224 ISLAM AT WAR
the Koran is explicit about spoils. Surah VIII is entitled “Spoils of War.”
Other relevant passage are
Surah XLVIII, 19. Surely, Allah was well pleased with the believers when
they were swearing allegiance to thee under the Tree, andHe knew what
was in their hearts, and He sent down tranquility on them, and He rewarded
them with a victory at hand,
20.And great spoils that they will take[italics added].Allah is Mighty,
Wise.- Allah has promised you great spoils that you will take and He has
given you this in advance, and has restrained the hands of men from you,
that it may be a Sign for the believers, and that He may guide you on a
right path; - And He has promised you another victory, which you have not been
able to achieve yet, but Allah has, surely, compassed it. And Allah has
power over all things.
As it says, “He[Allah]knew what was in their hearts, and He sent
down tranquility on them, and He rewarded them with a victory at hand,
and great spoils that they will take.”Allah knows what is in the heart of
man and gives him the victory and the subsequent spoils. Therefore Mah-
mud was perfectly justified in gathering in the spoils of the victory that
Allah had given him.
In the course of seventeen invasions of India, Mahmud utterly ruined
the country and scattered the vanquished Hindus. The desolation that he
wrought was the seed of the reaction of Hindus to Muslims when India
and Pakistan formed. Now that both Pakistan and India have nuclear
weapons, this historic hatred becomes much more relevant, even to those
of us in the West.
Mahmud invaded Multan in 1004. When he occupied the district of
Ghur, he forcibly converted the inhabitants to Islam. The rich Hindu tem-
ples were particularly desirable targets for Mahmud, as the smashing of
idols was mandated in the Koran by Muhammad’s destruction of the idols
of Mecca when he conquered and occupied it. Mathura, the holy city of
Krishna, was Mahmud’s next victim. Its temple was incredibly rich. After
it was pillaged of its five golden idols and priceless jewels, the Sultan
gave orders that all the temples should be burnt with naphtha and fire and
leveled to the ground. In that fire perished works of art that must have
been among the noblest monuments of ancient India. At the battle of
Somnath, the site of another celebrated Hindu temple, 50,000 were reputed
to have been killed as Mahmud’s warriors assuaged their lust for blood
and booty.