PROPHET OF PEACE, OR OF VIOLENCE — An Objective Analysis

Before the Prophet's birth there was an ongoing conflict between two major tribes of Medina, the Aws and the Khazraj. It is said that this war continued for 120 years and thousands of people perished in these battles, the prominent one of which was known by the name of Battle of Buath. (Ibn Ishaq) Because of a lack of objective understanding of the Prophet's life, Muslim biographers have 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 people have largely ignored the main events of the Prophet’s life choosing to focus on a few, exceptional incidents that they have used as the basis of a picture of the Prophet’s life they have painted, 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. Most of the incidents that have been presented by the biographers of the Prophet as battles can be better classified as minor skirmishes instead. The true modest personality of the Prophet appeared to many of his biographers as deficient 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 a certain image of their Prophet, which, in their eyes was a superior image. This is the reason why, when one reads the biographies of the Prophet we find that the Prophet is portrayed as a warrior prophet rather than a prophet of peace. The misleading image we get is that the Prophet relied on the power of the sword rather than the power of peace; that the Prophet believed in subduing and conquering his opponents rather than befriending them However, this picture of the Prophet is totally baseless and self assumed. In truth, the Prophet’s was a peace loving personality. The example of the Prophet was not one of overpowering people by fighting with them;