by Adil salahi
The arrival of the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) in Madinah heralded the establishment of the first Islamic state in history. That the foundations of this state needed continuous consolidation was very clear to the Prophet (PBUH) right from the beginning.
His initial major actions as he took charge in Madinah reflect his keen awareness of that need. He built the mosque, which was a place of worship, a people’s assembly, and the palace of government, all in one.
He established a new and strong bond of brotherhood between his followers to consolidate the inner structure of his community. He also signed a treaty with the Jews to ensure peace in Madinah and to free himself to face outside threats, which were only to be expected.
The Quraish could not remain idle while the new state in Madinah acquired increasing strength. The Quraish was bound to conclude that the Islamic state in Madinah was going to challenge for supremacy in Arabia.
It was expected that the Quraish might before long try to launch an all-out campaign to eliminate such a challenge before it had a chance to gather strength. A show of force by the Muslims in Madinah was therefore important, in order to make the Quraish think twice before embarking on any such hazardous course of action. One may note here that up to the last few months of the Prophet’s (PBUH) active work for Islam in Makkah, Muslims were commanded by God not to resort to arms in any confrontation with non-believers.
Several reasons may be advanced for such a policy. Firstly, the Makkan period was one of education of a certain people in a new tradition. The Muslim Arabs had to be trained not to retaliate for personal injury, but to look beyond their own persons and interests and to think first of their new community.
Secondly, the use of force in the Makkan period might have led to increased stubbornness on the part of the Quraish and, consequently, to a never-ending series of killing for vengeance. The blame for such an event would undoubtedly have been laid at the door of Islam.
Thirdly, the use of force might have led to numerous little family wars, as the believers still lived with their own families and clans. Since the Muslims were still small in number, they might have been totally exterminated.
Fourthly, the Muslims would have lost all the support of their clans. We have seen how the support of the Hashemites guaranteed for the Prophet (PBUH) all the protection he needed to continue his efforts in fulfillment of his mission.
As the Makkan period drew to an end, permission to fight the non-believers was given to the Prophet (PBUH) and his followers. This came in a Quranic verse which was revealed shortly before the Ansar made their second covenant with the Prophet. No fighting, however, took place before the Prophet’s (PBUH) emigration. There was every indication that it would come soon. Hence preparations for such an eventuality were called for.
The Muhajirun (Muslims who emigrated to Madinah) and the Ansar (Muslims who received the emigrants in Madinah) were good fighters. Almost every one of them had fought with his tribe. As already related, the two tribes to whom the Ansar belonged were involved in a fierce battle shortly before they came to know about Islam.
But all this experience was not quite enough for the Prophet’s (PBUH) purposes. The Muslim community would never fight a tribal war. A new army had to be built on a basis totally different from anything known in Arabia: the basis of faith.
Thus, the purpose of war would be different. The soldiers’ attitude to death in battle would be based on the Islamic view that a martyr is certain to be admitted to heaven. His attitude to his fellow soldiers would also be completely different. The Prophet (PBUH) wasted no time in building such an army. He had moved without a moment’s delay to consolidate the foundations of his new state. Internally, the fabric of the social structure of the new society was of the highest quality.
Relations with other communities in Madinah were put on a sound basis. A well-trained army, which was soon to prove its caliber, was built up. The establishment of the new state was indeed a great achievement which crowned the Prophet’s (PBUH) hard work over the past 14 years. Since Madinah was not an isolated city, its relations with its neighbours were highly important. All around Madinah there were Bedouin tribes which did not have much of an idea about Islam.
Independent though these tribes were, their natural sympathies were with the Quraish. Like the Quraish, they were pagans for whom religious values did not count for much. More importantly, the Quraish was still the recognised superpower in Arabia. Something had to be done to persuade those Arab tribes that things had changed. Moreover, the Prophet’s (PBUH) mission was universal. That is, he was commanded by God to make his message known to all mankind and to call upon them to believe in it. At no time did the Prophet (PBUH) envisage the establishment of the new state as his final objective.www.onislam.net
