Zuhair bin Abi Salma’s Vision on Peace and War

Abstract

This research aims to shed light on Zuhair bin Abi Salma’s attitude on the war, the extent of his agreement with the Arabi’s  view of it in the pre-Islamic era, the motives for his call to peace and bloodshed in his Mu’allqah(pre-Islamic poem), and to what extent we can call him the “poet of peace”. Therefore,  this study  came in two axes. In the first one, an approach to the concept of war among  the pre-Islamic people in general, and Zuhair bin Abi Salma in particular, through two demands. One has showed the pre-Islamic view of war and his attitude on it, whereas the other has  explained Zuhair bin Abi Salma's view. The second axis sought to clarify the motive behind the call of Zuhair bin Abi Salma for peace. This study  concluded that Zuhair's call for peace does not represent his consistent view of war. His attitude toward the war was consistent with the position of Al-Arabi at the time, and this appeared in his poems, so his call for peace in his Mu’allaqah was not an exceptional call, but rather it is justified.