Islam Rediscovered
11. Non-Violence and Islam
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But, sedulously avoiding all such issues, the
Prophet Muhammad, may peace be upon him,
strictly limited his sphere to peaceful
propagation of the word of God. This resulted in
da‘wah
work being performed in full force
throughout this period. One of the great gains
during these 13 years of
da’wah
work was the
entry into the Islamic fold of men of the highest
moral calibre, who were responsible for forming
the history of Islam, for instance, Abu Bakr,
Umar, Uthman and Ali, etc.
2. In Makkah when the Quraysh leaders were set to
wage war against the Prophet, even then, instead
of opting for the way of reaction and retaliation,
what the Prophet did was to secretly migrate to
Madinah.
Migration, by its very nature, was a clear
example of non-violent activism. This peaceful
strategy enabled the Prophet and his followers,
about two hundred in number, to form a
powerful centre of Islam in Madinah. Had they
adopted the path of confrontation instead of
peaceful migration, the history of Islam might
