TOWARDS GLOBAL PEACE

The behaviour of Muslims must be judged by the principles of Islam and not vice versa. Islam cannot be evaluated based on the actions of Muslims. culture, there were skirmishes between the Prophet’s followers and their opponents. 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 Prophet Muhammad was born in the year 570 AD in Makkah and attained prophethood at the age of forty in the year 610 AD. He began his mission of conveying God’s guidance to humankind in a peaceful manner. There was never any act of violence by the Prophet against those who objected to his teachings or oppressed him and his followers during the entire thirteen years of his life as a prophet in Makkah. While he was in Makkah, his teachings were always those of patience, tolerance and avoidance. One of his Companions, Ammar, of the family of Yasir, was tortured by the Prophet’s opponents, but the Prophet said, “O Yasir’s family, forbear with patience, surely your compensation is Paradise.” (Seerah ibn Kathir) Another of his Companions, Khabbab ibn Arth, complained to the Prophet about the oppression by the Quraysh. When the Prophet heard this, he said, “This is nothing; messengers before us have suffered much more for having upheld the message of tawhid (oneness of God).” (Sahih al-Bukhari) The Prophet and his followers had to face the hardships of a three-year social boycott by their tribe, and they spent this time in tolerating and patiently enduring their difficulties. His opponents plotted to kill him, so he quietly escaped from Makkah with a few of his Companions to Madinah. He gave the same advice to his followers. Even in Madinah his opponents did not leave the Prophet and his followers in peace. They did everything possible to make life miserable for them. The Quran says: “Will you not fight against those who have broken their oaths and conspired to banish the Messenger? They were the first to attack you. Do you fear them? Surely God is more deserving of your fear, if you are true believers.” (9: 13) The outcome of these hostilities were the battles of Badr and Uhud. Even after this when the Prophet got to know that his opponents were marching towards Madinah with an army of 10,000, he employed a strategy of avoidance by creating a trench outside Madinah due to which an armed conflict was averted.