The military career of Muhammad ( – 8 June 632), the Islamic prophet, encompasses several expeditions and battles throughout the

Hejaz Hejaz is a Historical region, historical region of the Arabian Peninsula that includes the majority of the western region of Saudi Arabia, covering the cities of Mecca, Medina, Jeddah, Tabuk, Saudi Arabia, Tabuk, Yanbu, Taif and Al Bahah, Al-B ...

region in the western

Arabian Peninsula The Arabian Peninsula (, , or , , ) or Arabia, is a peninsula in West Asia, situated north-east of Africa on the Arabian plate. At , comparable in size to India, the Arabian Peninsula is the largest peninsula in the world. Geographically, the ...

which took place in the final ten years of his life, from 622 to 632. His primary campaign was against his own tribe in

Mecca Mecca, officially Makkah al-Mukarramah, is the capital of Mecca Province in the Hejaz region of western Saudi Arabia; it is the Holiest sites in Islam, holiest city in Islam. It is inland from Jeddah on the Red Sea, in a narrow valley above ...

, the

Quraysh The Quraysh () are an Tribes of Arabia, Arab tribe who controlled Mecca before the rise of Islam. Their members were divided into ten main clans, most notably including the Banu Hashim, into which Islam's founding prophet Muhammad was born. By ...

Muhammad Muhammad (8 June 632 CE) was an Arab religious and political leader and the founder of Islam. Muhammad in Islam, According to Islam, he was a prophet who was divinely inspired to preach and confirm the tawhid, monotheistic teachings of A ...

proclaimed prophethood around 610 and later migrated to

Medina Medina, officially al-Madinah al-Munawwarah (, ), also known as Taybah () and known in pre-Islamic times as Yathrib (), is the capital of Medina Province (Saudi Arabia), Medina Province in the Hejaz region of western Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, ...

after being persecuted by the Quraysh in 622. After several battles against the Quraysh, Muhammad conquered Mecca in 629, ending his campaign against the tribe. Alongside his campaign against the Quraysh, Muhammad led campaigns against several other tribes of Arabia, most notably the three Arabian Jewish tribes of Medina and the Jewish

fortress A fortification (also called a fort, fortress, fastness, or stronghold) is a military construction designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from L ...

Khaybar KhaybarOther Arabic transliteration, standardized Arabic transliterations: / . Anglicized pronunciation: , . (, ) is an oasis in Medina Province (Saudi Arabia), Medina Province, Saudi Arabia, situated some north of the city of Medina. Prior to ...

. He expelled the

Banu Qaynuqa The Banu Qaynuqa (; also spelled Banu Kainuka, Banu Kaynuka, Banu Qainuqa, Banu Qaynuqa) was one of the three main Jewish tribes that originally lived in Medina (now part of Saudi Arabia) before being expelled by Muhammad. They were merchants an ...

tribe for violating the

Constitution of Medina The Constitution of Medina (; or ; also known as the Umma Document), is a document dealing with tribal affairs during the Islamic prophet Muhammad's time in Medina and formed the basis of the First Islamic State, a multi-religious polity under his ...

in 624, followed by the

Banu Nadir The Banu Nadir (, ) were a Jewish Arab tribe that lived in northern Arabia at the oasis of Medina until the 7th century. They were probably a part of the Constitution of Medina, which was formed after Muhammad's Hijrah. Tensions rose between th ...

who were expelled in May 625 after being accused of plotting to assassinate him. Finally, in 628, he besieged and invaded the Jewish fortress of Khaybar, which hosted more than 10,000 Jews, which Muslim sources say was retaliation for planning to ally themselves with the local Arab pagan tribes.During the final years of his life, Muhammad sent several armies against the

Byzantine Empire The Byzantine Empire, also known as the Eastern Roman Empire, was the continuation of the Roman Empire centred on Constantinople during late antiquity and the Middle Ages. Having survived History of the Roman Empire, the events that caused the ...

and the

Ghassanids The Ghassanids, also known as the Jafnids, were an Tribes of Arabia, Arab tribe. Originally from South Arabia, they migrated to the Levant in the 3rd century and established what would eventually become a Christian state, Christian kingdom unde ...

in northern Arabia and the

Levant The Levant ( ) is the subregion that borders the Eastern Mediterranean, Eastern Mediterranean sea to the west, and forms the core of West Asia and the political term, Middle East, ''Middle East''. In its narrowest sense, which is in use toda ...

