Religion Practice and Science of Non Violence

Author(s): O P Jaggi
Publisher: Munshiram Manoharlal Publishers Pvt Ltd

Page 39

Religion and Non-Violence
O, man! what hath misled thee against thy generous Lord, Who hath created thee, moulded and shaped thee aright?
This was a judgment message. Mohammed's fellow citizens laughed at him and ridiculed him, saying "A crazy fool, telling fables, of the ancients. What! When we shall have lived, and become dust and bones, shall we indeed be judged?”
At the time of Mohammed, Arabia was a land of rugged rock and desert, traversed by a few caravan trails. The nomads roaming the peninsula were vigorous individualists, although restrained in vital matters by traditional loyalty to their clans. They believed in many gods and paid obeisance to their images. The message of Mohammed that 'there was only one God and no other god' was contrary to their traditicnal beliefs and customs. This created an increasing hostility among them against Mohammed and his comparatively few followers. Mohammed and his family were ostracised and almost died of starvation. For twelve years he underwent persecution, but he never wavered in bringing the message of the God to his people. When finally he was informed that the people of Mecca were plotting to kill him, he and his true friend Abu Bakr fled to Medina, a city north of Mecca, which welcomed him. This flight (hijra) took place on July 16, 622 ad.
Here he was confronted with city government and the revelations lose some of their ardent flavour and begin to deal with principles of government, administration, civil laws etc., thus laying the ground-work for the juridical code of Islam.
Within a few years Mohammed established himself so strongly at Medina that he was not only able to withstand a determined attack by his Meccan enemies but could follow up the victory by a vigorous offensive against them. In AD 630, he captured Mecca, purged the Ka'ba of its blasphemous images and unacceptable rites, and generously extended an amnesty to all who submitted to his rule. Mohammed died at the age of sixty-three.
Mohammed, by the forceful appeal of his personality and his capacity for moral leadership, succeeded in achieving a superclannish unity, on a basis of equality. He felt and showed compassion for those to whom life was a struggle. He aimed at realizing in Islam, a community where there is security without