A look into wars of Prophet Muhammad

[Good brother]

(Edited from Arraheeq Almakhtoum)

Through these years of wars, the Prophet (Peace be upon him) was able to impose security, institute peace, diffuse dissension and destroy the military might of the enemies through relentless struggle between Islam and paganism.

The Prophet (Peace be upon him) has altered the standards and aims of pre-Islamic wars. Their war was no more than robbing, killing, plundering, tyranny and aggression-oriented wars. Those wars focused on winning victory, oppressing the weakling and demolishing their houses and constructions. For them, war was a means by which they can rape or unveil women, practise cruelty against the weakling, the babies and small children, spoil tillage and race, and spread corruption on the earth.

Islamic wars are different from pre-Islamic wars. A “war” in Islam is a Jihad. That is to say it is a noble sacred fight in the way of Allâh for the verification of a Muslim society that seeks to free man from oppression, tyranny and aggression. It is a society that everyone everywhere and at all times should be proud of.

Pre-Islamic thoughts and traditions of Al-Jahiliyah period have been turned upside down by Islam. These were so hard upon the weakling that they had to invoke Allâh to enable them to get away from that pre-Islamic environment by saying:

“Our Lord, rescue us from this town whose people are oppressors, and raise for us from You one who will protect, and raise for us from You one who will help.” The war of corruption, slaying and robbing that used to prevail has now turned into a sacred one, Al-Jihad. One of the greatest aims of Al-Jihad is to free man from the aggression, the oppression and the tyranny of men of power. A man of power, in Islam, is a weakling till after the right of the poor is taken from him. War, in Islam, is a Jihad for the purification of the land of Allâh from dece, treachery, sinful deeds and aggression. It is a sacred war that aims at spreading security, safety, mercy and compassion as well as observing the rights and magnanimity. The Messenger of Allâh (Peace be upon him) had issued honourable strict rules about war and bade his soldiers and leaders to comply with them. They were forbidden to break those rules under any circumstances. In reference to Sulaiman bin Buraidah’s version, who said that his father had told him that whenever the Messenger of Allâh (Peace be upon him) appointed a leader on an army or on a battalion, he used to recommend him to fear Allâh, the Great and All-Mighty, when dealing with those who were closest to him and to be good with all Muslims. Then the Prophet (Peace be upon him) would say to him: “Let your invasion be in the Name of Allâh and for His sake. Fight those who disbelieve in Allâh. Invade but do not exaggerate nor commit treachery. Never deform the corpse of a dead person or kill an infant.” The Messenger of Allâh (Peace be upon him) asked people to facilitate but he forbade them to bear down hard on others or constrain. “Pacify”, he said, “and do not disincline”. When it happened that he arrived at the battlefield by night, he would never invade the enemy till it was morning. He utterly forbade burning (i.e. torturing people) in fire, killing children and women or even beating them. He also forbade theft and robbery and proceeded so far as to say gains acquired through plundering are not less forbidden than the flesh of a corpse. Corruption of tillage and race and cutting down of trees were all forbidden unless they were badly needed and there was no other substitute: “Do not kill a wounded person nor run after a fleeing one or kill a captive.” He decreed that envoys cannot be killed. He also stressed on not killing those who made covenants. He even said: “He whoever kills one who is under pledge to a covenant shall not smell Paradise, though its smell could be experienced at a forty-year distance from it.” There were some other noble rules which purified wars from their Al-Jahiliyah (pre-Islamic) filthiness and turned them into sacred wars.

[Physicist]

In the time of swords and arrows there were no such thing as collateral damage.
Killing innocent people or destroying buildings required distinct intention to do so.
In modern warfare one may face choices like either to obliterate building with innocent people where enemy firing from or to loose many of his fellow fighters.