Prophet Stories

Pictures Gallery

Saryah Hamzah and Saryah Ubaidah
   A brief account of the Holy Prophet's fifty three years life has so far been presented to the readers. It has also been learnt with some details: how Islam was propagated in the world, and how much were dedicated to Islam and the Holy Prophet (peace be upon him) those thousands of human beings, belonging to different tribes and classes, who embraced Islam before Hijrat (Migration) and got so much absorbed in it that they never cared for their wealth, their parents and ancestors their wives and children and even their own lives for the sake of Islam and the Holy Prophet. After all, what was the reason behind their acceptance of Islam? Was it the coercion by a Government, of greed for any status, or suppression by the sword of any imperial army? Even a cursory glance at the character and events of the Holy Prophet's life (my parents be sacrificed for him!) evincingly negate all these conjectures.

The Prophet (peace be upon him) was posthumous, whose father died before his advent in the world, and who was deprived of him mother's love and affection in the sixth year of his childhood, whose hearth remained unused for months together, whose family members had never enjoyed their meals to their entire satisfaction, whose living realtives not only severed their relationship with him but also become his arch enemies. Could it be possible for such a person to rule upon any one to share his beliefs by sheer force or by alluring with money? History is a witness to the fact that notwithstanding a poor response in the beginning, Islam had emerged as a recognized force by the time the Holy Prophet (peace be upon him) was 53. But in spite of the fact the many. brave and wealthy persons had embraced Islam, Muslims had never shown aggression against any infidel. They rather avoided retaliation against the persecutuin by the cruel infidels, whereas they perpetrated untold atrocities on the Holy Prophet (peace be upon him), his dear and near ones as well as his followers.

The mighty and prestigeous infidel Quraish attempted the worst possible persecution in the Prophet and even leveled their best to murder him. They besieged him and all those associated with him for three years, and totally boycotted him. Their several conspiracies about his murder and all sorts of persecution against his companions  have already been mentioned earlier in this treatise. But Qur'an in spite of all these heinous mischief's, did not allow its followers immediate retaliation except patience and perseverance. In fact the Jehad ordained at that time demanded to invite the infidels towards their Lord through wisdom and exhortation. And in case of any debate, the Muslims were required to be polite and effectively reasonable, so that they could understand the truth. And it is is this context that Almighty Allah says in the Holy Qur'an:

"Call to the was of the Lord with wisdom and goodly exhortation, and argue with them in the best manner," (16:125)

Thousands of men, who had embraced Islam by that time and had undergone all kinds of tortures and difficulties, could obviously not do so just for the sake of worldly attractions of under the coercion of a Government or by force. In spite of this reality, if some people still make allegations that Islam was spread by force, they should fear the wrath of God. Had it been the result of force or coercion, then we would like to know whether any one among those who embraced Islam drew his sword in retaliation against those who forced them to embrace Islam? On the contrary, as the historical facts depict, these converts took up their arms in defence of Islam voluntarily and put their own lives in danger without any fear. After all, who coerced Abu Bakr, Farooq-i-Azam, Uthman-i-Ghani and Ali-e-Murtada to become Muslims? Who had used force against Abu Zarr and Ans and their tribes to embrace Islam? Who forced Damad Azdi and Tufail bin Amr Dosi to become Muslims along with their tribes. And who had compelled the tribe of Banu Abdul Ash-hal and all the Ansars, who not only embraced Islam but also shouldered all the responsibilities and made financial as well as personal sacrifices?

We again ask these critics to tell us which terror compelled Buraida Aslama who with a group of seventy persons came in the presence of the Holy Prophet (peace be upon him) while on his way to Medina and voluntarily, embraced Islam? Who took up arms against Negus, the King of Abyssiniya, which compelled him to become Muslim before Migration, in spite of his own kingdom and grandeur? Who compelled Abu Hind, Tameem and Naeem that after covering a long journey from Syria they presented themselves to the Holy Prophet (peace be upon him) and voluntarily embraced Islam under his leadership? There are many more similar incidents the books on history are replete with. These are the irrefutable observations which every sober human being has to believe in.

Islam Needs no Coercion for its Propagation
 Jehad is not obligatory for the purpose of converting the people to Islam by force of coercion. Similarly the commandments about Jiziyah,  Jiziyah is a tax charged from the infidels for their protection. charged to the infidels (after announcing them as Zimmees) against the protection of their wealth and lives, clearly show that even after Jehad was announced obligatory for the Muslims, the infidels were never forced to embrace Islam. Therefore, a fair-minded person is supposed to think dispassionately over the objects and benefits of making Jehad obligatory for the Muslims.
It was after Hijirat (Emigration to Medina) that the process of Jehad and Ghazwaat started. There were certain battles or campaigns wherein the Holy Prophet (peace be upon him) personally participated, and in certain cases he dispatched the Islamic armies under the command of selected Companions. In the terminology of historians the Jehad of the first type as mentioned above is dalled Ghazwah and the second one as known as Saryah. There were twenty-three Ghazwaat in all, out of shich the real fighting happened in nine only. And the total number of Saraya is forty-three. Surprisingly, in all these Ghazwaat and Saraya except Ghazwah Uhud, always the conquest used to be the pride of the Muslims in spite of their shortage in manpower and armaments. As regards Ghazwah Uhud they did have the upper hand in the beginning, but later they had to suffer because the troops appointed by the Holy Prophet (peace be upon him) at a strategic post left their place against his instructions.

Following is the table of the Ghazwaat and Saraya