THE TRUE PERSPECTIVE

Compared to the given sampling of historical battles, the defensive battles fought by the Prophet were those at Badr, Uhud and Hunain. The total duration of the actual fighting was equivalent to only 1½ days. The total number of casualties in all these battles was 1018. Because of a lack of objective understanding of the Prophet’s life, Muslim biographers misrepresented the facts by ignoring the prevailing customs and culture of the time. Due to this, their writings about the Prophet’s life show a war-like pattern. On the other hand, non-Muslim biographers of the Prophet have adopted a different approach. These biographers have largely ignored the main events of the Prophet’s life. They chose to focus on a few, exceptional incidents. As a result have painted a picture of the Prophet’s life that portrays him as a warrior prophet. They have also been unable to see the Prophet’s life as different from Muslim culture, which has led them to assume that terrorism in the name of Islam is an outcome of the teachings of the Prophet of Islam. The truly modest personality of the Prophet appeared to many of his biographers as lacklustre in some way or the other. This image of the Prophet appeared to them as falling short of the standards of leaders of other peoples of the time, who were great conquerors and warriors. Hence these biographers tried to present an image of their Prophet as a warrior, which, in their eyes, was a superior image. However, this picture of the Prophet is baseless and self-assumed. In truth, the Prophet was a peace-loving personality. The example of the Prophet was not one of overpowering people by fighting them; rather it was by winning the people over with love and compassion. His message was intended to infuse his listeners with a new life. The Quran says: Believers, obey God and His Messenger when he calls you to that which gives you life. (8: 24)