Prophet Muhammad’s Strategies On Security And Peace Building: Lessons For The Nigerian Society

Abstract

In the Name of Allah the Beneficent the Merciful. Peace and Blessings of Allah be upon His Messenger,Muhammad, his Family,Companions and those who follow their guidance up to the Last Hour.The message of Islam brought by the Prophet(s.a.w.) came along with different strategies for peace and security in society. It has a complete set of laws for peaceful co-existence between members of different beliefs in a community.These strategies are clearly explained in the Qur’an and examplified in the life of the Prophet(s.a.w.) both in Makkah and in Madina. One of such strategies is when the Makkans were trying to fix the black stone at its right position at the ka’bah, there was a serious dispute on the responsibility of placing it among the various clans in Makkah. It was agreed that anybody who arrived first would take the credit. Fortunately, the prophet (s.a.w.) arrived first, he was therefore given that responsibility. Strategically, the prophet (s.a.w.) spread his blanked,put the black stone and asked the representative of each clan to hold the edge of the blanket and carry it close to the Ka’bah, the prophet (s.a.w.) then used his hand and placed it on its right position,thereby settling the dispute.With this episode,Muhammad(s.a.w.) got the title of Al-Amin(The trustworthy).This episode was before his Prophethood,at the time of his Prophethood,immediately he arrived in Madina,he demonstrated the practical application of peace and security strategies by drafting Madinan constitution which brought peaceful co-existence between Muslims, Christians, Jews and followers of other religions in Madina.This paper identifies a number of such strategies applied by the prophet (s.a.w.) in bringing peace and security in the Arabian society which could be a model for the Nigerian society.