| Pain, Pleasure and Prejudice The Complete Layman’s Guide to the Koran Chapter 15 Unbelievers Everywhere! What Is A God To Do? 2:153 O you who believe, seek assistance through forbearance and prayer. Allah is with the steadfast. 2:154 And do not says of those who are killed for the Cause of Allah that they are dead. They are alive, but you are unaware [of them]. A Declaration of War Istanbul’s Topkapi Palace, which is now a museum, was home to all the Ottoman sultans until the reign of Abdulmecid I (1839-1860), a period of nearly four centuries. In the Holy Treasury within the third courtyard of the old palace there is a letter. The more than a thousand-years-old letter, now a shrunken piece of parchment, is carefully preserved behind glass. It is one of the letters that the Prophet Muhammad sent to the various rulers of the kingdoms that bordered Arabia at the time of the Muslim conquest of the peninsula, inviting them and their subjects to become Muslims. The Prophet’s ultimatum to his neighbours to convert or Islam will be imposed by force followed a less formal warning to the remaining tribes of Arabia following the Meccans’ submission. His fellow Arabs had four months to convert to Islam after which they stood outside the law – Koranic law – and could be robbed, killed or enslaved by any Muslim. The letter under glass in the old Topkapi Palace in Istanbul is addressed to the governor of Egypt, a fellow by the name of Muqawqis. The last sentence of the letter he sent to Muqawqis has a particularly ominous tone (italics mine). From Muhammad the servant and Prophet of Allah, to Muqawqis, the leader of the Coptic tribe. There is safety and security for those believers who follow the correct path. Therefore I invite you to accept Islam. If you accept it, you shall find security, save your throne, and gain twice as much reward for having introduced Islam to your followers. If you refuse this invitation, let the sin of calamity which awaits your followers be upon you. You too are People of the Book; therefore let us come to a word common between us that we worship none but Allah and shall equalise anything with him. Let us not abandon Allah and take others for lords other than him. If you do not consent to this invitation, bear witness that we are Muslims. If you do not consent, we are Muslims; we do not make idle threats. A warning Allah echoes in a revelation. 3:64 Say: ‘O People of the Book, come to an equitable word between you and us, that we worship none but Allah, do not associate anything with Him and do not set each other as lords besides Allah.” If they turn their backs, say: ‘Bear witness that we are Muslims.” The intimidating letters did not have the desired effect and the Prophet and his successors made good on the threat they contained. Within twenty short years after the Prophet’s death, Muslim armies, during the period known as the Rashidun (the reign of the first four successors to the Prophet known as the Rightly Guided Caliphs), imposed Muslim rule on Persia (including modern day Iraq), Syria, Armenia, Egypt and most of North Africa. This letter makes a mockery of the claim by apologists, such as Karen Armstrong, for the war of expansion which immediately followed the conquest of the Arab peninsula by the Muslims, that it was a defensive war. In the letter, the phrase “and gain twice as much reward for having introduced Islam to your followers” is a reminder that Jihad then, and perhaps to a lesser extent now, was very much about plunder, for the additional riches could only come from those who refused Islam, refused to Submit, and therefore could legally be dispossessed of all they own, then killed or enslaved along with their wives and children. When Are You Allowed To Kill Unbelievers? 61:4 Allah loves those who fight in His Cause arrayed in battle, as though they were a compact structure. David Cook’s definition of jihad is “’Warfare with spiritual significance’ [and] is the primary and root meaning of the term as it has been defined by classical Muslim jurists and legal scholars… ” The Encyclopedia of Islam agrees: “In law, according to general doctrine and in historical tradition, the jihad consists of military action with the object of the expansion of Islam and, if need be, of its defence” According to the author of Understanding Jihad, modern-day Islamic jurists have interpreted what is commonly referred to as the “Verse of the Sword”, verse 9:5 which is said to supersede all other verses on the subject of war and peace, and verse 9:111 the “Salvific Covenant” (do this for me and I will do this for you, save you, give you Paradise) as announcing a universal war, a jihad against all unbelievers. As David Cook explains: “while its immediate subject (verse 9:5) is the Pagan Arabs—a narrow application sustained by early commentators—later Muslim jurists would use the verse to proclaim a universal jihad against all non-Muslims.” 