Muhammad Zafrulla Khan 
In Medina the Muslims found themselves in a very precarious and
unenviable situation. Their security was threatened not only by Quraish, who
had put a price on the head of the Holy Prophet, peace be on him, and had
followed this up by serving an ultimatum, through Abdullah bin Ubayy, that
unless the Holy Prophet was expelled from Medina, they would invade Medina in
full strength and slaughter all the men in it and enslave all the women; but
they were not secure against the machinations of the disaffected in Medina, and
had to be wary of the Jews. Quraish had declared war upon the Holy Prophet and
the Muslims and all those who might support them. The state of war thus
initiated continued over six years and was interrupted only by the Truce of
Hudaibiyya in the sixth year. Less than two years later Quraish committed a
glaring breach of the Truce and hostilities broke out again which were
terminated only when the greater part of the peninsula had acknowledged the
supremacy of the Islamic state and had submitted to it.
In view of the ultimatum of Quraish, the Muslims were accorded
divine permission to take up arms in their defence and in the defence of their
faith:
Permission to fight is granted to those against whom war is
made, because they have been wronged, and Allah indeed has the power to help
them. They are those who have been driven out of their homes unjustly only
because they affirmed: Our Lord is Allah. If Allah did not repel the aggression
of some people by means of others, cloisters and churches and synagogues and
mosques, wherein the name of Allah is oft commemorated, would surely be
destroyed. Allah will surely help him who helps His cause; Allah is indeed
Powerful, Mighty. If We establish these persecuted ones in the earth, they will
observe Prayer and pay the Zakat, and enjoin good and forbid evil. With Allah
rests the final issue of all affairs (22:40-2).
If Allah were not to repel a section of mankind by another, the
earth would be filled with disorder, but Allah is full of bounty towards all
peoples (2:252).
It must be appreciated, however, that Islam regards war as an
abnormal and destructive activity, to which recourse can be had only in the
last resort. The Holy Quran describes war as a conflagration, and declares that
it is God’s purpose to put out such a conflagration whenever it erupts, meaning
that when war becomes inevitable it should be so waged as to cause the least
possible amount of damage to life and property; and that hostilities should be
brought to a close as quickly as possible, as is said: ‘Whenever they kindle a
fire for war, Allah extinguishes it. They strive to create disorder in the
earth and Allah loves not those who create disorder’ (5:65).
Fighting is permissible only to repel or halt aggression. But
even in the course of such fighting, Muslims are not permitted any
transgression; as is said: ‘Fight in the cause of Allah against those who fight
against you, but do not transgress. Surely Allah loves not the transgressors’
(2:191).
It is repeatedly stressed that the object of any fighting
forced upon Muslims should be to put down aggression and persecution, for
persecution is worse than killing. During the course of fighting, all customary
restrictions and limitations must be observed except when the enemy fails to
observe them; in which case Muslims may forego them also, but only to the
extent to which the enemy dispenses with them (2:192). Should the enemy desist
from the fighting, the Muslims should do likewise, for Allah is Most Forgiving,
Merciful (2:193). When freedom from persecution is secured, fighting should be
brought to an end, as is said: ‘Fight them until there is no persecution, and
religion is freely professed for the sake of Allah alone’; but even this is
subject to the enemy continuing the fight, as is said: ‘if they desist, then
remember that no hostility is permitted except against the aggressors’ (2:194).
Should war become unavoidable, every effort must be made to
limit its mischief and horror and to bring hostilities to a close as early as
possible. Savage practices like disfiguring the enemy dead and torturing
prisoners of war, which were common in pre-Islamic Arabia, are prohibited
altogether in Islam. With regard to customs and practices not in themselves
barbaric or revolting, the principle laid down is that the Muslims might extend
reciprocal treatment to the enemy, and might retaliate to the extent to which
an injury or a wrong is inflicted upon them, but that the better part would be
to endure and to forgive (16:127).