, before conquering Mecca in 630 and leading a campaign against some Arab pagan tribes close to Mecca, most notably in

Ta'if Taif (, ) is a city and governorate in Mecca Province in Saudi Arabia. Located at an elevation of in the slopes of the Hijaz Mountains, which themselves are part of the Sarawat Mountains, Sarat Mountains, the city has a population of 563,282 pe ...

. The last army led by Muhammad before his death was in the Battle of Tabuk in October 630. By the time he died in 632, Muhammad had managed to unite most of the Arabian Peninsula, laying the foundation for the subsequent Islamic expansion under the

caliphate A caliphate ( ) is an institution or public office under the leadership of an Islamic steward with Khalifa, the title of caliph (; , ), a person considered a political–religious successor to the Islamic prophet Muhammad and a leader of ...

s and defining

Islamic military jurisprudence Islamic military jurisprudence refers to what has been accepted in Sharia (Islamic law) and Fiqh (Islamic jurisprudence) by ''Ulama'' (Islamic scholars) as the correct Islamic manner, expected to be obeyed by Muslims, in times of war. Some schola ...

Background

Muhammad's role in The Islamic Ghazwat

In his

prophetic biography In religion, mythology, and fiction, a prophecy is a message that has been communicated to a person (typically called a ''prophet'') by a supernatural entity. Prophecies are a feature of many cultures and belief systems and usually contain divin ...

() titled ''The Sealed Nectar (''),

Safiur Rahman Mubarakpuri Safiur Rahman Mubarakpuri (6 June 1942 – 1 December 2006)Ar-Raheeq Al-Makhtum Pdf
...

cites

Ibn Hisham Abu Muhammad Abd al-Malik ibn Hisham ibn Ayyub al-Himyari (; died 7 May 833), known simply as Ibn Hisham, was a 9th-century Abbasid historian and scholar. He grew up in Basra, in modern-day Iraq and later moved to Egypt. Life Ibn Hisham has ...

in saying that Muhammad took part in the Ghazwat Wars, which took place between an alliance of the

and the

Kinanah Kinana () is an Arab tribe based around Mecca in the Tihama coastal area and the Hejaz mountains. The Quraysh of Mecca, the tribe of the Islamic prophet Muhammad, was an offshoot of the Kinana. A number of modern-day tribes throughout the Arab ...

and the Qais 'Ailan, when he was 15, saying that "his efforts were confined to picking up the arrows of the enemy as they fell, and handing them over to his uncles."

Situation in Medina

Medina was divided into five tribes: two of them the Khazraj and Aws, while the Jews were represented by, from smallest to largest, the

and Banu Quraizah. Upon his arrival in Medina, Muhammad set about the establishment of a pact known as the

, to regulate the matters of governance of the city, as well as the extent and nature of inter-community relations, and signatories to it included the

Muhajirun The ''Muhajirun'' (, singular , ) were the converts to Islam and the Islamic prophet Muhammad's advisors and relatives, who emigrated from Mecca to Medina; the event is known in Islam as the '' Hijra''. The early Muslims from Medina are called the ...

, the Ansar and the

Jew Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, religion, and community are highly inte ...

ish tribes of Medina. Significant clauses of the constitution included the mutual assistance of each other if one signatory were to be attacked by a third party, the resolution that the Muslims would profess their religion and the Jews theirs, as well as the appointment of Muhammad as the leader of the state. And the threat to the life of both the Ansar and the Muhajireen was such that they were reported as having to sleep by their weapons all night. As tensions escalated the Muslims began to take defensive measures such as stationing guards around Muhammad and sending out reconnaissance patrols. After initially refusing to accede to requests by his followers to fight the Meccans for continued persecution and provocation, he eventually proclaimed the revelations of the Quran: ::"Permission to fight is given to those who are fought against because they have been wronged -truly Allah has the power to come to their support- those who were expelled from their homes without any right, merely for saying, 'Our Lord is Allah'...""-Surah 22:39–40

History

Campaign against the Jews of Medina

Expulsion of the Banu Qaynuqa'

Mohammed receiving the submission of the Banu Nadir

In April 624, after the

Battle of Badr The Battle of Badr or sometimes called The Raid of Badr ( ; ''Ghazwahu Badr''), also referred to as The Day of the Criterion (, ; ''Yawm al-Furqan'') in the Qur'an and by Muslims, was fought on 13 March 624 CE (17 Ramadan, 2 AH), near the pre ...

