War and Peace in Islam

Hudaybiyya near Makkah, the Prophet of Islam found the other party clinging obstinately to its demands. Therefore, the Prophet unilaterally accepted all the conditions of the enemy in order to arrive at a peaceful conclusion. The purpose of this pact was to end tensions between the two parties and to maintain a normal atmosphere in order that the work of dawah and reconstruction might be performed— the actual goal of the mission of Islam. Immediately after the conclusion of the Hudaybiyyah peace treaty, the atmosphere did come back to normal and all the constructive activities of Islam were resumed in full force. This finally resulted in the spread of Islam throughout the whole of Arabia. According to the teachings of Islam, waging war is the prerogative of an established government alone, and does not fall within the province of non-government organizations or institutions. If non-government organizations feel the need of reform, any movements they launch to that end must remain strictly within a peaceful sphere. Entering the arena of violence is in no way permissible in Islam. Two extremely important points should be noted in this regard. One is that the launching of aggressive movements by NGO’s, on any pretext, is unlawful in Islam. The second point is that, although an established government is allowed to fight a defensive war, it is still bound by the condition of prior declaration. An undeclared war is totally unlawful in Islam. A guerrilla war is unlawful because it is waged by NGOs, while a proxy war is unlawful because, although a government may be instrumental in waging it, it is without a proper declaration. There is no justification for any such war. The Quran states that before going into battle you have to “throw back their covenant to them.” (8:58)