Electronic copy available at: http://ssrn.

com/abstract=1760004
Toward Understanding Muhammad:
Some issues in peace and violence

Dr. Mohammad Omar Farooq
Message International, Vol. 27, Aug.-Sept. 2002, pp. 15-19
In the aftermath of September 11 when President Bush visited the Islamic Center of
Washington DC, both to reassure the Muslims in America and to create public awareness
against prejudice, he remarked: The face of terror is not the true faith of Islam. That's not what
Islam is all about. Islam is peace.
1
Of course, Bush is, first and foremost, a politician and
therefore his remarks should be taken with a grain of salt - actually, a lot of salt.
The American President was quickly rebuffed even by a number of his compatriots, who
vehemently disagreed with the Presidents diplomatic stance. "... a large number of foreign
policy hawks -- some of them with advisory roles in the Bush administration -- have joined
religious conservatives in taking issue with Bush's characterizations. ... they say the claim is
dishonest and destined to fail. A pro-Israel conservative or neocon, Daniel Pipes, sermonized
that since calls for "Death to America" in 1979 in Iran, "... some 600 Americans have been
murdered by militant Muslims. And still the U.S. government fails to 'proclaim militant Islam
our strategic enemy' but instead goes along with blandishments about 'good Muslims' and 'true
Islam' being a religion of peace."
2

In contrast to the above two categories of non-Muslim stance, there are two parallel camps
within Muslims. One camp on the fringe has no qualms in taking a public position that Islam
enjoins fighting and subduing the non-Muslims, and this is a sublime religious duty. They urge
the Muslims to take up a combative struggle - armed if necessary - to resist the evil of the
infidels (kuffar) and to facilitate Islams victory over others. They cite the example of the
Prophet as to how under his leadership the world of the unbelievers was subdued.
Repudiating this group of extremist Muslims, there is the broader Muslim community that finds
an echo of their own position in what President Bush said and they would like the world to
know that Islam means peace and Islam is peaceful. Period. This group is very much troubled by
the hate-mongering and violent posturing of the fringe extremists among Muslims. Thus, they
would like to underscore and highlight the essential dimension of Islam, which in their view is
peace.
So, is Islam essentially intolerant and violent or is it essentially tolerant or peaceful? The fact of
the matter is that in presenting Islam as essentially peaceful or violent, there is a false and an
unacceptable reductionism, and trying to cast Islam in such reductionist framework inevitably
leads to either misunderstanding or misrepresentation.
Electronic copy available at: http://ssrn.com/abstract=1760004

A few premises
At the center of this whole debate are three aspects: the Quran, the life of the Prophet, and
the historical experience of Muslims. But first let me identify a few pertinent premises.
1. Muslims hold the Quran as the ultimate source of divine guidance. Even the Prophet
could not have contradicted the Quran, let alone anyone else.

2. The Quranic verses should not be taken in isolation from other verses or from the
Prophetic experience.

3. The Quranic verses, commands or otherwise, have different levels of priority; some are
general in scope and are to be treated or upheld as norms, while other verses might be
contextual, delimited or transitional.

4. Life is an integrated whole, and Islam is a guidance for the whole life in a comprehensive
or holistic manner, where a sense or goal of balance is of supreme importance.
However, not in every respect the details of the guidance are given by God. Rather, at
the level of details, it is a human construct, and thus not infallible.

5. Life needs to be treated as life, which from the Islamic viewpoint should be understood
as based on Fitrah, the innate human nature. And

6. Islam has an essential humanity-orientation [3:110], which requires that the humanity is
considered a stakeholder in Islamic discourse.
3


