A perusal of the Quran followed by a study of latter-day Muslim history will reveal a blatant contradiction between the two—that between principle and practice. Where recent developments in some Muslim countries bespeak the culture of war, the Quran, on the contrary, is imbued with the spirit of tolerance. Its culture is not that of war but of mercy.
At the very beginning of the Quran, the first invocation reads: “In the name of God, the most Merciful, the most Beneficent.” Throughout the Quran, God’s name is thus invoked no less than 114 times. Moreover, the Quran states that the prophets were sent to the world as a mercy to the people (21:107).
A perusal of the Quran followed by a study of latter day Muslim history will reveal a blatant contradiction between the two— that of principle and practice.
The word jihad has nowhere been used in the Quran to mean war in the sense of launching an offensive. It is used rather to mean ‘struggle’. The action most consistently called for in the Quran is the exercise of patience. Yet today, the self-styled ‘Muslim Mujahideen’ have equated “God is Great” with “War is Great.” For them, the greatest reward is to be able to wield a Kalashnikov rifle. In the light of on-going conflict, by these Muslims in the name of Islam we must ask why such a great contradiction has arisen between the principles of Islam on one hand and the practice of Muslims, on the other. At least one root cause may be traced to historical exigency. Since time immemorial, military commanders have been accorded positions of great eminence in the annals of history. It is a universal phenomenon that the military hero has been idolized even in peace time and is treated as a model for the people. It is this placing of heroism in the militaristic context which has been the greatest underlying factor in the undue stress laid on war in the latter phase of Muslim history.
It is this placing of heroism in the militaristic context which has been the greatest underlying factor in the undue stress laid on war in the latter phase of Islam’s history.
With the automatic accord in Muslim society of a place of honour and importance to the heroes of the battlefield, the annalists’ subsequent compilations of Muslim history have tended to read like an uninterrupted series of wars and conquests. These early chronicles having set such a precedent, subsequent writings on Muslim history followed the same pattern of emphasis on militarism. The Prophet’s biographies were called Maghazi, that is, The Battles Fought by the Prophet, yet the Prophet Muhammad in fact did battle only three times in his entire life, and the period of his involvement in these battles did not total more than one and a half days. He fought let it be said, in self-defence, when hemmed in by aggressors, where he simply had no other option. But Muslim historians—lying in the face of fact—have converted his whole life into one of confrontation and war.
We must keep in mind that the Prophet Muhammad was born at a time when an atmosphere of militancy prevailed in Arab society, there being, in the view of the Arabs of that time no other path to justice. But the Prophet always opted for the avoidance of conflict. For instance, in the campaign of Ahzab, the Prophet advised his Companions to dig a trench between them and the opponents, thus preventing a headon clash. Another well-known instance of the Prophet’s dislike for hostilities is the Hudaibiya peace treaty, in which the Prophet accepted all the conditions of the the other party. In the case of the conquest of Makkah, he avoided a battle altogether by making a rapid entry into the city with ten thousand Muslims—a number large enough to awe his opponents into submission. In this way, on all occasions the Prophet endeavoured to achieve his objectives by peaceful rather than by warlike means. It is, therefore, unconscionable that in later biographical writings about the Prophet, many of the events of his life have been arranged under the heading of ‘battles’ (ghazawat). How he managed to avert the cataclysms of war has not been dealt within any of the works which purportedly depict his life.
Ibn Khaldun, the celebrated 14th century Muslim historian, was the first to lay down definite rules for the study and writing of history and sociology. He followed the revolutionary course of attempting to present history as a chronicle of events centering on the common man rather than on kings, their generals and the battles they fought. But since war heroes were already entrenched as the idols of society, the caravan of Muslim writers and historians continued to follow the same well-worn path as had been trodden prior to Ibn Khaldun. When people have come to regard war heroes as the greatest of men, it is but natural that it is the events of the battlefield which will be given the greatest prominence in works of history. All other events will either be relegated to the background or omitted altogether.
In the past when the sword was the only weapon of war, militancy did not lead to the mass-scale loss of life and property such as modern warfare brings in its wake. In former times, fighting was confined to the battlefield; the only sufferers were those engaged in the battle. But today, the spear and sword have been replaced by mega-bombs and devastating long-range missiles, so that killing and destruction take place on a horrendous scale. Entire human settlements have now become the global arena of war. Even the air we breathe and the water we drink are left polluted in the aftermath of war.
When people have come to regard war heroes as the greatest of men, it is but natural that it is the events of the battlefield which will be given the greatest prominence in works of history.
Most people think Islam to be outdated and irrelevant precisely because of its militant interpretation. Demands for a reform in Islam are on the increase, as the ‘old’ version of Islam cannot apparently keep pace with the modern world. But, in reality, it is not reformation which is required but revival. What is needed is to discard the superficial and erroneous militant and political interpretation of Islam and to adopt the original, ‘old’ version of Islam based on peace, mercy and the love of mankind. The so-called Muslim Mujahideen have been exhorting their co-religionists to do battle all over the world. But the Quran says: ‘...and God calls to the home of peace’ (10:25). It is up to right-thinking people everywhere to reject the militant version of Islam and to start seeing and understanding Islam as it is truly represented by the Quran.
