Furthermore, according to the aforementioned verse, it is the duty of Muslims to protect not only mosques, but also the places of worship of other faiths and to ensure there is freedom for religion for all people, which is in complete accordance with the Holy Qur’an, which explicitly states, ‘There should be no compulsion in religion’ Hence, every war fought by the Holy Prophet (sa) must be examined with this premise in mind. Rather, it was to fight in self-defence, to save Islam from extermination and to establish freedom of religion and thought for people of all religions. It was never to gain territory or to spread his religion by force. This verse explains why the Prophet (sa) of Islam ever raised his sword to fight. And Allah will surely help one who helps Him.
‘Those who have been driven out from their homes unjustly only because they said, ‘Our Lord is Allah’ – And if Allah did not repel some men by means of others, there would surely have been pulled down cloisters and churches and synagogues and mosques, wherein the name of Allah is oft commemorated. The reason for this is clarified in the subsequent verse: ‘Permission to fight is given to those against whom war is made, because they have been wronged – and Allah indeed has power to help them.’ Hence the first verse revealed in this regard was:
It was because of this unprovoked attack that God Almighty then permitted the Muslims to take up arms to defend themselves. They marched upon Madinah, without any provocation, with a well-equipped army of 1000 men. But despite the fact that the idolaters of Makkah had successfully run the Muslims out of town, they were not content: they wanted to wipe out Islam itself once and for all. Eventually, God Almighty commanded them to migrate and the Muslims began a new life in the city of Madinah, a few hundred kilometres away. In addition, the Quraish even imposed severe sanctions upon the Muslims for over two years which pushed them to the point of starvation. The Quraish would beat and torture the small community of Muslims and made no distinction between any class or family ties. They began persecuting him and his followers to the extent that some of them had to migrate to Abyssinia to seek protection under a Christian king. During this time, most of the chieftains of the Quraish tribe rejected him. By God, he is not a liar nor is he a magician.’ Thus, the people who lived in his time, even those who became his staunchest enemies, never found a flaw in his character – yet strangely, those studying the life of the Holy Prophet (sa) centuries later attempt to besmirch his character.Īfter starting his mission to invite people to Islam, Prophet Muhammad (sa) preached in Makkah for almost 13 years.
Then you began to say that he is a magician and a liar. He was the most honest in speech and the most trustworthy – and this remained your view of him until you observed his hair turning grey and he reached his old age, and he brought to you that which he brought. His staunchest enemy, Abu Jahl, once stated, ‘O Muḥammad (sa)! We do not consider you to be a liar but we consider that which you have brought to be a lie.’ Similarly, another staunch enemy of Islam, Al-Nadr bin al-Harith once heard someone say that ‘Muhammad (sa) is a liar’ (God forbid), and replied by saying: ‘Muhammad (sa) was a child among you and he was the most virtuous of all. Indeed, his reputation was so outstanding that he was known by the titles of al-Siddiq (meaning the truthful) and al-Amin (meaning the trustworthy). It is interesting to note, however, that the Quraish, the first opponents of Islam and Muhammad (sa) testified to his high moral character in spite of their opposition to his teachings. One strategy in their attacks against Islam was to malign the character of the Holy Prophet (sa) of Islam, for they knew that if they managed to do this, they would achieve their goal of discrediting Islam itself. This is not a new criticism 19th-century orientalists such as Sir William Muir and John Rodwell, among others, also promoted these baseless accusations. A simple Google search will reveal that the rhetoric that ‘Islam is a violent religion’ is as prevalent today as it was in the past.