The Independent (Banjul)
OPINION
November 5, 2004
Muhammed Lamin Jaiteh
Banjul
War is not an objective of Islam nor is it normal behaviour of Muslims. It is only the last resort and it is used under the most extraordinary circumstances when all other measures fail. This is the actual status of war in Islam.
Islam is the religion of peace: one of Gods names is peace the daily greetings of Muslims and angels are peace, paradise is the house of peace, the adjective 'Muslim' means peaceful. Peace is the nature, the meaning, the emblem and the objective of Islam. Every being is entitled to enjoy the peace of Islam and the kindness of peaceful Muslims; regardless of religions, geographical or racial consideration, so long as there is no aggression against Islam or the Muslims.
If non-Muslims are peaceful with the Muslims or even indifferent to Islam, there can be no ground or justification to declare war on them.
There is no such thing as religious war to force Islam on non-Muslims, because if Islam does not emerge from deep convictions from within, it is not acceptable to God nor can it help its professor. If there is any religion or constitution to guarantee peaceful freedom of religion and forbid compulsion in religion, it is Islam, and Islam alone.
The Quran says: let there be no compulsion in religion: Truth stands out clear from error whoever rejects evil and believes in God has grasped the trustworthiest handhold that never breaks. And God hears and knows all things (Quran 2:256).
Even in the propagation of Islam, a Muslim is not only forbidden to employ force but is also commanded to use the most peaceful methods.
To Muhammad (PBUH) God said: Invite (all) to the way of your Lord with wisdom and beautiful preaching and argue with them in ways that are best and most gracious. For your Lord knows best who have strayed from his faith and who receive guidance (Quran 16:125).
And dispute you not with the people o the book (Jews and Christians) except with means better (than mere disputation), unless it be with those of them who inflict wrong (and injury).
But say: 'We believe in the revelation which has come down to us and in that which come down to you, our God and your God is one, and it is to him we bow (In Islam). Quran 29:46.
Now, if Islam is so designated to peace, and if the Quran is favourable to peace, why then did Muhammad launch wars and command battles? Why does the Quran say slay them and fight them?
To seek some answers to this seemingly innocent inquiry, it is dispensable to mention some historical facts that accompanied and proceeded the Muslim wars against the infidels.
After receiving the charge from God, Muhammad called a public meeting and told the assembly of what he had received, appealing to them to give up their idol worship and believe in the one true God. His first peaceful and logical appeal was met not only with resistance but also with jeers, mockery and laughter. He tried continually to present his people with the blessed call but had little success. Because he was not left free to propagate Islam in the open, he had to resort to private preaching for some years to save the lives of his few followers and mitigate their hardship.
When instructions from God came to him to preach in the open, persecutions and torture increased and were brutally inflicted on the Muslims. But the more then persecutions increased, the higher the number of Muslims rose. The infidels tried all kinds of pressure and temptation to silence the call of God. But the more they tried, the former Muhammad and Muslims stood.
When the infidels failed o shake the faith of the believers by threats, pressure, confiscation of property, jeers etc. they organised a harsh boycott, a fierce campaign of ostracism, against the Muslim. For some years, the Muslims were forced to remain within a very tight circle of association, unable to preach, sell, buy, marry or contact any of their fellow Meccans.
Even this did not shake the Muslim faith. The boycott went on until the infidels themselves were tired of its observance and had to call it off.
Bringing the severe boycott to an end was no indication of peace or sign of inclination to peace on the part of the infidels. On the contrary, pressure and persecution continued though to no avail as regard daunting the Muslims or preventing Islam.
Finally, the infidels convened a summit conference behind close doors to discuss what to do next in order to eliminate Islam and get rid of Muhammad once and for all. An unanimous resolution was adopted to select a string man from every tribe and murder Muhammad in his bed. The mission of Muhammad was not destined to end at that level. So God instructed him to leave Mecca, his dear home town, and migrate to reunite with the native Muslims there and the earlier emigrants who had fled from Mecca to Medina (see Quran 8:30, 9:40).
This was the great event of the Hijrah or Emigration with which the history of Islam began and from which the Muslim calendar dates. Fleeing from Mecca, the Muslims were forced by variety of circumstances to leave behind practically all their properties, belonging and even families. As soon as they settled in Medina, Muhammad (PBUH) resumed his peaceful preaching and his gracious invitation to Islam. Some natives responded favourably to the call of God and immediately became full-fledged members of the Muslim community. Others did not embrace Islam but maintained their traditional beliefs. And because Muhammad was dedicated to dignified peace and reform, he concluded treaties with non-Muslims assuring them of freedom and security, and creating in their hearts, for the first time a socio-national conscience instead of narrow tribal allegiance. While Muhammad (PBUH) was engaged in these reforms, trying to organise the Muslims community at Medina and lay down the foundations of stable and peaceful society where in Muslims and non-Muslims could live side by side, the enemies at Mecca were restless. Their hatred of the Muslims was burning, and their determinations to eliminate Islam was getting stronger and stronger everyday. They reviewed their tactics and, as soon as they completed their new plans, they started to implement them. They decided to make trouble for the Muslims from within and from without. Plundering and fighting raids were organised to attack Medina and get back to Mecca with whatever loot they could lay their hands on.