, the Banu Qaynuqa violated the

by shaming a Muslim woman by pinning and tearing her clothes. A Muslim man who witnessed this, killed the Jewish man responsible for it in retaliation. The Jews came in group against the Muslim and killed him. After a successive chain of similar revenge killings, enmity grew between Muslims and the Banu Qaynuqa', which led Muhammad to lay siege to their fortress. The Qaynuqa' had a strength of around 700. After being besieged for 14–15 days, the tribe eventually surrendered to Muhammad, who initially wanted to capture the men of Banu Qaynuqa', but ultimately yielded to Abdullah ibn 'Ubayy and agreed to expel the Qaynuqa'. The tribe eventually went northward toward

Der'a Daraa (, Levantine Arabic: ) is a city in southwestern Syria, north of the border with Jordan. It is the capital of Daraa Governorate in the Hauran region. Located south of Damascus on the Damascus–Amman highway, it serves as a way sta ...

a in modern-day

Syria Syria, officially the Syrian Arab Republic, is a country in West Asia located in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Levant. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the west, Turkey to Syria–Turkey border, the north, Iraq to Iraq–Syria border, t ...

and assimilated themselves into the local Jewish population.

Expulsion of the Banu Nadir

In May 625, Muhammad laid siege to the

, after he came to know that they were plotting to assassinate him. The siege is said to have lasted anywhere between six and fifteen days. Enjoying their strategic advantage due to the thick foliage of palm trees surrounding their castles, the Banu Nadir pelted the Muslims with stones and showered arrows upon them from their castles. In response, Muhammad is said to have commanded the burning of the palm trees. The tribe eventually surrendered and was expelled, moving northward toward

, another Jewish fort city around 150 km (95 mi) north of Medina and was captured again during the

Battle of Khaybar The Battle of Khaybar () was an armed confrontation between the early Muslims and the Jewish community of Khaybar in 628 CE. Khaybar, which is located approximately to the northwest of Medina, was home to a sizable community of Jewish tribe ...

. They were allowed to live around Khaybar until the

Rashidun caliph The Rashidun Caliphate () is a title given for the reigns of first caliphs (lit. "successors") — Abu Bakr, Umar, Uthman, and Ali collectively — believed to represent the perfect Islam and governance who led the Muslim community and po ...

, 'Umar ibn al-Khattab, expelled them for a second time.

Invasion of the Banu Qurayza

During the Battle of the Trench in December 626 and January 627, the Jewish tribe of

Banu Qurayza The Banu Qurayza (; alternate spellings include Quraiza, Qurayzah, Quraytha, and the archaic Koreiza) were a Jewish tribe which lived in northern Arabia, at the oasis of Yathrib (now known as Medina). They were one of the three major Jewish ...

, whose forts were located in southern Medina, were caught conspiring to ally themselves with the confederates and were charged with treachery. After the retreat of the coalition, Muslims besieged their forts, and they were the last of the Jewish tribes of Medina. The Banu Qurayza surrendered and all the men and one woman were beheaded, apart from a few who converted to Islam, while all the other women and children were enslaved. In dealing with Muhammad's treatment of the Jews of Medina, aside from political explanations, western historians and biographers have explained it as "the punishment of the Medinan Jews, who were invited to convert and refused, perfectly exemplify the Quran's tales of what happened to those who rejected the prophets of old." Francis Edward Peters (2003), p. 77 Francis Edward Peters adds that Muhammad was possibly emboldened by his military successes and also wanted to push his advantage. Economical motivations, according to Peters, also existed since the poorness of the Meccan migrants was a source of concern for Muhammad.F.E.Peters (2003), pp. 76–8. Peters argues that Muhammad's treatment of the Jews of Medina was "quite extraordinary" and is "quite at odds with Muhammad's treatment of the Jews he encountered outside Medina."Francis Edward Peters (2003), p. 194. According to Welch, Muhammad's treatment of the three major Jewish tribes brought Muhammad closer to his goal of organizing a community strictly on a religious basis.Alford Welch, ''Muhammad'', Encyclopedia of Islam

Siege of Khaybar

In March 628, according to Muslims sources, the

Jews Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

, along with the

, who were exiled from Medina by Muhammad for violating the

, and the Banu Ghatafan, were planning to attack the Muslims. When Muhammad learned of their alliance, he gathered an army of 1,500 soldiers and besieged the Jewish fortress at

Scottish Scottish usually refers to something of, from, or related to Scotland, including: *Scottish Gaelic, a Celtic Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family native to Scotland *Scottish English *Scottish national identity, the Scottish ide ...

historian and orientalist,

William Montgomery Watt William Montgomery Watt (14 March 1909 – 24 October 2006) was a Scottish historian and orientalist. An Anglican priest, Watt served as Professor of Arabic and Islamic Studies at the University of Edinburgh from 1964 to 1979 and was also a prom ...

agrees with this view.