Some historical observations
The history of Muslims, similar to that of many other communities, is not devoid of violence
and warfare. Even within the larger context of relative peace and stability, there have been
almost perpetual wars, conflicts, and the attending violence in the Muslim world. During the
Prophetic era in the Madinah period, the Prophet was at war with all those who fought the
nascent Muslim community and the Islamic polity. In the post-prophetic era, the conflicts
continued on two fronts. The Islamic polity, from the beginning was on a pluralistic foundation,
continued to be drawn to war with other great civilizations and lesser powers of the time. The
Islamic polity subsequently also found another front open: internal schism and conflict.
Contending powers or blocks had internecine conflicts, in most cases completely delinked with
the spirit, vision, and precepts of Islam.
The transformation from a constitutional, participatory, and accountable form of governance
during the period of Rightly-guided Caliphs to its despotic, hereditary anti-thesis represented a
counter-revolution to the revolution ushered in by the Prophet Muhammad. Since this counter-
revolution, the establishment persistently purported to preserve the status quo, and
oppositions--legitimate or illegitimate, right or wrong, just or unjust--were at the receiving end
of persecution and retribution. It is important to note that the political institutions and culture
in the Muslim world that evolved subsequently are more rooted in that counter-revolution than
in the revolution and legacy of the Prophet.
The division of the world between Dar al-Harb (home of war and conflict) and Dar al-Islam
(home of peace and security) was a concoction of the classical Muslim jurists to contend with
the problems of their time, but the reality was that on one hand in Dar al-Islam there was no
less internal conflicts than external conflicts. Our contemporary generations of self-critical and
conscientious Islamic scholars, who are in tune with the challenges of our time, are already
reformulating their thoughts and positions, discarding the practically untenable and Islamically
unwarranted framework of Dar al-Harb and Dar al-Islam.
4

Both to pursue the external and internal conflicts, the scriptures (the Quran and the Hadith)
have been used (more like abused) to support a particular position or agenda. Gradually, the
edifice of Islam and Muslims was weakened or rotten from within, and when the decadent
Muslim society faced confrontation with the rising West, not only the Islamic polity collapsed
and got dismembered by the victor West, but also the philosophical, juristic, theological and
institutional edifice bared itself in terms of its internal incoherence and confusion.
During the colonial expansion of the West, the Muslim world, like any other colony, was
ravaged, humiliated, dismembered and subjugated beyond any recognition, even though the
Muslim world has not delinked itself from the nostalgic memory that once the Islamic polity led
the world, politically, militarily as well as knowledge-wise and technologically. Muslims are no
less freedom- loving than any other segment of humanity. But they are finding themselves
subjugated under despotic and brutal regimes that are subservient to, defender of, or
dependent on the West. The plight of the people of Palestine, Kashmir, and Chechnya greatly
illustrates the pain and agony of the Muslim world. The power-games to prop-up patronize
despots, such as Saddam Hussain, when needed, and then impose wars of occupation at will
and even based on pure lies are indicative of the dysfunctional state of the Muslim world. The
overall response to such conditions of course covers the entire spectrum: from rational and
non-violent resistance to violent resistance to irrational, fanatical terrorism.
Therefore, if from a cursory reading of the history of Muslims makes people think that this
religion is quite violent, the impression cant be dismissed quite so easily, even though drawing
conclusions about Islam on the basis of such impressions is simplistic, reductionist and incorrect
at best.

