The chapter revolves around the meaning and creation of Jihad. As Muhammad declared Yathrib as a sanctuary city, Mecca was dealing with Medinan raids and attacks. The Battle of Badr started as the Medina’s and the Muslim community fought the people of Mecca. I remember learning about the Battle of Badr as it was more of a turning point for Muhammad as he struggled against Meccan pagan tribes. From this Battle and his victory, especially over the Quraysh tribe, this allowed him to rise to even further power in Medina, the Arabian Peninsula, as well as furthered his takeover of Mecca. The word Jihad was partially developed from this as it was seen as more of a “struggle” or “striving” (Aslan, 67) in a fight against enemies. It is fascinating to hear because to this day, people still say this word, especially in the Middle East. Aslan explains how this struggle and striving for war are more understood as defensive and less about aggression. This helped Muhammad evolve more within his prophetic consciousness.
The Battle of Uhud and conflict between the Quraysh tribe and Muhammad’s followers helped bring a rise in the tribe because of the Jewish tribes. It also crushed the morale of the Ummah. However, Muhammad did have the Jewish people surrender and leave Medina. There were many further battles that Muhammad won that allowed him to rise to more and more power. One thing he did was allow many people to surrender, but their punishment was depended on who they were. Sometimes it would be death or harsh punishment for tribes who were anti-semitic. The Jewish tribes that did not ally with the Quraysh were not punished and allowed to live in Medina.
Tolerance was a big part of Muhammad, but it didn’t mean that the tolerance of another religion made them feel equal to theirs. However, they were viewed and part of the same Ummah, which was described as People of the Book as well as the community. Muhammad had his views on many monotheistic religions, especially Judaism. Aslan stated that he respected Judaism even though the Qur’an is fairly critical of it. Judaism, Christianity, and Islam all believe in one God, but these religions have distinct stories and views on what they believe with divinity. At the end of this chapter, and which I found very fascinating, Muhammad made a truce or peace agreement with the Quraysh as he went to Mecca and to the Kaaba and hacked the idol of the Syrian god, Hubal, into pieces. Overall, this was a very interesting chapter as it deals with the power Muhammad created through Jihad.