Free Koran Curious - A Guide for Infidels and Believers by C.J. Werleman Page A

back on the Jewish and Christian faiths, and was beginning to establish its own identity.
    In less than two years, Muhammad had successfully transformed Medina. Despite the fact the Jews and Christians continued to patronize him, he had converted the remainder of the city, and in doing so, he had put an end to the civil strife and substantially grown the Muslim population in encouraging every Muslim family to produce as many offspring as they could. There now would be a new pressing challenge to address immediately, the Muslims of Medina would need commerce and trade. Medina was an agricultural town and the emigrants from Mecca were not farmers, they were merchants. Muhammad knew he had to come up with a solution fast or face revolt. His solution? War.
     

CHAPTER 7: WAR WITH MECCA
     
    The Meccans had made it impossible for the Muslims to work the caravan trade routes, and Muhammad knew that if any of his Muslims were found isolated from the security of Medina, they would be attacked and killed. This, combined with the Muslims lack of farming knowledge, left very few available options for the Muslims to earn a living. At this time Muhammad had declared war on Mecca. However, it was not a struggle for prestige, wealth, or empire, but for the advancement of God’s word and his prophethood. The Koran specifies his war objective:
    “ Fight them until persecution is no more, and religion is all for God.” (Sura 8:39)
     
    Moreover, Muhammad knew he had not yet assembled a military large enough to take Mecca by sheer force, but he also knew where he could hit them hardest – the caravans. Not only was this a brilliant military strategy but it also would serve as a means to resolve Medina’s economic woes, as seized caravans would provide war booty. Muhammad assembled a small raiding party in December of AD 623 and gave them instructions on where and how to hit a caravan he knew would be traveling on the route to Yemen, at an oasis that links Mecca to Taif. Significantly, Muhammad gave his followers two specific orders: Firstly, avoid killing anyone, as this would result in a vendetta. Secondly, wait until the day after the holy month of Rajab. Well, his men failed on both orders. Some Meccan merchants were killed and they executed their attack on the last day of Rajab. When his followers brought home the caravan’s treasure, Muhammad was appalled they had disobeyed his directive, but he took responsibility because he was their leader. Muhammad prayed for guidance from above and the following reply came back from one of God’s prayer envoys:
    “ They ask you about war in the holy month.
     
    Tell them:
     
    “ To fight in that month is a great sin.
     
    But a greater sin in the eyes of God is
     
    To hinder people away from the way of God,
     
    And not believe in Him,
     
    And to bar access to the Holy Mosque,
     
    And to turn people out of its precints.
     
    And oppression is worst than killing.
     
    They will always seek war against you
     
    Till they turn you away from your faith,
     
    If they can.
     
    But those of you who turn back on their faith
     
    And die disbelieving
     
    Will have wasted their deeds
     
    In this world and the next.
     
    They are the inmates of Hell,
     
    And abide there forever.” (Koran 2:217)
     
    This was Muhammad’s way of saying killing in a religious month is bad but it’s not as bad as hindering people from the way of God. This would be a passage that radical Islamic terrorists in the 21 st century would use to convince their combatants to wage attacks against Western targets during the month of Ramadan.
    This attack would also create a new enemy for Muhammad, as the three Jewish tribes of Medina became determined to kill him, and as such they formed an alliance with Mecca. Muhammad learned of the plot and he expelled one of the clans, the Qaynuqah and the Nadir, to the Jewish settlement of Khaybar. The clans, however, proved to a more dangerous proposition for Muhammad, however, as