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, a Romance ethnic group related to or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance languag ...

orientalist

Laura Veccia Vaglieri Laura Veccia Vaglieri (1893–1989) was an Italian orientalist who made significant contributions to Arabic and Islamic studies in Italy. She was a scholar and served as a professor at the University of Naples "L'Orientale". Her research focuse ...

claims other motives pushed Muhammad to invade the forts of Khaybar. On the other side, the Banu Ghatafan were afraid that the Muslims would attack them at any time, so they refused to help the Jews at Khaybar. After capturing six of the eight Jewish forts in Medina, the Jews of Khaybar finally surrendered and were allowed to live in the oasis on the condition that they would give one-half of their produce to the Muslims. Two Jewish commanders were killed in the siege. They continued to live in the oasis for several more years until they were expelled by

caliph A caliphate ( ) is an institution or public office under the leadership of an Islamic steward with Khalifa, the title of caliph (; , ), a person considered a political–religious successor to the Islamic prophet Muhammad and a leader of ...

'Umar ibn al-Khattab. The imposition of tribute upon the conquered Jews served as a precedent for provisions in the

Islamic law Sharia, Sharī'ah, Shari'a, or Shariah () is a body of religious law that forms a part of the Islamic tradition based on scriptures of Islam, particularly the Qur'an and hadith. In Islamic terminology ''sharīʿah'' refers to immutable, intan ...

for the ''

jizya Jizya (), or jizyah, is a type of taxation levied on non-Muslim subjects of a state governed by Sharia, Islamic law. The Quran and hadiths mention jizya without specifying its rate or amount,Sabet, Amr (2006), ''The American Journal of Islamic Soc ...

''.

The Prophet Muhammad and the Muslim Army at the Battle of Uhud

Byzantine campaign

In the final years of his life, after suppressing the two main factions that were leading in the opposition against him; the Meccans and the Jews, Muhammad led an active campaign against the main force in the north, the

, which was involved in several wars against the

Sasanian Empire The Sasanian Empire (), officially Eranshahr ( , "Empire of the Iranian peoples, Iranians"), was an List of monarchs of Iran, Iranian empire that was founded and ruled by the House of Sasan from 224 to 651. Enduring for over four centuries, th ...

, known as the Roman–Persian Wars. Following a defeat in the

Battle of Mu'tah The Battle of Mu'tah (, or ') took place in September 629 (1 Jumada al-Awwal 8 AH), between the forces of Muhammad and the army of the Byzantine Empire and their Ghassanid vassals. It took place in the village of Mu'tah in Palaestina Sa ...

in Muhammad's campaign against the Byzantine began with the final expedition led by Muhammad himself, the Tabuk expedition, which is also known as the Usra expedition. Muhammad heard of the gathering of a large

Byzantine The Byzantine Empire, also known as the Eastern Roman Empire, was the continuation of the Roman Empire centred on Constantinople during late antiquity and the Middle Ages. Having survived the events that caused the fall of the Western Roman E ...

–

Ghassanid The Ghassanids, also known as the Jafnids, were an Arab tribe. Originally from South Arabia, they migrated to the Levant in the 3rd century and established what would eventually become a Christian kingdom under the aegis of the Byzantine Empi ...

alliance against the Muslims in Tabuk and led a force of some 30,000 men to look for them. After waiting and scouting for the enemy for twenty days, Muhammad returned to

Statistics

The number of all casualties on all sides, in all the battles of Muhammad, is approximately 1,000. A contemporary Islamic scholar, Maulana Wahiduddin Khan, says that "during the 23-years in which this revolution was completed, 80 military expeditions took place. Fewer than 20 expeditions actually involved any fighting. 259 Muslims and 759 non-Muslims died in these battles – a total of 1018 dead." Most of those killed were men from the

tribe after they surrendered to a siege as an aftermath of the

Invasion of Banu Qurayza The siege of Banu Qurayza, also known as the battle of Banu Qurayza, took place in Dhul Qa‘dah during January of 627 CE (5 AH) and followed on from the Battle of the Trench. The Banu Qurayza, a Jewish tribe that once lived in Medina, ...

