The Life & Character of the Seal of Prophets (sa) – Volume III — Page 171
V - A Comparison between Islām’s Power of Peace and War 171 and permanent essence of Islām, should either way, be dominant over the result of the external conditions. 2. Then, this proves that Islām was not spread by the sword, rather, it disseminated by its own spiritual power, inherent magnetism and superior argumentation. 3. Then, this also proves that the actual personal inclination of the Holy Prophet sa was towards peace and harmony, not war. A state of war was merely a product of the disbelievers, into which the Holy Prophet sa was made to enter by compulsion. It is these three magnificent outcomes which every sensible and just individual is compelled to accept. Through them, such fundamental light is shed on the early history of Islām and the life and character of the Holy Prophet sa as this entire realm begins to sparkle with a special kind of light. Undoubtedly, Jihād by the sword is also an important part of the Islāmic teaching, because Islām has also ordered that the sword be taken up in defense against a nation or government that takes up the sword to eliminate Islām by force, or wishes to prevent the publication of Islām by the sword. 1 Moreover, not only does it enjoin that the sword be taken up, rather, it instructs that you fight against such a tyrannous enemy with resolve, as if you were a strong wall cemented with molten lead. 2 You should strike the enemy, so that not only they, but other enemies who are behind them, should also disperse, trembling. 3 However, excluding these tyrannous enemies who first take up the sword against Islām and remain adamant in wiping out Islām by force and coercion, Islām has come with a message of peace for all nations. In this message, the grandeur of its spiritual power and the dominance of its God-given argumentation is hidden within. For it is this very Jihād , which in comparison to the Jihād of the sword, is known as Jihād-e-Kabīr (i. e. , the Greater Jihād) in Islām. 4 Similarly, it is mentioned in Ḥadīth that when a party of the companions returned from an expedition, the Holy Prophet sa addressed them saying, “Now you are returning from a lesser Jihād to the greater Jihād. ” When the companions inquired, “O Messenger of Allāh, what is meant by the greater Jihād ?” the Holy Prophet sa responded, “The Jihād of an individual against his 1 Al-Ḥajj (22:40-41) 2 Aṣ-Ṣaff (61:5) 3 Al-Anfāl (8:58) 4 Al-Furqān (25:53)