The Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) Preaching of Peace Non-violence

 The life of the Prophet (may God’s blessings be on him) is an illustrious model for all Muslim to emulate. He has shown the greatest restraint in the preaching and practice of Islam. His life in Makka was full of examples where he suffered without a protest. Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) was subject to many hardships and personal injuries while he was preaching Islam in Makka. His reaction to these were nothing short of the true exposition of non-violence. People threw rubbish on his body and showered abuses. One particular lady adopted a novel technique: as the Prophet passed in front of her house every day, she threw rubbish, collected in her house, right on his body. This became such a regular practice that one day when rubbish was not thrown on him, he wanted to know the reason for it. On enquiry, he learnt that the old lady was sick. He then went into the house, sat by the bedside of the lady, consoled her and prayed for her early recovery.

When the Prophet went to the town of Taif and started preaching Islam, he was chased with stones by the people of Taif. He was badly hurt; bleeding, he fell down in a swoon. But he never scolded his abusers nor hated them. He calmly prayed that God lead them to the right path and pardon them as they did not know what they were doing. He felt that some day light would dawn— if not on them, then at least on their progeny— and they would accept the Truth. As such, he refused to curse these potential Muslim.

It may be argued that as the Prophet was powerless during this period he had to adopt this method of ahimsa; but that when he migrated to Medina and became powerful he actually fought wars. But it should be clearly understood that all the wars fought while in Madinah were in self-defence. With meagre men and materials he had to face an enemy well-equipped and bigger in size. Self-defence is a part of ahimsa, a virtue which does not expect people to lie down and allow opponents to pass over them. The Truth or Dharma has to be kept up, and it was with this purpose that the Pandavas had to take up arms under the inspiration and guidance of Sri Krishna against Kauravas.

An instance which occurred in one of the wars shows the absolute non-violent attitude of the Prophet. Once, as the Prophet was taking rest under a tree, an enemy soldier locating the Prophet alone rushed at him with his drawn sword. When the Prophet got up, the enemy brandished the sword at him, and with authority asked him, ‘Who is there to save you now?’ The Prophet totally unperturbed, smiled and said, ‘God’. The word ‘God’ coming out of the Prophet’s mouth was so powerful that the enemy shivered as under a shock and dropped the sword on the ground. The Prophet quickly picked up the sword, and asked the antagonist the same question, ‘who is there to save you now?’ The man, who was without faith in God, was confused and admitted. There is none except you. Here was an enemy who wanted to kill the Prophet, but was now completely at his mercy. With one stroke the Prophet could have chopped off his head. But he handed back the sword to the enemy saying, ‘Believe in God and have faith in Him.’

Even in the height of his power the great Prophet preferred to be a Servant-Prophet. A recorded tradition says that once a villager who came to see the Prophet urinated in the mosque. When people were about to beat him up, the Prophet asked them to leave him alone and himself poured a bucket of water on the urine.

The conquest of Makka is unique in history, and is a glowing example of non-violent war. With an army ten thousand strong, the Prophet marched on Makka. There was no opposition, no resistance, practically no blood was shed, and only a handful were taken prisoners. The mode of entrance of the conqueror into the city is a lesson of humility and grace.

The Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) was so overwhelmed with compassion towards the people of Makka and with humility to find himself in the position of a conqueror, that he bent down his head to touch almost the back of the camel on which he was riding. He was no doubt the victor, but he preferred to take the posture of a victim conquered by the affection of innumerable people of Makka, most of whom were his own kith and kin.

This is the person who is regarded as a model for all Muslim. How can they then forget the example set by their great Prophet and behave otherwise? If some of them stray away from his example and from the teachings of the Holy Qur’ân which are personified in him, they should not be taken as representing Islam. The following are some of the teachings of the Prophet regarding peace: 

“One who supports an oppressor and strengthens him, knowing that he is an oppressor, has gone out of Islam”. [Mishkat]

“Beware of the cry of one who is the oppressed as he demands his right from God, and God does not deprive anyone of his rights”. [Mishkat]

“God informed Prophet Moses that of all his servants the dearest to Him was he who was strong enough to take revenge and yet forgive”. [Mishkat]

“Beware of envy, for envy destroys virtues as fire consumes wood”. [Abu Daud]

“The best men are those whose manners are good”. [Bhukhari and Muslim]

“You cannot be admitted to Paradise and cannot be true believers, unless you have affection for one another”. [Muslim]

“The Prophet has enjoined on his followers not to acquire properties and estates in the world, as all their activities will be centred on them only”. [Mishkat]

“Anything kept with them in trust should be safely returned and if anyone has misappropriated their property they should not misappropriate his in return”. [Mishkat]

“Do not give trouble to anyone and that will be an act of charity”. [Mishkat]

“If you hate anyone, do not think of destroying his life or property”. [Mishkat]

“When anything is sold the defects in the commodity should be clearly pointed out”. [Bukhari and Muslim]

“You should treat orphans and servants as your own children and feed and clothe them like yourself”. [Ibn Maja]

“The man whose neighbour is not safe from harassment has no faith”. [Bukhari and Muslim]

“It does not befit a believer to have his full meal while his neighbour goes without it”. [Bukhari and Muslim]

“The cure for hard-hardheartedness is to put an affectionate hand on the head of orphans and feed the poor”. [Mishkat]

“The best Muslim house is one where there is an orphan and he is well treated”. [Ibn Maja]

“A labourer’s wage has to be paid before his sweat is dry”. [Ibn Maja]

The Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) advised his followers again and again regarding proper treatment of animals. He said that they should fear God, show all kindness to domestic animals and feed them properly. They should ride them while in good condition and leave them in good condition. He prohibited striking animals on the face or branding their faces with hot iron. He said, mercy shown to animals would be rewarded by God, and narrated the instance of a merciless woman being thrown into hell because she had kept a cat tied up without giving it any food.

