Salam (Peace) - Part 6

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('Salam' - Peace; often used by Muslims as a greeting. [Muhammad Prophet For Our

Time Glossary pg. 218].)

 

 

Salam - Part 6

 

(p.189) The victory at Hudaybiyyah had distinguished the Muslims from the

Quraysh, who had shown throughout the day that they were still in thrall to the

overbearing haughtiness and intransigence of the jahiliyyah, a stubborn

resistance to anything that might injure their sense of honor or their

traditional way of life. They had even been ready to massacre the innocent

unarmed pilgrims rather than accept the " humiliation " of admitting them to the

Haram.

 

When in the hearts of those who persist in unbelief arose the characteristic

arrogance, the arrogance of jahiliyyah, then God sent down his peace of soul

(sakinah) upon His Messenger and upon the believers, and imposed upon them the

formula of self-restraint (hilm), for that was most befitting to them and they

were most suited for that. [31]

 

Muslims were not supposed to be men of war; they were characterized by the

spirit of hilm, a peace and forbearance that allied them with the Jews and

Christians, the People of the Book. (p.190) Instead of posturing aggressively as

the Quraysh had done at Hudaybiyyah, the true followers of Allah prostrated

themselves humbly before God in prayer:

 

Thou seest them bowing, prostrating, seeking bounty from God and good pleasure.

Their mark is on their faces, the trace of prostration. That is their likeness

in the Torah, and their likeness in the Gospel.

 

It was not violence and self-assertion, but the spirit of mercy, courtesy and

tranquility that would cause the ummah to grow, " as a seed that puts forth its

shoot and strengthens it and it grows stout and raises straight upon its stalk,

pleasing the owners. " [32] The war was over; it was now time for a holy peace.

 

In fact the struggle would continue, but the sources agree that Hudaybiyyah was

a watershed. " No previous victory (fatah) was greater than this, " Ibn Ishaq

believed. The root meaning of 'FTH' was " opening; " the truce had looked

unpromising at first, but it opened new doors for Islam. Hitherto nobody had

been able to sit down and discuss the new religion in a rational manner, because

of the constant fighting and escalating hatred. But now " when there was an

armistice and men met in safety and consulted together, none talked about Islam

intelligently without entering it. " Indeed, between 628 and 630, " double as many

or more than double as many entered Islam as ever before. " [33] The short

lyrical surah 'An-Nasr' ( " Help " ) may have been composed at this time:

 

When the help of God arrived

and the opening (fatah)

and you saw people joining the religion of God in waves

Recite the praise of your Lord

and say God forgive

He is the always forgiving. [34]

 

There was to be no triumphalism, no cry for vengeance. The new era must be

characterized by gratitude, forgiveness, and an acknowledgement of the Muslims'

own culpability.

 

Muhammad (Prophet For Our Time)

Chapter 5, 'Salam', p. 189-191

Karen Armstrong

Harper Perennial - London, New York, Toronto and Sydney

ISBN-13 978-0-00-723248-2

ISBN-10 0-00-723248-9

 

Notes:

 

[31] Qur'an 48:26, translation by Toshihiko Izutsu, 'Ethico-Religious Concepts

in the Qur'an' (Montreal and Kingston, ON, 2002), 31.

 

[32] Qur'an 48:29, in Arthur J. Arberry, 'The Koran Interpreted' (Oxford, 1964).

 

[33] Ibn Ishaq, 'Sirat Rasul Allah', 751, in Guillaume, 'Life of Muhammad'.

 

[34] Qur'an 110, in Michael Sells, ed. and trans., 'Approaching the Qur'an, The

Early Revelations' (Ashland, OR, 1999).