The Prophet's Objectives of Military Maneuvers
According to several documents and pieces of evidence, the Holy Prophet's purpose behind these wars was neither plundering the enemies nor creating wars and conflicts, because, as we have already seen, the number of the Islamic troops was small if compared with the enemies. In some of these wars, An¥¡r took part although they had promised, in the course of the treaty of the second `Aqabah, to protect the Holy Prophet at Medina and not to be involved in wars outside it.
Furthermore, the citizens of Medina were farmers and gardeners; they were not in the habit of plundering as the nomad tribes were. The conflicts between Aws and Khazraj were local conflicts and it was the Jews who ignited the fire of difference between these two tribes. They had never plundered any tribe. Furthermore, when confronted by enemies, Muslims never showed any inclination to war. °amzah, for example, avoided engaging himself in war when an impartial person acted as an intermediary to stop it.[1] Considering all these factors, the Holy Prophet carried out all those military maneuvers for specific objectives. The following were among his aims:
(1) The Holy Prophet aimed at threatening the trade route from Quraysh to Damascus. The Meccan trade caravans used to move between Medina and the shores of the Red Sea as they could not go more than 130 kilometers away from the city.[2] Through his maneuvers, the Holy Prophet wished to let Quraysh know that if they wanted to hinder the Muslims' free actions in Medina, their trade routes would be endangered and their goods could be confiscated by Muslims.[3] This threat was definitely a warning for the Meccan unbelievers for whom trade was of vital significance. This treaty forced them to review their strategies against Muslims.
No doubt, Muslims were right in confiscating the Meccan goods and properties since they had forced Muh¡jir£n out of their homes in Mecca and had confiscated their belongings.[4] It should be noted that the conflicts were not personal anymore; rather, these conflicts had turned into conflicts between two powers each of which did its best to weaken the other. Later on, this threat became real and Quraysh, having been worried about the cutting off of the trade route to Damascus, tried to find another route.
From Muslims' point of view, the economic damage to the enemy and the creation of worry and anxiety to them seemed more significant than the booties they could collect. This could be seen in Muslims' not receiving any wealth from the unbelievers at the expeditions of `Abdull¡h Ibn Ja¦sh and Badr.
(2) These maneuvers were a show of Muslims' military force and a warning to the Meccan unbelievers not to think of military expeditions against them. It was also aimed at showing the unbelievers that Muslims were strong enough to defend themselves. While the Holy Prophet was in Mecca and the number of Muslims was small, chiefs of Quraysh could easily envisage their economic fall. Now that the city of Medina had turned into a stronghold for Islam, how could the money- minded Meccan people ever feel safe? For this reason, Muslims had to be prompt so that they could discourage the unbelievers from planning anything hostile against this city.
(3) Most probably, these military actions were meant to warn the Jews of Medina as well, who had revealed their enmity, so that they might stop their conspiracies and military operations.[5]
[1] al-W¡qid¢, op cit, pp. 9.
[2] Montgomery, Mu¦ammad at Medina, pp. 5.
[3] Later on, this threat was implemented. As a consequence, Quraysh tried to find another route for trade because they worried about the cut off of the trade route to Damascus.
[4] After the Holy Prophet's emigration, `Aq¢l confiscated his residential area in Mecca as well as the houses of Ban£-H¡shim's emigrants. When the Holy Prophet conquered Mecca, he established a tent at °aj£n outside Mecca. He was asked why he had not gone to his pervious house. He answered, “Has `Aq¢l left any house for us?” See al-W¡qid¢, al-Magh¡z¢ 3:828; Ibn Sa`d, Al-±abaq¡t al-Kubr¡ 2:136; Qas§al¡n, al-Maw¡hib al-Ludaniyyah 1:318.
`Aq¢l's heirs sold that house to al-°ajj¡j ibn Y£suf’s brother with one hundred thousand D¢n¡rs! See °alab¢, al-S¢rah al-Nabawiyyah 1:101-102.
After the emigration of Ban£-Ja¦sh ibn Ri'¡b, their houses were empty. Under the pretext that his daughter was the wife of one of those, Ab£-Sufy¡n confiscated their houses. Ibn Hush¡m, al-S¢rah al-Nabawiyyah 2:145.
Besides, when ¯uhayb emigrated to Medina, The unbelievers started to chase him and took away from him his money but he escaped to safety (Ibn Hush¡m, op cit, 2:121).
[5] Mu¦ammad °asanayn Haykal, °ay¡t Mu¦ammad, pp. 224-248.
