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The first military rulings were formulated during the first century after Muhammad established an Islamic state in Medina.These rulings evolved in accordance with the interpretations of the Qur'an (the Islamic Holy scriptures) and Hadith (the recorded traditions, actions (behaviors), sayings and consents of Muhammad).
Peace is an important aspect of Islam, and Muslims are encouraged to strive for peace and peaceful solutions to all problems. However, the teachings in the Qur'an and Hadith allow for wars to be fought if they can be justified. [8] According to James Turner Johnson, there is no normative tradition of pacifism in Islam. [9]
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 struggle, has long been associated with struggles for promoting a religion, although some observers refer to such struggle as "the lesser jihad" by comparison with inner spiritual striving.
Peace is an important aspect of Islam, and Muslims are encouraged, but not required to strive for peace and find peaceful solutions to all problems. However, most Muslims are generally not pacifists, because the teachings in the Qur'an and the Hadith allow Muslims to wage wars if they can be justified. [324]
The Quran contains verses exhorting violence against enemies and others urging restraint and conciliation. Because some verses abrogate others, and because some are thought to be general commands while others refer to specific enemies, how the verses are understood and how they relate to each other "has been a central issue in Islamic thinking on war" according to scholars such as Charles ...
The word jihad appears frequently in the Qur'an referring to both religious and spiritual struggle and to war and physical struggle, [a] often in the idiomatic expression "striving in the path of God (al-jihad fi sabil Allah)", [11] [12] conveying a sense of self-exertion. [13]: 54 In the hadiths, jihad refers predominantly to warfare.
Once Abu Bakr's sovereignty over Arabia had been secured, he initiated a war of conquest in the east by invading Iraq, then a province of the Sassanid Persian Empire; while on the western front, his armies invaded the Byzantine Empire. [4] In 634, Abu Bakr died and was succeeded by Umar (r. 634–644), who continued his own war of conquest. [5]
Further justifications have been given by Iranian cleric Ayatollah Mohammad Taghi Mesbah Yazdi, "when protecting Islam and the Muslim community depends on martyrdom operations, it not only is allowed, but even is an obligation as many of the Shi'ah great scholars and Maraje', including Ayatullah Safi Golpayegani and Ayatullah Fazel Lankarani ...