5 Motives for the Outbreak of Wars in the World
God
created humanity for a noble purpose: to cultivate the earth and worship the
Creator. As stated in the Quran: (I created jinn
and mankind only to worship Me) (Adh-Dhariyat:56)
However,
we perceive another dimension in the divine dialogue when God informed the
angels of the creation of mankind to populate the earth. They asked: (How can You put someone there who will cause damage and
bloodshed) ( Al-Baqarah:30)
Thus, the first human homicide was committed
at the hands of the firstborn of this earthly successor, driven by a desire for
vengeance fueled by malice and envy.
In his work 'The Prolegomena,' Ibn Khaldun
writes: 'Understand that wars and various types of combat have persisted among
mankind since God brought them into existence. Their root cause is the desire
for revenge among people, supported by those with shared social bonds. When
they incite one another and two factions clash—one seeking retribution and the
other defending—war breaks out. It is a natural human phenomenon from which no
nation or generation is free.
A reflection on the historical trajectory of
warfare reveals that this vengeful impulse stems from five primary motives,
namely:
First: War Driven by Religion and Creed
Religious war refers to conflict
fundamentally caused or justified by religious differences, whether occurring
between sects of the same faith or between different religions.
The danger of religious wars lies in their
extreme intensity, violence, and tendency toward annihilation, often leading to
the erosion of tolerance. These conflicts sometimes erupt between factions of
the same faith, where each side believes it holds a divine mandate to purge the
religion of the other, viewed as a deviator from the truth they alone possess.
Despite the extreme danger of such conflicts,
they represent only a small fraction of war motives compared to other drivers,
accounting for just 6.98% according to the 'Encyclopedia of Wars'.
Examples of Religious Wars:
Religious wars in Europe between Catholics
and Protestants: In 1577, the Catholic King of Spain dispatched an army to the
Netherlands to suppress the Protestant movement. Following his defeat there, he
organized a fleet in the name of religion to engage the English in 1588,
committing acts of arson, rape, looting, and massacres against the English
populace.
In France, 25,000 Protestants were
slaughtered on their feast day by order of the Catholic Church. In 1618, the
Thirty Years' War broke out, ending in total devastation for Germany in 1648.
Emperor Ferdinand III sought to eradicate Protestantism in Germany, dispatching
his armies to destroy and kill 14 million people.
Thus, devastation engulfed the entirety of
Europe from north to south, as wars between Catholics and Protestants persisted
for two centuries. This continued until the Italian thinker Faustus Socinus
emerged in 1604 to promote the principle of tolerance. The spark ignited in
Italy, illuminating all of Europe, and from that moment, the continent
recognized the value of tolerance and the acceptance of the other.
Second: The Desire for Vengeance Driven by Vainglory, Jealousy,
and Vendetta
Such conflicts frequently arise between
neighboring tribes, peer clans, and rival families. A prominent example is the
120-year war between the Aws and Khazraj tribes, which began with the Battle of
Sumayr and concluded with the Battle of Bu'ath.
The story began when a man allied with the
Khazraj, named Ka’b, boasted against the Aws. This provoked a man from the Aws
named Sumayr, who insulted him and later ambushed him in private, taking his
life. The Khazraj leader demanded the culprit, but his clan denied any
knowledge of him. Eventually, the Aws offered blood money, but they sent only
half the amount, arguing that the victim was merely an ally rather than a blood
relative. The Khazraj insisted on full compensation, which the Aws refused.
This dispute escalated into open warfare, with hostilities smoldering for
years—occasionally subsiding and then flaring up again—until the final chapter
at a place called Bu’ath, five years before the Migration.
Third: War Driven by Politics and Economics
The primary driver of these conflicts is the
desire to expand political and military influence, coupled with an ambition to
seize the resources of other nations. This brand of warfare is most prevalent
among oppressive powers and tyrannical states—those whose prosperity is forged
in tank shells and rifle rounds, and whose sustenance is found in the
possessions of others.
This motive was among the most critical
causes of the outbreak of World War I, in which 70 nations participated,
resulting in the deaths of over 22 million people.
While the immediate catalyst for World War I
was the 1914 assassination of the Archduke of Austria and his wife by a Serbian
student during their visit to Sarajevo, scholars have identified several
underlying causes that paved the way for war. Most prominent was the struggle
among European powers for control over the Balkans, particularly after Austria
annexed Bosnia and Herzegovina in 1908, which subsequently ignited the First
and Second Balkan Wars.
Additionally, the struggle between France,
Germany, and Italy for influence in North Africa further strained international
relations in 1913.
Furthermore, the rivalry among imperialist
powers to dominate global markets for the disposal of industrial overproduction
drove them into political and military alliances. This escalation in military
spending significantly heightened the intensity and destructive capacity of the
war, ultimately resulting in the annihilation of more than 22 million people.
Fourth: War Driven by Occupation or Territorial Secession
Such wars
typically occur between neighboring states, as they dispute border regions that
each country claims as its own. An example is the armed conflict that erupted
between Morocco and Algeria in October 1963 over their southern borders, known
as the 'Sand War.' This conflict left behind chronic tension in
Moroccan-Algerian relations, the effects of which persist to this day.
Another
case in point is the dispute between Kuwait and Iraq following Kuwait's
independence from Western colonialism in 1961. At the time, Iraq refused to
recognize this move, asserting that Kuwait was an integral part of its
territory, though it eventually retracted this claim.
Conflicts
may also arise within a single nation as a pursuit of secession and exclusive
governance. This was evident in the Sudanese Civil War, known as the 'Anyanya
Rebellion'—a conflict that took place between 1955 and 1972 between the
northern and southern regions of Sudan. The South sought greater regional
autonomy, resulting in a death toll exceeding half a million.
The
conflict recurred in what became known as the Second Sudanese Civil War
(1983–2005), resulting in the deaths of approximately two million citizens and
the displacement of another four million.
Fifth: War Driven by Struggles for Power and Governance
Such
incidents occurred frequently throughout Islamic history, particularly
following the Rashidun Caliphate, as the leadership became a sought-after
prize. After the assassination of Imam Ali, a state of division and power
struggles prevailed, nearly plunging Muslims into a catastrophic war, were it
not for divine grace.
Al-Hasan
ibn Ali abdicated his claim to the caliphate and ceded it to Muawiya”, on the
condition that the leadership return to a consultative system chosen by the
nation after Muawiya’s tenure. However, Muawiya deemed it more strategic to
appoint his son, Yazid, as his successor. Upon Yazid’s accession, prominent
companions of the Prophet opposed his rule, leading to a turbulent era marked
by the martyrdom of Imam Hussein in Karbala at the start of 61 AH, followed by
the Battle of al-Harra in Medina in 63 AH, when its people revolted to
overthrow Yazid’s government.
Subsequently,
Abdullah bin al-Zubayr declared his revolt against Umayyad rule, establishing
Mecca as his headquarters and calling for public allegiance. Following his
expulsion of Yazid’s governors from Mecca and Medina, a nine-year power
struggle erupted between Ibn al-Zubayr and the Umayyads. The conflict concluded
with an Umayyad victory after a seven-month siege of Mecca, which ended with
his defeat and death.
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