Jihâd in Prophetic Biography (Seerah)

Confrontation of light and darkness is an everlasting confrontation. Islam has obliged every Muslim to defend the truth and reality before the falsehood as much as they can by utilizing all facilities and tools. This duty is called “Jihâd” in Islamic culture. Islam has been facing many accusations from its opponents; most of them are about Jihâd. These false accusations have created a picture of the Prophet Mohammad, peace be upon him, that he used to hold the Qur’an in one hand and sword in the other hand. Also a wrong viewpoint has been spread in the West that the call to Islam had been successful due to parallelism of some Islamic tenets with the needs of society in that era not because of Islam’s accuracy and Muslims’ efforts. Unfortunately, this false idea has transmitted to authentic Western sources, too.
History reminds us that for obtaining success mere good and correct aims are not enough, but there is the need of devoting all abilities and powers to substantiate it. First of all, Islam was begun by Jihâd of soul and wealth in Makkah where Muslims were subjected to massive tortures. These were the teachings of the Prophet, peace be upon him, which nourished the spirit of tolerance and endurance among Muslims. Some people think Jihâd is only a kind of war and religious resistance; it is an incorrect limited viewpoint and a misconception from Jihâd. Literally, Jihâd means to work hard and struggle; it includes any type of financial, mental and bodily efforts and sacrifices to heighten the truth and protect it. That’s why, resisting whims of the self is the biggest Jihâd. Resisting ignorance is a type of Jihâd. As well as, resisting injustice, racism, illnesses, superstitions and moral abnormalities in society is a Jihâd. According to Islamic viewpoint, only distinguishing “good” from “bad” is not enough, but all energies and abilities should be utilized in order to eliminate abomination and promote goodness. However, fighting is the last solution; it is like surgery operation when the common kinds of treatment fail and then doctors use it. Fighting of Mûjâhideen/fighters is not accepted but with some specific conditions; Islam has introduced some limitations for them. No one is authorized to force others for accepting his opinions; rather it is a personal issue. It is due right of all individuals to have an opportunity for recognizing the right from wrong. There is no a single incident in the life of the Prophet PBUH that he forced people to accept Islam. The Last Messenger of Allâh used to attract opponents’ hearts toward Islam by good behavior, tolerance, honesty and forgiveness; he always advised his followers to do the same. The Prophet PBUH took sword in hand just on the basis of a divine need, thus he was forbidding from all wrong and aggressive methods in wars calling fighters to obey justice, forgiveness and nobility. Unlike warlords, he used to advise his companions to have a humane and appropriate behavior with prisoners of war. Instead of collecting wealth via war, he allocated a part of income obtained by wars to poor and needy classes of society.
A look into the battles and military confrontations of the time of the Prophet PBUH proves this claim completely. According to the research of famous biographer, Allâmah Mohammad Sûleimân Mansourpouri, the number of battles in the life of the Prophet PBUH is 82 with less than 1200 causalities from the both sides. Keeping in mind these statics, how it can be correct to say Islam defeated different tenets and faiths in the Arabian Peninsula just by the force of sword?! Is it acceptable rationally?!