Peace and violence in the Quran and the life of the Prophet
All killing, fighting, war and even administration of law and order involve some type of violence.
However, the wild, wild West did not earn the United States a reputation for violence; the two
World Wars - the most violent and the worst killings in human history - did not earn the West in
general and Europe in particular a reputation for violence either. The virtual decimation of the
Indian people in the United States did not make the country barbaric or uncivilized. The
European colonization that ravaged, exploited and dehumanized various parts of Asia and
Africa, including the Muslim world, did not make Europe any less civilized. The Spanish
Inquisition and the Crusade did not make Christianity violent and barbaric. Even the recent,
organized torching of Muslims in India by a Hindu mob does not make Hinduism a burning
example of violence and barbarism. Yet, these days there are people who would like to identify
Islam and the Prophet Muhammad as violent or symbol of violence.
We have already mentioned above that during the post-Prophetic era, there was plenty of
conflict and violence that occurred in the name of Islam, yet for any unjust or unwarranted
exertion of force Islam did not sanction or seek it. Notably, for 13 years of Makkan period,
Muslims were strictly forbidden to reciprocate any violence to the persecuting Quraish. Many
people misunderstand Muhammad because when they compare him with many other religious
figureheads, such as Jesus and Buddha, they find a stark and intriguing contrast. Jesus, as
portrayed in Bible, appears to be an embodiment of unblemished peace and compassion.
Buddha appears to be an enlightened soul far removed from the hustle and bustle of life. In
both cases, it seems that many find a message of non-violence. On the contrary, Muhammad
appears to be quite different. In the limelight of society, he is helping the feuding Arabs make
peace during his youth. He is also involved in a social treaty (Hilf al-Fudhul) to form an alliance
against any unjust war and killing. He is an accomplished merchant, a family man, forgiving all
the adversaries during the conquest of Makkah, except four murderers, mending his own
shoes, foot-racing his beloved wife, leading and motivating the believers to stand for justice and
give life in fighting, if necessary.
Such a comparison between Muhammad on one hand and Jesus or Buddha on the other is both
incorrect and unfair. It is even worse when, to justify their conclusion about Islam and the
Prophet, some people try to find verses in the Quran or references in Hadith, where the
fighting and violence were so prominently, unequivocally, and sternly mentioned.
To better understand this issue, one needs to recognize that Islam does not teach that if
anyones is slapped, he or she should turn the other cheek. As mentioned in one of the
premises above, Islam is based on Fitrah, the innate human nature. As a society, if we all turn
our other cheek in the face of violence or open the door to the intruding burglars, or point to
our heart to give a killers gun a more accurate target, it would be simply against human nature
and also against any viable, functional, or healthy society. Anyone familiar with the Shaolin
temples know that even the Buddhists contributed toward the development of the Martial Arts,
as lifes need for self protection so dictated.
The Qur'an affirms the universal right of self-defense.
To those against whom war is made, permission is given (to fight), because they are
wronged; and verily, Allah is most powerful for their aid;
(They are) those who have been expelled from their homes in defiance of right, (for no
cause) except that they say, our Lord is Allah. Did not Allah check one set of people by
means of another, there would surely have been pulled down monasteries, churches,
synagogues, and mosques, in which the name of Allah is commemorated in abundant
measure? Allah will certainly aid those who aid his (cause); for verily Allah is full of
Strength, Exalted in Might, (able to enforce His Will). [22/al-Hajj/39-40]
There are times when fighting and violence are indispensable even to seek or maintain peace.
People - individuals, groups, and nations - may need to fight for self-defense. Even the so-called
modern and civilized nations, who now are hell-bent on branding Islam as barbaric and violent
cant shun, discard, and avoid fighting and violence. They cant, because there are times, when
war, fighting, and violence are essential means to seek and maintain peace. However, Islam
clearly forbids any aggression or committing excesses.
Fight in the Way of God against those who fight you, but do not go beyond the limits.
God does not love those who go beyond the limits. [2/al-Baqara/190]
Of course, not all the wars and fighting are for just reasons or to seek/maintain peace.
Sometimes, pursuit of a narrow, parochial or unjust interest can be touted as a pursuit of
peace, but humanity knows better.
Add to the quest for peace the quest of justice, and one can easily understand the logic and
reality of life on the one hand and the Islamic guidance/norms and the life of the Prophet on
the other. Without justice, peace is an illusion. That is a human reality. Islam urges and
emboldens people to never succumb to injustice. Rather, it instills courage and spirit to offer
resistance to any social injustice and work collectively, creatively, and capably toward a just
society.
O you who believe! Stand out firmly for justice, as witnesses to Allah, even as against
yourselves, or your parents, or your kin, and whether it be (against) rich or poor: for
Allah can best protect both. Follow not the lusts (of your hearts), lest you swerve, and if
you distort (justice) or decline to do justice, verily Allah is well acquainted with all that
you do." [4/an-Nisa/135]
This pursuit of justice is not parochial or limited to only Muslims. Rather, Muslims are to uphold
and defend justice, whether the victims and perpetrators are Muslims or non-Muslims. Notably,
there are Muslims who are not quite in tune with such universal dimension of justice from the
Islamic perspective.
Therefore, yes, there have been wars and killing during the life of the Prophet. He himself led
many expeditions, and in many battles he himself fought as well. But that is because LIFE
sometime makes such war and fighting necessary and indispensable, as Islam does not teach,
encourage or advocate pacifism in the face of injustice. Any war or fighting during the time of
the Prophet must be understood within this essential reality of life. That is not so true in the
post-Prophetic era, where sometimes non-Muslims as well as Muslims faced violence in the
hands of the ruling establishment in the Muslim world. Muslims must acknowledge many such
wrongdoings by Muslim rulers throughout history, even though in a comparative sense it was
