PART II
THE RISE AND SPREAD OF
THE MESSAGE (AL-DA’AWA)
(Ghazu) Raid
In the pre Islamic period, there were two trading months that were
known in the desert of the Arab Peninsula as the two ‘Forbidden
Months’ (also known as the ‘Sacred Months’). Arab tribes and
individuals were forbidden to launch (Ghazu) raids and attacks
during these two trading months. The tradition was respected
throughout the whole Peninsula, mainly for safety of the travellers
and trade and survival of the Arab desert’s economy. During that
period, there was a complete cessation of hostility in the Arab
Peninsula. Safe passage was guaranteed to all people. They travelled
and went about their business and returned to their dwelling place
without fear of being attacked. (Ghazu) Raids stopped. Personal
attacks stopped. Acts of vendetta stopped. Caravans, traders, all
sorts of people travelled and went about their business in safety
across the Sahara Desert without fear of being attacked. Before the
Emergence of Islam, people travelled to the city of Mecca from all
parts of the Arab Peninsula and neighbouring countries. Mecca was a
commercial and religious centre. They traded merchandise and
bartered their stock and goods. People sought soothsayers, paid
homage to their gods and exchanged information. Mecca was a busy
city, brisk, full of life and throbbing with activity. In SOUK OKADH
market, the people celebrated the most famous annual fair. It was
held in the city centre. There, people recited boastful poems of
chivalry, generosity and amour. Others told stories of adventure, of
gallantry and heroism in eloquent rhythmic prose. It was an annual
festival. It became a traditional custom that they enjoyed and
respected. It attracted business, energised the heartbeat of the
city to maintain the landmark of its traditional centre and enhance
the growth of its economy.
After the two 'forbidden months’ were over, hostilities resumed.
Tribes launched (Ghazu) raids on each other. Tribesmen raided
caravans, killed, looted, kidnapped, engaged in slave trade and
continued in pursuit of their chaotic lifestyle and acts of vendetta
and blood feuds (Pryce-Jones, 1989: pp 258-259).
With the emergence of Islam, instead of continuing in their old
traditional way of tribal feuds in the desert of the Arab Peninsula,
the prophet unified the Arab clans under the banner of Islam and
re-directed their energy and attacks of the nomadic tribes against
its non-Muslim surroundings. Islam changed the concept of the
pre-Islamic (Ghazu) raids into battles of (Jihad) holy war. It
sanctioned its traditional raids and practice of appropriation
through Jihad. Islam legalized Jihad against pagan cults, as well as
the Jewish and Christian religions. Killing of their enemies and
confiscating their properties during Jihad became lawful. Jihad and
pillage went hand in hand, together. Belief in the redemption of the
soul and assertion of the true faith was reaffirmed in their concept
through the successful jihad raids. The speed with which Judaism and
Christianity crumbled before the ferocity of the Islamic forces, led
the Muslim leaders to believe in the primacy of their Allah over
Jehovah and the Muhammadan religion above all others. Islam was
hence considered as the supreme religion, superseding all other
religions and Muhammad as the Seal - the last of the prophets. Islam
confronts both Judaism and Christianity, believing in itself as the
conclusion and fulfilment of the Jewish Torah and the Christian New
Testament. In addition to Judaism and Christianity, Islam is
intolerant of all other religions. Its main objective is their
elimination and replacement with the Muhammadan religion,
considering all religions before Islam as obsolete. Such deep
conviction led them to risky ventures that entitled them to booty
and paradise through martyrdom. Islamic militants justify their
actions of force by associating them with the concept of Jihad, the
struggle for Allah.
Islam recognizes Jihad as a religious duty. Islamic religious
organisations operating in Islamic countries indoctrinate jihad in
their manifesto with the formal approval of their government. Jihad
promotes and propagates Islam by open threats and violence.
Mujahideen view Jihad, holy war, as an obligatory duty. To affirm
that, militant groups give themselves religious names such as Hizb-Allah
(The Party of God) in Lebanon, Junoud Muhammad (Muhammad's Soldiers)
in Jordan, Ikhwan Al-Muslimeen (Muslim Brotherhood) in Egypt etc.
Considering Jihad as an extension of the Islamic religion, the
mujahideen expect protection and gratitude from their sponsors and
the clergy. Since (Jihad) is part of the doctrine created by such a
religious-state system, it eventually leads to a situation where
mujahideen resort to extreme violence, with all its ugly forms.
Responsibility for such actions ends up with the religious
authority, namely, the Islamic government, backed by the clergy.
Vying with Saudi Arabia for a better inscription on its flag of the
verse, which reads that there is ‘No god but Allah and Muhammad is
the Messenger of Allah’ underlined with a deadly unsheathed sword,
Iran removed the monarch’s symbol of the crown from its flag and
replaced it with ‘Allah’. Iraq, in competition with both Saudi
Arabia and Iran, has added “Allaho Akbar” to its flag. Islamic
animosity, violence and continued abuse of human rights are depicted
in their aggressive warlike slogans and catchcry threats. Such
banner-heads give the impression that militant organizations in such
government systems are staunchly Islamic and that secularisation is
inconceivable. Democratisation based on secular constitutional
reforms is undesirable by these Islamic states and, therefore,
pluralism is discouraged, and becomes hard to attain.
The mujahideen are operative instruments in the hands of their
religious leaders. Islamic power and authority are made up of two
elements: the Sword and the Book. Islam cannot have one without the
other. They were twinborn, grew up together, and became a
socio-political system under the banner of Islam. In Islam, the
sword is as essential as knowledge of the Koran and Hadeeth (saying
and deeds of the prophet) to promote and maintain Islamic
communities. Social and political freedom exist and are exercised
only within the Islamic Shari’ah Law. They are sanctioned by the
clergy, headed by a Mufti (head of the Islamic clergy). Islamic
societies are prisoners of the clergy in their interpretation of the
Koran and the Hadeeth. Whether right or wrong, acceptable or not,
the Islamic society will have to abide by them or face (fatwa)
religious edict and retribution. In the process, the ethnic
communities are dragged along and become victims of the Islamic (shari’ah)
law.
[TOP]
