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Muhammad: The Warrior Prophet
By Richard A. Gabriel |
MHQ | Within two hundred years after the Muslim conquests of Byzantium and Persia, Muhammad’s reform influence on the conventional Arab armies had disappeared, displaced by the more powerful influence of Byzantine, Persian, and Turkic military practices. Muhammad’s military legacy is most clearly evident in the modern methodology of insurgency and in the powerful idea of jihad. In the years following his death, Islamic scholars developed an account of the Islamic law of war. This body of law, essentially complete by 850, ultimately rests on two foundations: the example and teaching of Muham?mad and the word of God as expressed in the Koran. At the heart of the Islamic law of war is the concept of jihad, meaning ?to endeavor, to strive, to struggle,? but in the West commonly understood to mean ?holy war.? According to classical Sunni doctrine, jihad can refer generically to any worthy endeavor, but in Islamic law it means primarily armed struggle for Islam against infidels and apostates. The central element of the doctrine of jihad is that the Islamic community (ummah) as a whole, under the leadership of the caliph (successor to Muhammad), has the duty to expand Islamic rule until the whole world is governed by Islamic law. Expansionist jihad is thus a collective duty of all Muslims. Land occupied by Muslims is known as the dar al-Islam, while all other territory is known as the dar al-harb, ?the land of war.? Islamic law posits the inalienability of Islamic territory. If infidels attack the dar al-Islam, it becomes the duty of all Muslims to resist and of all other Muslims to assist them. Thus jihad can be defensive as well as offensive. In the waging of jihad, all adult males, except for slaves and monks, are considered legitimate military targets and no distinction is made between military and civilians. Women and children may not be targeted directly, unless they act as combatants by supporting the enemy in some manner. The enemy may be attacked without regard for indiscriminate damage, and it is permissible to kill women in night raids when Muslim fighters cannot easily distinguish them from men. Islamic law prohibits mutilation of the dead and torture of captives, although the definition of torture is problematic, since Muhammad himself imposed punishments that would easily qualify as torture today. Following Mu?hammad’s own practice, a jihadi may execute, enslave, ransom, or release enemy captives. Although captured women and children were not supposed to be killed, they could be enslaved, and Muslim men could have sexual relations with female slaves acquired by jihad (any marriage was deemed annulled by their capture). Shiites, some ten to fifteen percent of Muslims, subscribe to a somewhat different doctrine of jihad, believing that it can only be waged under the command of the rightful leader of the Muslim community, whom they call imam. Shiites believe that the last imam went into hiding in 874 and that the collective duty to wage expansionist jihad is suspended until his return in the apocalyptic future. But Shiite scholars do affirm a duty to wage defensive jihad against infidel invaders. Classical Islamic law is less tolerant of non-Muslims. Apostates from Islam, pagans, atheists, agnostics, and ?pseudo-scriptuaries,? that is, members of cults that have appeared since Muhammad’s day?for example, Sikhs, Bahais, Mormons, and Qadianis?are only offered the option of conversion to Islam or death. By the beginning of the nineteenth century, Sunni Islamic modernists began to modify the classical law of war. The Indian Muslim thinker Sayyid Ahmad Khan argued that jihad was obligatory for Muslims only when they were prevented from exercising their faith, thus restricting jihad to defensive purposes. Mahmud Shaltut, an Egyptian scholar, likewise argued only for defensive jihad. Conservative Sunnis, such as the Wahhabis of Arabia, and modern militant jihadis in Iraq and Pakistan still adhere to the traditional doctrine. It is among these militant conservative Muslims that the military legacy of Muhammad is most alive today. Help HistoryNet by bookmarking to
Pages: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10            Tags: Ancient-Medieval, Historical Conflicts, Historical Figures, Religion
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12 Comments to “Muhammad: The Warrior Prophet”
1-Muhammad himself was under siege by 10,000 arabian soldiers in his Madina and he had onlyt 3,000 soldiers!
2-Muhammad in the 1st 6 years in Madina was attacked 3 times each time by a massive force more than his army at least 3 time and he won!
“Deffensive wares”
3-All the dead soldiers from both sides in Muhaammad’s camaign was 270 soldiers and no 1 single Civilian !
4-”offence” Muhammad orderd an attack and Assasination of only 2 leadders later after being attacked to stop the danger comming from the arbian and Jewsh tribes after the 6th year in Madina and after bieng attacked from these tribes for a continious 6 years and by massive forces.