not necessarily any worse than under other religions or ideologies. Indeed, even though it
should not be compared to the contemporary standard of human experience, during certain
periods of Islamic civilization, non-Muslims, including Jews, found the best protection under
Islamic rules and fled persecutions in the Christendom to the Islamic polities.
Now, let us take a look at some verses of the Quran. First, consider the following verses: Let
not the unbelievers think that they can get the better (of the godly): they will never frustrate
(them). Against them make ready your strength to the utmost of your power, including steeds
of war, to strike terror into (the hearts of) the enemies, of Allah and your enemies, and others
besides, whom you may not know, but whom Allah doth know. [8/al-anfal/59-60] Or, the
favorite verse of Islam-bashers: Then, when the sacred months have passed, slay the idolaters
wherever you find them, and take them (captive), and besiege them, and prepare for them
each ambush. [9/at-Tauba/5]
Based on these verses, if anyone draws or wants to draw the conclusion that Islam is violent
and it preaches violence, they would be violating almost all the premises listed earlier in this
essay. Islamic guidance is to help people find a balance between lifes conflicting priorities. It is
not static or predefined, but a dynamic search for an equilibrium. Whether in self-defense, to
resist the evil of injustice and oppression, or to struggle toward a more just society, Islam
requires its adherents to uphold certain norms and parameters. In the verse quoted above in
which Muslims are urged to make ready their strength to the utmost of their power, one
needs to take into account (a) the context of the entire Chapter, where it deals with treachery,
hypocrisy and unilateral abrogation of a treaty that was imposed upon Muslims by their
adversaries, and (b) the verse that comes after it. But if the enemy inclines towards peace, you
(also) incline towards peace, and trust in Allah [8/al-anfal: 61]. The importance of this latter
verse is that peace is the ultimate goal. It ought to be the ideal and norm that a society should
seek. Islam insists that its adherents work and incline toward peace.
Those who want to harm Muslims or cause general harm or injustice, Muslims (like any other
people) would deal with them to resolve the problems and, if necessary, fight them, as the last
resort. However, if the very same people desist and show inclination to peace, Muslims are
duty bound to reciprocate for peace. The life and legacy of the Prophet Muhammad were
guided by pursuit of justice and peace. Whenever people, Muslims or non-Muslims, take a
verse in a fragmented manner, advertently or inadvertently, they commit serious error, or
worse. By dubbing Islam violent while it guides us toward a balance in our life, we merely yield
to and validate those fanatical and extremist fringes that use or abuse Islam for their extremist
angles and agendas.
Peace and justice are amongst the two most important pursuits for humanity and so are those
for Islam and Muslims. Islam is meant to guide its adherents toward peace and justice. Here are
some of the verses and the Prophetic narrations (hadith) that should be treated by Muslims as
norms, and the humanity should hold them to these norms in accordance with the faith of
Muslims in the Quran and the Prophet.
Let there be no hostility except to those who practice oppression. [2/al-Baqara/193]
Muslims do not and cannot have any problem with adherents of any other faith (be it
Christianity, Judaism, Hinduism or even animism) or ideology (communism, capitalism, etc.),
unless there is oppression committed by any. Of course, this assumes that Muslims themselves
do not engage in practicing any oppression or injustice.
If any one slew a person unless it be for murder or for spreading mischief in the land, it
would be as if he slew the whole people; and if any one saved a life, it would be as if he
saved the life of the whole people. [5/al-Maida/35]
Life - of ALL people -- is sanctified and to be a Muslim is to show utmost respect for it.
5
The
sanctity of life - of Muslims and of others - was so important in Islam that the Prophet pursued
an ingenious strategy of reclaiming Makkah: the entire conquest was virtually bloodless, a kind
of feat unheard of in the blood-thirsty tribal Arab society. Furthermore, even for war and
conflict, strict guidelines were set not to harm the life and property of any civilian, who are not
active party to any hostility or conflict, and women, children, old men, monks, were to be
particularly spared.
A person asked, O Prophet of God (p), whose Islam is excellent or the
best (afdal)? He replied: "From whose tongue and hands the people (an-
nas: irrespective of Muslims or non-Muslims) are safe." [Musnad-i-
Ahmad, #6762; narrated by Abdullah ibn Amr]
The entire life of the Prophet was dedicated to help a conflict-ridden and blood-feuding society
of Arabia come to civilization and serve as an illustration of human potential, where people do
not give up hope for positive change and are willing to make adequate sacrifice toward
establishing a just society for all people. The struggle of the Prophet was not an end point, but
rather a reference point for the entire humanity as a source of guidance and inspiration.
Islam motivates people to seek a balance, tempering the extremities in their lives. It instills
courage and valor in the weak and oppressed; at the same time, it humbles those who hold
power and authority. It emboldens the downtrodden, while holds the oppressors and exploiters
accountable. It urges the other-worldly people to take this world seriously and dearly, while it
admonishes those who have forgotten about the life hereafter.
Thus, to say that Islam is peaceful does not explain why it also seeks to awaken people to a
struggling spirit. And, to say that Islam is violent does not explain why it also emphasizes peace
so ardently. Even Rabindranath Tagore, a Nobel Laureate in literature from West Bengal, India
and a non-Muslim, recognized this aspect so beautifully in his novel, Gora. Through the words
of Gora, the central character of the novel, in a conversation with a meek and abused Muslim,
Tagore states:
One who tolerates wrong is also blameworthy, because he endorses wrongdoing in this
world. You won't understand me, but remember that religion is not merely being good-
natured, pleasant, humble, meek gentleman (bhalo-manushi). It simply emboldens the
bad ones. Your Muhammad had understanding of this and that's why he did not
propagate the faith merely as pleasant and meek gentleman (bhalomanush)". [pp. 111-
112]
The Rebel Poet of Bengal, Kazi Nazrul Islam articulated this aspect aptly in his famous rhapsody
Rebel.
In one hand of mine is the tender flute
While in the other I hold the war bugle!
6

