The Concept of Jihad in Islam

instead of using force, the Prophet chose to give a demonstration of force. He did not set out with this ten-thousand-strong army by announcing and then fighting the Quraysh and capturing Makkah. Instead, what he did was that he made preparations for the journey in complete secrecy and travelled along with his companions to Makkah and silently entered the town. His entry into Makkah was so sudden that the Quraysh could not make any preparations against him, so Makkah was won over without any bloody confrontation. This, too, is an example of the Prophet’s choice of a peaceful, over a violent, method. These examples prove that in ordinary conditions as well as in extreme emergencies, the Prophet adopted the principle of peace instead of war. All his successes are practical examples of this very Sunnah of peace. As indicated above, peace is the general commandment in Islam, while war is only a rare exception, to be resorted to only when it becomes an unavoidable compulsion. If we keep this principle in mind and survey the world today, we will find that the modern age is entirely different from the world of ancient times in this regard. In the past, violent methods were a common or general practice, while adopting