Wars Imposed on Muslims During Prophetic Time: An Analytical Study

Abstract

The verses of the Qur’ān on war are misunderstood by some Muslims and non-Muslims. The non-Muslims who misunderstand these verses consider Prophet Muhammad to be a prophet of doom who preached Islam by the sword while the Muslims who misconceive these verses refer to them as their reasons to pick up arms against what they consider the enemy of Islam. Examples of the Muslims who have misunderstood the meanings of these verses are terrorist groups like Boko Haram in Nigeria. Boko Haram use these verses as a reference point to shed the blood of innocent Nigerians whom they term as unbelievers. Hence, this research aims at analysing the twenty seven battles, for which these verses were revealed, imposed on the Muslims and Prophet Muhammad by the unbelievers of the Arabian Peninsula. The objectives of this research are to explore the reasons behind these battles, to confirm that Prophet Muhammad and the Muslims were not responsible for the activities that led to the battles and to prove that an offensive war was not waged by Prophet Muhammad. These objectives have been carried out by analysing some of the verses of the Qur’ān and the authentic Ḥadīth on the battles imposed on Prophet Muhammad. Classical and contemporary literatures written on these battles have also been reviewed. This research concludes that Prophet Muhammad and the Muslims were not responsible for the activities that led to the wars imposed on them by showing that the Makkans were the ones who sought to annihilate him and the Muslims because they believed in the one and only true Creator of the heavens and earth, Allah. It also resolves that Prophet Muhammad didn’t wage an offensive war by demonstrating that he preferred peace to war whenever he had to make a choice between war and peace.