islamic-jihad-legacy-of-forced-conversion-imperialism-slavery

Life of Prophet Muhammad and the Birth of Jihadbehavior as a citizen free or persecuted, as a husband, as a chief, and as a conqueror was neverreached by any individual before or since. 14Prophet Muhammad, therefore, was the greatest embodiment of good, justice and mercy to humankind.Whatever he did in his life was the best thing to do; howsoever way he dealt with people, Muslim or non-Muslim, was the fairest and most merciful. This chapter will briefly deal with the life of Prophet Muhammad,particularly his dealing with non-Muslims: the Idolaters, Jews and Christians of Arabia, whom he hadencountered in his life. It is needless to reiterate that Muslims indisputably believe that Muhammad’s dealingwith these people (recounted below) was absolutely fair, just and merciful in every respect.In this chapter, the doctrines of Jihad in Islam, as revealed by Allah in the course of Muhammad’sfounding the Islamic creed, will be discussed in detail. Having gone through this chapter, readers will be ableto grasp the true meaning of Jihad as revealed by Allah and the ideal model of Jihad in practice, whichProphet Muhammad had established in complete compliance with the commands of Allah.THE BIRTH AND EARLY LIFE (c. 570–610)The Prophet of Islam was born in about 570 CE (c. 567–72) in the Arabian Desert city of Mecca in a familyof the Quraysh, the chief tribe of the city. Mecca was situated at a strategic location in the desert valleythrough which passed two major trade-routes: one linked Himyar with Palestine and Syria; the other linkedYemen, the Persian Gulf and Iraq. Because of this strategic location, Mecca acted as the major transit-pointfor trade-caravans between the Indian Ocean (including East Africa) and the Mediterranean. Through Meccawere transported large quantities of merchandise to and from the Egyptian, Syrian, Roman, Byzantine, Persianand Indian centres of trade. It was thus a bustling centre of trade and commerce and a routine halting place fortrade-caravans to stock up supplies of water and other necessities. As a result, the two powers of the region,namely the Persian and Byzantium Empires, sought to control Mecca through alliance with its leaders. 15The first Quraysh to assume a position of importance in Mecca was a man by the name of Qusayybin Kilab. In about 450 CE, he, in alliance with tribes supported by the Byzantine emperor, deposed thereigning Khuza’a tribe and established the Quraysh leadership in Mecca. He instituted ordnances for thegovernance of Mecca and for the administration of the sacred temple of Ka’ba. He is said to have rebuilt theKa’ba—the sacred House of God, long neglected by earlier administrators—on a grander scale and institutedin it the goddesses of the Nabataeans, known as al-Lat, al-Uzza and al-Manat. These goddesses were knownto be the daughters of God (Hubal or Allah) in Pagan Arab tradition.Muhammad’s parents used to face hardship in their day-to-day life. The death of his father Abdullah,when his mother Amina was six-month’s pregnant with him, must have had aggravated the hardships. It was atradition among the elites in Mecca (i.e., the Quraysh) to give away their children to paid foster-mothers fornursing. 16 About one-week-old Muhammad was given to a Bedouin woman, named Halima, for which hismother could not pay the foster-mother. 17 Halima took Muhammad away to raise him alongside her own sonof the same age. Halima brought four-year-old Muhammad back to Mecca to meet his mother. BecauseMuhammad had allegedly brought good luck to his foster-parents, they wanted to keep him with them until hebecame a big boy. Accordingly, they took him back with them. But surprisingly, Halima returned him to hismother Amina in Mecca when he was five. While returning him, Halima allegedly told Amina a supernaturalstory that happened to Muhammad, whereby ‘‘two men in white raiment came to Muhammad and threw him14. Umaruddin M (2003) The Ethical Philosophy of Al-Ghazzali, Adam Publishers & Distributors, New Delhi, p. 66–6715. Walker B (2002) Foundations of Islam, Rupa & Co, New Delhi, p. 3716. Muir W (1894) The Life of Mahomet, London, p. 129–3017. Ibn Ishaq, The Life of Muhammad, trs. A Guillaume, Oxford University Press, Karachi, 2004 imprint, p. 7110