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Muhammad (c.570-632) the prophet of Islam, was, amongst other things, a warrior during the last ten years of his life.

Muhammad's last ten years

Muhammad spent his last ten years, from 613 to 622 teaching Islam in Medina. The last two years of his life were spent subduing the other tribes and cities of the Arabian peninsula. He was, in essence, the ruler of Arabia at the time of his death.

Some Muslims have argued that by consulting the sirah, or biographical work, of early writers such as Ibn Ishaq, Al-Tabari, and Ibn Hisham, it is possible to reconstruct a casualty figure of well under one thousand persons during the campaigns of Muhammad. Critics dismiss this as special pleading based on late and incomplete evidence.

Of those who died in the early wars, several hundred were the men of one of Medina's Jewish tribes. They were accused of planning to betray, or betraying, the Muslims of Medina to an army from Mecca. As soon as the Meccans were repelled, at the Battle of the Trench, the Muslims turned against the Banu Qurayza. The Qurayza eventually surrendered and agreed that their fate should be decided by an arbitrator. They gave their assent to the proposed arbitrator, who surprised them by judging that all the adult males of the tribe should be put to death. This was done. Some say that Muhammad should have intervened in the cause of mercy, others that he bears no blame in this matter.

The Rules of War

As with any Islamic law, the rules of war are derived from the primary source, the Qur'an, and the secondary source, the hadith, or collected oral traditions. Sunni and Shi'a Muslims accept different hadith as authoritative.

Relevant Qur'anic verses

• Fight in the cause of Allah those who fight you, but do not transgress limits; for Allah does not love transgressors. (2:190)

• If any one slew a person - except in retaliation for murder and for spreading mischief in the land - it would be as if he slew the whole people. (5:32)

• You may kill those who wage war against you, and you may evict them whence they evicted you. Oppression is worse than murder. Do not fight them at the Sacred Masjid, unless they attack you therein. If they attack you, you may kill them. This is the just retribution for those disbelievers.

• If they refrain, then GOD is Forgiver, Most Merciful.

• You may also fight them to eliminate oppression, and to worship God freely. If they refrain, you shall not aggress; aggression is permitted only against the aggressors.

• They desire that you should disbelieve as they have disbelieved, so that you might be (all) alike; therefore take not from among them friends until they fly (their homes) in Allah's way; but if they turn back, then seize them and kill them wherever you find them, and take not from among them a friend or a helper.

• You will find others who desire that they should be safe from you and secure from their own people; as often as they are sent back to the mischief they get thrown into it headlong; therefore if they do not withdraw from you, and (do not) offer you peace and restrain their hands, then seize them and kill them wherever you find them; and against these We have given you a clear authority.

• If they resort to peace, so shall you, and put your trust in God. He is the Hearer, the Omniscient.

• ... if they leave you alone, refrain from fighting you, and offer you peace, then God gives you no excuse to fight them.

• O you who believe, if you strike in the cause of God, you shall be absolutely sure. Do not say to one who offers you peace, "You are not a believer," seeking the spoils of this world. For God possesses infinite spoils. Remember that you used to be like them, and God blessed you. Therefore, you shall be absolutely sure (before you strike). GOD is fully Cognizant of everything you do.

• You shall not kill any person - for God has made life sacred - except in the course of justice. If one is killed unjustly, then we give his heir authority to enforce justice. Thus, he shall not exceed the limits in avenging the murder; he will be helped.

• There shall be no compulsion in religion: the right way is now distinct from the wrong way. Anyone who denounces the devil and believes in God has grasped the strongest bond; one that never breaks. God is Hearer, Omniscient.

• Proclaim: "This is the truth from your Lord," then whoever wills let him believe, and whoever wills let him disbelieve. We have prepared for the transgressors a fire that will completely surround them. When they scream for help, they will be given a liquid like concentrated acid that scalds the faces. What a miserable drink! What a miserable destiny!

