ALL THE WARS OF MOHAMMAD WERE DEFENSIVE.
The Persecutions.
1. The early persecutions of Moslems by the people of Mecca.
The severe persecution which Mohammad and his early converts suffered at Mecca at the hands of their fellow-citizens, the Koreish, is a fact admitted by all historians.
The Koran, which may be regarded as a contemporary record of the ill-feeling manifested towards the Prophet and his followers, bears ample testimony to the fact. Not only were the early Moslems persecuted for renouncing the pagan religion and obtaining converts to the monotheistic religion of Mohammad, but they were also tortured and otherwise ill-treated to induce them to return to the religion which they had forsaken. The persecution seems to have been so great that Mohammad was compelled to recognize those of his followers, who by force and cruelty were compelled to renounce Islam and profess paganism, but were inwardly steadfast in their belief of the one true God, as true Moslems.
The Koran says: