Life-of-Muhammad

106Life of Muhammad satherefore, to force the Arabs either to surrender or toaccept peace. The Prophet sa decided to do so.Was it war which the Prophet sa sought? No, it wasnot war but peace that he wanted to bring about. If hehad done nothing at this time, Arabia would haveremained in the grip of civil warfare. The step which hetook was the only way to peace. There have been somelong wars in history. Some have lasted for a hundred,some for thirty years or so. Long wars have alwaysresulted from lack of decisive action by either side.Decisive action, as we have said, can take only one oftwo forms—complete surrender or a negotiated peace.Could the Prophet sa have remained passive? Couldhe have withdrawn himself and his small force ofMuslims behind the walls of Medina and left everythingelse to take care of itself ? This was impossible. Thedisbelievers had started the aggression. Passivity wouldnot have meant the end of war but, rather, itscontinuation. It would have meant that the disbelieverscould attack Medina whenever they liked. They couldstop when they liked and attack when they liked. Apause in warfare did not mean the end of war. It meantonly a strategic move.TEACHINGS OF JUDAISM AND CHRISTIANITYABOUT WARBut the question now arises—Can it ever be right tofight for a faith? Let us, therefore, turn to this question.The teaching of religion on the subject of war takesdifferent forms. The teaching of the Old Testament, wehave cited above. Moses as is commanded to enter theland of Canaan by force, to defeat its population and tosettle his own people in it (Deut. 20: 10-18). In spite ofthis teaching in the Book of Moses as , and in spite of itsreinforcement by practical example of the ProphetsJoshua as , David as and others, Jews and Christians