The Prophet began to feel the urgency of taking up arms for the triumph of the faith, which could not be definitive until after the conquest of Makkah where stood the Holy Temple of the Arabs. He had received the Revelation of the warlike undertaking with orders to unsheath the sword in his struggle against idolaters: "_And fight for the cause of Allah against those who fight against you: but commit not the injustice of attacking them first: verily Allah loveth not the unjust: * And kill them wherever ye shall find them, and eject them from whatever place they have ejected you..._" (THE QUR'AN, II, 186, 187.) Such were the ordinances of "Al-Jahad," "the Holy War" so violently criticised by Christians. But did not Jesus--their Lord and ours--Himself declare: "Think not that I am come to send peace on earth: I come not to send peace, but a sword." (ST. MATTHEW, X, 34.) "I am come to send fire on the earth; and what will I, if it be already kindled?" (ST. LUKE, XII, 49.) If the institution of the "Jahad," destined for the triumph of truth over idolatry, stirred up strife among the families of Mohammad's fellow-countrymen for a few years, did not the words of Jesus, still more imperative in this connection, lead to much more terrible consequences; lasting too, for centuries among all Christian nations? "For I am come to set a man at variance against his father, and the daughter against her mother, and the daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law." (ST. MATTHEW, X, 35.) "If any man come to me, and hate not his father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters, yea, and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple." (ST. LUKE, XIV, 26.) The "Jahad" was not instituted to attack the adversaries of religion only; it was also proclaimed against those enemies, no less perfidious, that lurk in every man's own heart. Quoth the Prophet: "The most meritorious Holy war is that which one declares against one's own "passions."" Mohammad and the Believers had been patient quite long enough. Banished from the land of their birth after having endured pitiless persecution, did they not have the right, relying on the Revealed Verses, to resort to the force of arms? The site of Al-Madinah ensured victory, for that city overlooked all the caravan routes to Syria, of which the commerce formed the sole resource of Makkah, surrounded by barren wastes. By stopping these caravans, the Prophet could starve out the ungrateful town and force its citizens to beg for mercy. In this way, the Apostle would not be compelled to kill too many of his fellow-countrymen, whom he still loved despite their iniquity. He wanted to spare them, hoping to win them over and induce them to become steadfast supporters of religion.