The Baha'i Studies Listserv On 29 Dec 2010 at 20:01, Gilberto Simpson wrote:
> I'm just interested in discussing the forms of warfare / jihad which > would have permissible under Muhammad (saaws) or the Imams. Are you > saying that Muhammad and/or the Imams led offensive raids? In my Church and State and on my blog, I've presented an alternative explanation of the role of Muhammad and the Meccan Muslims in Medina. Basically, I think the elders of Medina decided to outsource their security, as Taif and Mecca had done: contracting a particular group to provide external security. In the case of Medina, that meant running patrols in the surrounding area, maintaining friendly contacts with nomadic peoples, collecting taxes from caravans passing through the territory dominated by Medina, and encouraging caravans to come to Medina. This effort (jihad) was what was required of the Meccan Muslims, in return for a place of refuge for them in the settlement. Surah 2:218, for example, refers to those who have migrated and have engaged in jihad (haajaruu wa jaahhaduu), but this jihand is simply the `efforts´ (jahuud, jihaad) that the migrants had to make in return for their residence in Medina. At that time, there was no state of war with Mecca. The few Medinan Muslims did not participate in the jihad, they were not part of that contract. For more detail see my blog at: http://senmcglinn.wordpress.com/2009/06/28/muhammad-at- medina/#politics Sen sen.so...@casema.nl senmcglinn.wordpress.com ---------------------------------------------------------------------- -- Ninth, religion is separated from politics. Religion does not enter into political matters. In fact, it is linked with the hearts, not with the world of bodies. The leaders of religion should devote themselves to teaching and training the souls and propagating good morals, and they should not enter into political matters.(~Abdu'l-Baha, in London, see http://wp.me/pcgF5-1wd ) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- -- __________________________________________________ You are subscribed to Baha'i Studies as: mailto:arch...@mail-archive.com Unsubscribe: send a blank email to mailto:leave-549259-27401.54f46e81b66496c9909bcdc2f7987...@list.jccc.edu Subscribe: send subscribe bahai-st in the message body to ly...@list.jccc.edu Or subscribe: http://list.jccc.edu:8080/read/all_forums/subscribe?name=bahai-st Baha'i Studies is available through the following: Mail - mailto:bahai-st@list.jccc.edu Web - http://list.jccc.edu:8080/read/?forum=bahai-st News (on-campus only) - news://list.jccc.edu/bahai-st Old Public - http://www.mail-archive.com/bahai-st@list.jccc.net New Public - http://www.mail-archive.com/bahai-st@list.jccc.edu