It can be clearly seen that non-violence exists as a dominant element in Islam as an individual Dharma and as a comprehensive and perfect Dharma. Simply because Muslim are non-vegetarians and because Islam permits the use of the sword in times of need, Islam should not be misunderstood to be a religion of Himsa or violence. If anyone claims that Islam was spread with the sword, the only reply is to ask with Carlyle, how could Islam get the first few who wielded not the sword?

Surrender to the will of Allâh also compels him to strive for the establishment of peace. Allâh is merciful and compassionate—al-Rehman, al Rahim. Violence and mercy and violence and compassion cannot go together. One who is merciful and compassionate cannot issue any commandment for needless violence. Violence at best could be permitted by a compassionate being only to remove suffering and injustices. It is this aspect of jihad which it is necessary to understand. We will come to this point a little later. Also, Allâh is just—Adil—and he commands others to do justice. He commands in the Holy Qur’ân: “Be just, that is nearer to observance of duty”.

He also requires that hatred of others should not motivate you to do injustice to them. It would be unjust. Thus, in the same verse it is said: “Oh, you who believe, be upright for Allâh, bearers of witness with justice: and let not hatred of people incite you not to act equitably”.

Thus, it is the will of Allâh that justice should prevail and even hatred of people should not motivate a believer to commit an act of injustice. And justice demands that needless and uncalled for violence should not be perpetrated. That itself would be a great injustice. A Muslim, who surrenders himself/herself to the will of Allâh, cannot shed a drop of blood without compelling reasons for the same. A Muslim is not permitted to use coercion, let alone violence, in preaching his religion. The Qur’ân declares in ringing words and continues: “There is no compulsion in religion, the right way is indeed, clearly distinct from error. So whoever disbelieves in the devil and believes in Allâh, he indeed, lays hold on the firmest handle which shall never break.”

It is clear from this verse that you can lay hand on ‘the firmest handle’ only if ‘din’ is accepted through inner conviction, not through coercion. If compulsion or coercion in any form is used, the handle would break. One can have grip over the ‘firmest of handle’ (urwah al-wuthqa) only through inner convictions. Maulana Muhammad Ali, a noted commentator on the Qur’ân says, commenting on the above verse: “to all the nonsense which is being talked about the Prophet offering Islam or the sword as the alternative to the pagan Arabs, this verse is a sufficient answer. Being assured of success, the Muslim are told that when they hold power in their hand, their guiding principle should be that there should be no compulsion in the matter of religion.”

The Maulana also tells us that the presumption that this passage was directed to the early converts and that it was abrogated later is utterly baseless. Not only that the Qur’ân clearly declares there is no compulsion in religion, it also lays down, in no uncertain words, the methodology of preaching. The Qur’ân declares: “Call to the way of thy Lord with wisdom and exhortation and argue with them in the best manner.”

There should be no doubt left in anyone’s mind about the methodology of preaching advocated by the Qur’ân. It has to be done with wisdom and a Muslim has to argue the case with convincing and appealing arguments and that too in the best possible manner. Even the good arguments, if made rudely and with an element of anger, loses its appeal. The Qur’ân takes care of this aspect too. Thus, its methodology of preaching cannot be faulted. Not only this, the Qur’ân specifically prohibits Muslim from abusing those who believe in gods other than Allâh. It says: “And abuse not those whom they (i.e. non-believers) call upon besides Allâh, least exceeding the limits, they abuse Allâh through ignorance.”

Not only that, the Qur’ân prohibits believers from abusing other gods, it also makes it clear to them that “to every people have we made their deeds fair-seeming; then to their Lord is their return, so he will inform them of what they did”.

It is important to note here that according to the Qur’ân, abusing others’ gods is counter-productive. Not only that, to a very people their deeds (ways of worshipping included) seem quite fair to them and it is this sense of fairness which is important, nor the way of worshipping. In other words, if one has a particular way of worshipping, it not only seems fair to him but it is also based on his inner convictions. Muslim may not accept that way of worshipping but they must learn to co-exist in harmony with them. The Qur’ân also throws a challenge to the believers in this respect (i.e., harmonious co-existence with others’ ways and beliefs). This challenge is thrown in these words: “If Allâh had desired, He might try you in what he gave (diversity of beliefs). So, vie one with another in virtuous deeds.”

Allâh has appointed a law and a way for every community and they must co-exist in harmony and excel each other in good deeds. If the Qur’ân advocates this philosophy, how can it advocate use of violence in compelling others to embrace Islam? Had it advocated violence, the above verses would have made no sense whatever.