[Middle East Strategy at Harvard ] Raymond Ibrahim - The exploits and stratagems of the prophet Muhammad still serve as an example to modern-day jihadists. In 2006, former top Pentagon official William Gawthrop noted, "We still do not have an in-depth understanding of the war-fighting doctrine laid down by Muhammad, how it might be applied today by an increasing number of Islamic groups, or how it might be countered." Based on the words and deeds of Muhammad, most schools of Islamic jurisprudence agree that the following are all legitimate during war against the infidel: the indiscriminate use of missile weaponry, even if women and children are present (catapults in Muhammad's 7th century, hijacked planes or WMD by analogy today); the need to always deceive the enemy and even break formal treaties whenever possible; and that the only function of the peace treaty, or hudna, is to give the Islamic armies time to regroup for a renewed offensive, and should, in theory, last no more than ten years. One of Islam's more "eternal" doctrines is the Abode of War versus the Abode of Islam dichotomy, which in essence maintains that Islam must always be in a state of animosity vis-a-vis the infidel world and, whenever possible, must wage wars until all infidel territory has been brought under Islamic rule.
2008-06-23 01:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive