Muhammad: Prophet of War
around the battlefield that he had been killed. When he was able to find
water to wash the blood off his face, Muhamma d vowed reven ge: "The
wr at h of Go d is fi er ce ag ai ns t hi m wh o bl oo di ed th e fa ce of Hi s
prophet."" When Abu Sufyan, the Quraysh leader, taunted the Muslims,
Muhammad was adamant, and emphasized the traditional sharp Islamic
distinction between believers and unbelievers. He told his lieutenant
Just Like Today: Pretexts
Anotherpatternwas set at Uhud that played out across the centuries:
Mu sl im s wo ul d se e an y ag gr es si on as a pr et ex t fo r re ve ng e,
re ga rd le ssof whe the r the y pro vok ed it. Wit h a can ny und ers tan din g of
how to swa ypub lic opin ion , jiha dis ts and thei r PC all ies on the Amer ica n
Lef t tod ay usecurr ent even ts as pret exts to just ify what they are doin g:
Time and agai nthe y port ray the mse lve s as mer ely reac tin g to grie vou s
pro voc atio ns fromthe enemies of Islam. By this they gain recruits and sway
popular opinion.
Con vent iona l wisd om amo ng a surp ris ingl y broa d pol iti cal spec trum
tod ay hol ds tha t the glo bal jih ad mov eme nt is a res pon se to som e
pro voc atio n or oth er: the inva sio n of Iraq. the est abl ish ment of Isra el. the
top pli ngof Iran's Mossadegh— or a more generalized offense such as "American
neoco lo ni al ism ' or "th e lu st for oi l: ' Th ose wh o ar e par ti cu lar ly fo rge tfu l of
hi stor y blam e it on new ly mint ed epip heno mena suc h as the Abu Ghra ib
pri sonscandals , which cast a shado w over America 's presen ce in Iraq in- Butthe jihadistswere fighting long before Abu Ghraib, Iraq, Israel, or
Americanind epen den ce. Inde ed. the y have bee n fig htin g and imi tat ing the ir
war riorProph et ever since the seve nth centu ry, casti ng their actio ns as
respo nses tothe enormities of their enemies ever since Muhammad discovered