What drove the armies of Islam to conquer so much of the world beginning in the seventh century—and why did men whose lives often violated Islamic teachings nevertheless become celebrated champions of the faith?
Both questions lead to jihad—the religious obligation that joined the familiar rewards of warfare to the promise of eternal salvation.
To understand the determination of Muslim conquerors, and the reverence they subsequently received, one must first understand what Islam offered those willing to fight in its name.
For starters, Allah and his prophet, Muhammad, regularly present jihad as the absolute highest endeavor in the Koran and hadith, Islam’s two textual authorities, respectively.
“Lining up for battle in the path of Allah,” said Muhammad, “is worthier than 60 years of worship.” Later he would go so far as to liken jihad to “praying ceaselessly and fasting continuously,” further asserting that, “I cannot find anything” as meritorious as jihad.
Rearticulating tribal warfare through such a pious paradigm resulted in a win-win scenario. If Arabia’s original tribal raids were limited to temporal spoils and came with the risk of death, Muhammad’s deified raid (jihad) offered rewards both in the here and hereafter—meaning it was essentially risk-free.
As before Islam, the Arab who survived the successful raid on the other (now “infidel”) was guaranteed all the usual spoils of war—plunder and slaves, including sex slaves (which Islam permits, see Koran 4:3, 4:24, 33:50).
Should he die during Muhammad’s deified raid, however, he was guaranteed even greater spoils—that is, rewards—in the afterlife.
Either way, he won: “I guarantee him either admission to Paradise,” proclaimed Muhammad, “or return to where he set out from with a reward or booty.”
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