Permission to take up arms in defence was granted, but so far
as numbers and material resources were concerned, the Muslims were at a fearful
disadvantage vis-a-vis Quraish, who did not stand
alone, but taking advantage of the prestige that they enjoyed as guardians of
the Ka’aba and the influence that they exercised by virtue of their handling
the trade between the east and the north and the north-west, constantly incited
the tribes against Islam and the Muslims. The latter were only a small
community in Medina, not more than a few hundreds, and of material resources
they possessed none. They were in no position to take the field against an
enemy as powerful as Quraish. Indeed, they shrank from the prospect, as is said
(2:217):
Fighting is ordained for you, while it is repugnant to you. It
may be that you dislike a thing, which is good for you, and it may also be that
you prefer a thing and it may be the worse for you. Allah knows all and you
know not;
and again (4:78):
Now that fighting has been prescribed for them, suddenly a
section of them have begun to fear people as they should fear Allah or even
more, and they say: Lord, why hast Thou prescribed fighting for us? Wouldst
Thou not grant us respite yet awhile?
Fighting, under the conditions set out above, having been permitted
to Muslims, the Holy Prophet, peace be on him, had recourse to certain measures
which were designed to support and buttress the security of the Muslims.
1. He undertook visits to neighbouring tribes in order to
establish treaty relations with them, which should make Medina secure against
attacks by them. In this connection, he paid particular attention to tribes
which were settled along or near the caravan route to the north. These were the
tribes whose help to Quraish and whose hostility towards the Muslims could
spell great danger to the latter.
2. He started sending small scouting parties in different
directions from Medina so that information should be procured on the movements
and designs of Quraish and their allies, and Muslims might not be taken by
surprise by them. Another purpose in dispatching these parties was that there
still were in and around Mecca several persons who believed in Islam but could
not profess it openly out of fear of Quraish, nor could they migrate to Medina,
either because they were too poor or because Quraish would not let them. It is
with regard to such persons that it is said in the Holy Quran (4:76):
What keeps you from fighting in the cause of Allah and of the
weak from among men, women and children who supplicate: Lord, deliver us from
this town whose people are oppressors, and appoint for us from Thyself some
friend, and appoint for us from Thyself some helper?
These persons could take advantage of the proximity of a
scouting party and slip out of Mecca and join the scouting party, and thus be
delivered from persecution. They could also travel among parties of Quraish to
the north and finding a suitable opportunity could join a Muslim scouting
party. For instance, the very first party that the Holy Prophet dispatched under
the leadership of Ubaidah bin Harith was confronted by a party of Quraish under
the leadership of Ikramah bin Abu Jahl, out of whom Miqdad bin Amr and Utba bin
Ghazwan, both Muslims, who had accompanied the party of Ikramah, left it and
joined the Muslim scouting party.
3. One of the principal instruments that Quraish employed for
the purpose of inciting tribes against Muslims was their trade caravans which
proceeded to the north and then returned to Mecca and in the course of their
journeys up and down set the tribes in the neighbourhood of Medina against the
Muslims. This constituted a great danger for the Muslims. These caravans were
accompanied by armed guards and their passing close to Medina in itself
constituted a threat to the security of Medina. Besides, trade was the
principal source of livelihood of Quraish and the most effective way of
persuading Quraish to abandon their hostility towards Islam and the Muslims was
to disrupt their trade and to deprive them of the benefits thereof.
This has always been recognized as a legitimate war activity.
Everyone is familiar with the capture or destruction of enemy vessels, and of
captured vessels and their cargo being treated as prize. Quraish were well
aware that in the situation that they had themselves created, the obstruction
of their caravans and the seizure of their goods by the Muslims was a
legitimate and expected activity to which no objection could be taken. They
never let any occasion pass without protest in which they felt they had been
afforded a ground for grievance. Their failure to make any protest against the
disruption of their trade confirms that this activity on the part of the
Muslims was considered by them as legitimate.
Nevertheless, the Holy Prophet, peace be on him, insisted that
the sole motive of anyone who joined in any expedition must be to uphold the
Word of God and that everything else was incidental, pursuit of which should
not influence anyone to participate in an expedition. Bokhari, Muslim, Abu
Dawood, Tirmidhi and Nasai have reported that the Holy Prophet was asked: ‘One
person fights in order to display his bravery, another one fights out of a
sense of family or tribal prestige, and a third one fights in order to show
off; which of these can be considered as fighting in the cause of Allah?’ He
responded: ‘None of them. Only that one can be deemed to be fighting in the
cause of Allah who is inspired by the motive to put an end to the efforts of
the disbelievers which they put forth for the suppression of Islam, and so that
Islam should overcome these efforts of its enemies.’
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