Hadith

Hadith accepted by the Sunni

Muhammad is reputed to have said:

• "You are neither hard-hearted nor of fierce character, nor one who shouts in the markets. You do not return evil for evil, but excuse and forgive." (Bukhari, Volume 6, Book 60, Number 362)

• "Do not kill any old person, any child or any woman" (Abu Dawud)

• "Do not kill the monks in monasteries" or "Do not kill the people who are sitting in places of worship". (Musnad of Ibn Hanbal)

Sunnis believe that one of the most general and encompassing rules of warfare in Islam was given by Abu Bakr to an Islamic army set out for Syria. Abu Bakr was Muhammad's first successor and is considered by Sunnis to have been his closest friend.

Abu Bakr is reputed to have said:

• "Stop, O people, that I may give you ten rules for your guidance in the battlefield. Do not commit treachery or deviate from the right path. You must not mutilate dead bodies. Neither kill a child, nor a woman, nor an aged man. Bring no harm to the trees, nor burn them with fire, especially those which are fruitful. Slay not any of the enemy's flock, save for your food. You are likely to pass by people who have devoted their lives to monastic services; leave them alone."

Hadith accepted by the Shi'a

Muhammad is reputed to have said:

• "Allah has cursed he who kills one who does not fight him, or strikes one who does not strike him." (related by Imam 'Ali al-Ridha, the 8th Shi'a Imam)

• "Go in the name of Allah, and in the way of Allah and according to the creed of the Messenger of Allah. Do not handcuff or tie up (prisoners) and do not mutilate (even the dead) and do not use treacherous means and do not kill old men or children or women. Do not cut down trees unless you are forced to do so. If any Muslim man, be he lowly or lofty, should look towards one of the Polytheists, then he should give him sanctuary so that he might hear the words of Allah. If he follows you, then he is your brother in faith, and if he refuses, then grant him sanctuary and seek succour in Allah." (related by Imam Ja'far al-Sādiq, the 6th Shi'a Imam)

• "He who joins up with those who are not his rightful allies will have the curse of Allah upon him. He who denies the labourer his rightful wage will have the curse of Allah upon him. He who commits a crime or aids a criminal will have the curse of Allah upon him... O' 'Ali, the worst of people in the sight of Allah is the killer of one who does not fight him, or he who beats one who does not beat him, or he who gives allegiance to other than his rightful allies. They have committed kufr (non-belief) in what Allah, Almighty is He, has sent down." (related by Imam Ja'far al-Sādiq, the 6th Shi'a Imam)

Imam Ali ibn Abi Talib is reputed to have said:

• "Do not fight the people until they initiate fighting for then by the grace of Allah, you will have the justification, and leaving them until they initiate fighting is yet another justification. Then if you defeat them, do not kill one who is fleeing, and do not finish off the wounded or expose nakedness or mutilate the dead." (related by 'Abdullah ibn Jondab, the son of Imam 'Ali)

• "Do not pursue those retreating, nor one who throws down his weapon, and do not kill the wounded. For these people are retreating and they have no troop to resort to. This what the Sunnah commended when fighting the trespassers." (related by Salam)

Criticisms

Muhammad's critics often hold that the Muslims engaged in wars of aggression, that they caused much bloodshed and suffering, that they imposed Islam at the point of a sword, and that Muhammad's conduct is not an example to be imitated.

Muslims respond by asserting that the Muslims fought only when attacked, or in the context of a wider war of self-defense. They argue that Muhammad was the first among the major military figures of history to lay down rules for humane warfare, and that he was scrupulous in limiting the loss of life as much as possible.

Some Muslims have argued that by consulting the sirah, or biographical work, of early writers such as Ibn Ishaq, Al-Tabari, and Ibn Hisham, it is possible to reconstruct a casualty figure of well under one thousand persons during the campaigns of Muhammad.

For an extended argument regarding Islamic warfare, see jihad as warfare.

See also

• Rules of war in Islam

External links

• Imam Muhammad Shirazi, "War, Peace and Nonviolence: An Islamic Perspective"

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• Muhammad