقا|author1=ابن إسحاق|author2=ابن هشام|url=https://app.turath.io/book/23833|publisher=al-Maktabah al-Shamilah|volume=vol. 1|page=627}}|Then the apostle went forth to the people and incited them saying, 'By God in whose hand is the soul of Muhammad, no man will be slain this day fighting against them with steadfast courage advancing not retreating but God will cause him to enter Paradise' 'Umayr b. aI-Burnam brother

of B. Salima was eating some dates which he had in his hand. 'Fine, Fine!' said he, 'is there nothing between me and my entering Paradise save to be killed by these men?' He flung the dates from his hand, seized his sword, and fought against them till he- was slain, [saying the while

{{Quote|{{citation|title=The Life of Muhammad|trans_title=Sirat Rasul Allah|ISBN=0-19-636033-1|year=1955|publisher=Oxford UP|author1=Ibn Ishaq (d. 768)|author2=Ibn Hisham (d. 833)|editor=A. Guillaume|url=https://archive.org/details/GuillaumeATheLifeOfMuhammad/page/n1/mode/2up|pages=503-504}}<br>{{citation|title=سيرة ابن هشام ت السقا|author1=ابن إسحاق|author2=ابن هشام|url=https://app.turath.io/book/23833|publisher=al-Maktabah al-Shamilah|volume=vol. |page=}}<br>See Also {{Tabari|8|p. 82}}|The Willing Homage:<br>

{{Quote|{{citation|title=The Life of Muhammad|trans_title=Sirat Rasul Allah|ISBN=0-19-636033-1|year=1955|publisher=Oxford UP|author1=Ibn Ishaq (d. 768)|author2=Ibn Hisham (d. 833)|editor=A. Guillaume|url=https://archive.org/details/GuillaumeATheLifeOfMuhammad/page/n1/mode/2up|page=505}}<br>{{citation|title=سيرة ابن هشام ت السقا|author1=ابن إسحاق|author2=ابن هشام|url=https://app.turath.io/book/23833|publisher=al-Maktabah al-Shamilah|volume=vol. 2|pages=318-3319}}|'Umar jumped up and walked alongside Abu Jandal saying, 'Be patient for they are only polytheists; the

{{Quote|{{citation|title=The History of al-Tabari|trans_title=Ta’rikh al-rusul wa’l-muluk|volume=vol. VIII|ISBN=0-7914-3149-5|year=1997|publisher=SUNY Press|author=al-Tabari (d. 923)|editor=Michael Fishbein|url=https://archive.org/details/HistoryAlTabari40Vol/History_Al-Tabari_10_Vol/page/n2028/mode/2up|pages=129-130}}<br>{{citation|title=تاريخ الرسل والملوك|author=أبو جعفر الطبري|url=https://app.turath.io/book/9783|publisher=al-Maktabah al-Shamilah|volume=vol. 3|pages=18-19}}|According to Ibn Humayd--Salamah--Ibn Ishaq, who said: I asked Ibn Shihab al-Zuhri how the Messenger of God's grant to the Jews of Khaybar of their date palms, when he granted them the palm trees with the proviso of a tax on them, had taken place: did he concede them these terms as established [only] until his death, or for some necessity did he grant them to them without such a proviso? Ibn Shihab informed me that the Messenger of God conquered Khaybar by force after fighting. Khaybar was something that God gave as booty to His Messenger. The Messenger of God took one-fifth of it and divided [the remainder] among the Muslims. Those of the inhabitants who surrendered did so on condition that they should be expelled after having fought. The Messenger of God summoned them and said, "If you wish, we will deliver these properties to you on condition that you shall work them and that their produce shall be divided between us and you) I will allow you to remain as long as God allows you to remain." They accepted, and they worked the properties on those terms. The Messenger of God used to send 'Abdallah b. Rawahah; he would divide the produce and assess it fairly for the inhabitants. After the death of the Prophet, Abu Bakr after the Prophet confirmed the properties in their hands on the same terms of sharecropping on which the Messenger of God had dealt with them. When Abu Bakr died, 'Umar confirmed the sharecropping arrangement in the beginning of his term as commander) then, however, 'Umar was informed that the Messenger of God had said during his final illness, "Two religions cannot coexist in the Arabian peninsula." 'Umar investigated the matter until trustworthy evidence reached him; then he sent to the Jews, saying: "God has given permission for you to be expelled) for I have received word that the Messenger of God said that two religions cannot coexist in the Arabian peninsula. Let anyone who has a treaty from the Messenger of God bring it to me, and I will carry it out for him. Let any Jew who has no treaty from the Messenger of God make ready to leave." Thus 'Umar expelled any of them who had no treaty from the Messenger of God.<br>

