Muhammad: Islam's First Great General

What is nice about this book is that the author brings together his military analysis of all of the jihad battles that the Islamic prophet Muhammad led as he attempted to impose his newly revealed religion of Islam upon his disbelieving neighbors. The author also notes the events when Muhammad instigated the assassination of some of those who doubted his religious credentials as being Allah's "prophet." The author's detailing of the fine minutiae as to how the various armies fed, clothed and armed their soldiers at times can be a little mind numbing in the early chapters, but it does add to one's understanding about the military tactics that were implemented before or during the battles. Being a retired army officer myself, I recognize that this military-educated author presents very sound explanations of battlefield tactics in his book, if the historical accounts can be believed. While the author subtitled his book as: "Islam's First Great General", after reading this book, and given the several near defeats of Muhammad, one realizes that Muhammad wasn't so much of a "great" general as his opponents were more incompetent. Essentially, Muhammad got really lucky from not being either killed or captured on a number of occasions while out on the battlefield; undoubtedly because Allah was over watching, goading on and blessing his "final" prophet to victory over the infidels. But what really is a break though with this book is that the author does not attempt to apologize for Muhammad's military conquests as being engaged in only for the "defense" of Islam. Instead, the author opined: "One of Muhammad's greatest legacies was a large, trained, and well-led military force motivated by religious zeal and ready to exploit the only source of pillage and loot available to Arabs whose new religion forbade attacks on one another" (p.18). The author sagely opined: "Any rules of ethical behavior applied only to the community of [Islamic] believers; those outside the ummah were held to possess no moral standing and could be killed or enslaved without moral consequences....The idea of exterminating an entire town or a tribe was beyond the imagination of those engaged in a [pre-Islamic] blood feud. Under Muhammad it became a common practice. Even murder became acceptable under [Muhammad's] new rules.....[Muhammad's] new moral basis of war led to a more violent form of warfare-- political/ideological warfare --conducted on a larger scale with ever increasing casualties and consuming far more innocents than traditional Arab warfare had consumed" (p.27-28). The author concluded: "If [Muhammad] was to achieve his end of creating a new society governed by new ethical precepts, then a new military mechanism was required, one that served his strategic ends by expanding its repertoire of military capabilities" (p.29). Allah Akbar! [A nice companion book is: "War, Terror and Peace in the Quran and in Islam: Insights for Military and Government Leaders" by T.P. Schwa

What is nice about this book is that the author brings together his military analysis of all of the jihad battles that the Islamic prophet Muhammad led as he attempted to impose his newly revealed religion of Islam upon his disbelieving neighbors. The author also notes the events when Muhammad instigated the assassination of some of those who doubted his religious credentials as being Allah's "prophet." The author's detailing of the fine minutiae as to how the various armies fed, clothed and armed their soldiers at times can be a little mind numbing in the early chapters, but it does add to one's understanding about the military tactics that were implemented before or during the battles. Being a retired army officer myself, I recognize that this military-educated author presents very sound explanations of battlefield tactics in his book, if the historical accounts can be believed. While the author subtitled his book as: "Islam's First Great General", after reading this book, and given the several near defeats of Muhammad, one realizes that Muhammad wasn't so much of a "great" general as his opponents were more incompetent. Essentially, Muhammad got really lucky from not being either killed or captured on a number of occasions while out on the battlefield; undoubtedly because Allah was over watching, goading on and blessing his "final" prophet to victory over the infidels. But what really is a break though with this book is that the author does not attempt to apologize for Muhammad's military conquests as being engaged in only for the "defense" of Islam. Instead, the author opined: "One of Muhammad's greatest legacies was a large, trained, and well-led military force motivated by religious zeal and ready to exploit the only source of pillage and loot available to Arabs whose new religion forbade attacks on one another" (p.18). The author sagely opined: "Any rules of ethical behavior applied only to the community of [Islamic] believers; those outside the ummah were held to possess no moral standing and could be killed or enslaved without moral consequences...The idea of exterminating an entire town or a tribe was beyond the imagination of those engaged in a [pre-Islamic] blood feud. Under Muhammad it became a common practice. Even murder became acceptable under [Muhammad's] new rules...[Muhammad's] new moral basis of war led to a more violent form of warfare-- political/ideological warfare --conducted on a larger scale with ever increasing casualties and consuming far more innocents than traditional Arab warfare had consumed" (p.27-28). The author concluded: "If [Muhammad] was to achieve his end of creating a new society governed by new ethical precepts, then a new military mechanism was required, one that served his strategic ends by expanding its repertoire of military capabilities" (p.29). Allah Akbar! [A nice companion book is: "War, Terror and Peace in the Quran and in Islam: Insights for Military and Government Leaders" by T.P. Schwartz

Although the authors many military history books and his international recognition have been familiar to this reader, the new information provided in this book, earned my appreciation. A new presentation of the Prophet as a military leader put the conflicts which are being played out in our days appear in a clear historical light providing precedents. The book is a very important contribution to understanding Islam since it is the only book from the military history of this leader

Muhammad: Islam's First Great General is not a typical biography Muhammad, prophet and founder of the religion of Islam. Military historian and retired U.S. Army officer Richard A. Gabriel presents a close examination of Muhammad as a military genius, who introduced innovations that would transform armies and warfare throughout the Arab world. With a keen eye upon the connections between social, economic, and cultural environment in which Muhammad lived and the religion he founded to Muhammad's military achievements, Muhammad: Islam's First Great General is an exceptional chronicle of how a brand-new religious movement survived its tumultuous birth through eight major battles, eighteen raids, and thirty-eight other military operations in its first ten years alone. Also covered is Muhammad's masterful application of nonmilitary methods including bribery, alliance building, and political assassination, to fortify his long-term position and goals, even at the expense of short-term military objectives. Muhammad: Islam's First Great General reveals how Muhammad's talents and inspirations enabled his successors to defeat the armies of Persia and Byzantium, and establish the foundations of the Islamic empire, and is a singularly fascinating study of historical warfare and leadership. Highly recommended.