Muhammad (570-632 C.E.) the Arabian merchant believed by Muslims to be the final prophet of Islam, was a warrior only during the last ten years of his life. He preached Islam in his home city, Mecca, from 613 to 622. He and his followers patiently endured taunts and persecution. Finally they fled Mecca and established themselves in Medina, a neighboring city.

Mecca and Medina were soon at war. The war spread, as each city formed alliances and fought to extend its sway. The Muslims were ultimately victorious, with Muhammad entering Mecca -- without a fight -- as its new ruler. This occurred only eight years after his flight from the city. The last two years of his life were spent subduing the other tribes and cities of the Arabian peninsula. He was, in essence, the emperor of Arabia at the time of his death.

Muhammad's critics often hold that the Muslims engaged in wars of aggression, that they caused much bloodshed and suffering, that they imposed Islam at the point of a sword, and that Muhammad's conduct is not an example to be imitated.

Muslims respond that the Muslims fought only when attacked, or in the context of a wider war of self-defense. They argue that Muhammad was the first among the major military figures of history to lay down rules for humane warfare, and that he was scrupulous in limiting the loss of life as much as possible.

By consulting the sirah, or biographical work, of early writers such as Ibn Hisham, it is possible to reconstruct an casualty figure of well under one thousand persons during the campaigns of Muhammad. Of these, something like 600 were the men of a Jewish tribe, the Bani Quraiza, whose case is a special one. They had agreed to, and violated, a treaty of alliance with the Muslims, who then met them in battle. When the Quraiza surrendered to Muhammad, they agreed that their fate should be decided by Sa'd bin Mu'adh, a former ally of theirs. Sa'd thereupon considered the case and held that the men of the Bani Quraiza should be put to death.