From the time of Muhammad, the final prophet of Islam, many Muslim states and empires have been involved in warfare. The concept of Jihad, the religious duty to fight for Islam, is a historic concept which was used by Muslim leaders to justify their military expansion. Islamic jurisprudence on war differentiates between illegitimate and legitimate warfare and prescribes proper and improper conduct by combatants. Numerous conquest wars as well as armed anti-colonial military campaigns were waged as jihads.
Islamic concepts concerning war
Islamic concepts concerning war refer to what have been accepted in Sharia (Islamic law) and Fiqh (Islamic jurisprudence) by Ulama (Islamic scholars) as the correct Islamic manner which is expected to be obeyed by Muslims in times of war. Fighting is justified for legitimate self-defense, to aid other Muslims, and after a violation in the terms of a treaty.Patricia Crone, "War". Encyclopedia of the Qur'an. p. 456. Brill PublishersMicheline R. Ishay, The History of Human Rights: From Ancient Times to the Globalization Era, University of California Press, p. 45Sohail H. Hashmi, David Miller, Boundaries and Justice: diverse ethical perspectives, Princeton University Press, p. 197Douglas M. Johnston, Faith-Based Diplomacy: Trumping Realpolitik, Oxford University Press, p. 48 Additionally, the Quran (9:5) mentions that jihad must be enacted against polytheists, until they are converted to Islam or until they are eradicated.
History
Early instances
The earliest forms of warfare by Muslims occurred after the migration (hijra) of Muhammad and his small group of followers to Medina from Mecca and the conversion of several inhabitants of the city to Islam. At this time, Muslims had been kicked out of Mecca as they had attempted to destroy the idols and religious shrines of the polytheistic Meccans. The Meccans also refused to let the Muslims enter Mecca and by that denied them access to the Ka'aba.
Major battles in the history of Islam arose between the Meccans and the Muslims; one of the most important to the latter was the Battle of Badr in 624 AD.David Cook, Understanding Jihad; University of California Press: CA, 2005 Other early battles included battles in Uhud (625), Khandaq (627), Mecca (630), Khaybar (628) and Hunayn (630). These battles, especially Uhud was unsuccessful in comparison to the Battle of Badr. In relating this battle, the Qu'ran states that Allah sent an "unseen army of angels" that helped the Muslims defeat the Meccans.John L. Esposito, Islam, the Straight Path; Oxford University Press: New York, 2005
Warfare by Islamic forces before 1918
Islam in the Iberian Peninsula
The Umayyad conquest of Hispania was the initial expansion of the Umayyad Caliphate over Hispania (in the Iberian Peninsula) from 711 to 718. The conquest resulted in the destruction of the Visigothic Kingdom and the establishment of the Umayyad Wilayah of Al-Andalus. The conquest marks the westernmost expansion of both the Umayyad Caliphate and Muslim rule into Europe. The conquest was followed by a period of several hundred years during which most of the Iberian peninsula was known as Al-Andalus, dominated by Muslim rulers. Only a handful of new small Christian realms managed to reassert their authority across the faraway mountainous north of the peninsula. The medieval Iberian Peninsula was the scene of almost constant warfare between the Muslim al-Andalus (and later Taifas) and Christian kingdoms.
The Almohad Dynasty was a Berber, Muslim dynasty that was founded in the 12th century, and conquered all Northern Africa as far as Libya, together with Al-Andalus (Moorish Iberian Peninsula). The Almohads, who declared an everlasting Jihad against the Christians, far surpassed the Almoravides in fundamentalist outlook, and they treated the dhimmis harshly. Faced with the choice of either death or conversion, many Jews and Christians emigrated.Frank and Leaman, 2003, p. 137-138.
The Almohads soon embarked in a campaign to destroy the Catholic kingdoms in the Iberian Peninsula and beyond. Outnumbered, the defending army led by King Alfonso VIII of Castile, defeated Muhammad al-Nasir near Las Navas de Tolosa in 1212. Las Navas de Tolosa is sought as the turning point of the Reconquista and the end of the Muslim dominance in the Iberian Peninsula. In 1492, the Granada War marked the end of the Reconquista, resulting in the defeat of the Emirate of Granada, ending all of Islamic rule in the Iberian peninsula.
