Muhammad: A Prophet of War? | Prof. Juan Cole

what the Quran the scripture revered by the world's 1.7 billion Muslims says about peace has never been more important yet very little attention has been paid to this crucial subject in my book Muhammad prophet of peace amid the clash of Empires I fill this gap let us picture the historical Muhammad who was born about five hundred and seventy years after the death of Jesus Christ whom he saw as his predecessor as a merchant from the small shrine city of Mecca and Western Arabia he frequently traveled to cities like Jerusalem and Damascus in the Eastern Roman Empire his trade would have been disrupted in the year 603 when the Iranians sustained Ian's Empire invaded the Roman Near East kicking off of brutal 26 year long war it was a time of both Christianity and paganism most people in the Roman Empire had embraced Christianity but at the fringes of civilization Bedouins and villagers still worshipped the old Arabian Gods Muhammad's hometown Mecca was the site of the Kaaba a shrine to God some may have worshiped only this supreme deity but most simply added him to a pantheon with pagan goddesses depicted as his daughters Arab custom respected a major shrine to a deity like the Kaaba as a zone of peace Muhammad's clan the Banu Hashim were caretakers of the Kaaba and it's pilgrimage and in charge of settling feuds peace keeping was Muhammad's ancestral vocation the Quran speaks in chapter 97 of the descent on Muhammad of the Holy Spirit and of angels on the night of the first revelation which occurred around the year 610 or about seven years after war broke out between the in the sious annex that chapter ends by saying and peace it is until the breaking of the gone the revelation brings with it the peace of worship and spirituality Muhammad began preaching a strict monotheism to mekin pagans who were outraged they Hara stand boycotted Muhammad's early believers and in the face of this persecution the Quran advises Muhammad in chapter 73 be patient with what they say and take your leave of them graciously another chapter 41 proclaims good and evil are not equal repel the latter with the greater good and behold your enemy will become a devoted patron the chapter called the criterion speaks of the servants of the all-merciful who walk humbly upon the earth and when the unruly taunt them they reply peace some sources alleged that Muhammad and the believers supported the Roman Empire and that the pagans cited instead with the Iranian sustainance the Quran tells Muhammad of the year 622 recall when the pagans were intriguing against you to kidnap you or murder you or to expel you under pressure the Prophet and his small community emigrated to the nearby city of Medina pagan Mecca however launched three military campaigns and an attempt to take Medina and crush the new religion of Islam in each case the believers and their allies in Medina who included the city's Jewish community repelled these attacks the Quran suggests that one goal of these defensive battles was to protect Roman Christian churches to the north from the pagan Marauders the Quranic verses commanding self-defense have been cherry-picked by anti Muslim writers and by small cells of streamis to depict the profit and the community as militant this is far from accurate the quran says fight in the path of god those who enter into combat against you but do not commit aggression god does not love aggressors the Quran instructs the Prophet to forgive the enemy and to always seek peace say to the pagans that if they desist they will be forgiven for what went before it adds if they incline toward peace you must incline toward it by the Year 629 rome had defeated the iranians who could no longer proffer any support to the pagans in western arabia early in the year 630 the Prophet led the believers and a peaceful procession from Medina to the holy city of Mecca there was some danger that the bellicose polytheists might Massacre them the Quran says behold the pagans instilled in their hearts a war fever the war fever of the unruly but God sent down his peace on his messenger and on the believers almost miraculously however the Meccans folded the Quran recalls of God he it is who withheld their hands from you and your hands from them in the heart of Mecca after he made you ascendant over them the final chapter of sacred history ended without a military confrontation it ended rather with peace one of the last passages of the Quran says God thereby guides those who follow his good pleasure to the ways of peace and delivers them from the shadows into light by his leave and conducts them to the straight path this passage resembles the description of John the Baptist in the Gospel of Luke in both cases a preacher arose in the wilderness prophesying the advent of peace I'm Juan Cole for the Amir Stein Center [Applause] [Music] [Music] this video was produced in collaboration with alliance of virtue if you want to see more content like this make sure to LIKE share 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Channel: Emir-Stein Center

Views: 907,395

Keywords: Prophet Muhammad, Islam, Muslims, John the Baptist, Peace, worship, spirituality

Id: p_kukrJ7goE

Length: 7min 14sec (434 seconds)

Published: Mon Jul 08 2019