9:5 Then, when the Sacred Months (these are the four months during which war was prohibited in pre-Islamic times) are over, kill the idolaters wherever you find them, take them [as captives], besiege them, and lie in wait for them at every point of observation. If they repent afterwards, perform the prayer and pay the alms then release them. Allah is truly All-Forgiving, Merciful. 9:111 Allah has bought from the believers their lives and their wealth in return for Paradise; they fight in the Way of Allah, kill and get killed. That is a true promise from Him in the Torah, the Gospel and the Qur’an; and who fulfills his promise better than Allah? Rejoice then at the bargain you have made with Him; for that is the great triumph. The Prophet’s declaration of all-out war for the purpose of making believers out of unbelievers and infidels has been re-phrased in more acceptable terms. Today, jihad is presented, not as a fight to rid the world of people who will not submit to the Will of Allah, but as a fight to rid the world of oppressors (and who does not hate oppressors) or to protect a community from those who would oppress it. Following are the modern conditions under which Muslims may be asked to engage in jihad, according to Emerick and what he claims is the opinion of the majority of Islamic scholars: 1. To defend a community or nation from aggressors. 2. To liberate people living under oppressive regimes. 3. To remove any government that will not allow the free practice of Islam within its borders. A respected cleric or a community leader must make the determination that at least one of the above conditions has been met before the bloodletting can begin. Does Allah agree with the purported majority view, especially the intimidating “To remove any government that will not allow the free practice of Islam within its borders.” Allah’s clearest, though still ambiguous instructions as to what the believers can do to the unbelievers (if you are a believer that does not subscribe to the more radical interpretation of verse 9:5) are contained in chapter 2 of the Koran: The Cow. Allah is a pragmatic, patient God. It was this same pragmatic, patient approach that allowed the Ottoman Turks to conquer the Balkans and almost all of Europe. They freed a grateful peasantry from the onerous yoke of feudalism and were willing to wait for the next generation to adopt Islam, which many did. In Islamic terms it was a somewhat bloodless conquest. Allah’s sensible, patient nature is evident in a verse where He counsels His followers to pardon “the people of the Book” and continue doing what they do until He figures out what to do with them; “makes known His Will” in revelation 2:109. 2:109 Many of the people of the Book (Jews and Christians) wish, out of envy, to turn you back into unbelievers after the Truth has become manifest to them. But pardon and overlook, until Allah makes known His Will. Surely Allah has the power over all things. 2:110 Perform the prayers and give the alms-tax. Whatever you do for your own sake, you will find it with Allah (you will be rewarded for it), surely Allah is cognizant of what you do. In revelation 2:190 He appears to be willing to wait for the unbelievers to die from natural causes before getting “the fuel for his fire”, and there is no need for the faithful to expedite the delivery of the combustible unless … unless the combustible is aggressive. 2:190 And fight for the Cause of Allah those who fight you, but do not be aggressive. Surely Allah does not like the aggressor. Then it gets a little more complicated. Verse 2:191, the Salvific Covenant, expresses many of the same sentiments found in the Verse of the Sword. The main differences appear to have to do with killing within the precinct of a mosque and mass killings, my understanding of “slaughter” to quell an insurrection (sedition) in the following verse. 2:191 Kill them wherever you find them and drive them out wherever they drove you out (from Mecca). Sedition is worse than slaughter. Do not fight them at the Sacred Mosque until they fight you at it. If they fight you there kill them. Such is the reward for the unbelievers. Perhaps a line by line reading of verse 2:191 followed by a presentation of the short verses 2:192 and 2:193 which have a direct impact on instructions contained in 2:191, would provide a richer insight into the mind of the Koranic God when he sent down this revelation. Kill them wherever you find them and drive them out wherever they drove you out. Majid Fakhry, in a footnote, explains that this line refers to the Meccans who wanted nothing to do with the Prophet Muhammad’s brand of religion, which denied the gods of their ancestors, and drove him out of Mecca. This sentence could also easily be interpreted, in my opinion, as Allah’s command that once Islam has establish a beach-head anywhere, to try to remove it or limit its expansion is to invite death and destruction. Death and destruction at the hands of the believers who would have no choice in the matter. Allah’s instructions are unambiguous: “Kill them