By muslim on Jul 25, 2008 at 8:39 am
Great. Very informative my friend. The muslims had such a huge empire. No other religion had such an empire. The muslims defeated all the greeks, romans and the mongols when they were asians. Then the muslims took over the mongol empire, from Arghun Khans childern.
By Sikh on Aug 17, 2008 at 6:27 am
Most people do not know though. But 15 000 muslims fought 600 000 Romans. ZafarKhan, who was a very blessed general of the delhi sultan reign, he was truly blessed by the Great Allah. He defeated both Kublai Khan, and Chingiizz Khan again and again. Google mongol conquests of india. The mongols ran from the muslims so many times. THIS WAS BEFORE THE MONGOLS CONVERTED TO ISLAM. The muslims conquered more then anyone else had ever had. The ottomans, and the mongols. Great respect to MY MUSLIM BROTHERS. MAD RESPECT!!!
By Sikh on Aug 17, 2008 at 6:28 am
sikh is full of it
By CREEK on Aug 28, 2008 at 9:17 am
Creek is right.
By McHugh on Aug 29, 2008 at 6:39 pm
mohammadism is a Satantically inspired belief, and mohammad was nothing but a bandit who was chosen by Satan to conduct the last attack on the True Faith of Christ. All of his success is due to the support of Satan. And now the muhamadins kill each other over the importance of the man’s brother-in-law! Get a grip.
By Stewart Moneymaker on Sep 12, 2008 at 12:26 pm
Hello friends,
Glad to address myself to knowledgeable ones.
Could you gear me toward a source on the above quotes Jewish tribes in arabia who fought against the Prophet?
And something about the ”Khans”.I believe they left footprints in the Levant: do you think they intermarried with Mohammed’s family?
By Chantal-E. on Sep 21, 2008 at 5:40 pm
anyone with a sane mind will immediately know that the great messenger of ALLAH never killed or attacked any kind of people except by rightous causes …. he accepted peace and offered it …. but the real problem is in the other side the west … you curse the messenger of GOD and you through charges as you like all because he defended whats right and banished what is wrong … you fight a man only because he says i worship ALLAH the all mighty god where there is no god but him … THE GOD of every thing … you accuse Mohamed of being satanic … if braying to god giving charity to the poor and protecting the weak from the strong .. ordering people to do whats right and leave whats wrong is satanic then you are crazy hard minded people with great envy on this region and its followers … notice that every single technology the Christians ever made was because their separation of science and Christianity which they missed up badly … and every single failure of Muslims made was because leaving the Islamic way of live …. and you are the last people to talk about the bandits because you annihilated complete civilizations with your ignorance and Christianity and stealing complete continents … and you never noticed that until you abandoned your sick satanic remodeling of the true Christianity given to you by GOD who has no partners ….
By karim on Sep 26, 2008 at 1:05 am
. . . karim, you prove my point better than I ever could. Your ignorance and thinly veiled hatred of everything you can’t understand, and mindless denial of the truth is what makes mohammadans like yourself a plague to mankind.
By Stewart on Oct 1, 2008 at 12:15 pm
Jesus never ordered the killing of anyone. People, having free will, have killed in His name, but He spoke of love, peace and respecting everyone. Including women. He never married either.
Mohammad had eleven wives - one nine years old! He ordered people killed if they did not convert to Islam. Very respectful.
By Jan Willard on Oct 14, 2008 at 8:19 am
The crusades were an eye opener to the muslims. A rag tag army from europa crushed muslim resistance each and every step of the way and conquered the ancient world’s biggest prize, Jerusalem. Amazing! It was just a prelude to the global dominance of the western world that was to come. Segno della croce invictus!
By The Realist on Nov 23, 2008 at 11:59 pm
to me prophet mohammad is indeed a bandit,adulterer and a murderer.he killed and rapped many people.it is a undeniable history truth.if he was really a prophet he should had shown love but not sexual addictions.he indeed inherited satanic characteristics.but the doloress lord jesus died for us to go to heaven.this is what we call a messiah or the son of god.he did not order people killing nor raping.BLESS THE LORD GOD.IN JESUS NAME I PRAY.
By jesussservant7 on Nov 29, 2008 at 12:20 pm