42. What was the Prophet Muhammad’s policy on confrontation?
The Prophet Muhammad’s policy was to avoid confrontation till the last possible extent. Confrontation takes place because people know only one aspect of the matter – that whenever there is difference, it should be eliminated. The focus of the Prophet was to accept the status quo and to discover and avail of opportunities of co-existence, instead of focusing on differences. This approach proved to be very successful.
Our world is a world of conflict and differences. And the biggest question facing us is – where to make a start so as to resolve these differences? The answer, in the light of the above example, is to accept the status quo in controversial matters and divert your activities to the non-confrontation field. For example, the mission of the Prophet was to convey the message of tawhid (monotheism). The Kabah built by the Prophet Abraham as a centre of tawhid. But by the seventh century AD, Makkah had been converted into a centre of idol worship, with over three hundred idols being placed in the Kabah. It would apparently have been necessary for the Prophet first of all to remove these idols from the Kabah, but this kind of beginning would inevitably have resulted in confrontation between the Prophet and the idol worshippers.
So, the Prophet resorted to a practical method. He decided to ignore to presence of the idols in the Kabah and only addressed the audience gathered to worship the idols, conveying to them the message of the Quran. Because at that time there was only one meeting place in the town of Makkah where the Prophet could find an audience – the courtyard of the Kabah. Instead of confronting with the idol worshippers, the Prophet worked towards availing the opportunity of their coming together to the fullest by preaching to them the message of Islam.
Another instance from the life of the Prophet is the case of the Hudaybiyah Treaty. This agreement was signed between the Prophet and his Makkan opponents. The treaty unilaterally favoured the Makkans. But the Prophet Muhammad still signed on the agreement only to secure a ten-year no war pact. At that time, the Makkan opponents were determined to engage Muslims in fighting and to further the provocation, when the Hudaybiyah Agreement was being written, the Prophet dictated a final sign off as follows: “This is from Muhammad, the Messenger of God.” The Makkan delegate raised objections over these words. The Prophet promptly changed the wording and ordered his scribe to write simply “Muhammad, son of Abdullah”. He did this in order to avoid any form of confrontation. The Prophet was an extremely peace-loving person and the term ‘confrontation’ was not in his dictionary. He wanted to establish peace at any cost.
A third example, is when the Prophet marched into Makkah with his followers.
A Companion of the Prophet said: “Today is a day of revenge”. At this, the Prophet replied: “No, today is a day of mercy”. (Kanz al-Ummal, hadith no. 30173)
Historians acknowledge that Makkah was conquered without any bloodshed.