wherever you find them and drive them out wherever they drove you out.” Sedition is worse than slaughter. The web definition of sedition is “an illegal action inciting resistance to lawful authority and tending to cause the disruption or overthrow of the government.” My interpretation of this sentence is that Allah expects those who would plot or participate in actions to overthrow an Islamic government to be slaughtered. In my opinion, the Koranic God is telling the believers that He would rather see the inhabitants of a region, city or community seeking to secede put to death rather than have them abandon Islam. Do not fight them at the Sacred Mosque until they fight you at it. Allah is referring to the Mosque in Mecca, but I suspect it could be any mosque. If they fight you there kill them! If they fight you at the Mosque show them no mercy. This additional command I consider superfluous or simply Allah’s way of reminding the believers that he means business when it comes to killing the unbelievers, having already commanded them to “Kill them wherever you find them …” in the first line of this verse. Such is the reward for the unbelievers. This is just Allah being Allah when it comes to unbelievers. Death is the usual reward unbelievers can expect for resisting Islam unless … unless they desist. 2:192 But if they desist, Allah is truly All-Forgiving, Merciful. If they accept Islam as their religion you may spare there lives but not the lives of the “evildoers.” 2:193 Fight them until there is no sedition and the religion becomes that of Allah. But if they desist, there will be no aggression except against the evildoers. If you are a Wahabi Muslim like Bin-Laden, verse 2:193 and verse 9:5, the Verse of the Sword, mean that the war against the unbelievers is a never-ending war until Islam is triumphant everywhere “Fight them until there is no sedition and the religion becomes that of Allah.” For these believers there is only the Land of Islam and the Land of War. Forget about the line “if they desist there will be no aggression except against the evildoers” being a sign that Allah puts a limit on killing unbelievers. For Allah, evildoers and unbelievers are synonymous. 3:151 We will cast terror into the hearts of the unbelievers on account of their associating with Allah that for which He sent down no authority. Their abode is the Fire and wretched is the dwelling-place of the evildoers. To paraphrase George W. Bush who said “I am not a nuance type of guy”, Allah is not a nuance type of God. You’re either for Him or against Him. If you are against Him you have allied yourself with the Devil and are fighting on the Devil’s behalf. Fighting with the Devil against Allah, The Compassionate, The Merciful! Could an unbeliever be more evil? 4:76 Those who believe fight for the Cause of Allah, and those who disbelieve fight on behalf of the Devil. Fight then the followers of the Devil. Surely the guile of the Devil is weak. In the surah The Spoils, which is, in many ways even more menacing then Repentance (commonly referred to as the War Surah), Allah decrees that unbelievers be beheaded (still today the favourite form of execution in countries dominated by the Koran). 8:12 And when your Lord revealed to the angels: “I am with you; so support those who believe. I will cast terror into the hearts of those who disbelieve; so strike upon the necks and strike every fingertip of theirs.” 8:13 That is because they opposed Allah and His Messenger; and he who opposes Allah and His Messenger [will find] Allah’s Punishment very severe. 8:14 This is how it will be; so taste it; the torture of the Fire is awaiting the unbelievers. Unbelievers are beasts which you should treat harshly as an example to others. 8:55 The worst beasts in the Sight of Allah are those who disbelieve, because they will never believe. 8:56 Those, who each time you make a covenant with them break it, and do not fear God. 8:57 So, if you should come upon them in the war, scatter (punish them severely) them with those behind them, that perchance they may pay heed. Other translations of verse 8:57 are even more to the point. In a war with the believers, unbelievers may prefer death to surrendering to the tender mercies of those who prostrate themselves before the Compassionate. 8:57 If thou find them at war [with you], make of them a fearsome example for those who follow them, so that they might take it to heart. Muhammad Assad 8:57 If thou comest (sic) on them in the war, deal with them so as to strike fear in those who are behind them, that haply they may remember. M.M. Pickthall Can unbelievers expect any mercy e.g. be allowed to escape a battle with the believers? Allah’ response is unequivocal! 8:59 Let not the unbelievers think that they can escape [Us]. They will never be able to escape. He followed these instructions about showing unbelievers no mercy by some advice on seventh century terror tactics and how you will be repaid in full for spending your money on war materials. 