{{Quote|{{Tabari|9|p. 18}}|While fighting the Banu Sa'd, Muslim horsemen seized Bijad. They herded his family around him like cattle, and they treated them roughly.}}

 

{{Quote|{{Tabari|9|p. 20}}|The Messenger and his companions went directly to Ta’if. They encamped there for a fortnight, waging war. The townsfolk fought the Muslims from behind the fort. None came out in the open. All of the surrounding people surrendered and sent their delegations to the Prophet. After besieging Ta’if for twenty days, Muhammad left and halted at Ji’ranah where the captives of Hunayn were held with their women and children. It is alleged that those captives taken numbered six thousand with women and children.}}

 

{{Quote|{{Tabari|9|p. 22}}|The Prophet continued to besiege the town, fighting them bitterly.}}

{{Quote|{{Tabari|9|p. 25}}|By Allah, I did not come to fight for nothing. I wanted a victory over Ta’if so that I might obtain a slave girl from them and make her pregnant.}}

{{Quote|{{Tabari|9|p. 49}}|Muhammad urged the Muslims by way of a meeting to help cover the expenses of Jihad in Allah’s Cause. The men provided mounts in anticipation of Allah’s reward.}}

{{Quote|{{Tabari|9|p. 58}}|When the Messenger reached Tabuk the governor of Aylah [a seaport at the north end of the Gulf of Aqabah] came to him, made a treaty, and agreed to pay the jizyah tax. The people of Jarba and Adhruh also offered to pay him the tax.}}

{{Quote|{{Tabari|9|p. 64}}|Hatim said, ‘Adi, whatever you were going to do before Muhammad's cavalry descended upon us, do it now, for I have seen the banners of his army.' When the Islamic cavalry left the settlement they took Hatim's daughter along with other captives. She was brought to the Messenger with slaves from Tayyi. He put her in an enclosure by the door of his mosque where the captives were detained.}}

{{Quote|{{Tabari|9|p. 69}}|Arabs are the most noble people in lineage, the most prominent, and the best in deeds. We were the first to respond to the call of the Prophet. We are Allah’s helpers and the viziers of His Messenger. We fight people until they believe in Allah. He who believes in Allah and His Messenger has protected his life and possessions from us. As for one who disbelieves, we will fight him forever in the Cause of Allah. '''Killing him is a small matter to us.'''}}

{{Quote|{{Tabari|9|p. 69}}|Killing disbelievers is a small matter to us.}}

{{Quote|{{Tabari|9|p. 76}}|Malik has reported to me that you were the first from Himyar to embrace Islam and that you have killed infidels, so rejoice at your good fortune.}}

{{Quote|{{Tabari|9|p. 79}}|In this year the zakat was made obligatory, and the Messenger dispatched his agents to collect it. The verse was revealed: ‘Take the zakat from their wealth to purify them.'}}

{{Quote|{{Tabari|9|p. 82}}|The Messenger sent Khalid with an army of 400 to Harith [a South Arabian tribe] and ordered him to invite them to Islam for three days before he fought them. If they were to respond and submit, he was to teach them the Book of Allah, the Sunnah of His Prophet, and the requirements of Islam. If they should decline, then he was to fight them.}}

{{Quote|{{Tabari|9|p. 88}}|Abdallah Azdi came to the Messenger, embraced Islam, and became a good Muslim. Allah’s Apostle invested Azdi with the authority over those who had surrendered and ordered him to fight the infidels from the tribes of Yemen. Azdi left with an army by the Messenger’s command. The Muslims besieged them for a month. Then they withdrew, setting a trap. When the Yemenites went in pursuit, Azdi was able to inflict a heavy loss on them.}}

{{Quote|{{Tabari|9|p. 115}}|The military expeditions (Ghazawat) in which the Messenger personally participated were twenty-six. Some say there were twenty-seven.}}

{{Quote|{{Tabari|9|p. 118}}|The armies and raiding parties sent by the Messenger of Allah between the time he came to Medina and his death (ten years) was forty-eight.}}

{{Quote|{{Tabari|9|p. 121}}|When it was feasible for me, I struck him with my sword and killed him. Then I departed, leaving his women to throw themselves at him. When I returned to the Prophet, he asked, ‘Is your mission accomplished?' ‘Yes. I have killed him.'}}<!-- FOR FUTURE ADDITIONS: