Understanding Islam — Page 35
35 Qureshi goes one step further by suggesting that “the battles of the early Muslim community seem to have escalated in a crescendo toward the end of Muhammad’s[ sa ] life, not halting with his death but rather catapulting into global proportions”. 30 The reality is that the mere presence of violence in the life of Prophet Muhammad sa cannot mean that he was a “violent Prophet”. As has been shown in this chapter through the various verses of the Holy Quran, there is a context behind all the defensive armed engagement that took place during Prophet Muhammad’s sa life. He never sought enemies and never had any ill-will towards anyone. When he had only a handful of followers in the early days, a significant number of people in Makkah started opposing them violently. Even at that time, some of his followers wished to fight back but he forbade them: not due to weakness but as a matter of adherence to principle. Those first thirteen years of the blessed life of the Holy Prophet Muhammad sa were characterized by great and unmitigated pain and suffering for him and his nascent community of faith. The followers of Prophet Muhammad sa were dragged in the