Crusades European crusaders re-conquered much of the territory seized by the Islamic state, dividing it into four kingdoms, the most important being the Kingdom of Jerusalem. The Crusades originally had the goal of recapturing Jerusalem and the Holy Land (former Christian territory) from Muslim rule and were originally launched in response to a call from the Eastern Orthodox Byzantine Empire for help against the expansion of the Muslim Seljuk Turks into Anatolia. There was little drive to retake the lands from the crusaders, save the few attacks made by the Egyptian Fatimids. This changed, however, with the first recorded use of jihad during the Battle of Sarmada in 1119, where a united Muslim army under the Turkish warlord Ilghazi were victorious over Outremer's force, destabilising the Principality of Antioch by killing their leader, Roger. Though, the first instance where jihad was effectively used against the Crusaders to regain land was with the coming of Zangi, ruler of what is today northern Iraq. He took Edessa, which triggered the Second Crusade, which was little more than a 47-year stalemate. The stalemate was ended with the victory of Salah al-Din al-Ayyubi (known in the west as Saladin) over the forces of Jerusalem at the Horns of Hattin in 1187. It was during the course of the stalemate that a great deal of literature regarding Jihad was written. While amassing his armies in Syria, Saladin had to create a doctrine which would unite his forces and make them fight until the bitter end, which would be the only way they could re-conquer the lands taken in the First Crusade. It stated that any one who would abandon the Jihad would be committing a sin that could not be washed away by any means. It also put his amirs at the center of power, just under his rule.Richard P. Bonney, Jihad: From Qu'ran to Bin Laden; Palgrave Macmillan: Hampshire, 2004
South Asia Sir Jadunath Sarkar contends that several Muslim invaders were waging a systematic Jihad against Hindus in India to the effect that "Every device short of massacre in cold blood was resorted to in order to convert heathen subjects." In particular the records kept by al-Utbi, Mahmud al-Ghazni's secretary, in the Tarikh-i-Yamini document several episodes of bloody military campaigns. In the late tenth century, a story spread that before Muhammad destroyed the idols at the Kaaba, that of Manāt was secretly sent to a Hindu temple in India; and the place was renamed as So-Manāt or Somnath. Acting on this, the Shiva idol at the Somnath temple was destroyed in a raid by Mahmud Ghazni in CE 1024; which is considered the first act of Jihad in India. In 1527, Babur ordered a Jihad against Rajputs and Meenas at the battle of Khanwa. Publicly addressing his men, he declared the forthcoming battle a Jihad. His soldiers were facing a non-Muslim army for the first time ever. This, he said, was their chance to become either a Ghazi (soldier of Islam) or a Shaheed (Martyr of Islam).
In 1567, Babur's grandson Akbar declared Jihad against the Sisodiya ruler Uday Singh and beiseged his capital in October 1567. The garrison of Chittor was slaughtered to the last men and the city was taken after a gallant resistance by the defenders. After the fort was captured, the inhabitants of Chittor numbered around 30,000 were massacred and the rest were enslaved. Akbar, proclaimed the conquest of Chittor as victory of Islam over the idolaters and issued a victory letter expressing about his victory in sentiments of Islamic inconoclasm.
Akbar's grandson emperor Aurangzeb waged a Jihad against Hindus, Buddhists, Sikhs, and those identified as heterodox within India's Islamic community, such as Shi'a Muslims.K. S. Lal: Growth of Muslim Population in Medieval India, 1973
Barbary Pirates
After the Spanish reconquered Granada from the Moors in 1492, many Moors exiled from the Spanish Inquisition fled to North Africa. After attacks against Spanish shipping took place from North Africa, the Spanish retaliated by seizing Oran, Algiers, and Tunis. By 1518, the pirates were serving in the navies of North African Sultans, conducting activities that included attacks on enemy (especially Christian) trade and raiding European coastlines for potential slaves. However, by 1587, their activity became much more decentralized, and more like traditional piracy.
Much of the Barbary activity was funded through the enslavement of European Christians. In the beginning of the 17th Century, there were more than 20,000 captives to be sold into slavery in Algiers alone. Although people from all over Christendom suffered Barbary attacks, the people who were the most likely victims were from Sicily. However, any Christian nation that refused to pay tribute to Islam and either the Sultanate of Morocco, Eyalet of Tripolitania, or the Regency of Algiers could have been subject to attack.
In 1800, the Eyalet of Tripolitania demanded an increase of tribute in order to "prevent" future attacks against the fledgling United States. However, the U.S. refused to pay the tribute, and this led to the First Barbary War. When the U.S. defeated the Tripolitanians in the Battle of Derne in 1805, the two nations signed a treaty that had favorable terms for the United States. However, a resurgence in Barbary attacks in 1815 led to the U.S. Navy being used again in the Second Barbary War, which also resulted in a US victory and the ceasing of all Barbary attacks on American shipping without tribute.
Ottoman Empire Upon succeeding his father, Suleiman the Magnificent began a series of military conquests in Europe. On August 29, 1526, he defeated Louis II of Hungary (1516–26) at the battle of Mohács. In its wake, Hungarian resistance collapsed and the Ottoman Empire became the preeminent power in South-Eastern Europe.Kinross, 187. In July 1683 Sultan Mehmet IV proclaimed a Jihad and the Turkish grand vizier, Kara Mustafa Pasha, laid siege to Vienna with an army of 138,000 men.
On November 14, 1914, in Constantinople, capital of the Ottoman Empire, the religious leader Sheikh-ul-Islam declares Jihad on behalf of the Ottoman government, urging Muslims all over the world—including in the Allied countries—to take up arms against Britain, Russia, France, Serbia and Montenegro in World War I. On the other hand, Sheikh Hussein bin Ali, Sharif of Mecca, refused to accommodate Ottoman requests that he endorse this jihad, a requirement that was necessary were a jihad to become popular, due to British pressure and on the grounds that:
the Holy War was doctrinally incompatible with an aggressive war, and absurd with a Christian ally: GermanyT. E. Lawrence, The Seven Pillars of Wisdom, Jonathan Cape, London (1954 ), p. 49.
Central Asia and Afghanistan Ahmad Shah, founder of the Durrani Empire, declared a jihad against the Marathas, and warriors from various Pashtun tribes, as well as other tribes answered his call. The Third battle of Panipat (January 1761), fought between largely Muslim and largely Hindu armies who numbered as many as 100,000 troops each, was waged along a twelve-kilometre front, and resulted in a victory for Ahmad Shah.For a detailed account of the battle fought see Chapter VI of The Fall of the Moghul Empire of Hindustan by H. G. Keene. Available online at Emotional-literacy-education.com