The latest example of this is what the USA did (and continues to do) in ‘Iraq...

The latest example of this is what the USA did (and continues to do) in ‘Iraq, Afghanistan and Guantanamo. The Prophet (S) warned his soldiers not to fight in such a manner that they end up neglecting the basic principles that make a human being human. They were not to kill innocent women, children, old people and the handicapped. They were not permitted to cut down trees or fill up wells. They were to offer the enemy an opportunity to surrender and not pursue those who fled from battle.

These were just some of the numerous injunctions that the Holy Prophet (S) laid down for the Muslims at a time when the norm among the Arabs was to treat the enemy ruthlessly and without any mercy whatsoever. The Holy Prophet (S), or the ‘supreme commander’ as the author of this work refers to him time and again, had no interest in building a large empire. Rather, he readily made those who were willing to live peacefully, his allies.

The sword was only raised against open enemies who were out to destroy Islām and the Muslims. Further, many of the defeated prisoners of war became Muslims when they saw how the Prophet (S) treated them. Contrary to their expectation of harsh and brutal treatment, they were treated with kindness and mercy. Just this was enough to make many of them Muslims. This was how Islām really spread, not at the tip of the blade as wrongly hypothesized by Western Orientalists.

Translating this work posed a number of challenges. First, the enormous amount of transliteration. In Arabic, different dialects pronounce words differently. We have tried as much as possible to conform with the standard Arabic transliteration but this has not been a priority and at times one Arabic name may have been transliterated in two or three similar ways.

Care has been taken, however, that this should in no way cause any confusion about who or what is being referred to and it should only be deemed a handicap of the English language, nothing more. Second, one will notice that this work, which was originally a dissertation for the author’s PhD, has a string of footnotes as long as the eye can see!

These footnotes only serve to provide a basis for his statements and refer the reader to where he or she can turn if more information or detail is required. Third, I have taken the liberty of adding my own notes wherever I thought a clarification was required.