Shia rebels modeled their strategy on Muhammad’s Mecca-to-Medina exile
Evidence
The normal method of Shi ite rebels was propaganda, followed by armed attack. In this too the career of the Prophet offered an example. Muhammad had begun by trying to win Mecca to his cause. Failing to do this, he had gone elsewhere, to Medina. There he had formed a new center of power, from which in time he was able to return as victor to Mecca and bring Islam to his native city. Many other rebel leaders tried to follow his example, a few of them with some success. — Bernard Lewis, From Babel to Dragomans, 1436
Categorization
Category: Causal Relationships
- DEFINE: Explains the propaganda-then-armed-attack method and its scriptural template in the Prophet’s own career.