In explaining this juxtaposition of sword and flute, he explained:
. . To bloom flowers is my religion. Sword may be a burden in my hand, but I have not
discarded it. I play flute with the young cattle-herders at dusk; I give Azan at dawn
(prayer call of Fajr time) adding my voice to the Muazzin (the prayer caller); I also jump
into the battlefield with my unsheathed sword at bright noon. My flute becomes the
trumpet of battle.
My music is for the beauty, and the sword is for those monsters that endanger the
beauty. [Nazrul Rachonaboli, Vol. 4, 1996, pp. 101-106]
Those who would like to pursue Jesus or Buddha as a model would soon find that puritanical
and absolutist peace and acquiescence cant always help us deal with and resolve the harsh
reality and nature of life. Those who are absolutist in regard to use of force and violence for
collective selfishness or arrogance would find that they would be buried and overcome in
history by the collective decency of humanity and human civilization. Muhammad is one such
very special personality in human history that successfully balanced the quest of peace and
justice. Muslims in history often have badly failed in upholding that quest for balance in the
footstep of Muhammad. But it is only by valuing and upholding that Prophetic quest for that
balance can Muslims overcome their own failures and miseries, and also serve the humanity in
the path of God.


The author is the Head of Centre for Islamic Finance at BIBF. The views expressed in this paper
are strictly that of the author and do not necessarily reflect that of his employer or anyone else.
Email: farooqm59@yahoo.com.

1
Dana Milbank. Conservatives Dispute Bush Portrayal of Islam as Peaceful,
Washington Post, 11/2/2002.
2
G. Russell Evans. Militant Islam Is Still Enemy No. 1, NewsMax, April 10, 2002.
3
Mohammad Omar Farooq, Islam, Reform and the Stakeholders: Toward a Common-
Ground Seeking Approach, published under a different title at UPIs
ReligionAndSpirituality.com, March 22, 2007.
4
Abdulhamid Abusulayman. Towards an Islamic Theory of International Relations: New
Directions for Methodology and Thought [Herndon, VA: International Institute of Islamic
Thoughts, 1990]
5
Mohammad Omar Farooq. Toward Our Reformation: From Legalism to Value-Oriented
Islamic Law and Jurisprudence, Herndon, Virginia: International Institute of Islamic Thought,
2011 (forthcoming).
6
Website dedicated to the wonderful life and works of Nazrul at http://www.nazrul.org.