Legacy

Javed Ahmed Ghamidi Javed Ahmad Ghamidi (born 7 April 1952) is a Pakistani Islamic scholar and philosopher who is the founder of Al-Mawrid Institute of Islamic Sciences and its sister organisation ''Danish Sara''. He is regarded as one of the most influential and ...

writes in

Mizan Mizan () is a concept in the Quran The Quran, also Romanization, romanized Qur'an or Koran, is the central religious text of Islam, believed by Muslims to be a Waḥy, revelation directly from God in Islam, God (''Allah, Allāh''). It is o ...

that there are certain directives of the

Qur’an The Quran, also Romanization, romanized Qur'an or Koran, is the central religious text of Islam, believed by Muslims to be a Waḥy, revelation directly from God in Islam, God (''Allah, Allāh''). It is organized in 114 chapters (, ) which ...

pertaining to war which were specific only to Muhammad against divinely-specified peoples of his times (the

polytheists Polytheism is the belief in or worship of more than one god. According to Oxford Reference, it is not easy to count gods, and so not always obvious whether an apparently polytheistic religion, such as Chinese folk religions, is really so, or whet ...

and the

Israelites Israelites were a Hebrew language, Hebrew-speaking ethnoreligious group, consisting of tribes that lived in Canaan during the Iron Age. Modern scholarship describes the Israelites as emerging from indigenous Canaanites, Canaanite populations ...

and

Nazarites In the Hebrew Bible, a nazirite or a nazarite ( ''Nāzīr'') is an Israelite (i.e. Jewish) man or woman who voluntarily took a vow which is described in . This vow required the nazirite to: * Abstain from wine and strong drink as well as all oth ...

Arabia The Arabian Peninsula (, , or , , ) or Arabia, is a peninsula in West Asia, situated north-east of Africa on the Arabian plate. At , comparable in size to India, the Arabian Peninsula is the largest peninsula in the world. Geographically, the ...

and some other

Christians A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the world. The words '' Christ'' and ''C ...

, et al.) as a form of

divine punishment Divine retribution is supernatural punishment of a person, a group of people, or everyone by a deity in response to some action. Many cultures have a story about how a deity imposed punishment on previous inhabitants of their land, causing th ...

—for they had persistently denied the truth of Muhammad's mission even after it had been made conclusively evident to them by

Allah Allah ( ; , ) is an Arabic term for God, specifically the God in Abrahamic religions, God of Abraham. Outside of the Middle East, it is principally associated with God in Islam, Islam (in which it is also considered the proper name), althoug ...

through Muhammad, and asked the polytheists of Arabia for submission to Islam as a condition for exoneration and the others for

and submission to the political authority of the Muslims for military protection as the ''

dhimmi ' ( ', , collectively ''/'' "the people of the covenant") or () is a historical term for non-Muslims living in an Islamic state with legal protection. The word literally means "protected person", referring to the state's obligation under ''s ...

s'' of the Muslims. Therefore, after Muhammad and his companions, there is no concept in Islam obliging Muslims to wage war for propagation or implementation of Islam, hence now, the only valid reason for war is to end oppression when all other measures have failed. Though, up until the last 50 years, Jihad was seen mostly as an offensive military action to spread Islam's domain. (Jihad without Apologetics. Christopher J van der Krogt, Islam and Christian-Muslim Relations, vol. 21, no. 2, April 2010, pp. 127–142).

, ''

'', Chapter:The Islamic Law of Jihad, Dar ul-Ishraq, 2001. OCLC: 5290169

/ref>''Misplaced Directives''
Renaissance
, Al-Mawrid Institute, vol. 12, no. 3, March 2002.

Background

Muhammad's role in The Islamic Ghazwat

Situation in Medina

History

Campaign against the Jews of Medina

Expulsion of the Banu Qaynuqa'

Expulsion of the Banu Nadir

Invasion of the Banu Qurayza

Siege of Khaybar

Byzantine campaign

Statistics

Legacy

See also

References

Further reading