8:60 And make ready for them whatever you can of fighting men and horses, to terrify thereby the enemies of Allah and your enemy, as well as others besides them whom you do not know, but Allah knows well. Everything you spend in the Path of Allah will be repaid in full, and you will never be wronged. He just won’t let up with killing the unbelievers, encouraging first the believers, then their leader, His Messenger, to kill them in the most cruel manner (my understanding of the meaning of “harsh”, which is born out in verse 5:33 and other pitiless verses already quoted and verses to come). 9:123 O you who believe, fight those of the unbelievers who are near to you and let them see how harsh you can be. Know that Allah is with the righteous. 66:9 O Prophet, struggle with the unbelievers and the hypocrites, and deal harshly with them. Their refuge shall be Hell, and what an evil resort! ---- 5:33 Indeed, the punishment of those who fight Allah and His Messenger and go around corrupting the land is to be killed, crucified, have their hands and feet cut off on opposite sides, or to be banished from the land. That is a disgrace for them in this life, and in the life to come theirs will be a terrible punishment. And then a ray of hope, unbelievers may be spared if they convert just before you are about to put them to death. 5:34 Except for those who repent before you overpower them. Know then that Allah is All Forgiving, Merciful. Skip a verse (5:35 O believers fear Allah and seek the means to win His Favour. Fight in His Way so that you may prosper) and Allah reverts to form. 5:36 As to the unbelievers, even if they had all there is on earth and the like of it too, to redeem themselves from the punishment of the Day of Resurrection therewith, it will not be accepted from them, and a very painful punishment shall be in store for them. 5:37 They will then wish to come out of the Fire, but they will never come out, and theirs is an everlasting punishment! When Must You Stop Killing Unbelievers? Idolaters If you don’t believe in the God of Abraham you are, for all intents and purposes an idolater. The Verse of the Sword states that only an immediate conversion followed by a recitation of the mandatory daily prayers and a charitable donation will spare the life of an idolater or save him or her from a life in captivity as the slave of a believer. Having said that, there are three overriding conditions where an unrepentant idolater’s life is not yours for the taking at your discretion: 1) during the sacred months if they don’t pose a threat, real or imagine 2) if you have a compact i.e. treaty with a group of them, or 3) if they seek refuge with you for the purpose of learning about this Allah. 9:1 This is immunity from Allah and His Messenger to those idolaters with whom you made compacts. 9:2 Travel, then, in the land freely for four months, and know that you will never able to thwart Allah, and that Allah shall disgrace the unbelievers. 9:3 This is a proclamation from Allah and His Messenger to mankind on the day of the great pilgrimage, that Allah is absolved of the idolaters, as is His Messenger. If you repent it will be better for you; but if you turn away, know that you shall never thwart Allah. Proclaim to those who disbelieve a grievous punishment. 9:4 Except for those idolaters with whom you made a compact, then they did not fail you in anything and did not lend support to anybody against you. Honour your compact with them until the end of its term. Allah loves the righteous. 9:5 Then, when the Sacred Months are over, kill the idolaters wherever you find them, take them [as captives], besiege them, and lie in wait for them at every point of observation. If they repent afterwards, perform the prayer and pay the alms, then release them. Allah is truly All-Forgiving, Merciful. An idolater can seek refuge with the believers for the purpose of learning about Allah, and it must be granted. If after learning about Allah the idolater is still not convinced that submitting to His Will is something he wants to do, the believers are expected to return him unharmed to where they cannot immediately harm him i.e. “his place of security”. 9:6 And if any one of the idolaters should seek refuge with you, give him refuge, so that he may hear the Word of Allah; then convey him to his place of security. That is because they are a people who do not know. This revelation caused much consternation among the believers as the following revelations will attest. 9:7 How can the idolaters have a compact with Allah and His Messenger, except for those you made a compact (a formal treaty) with at the Sacred Mosque? So long as these honour their obligations to you, honour yours to them. Allah loves the righteous. Everyone knows that an idolater’s word means nothing; that they are sinners and given the opportunity will probably kill you. 9:8 How [can that be]? If they overcome you, they will observe neither kingship nor compact with you. They only give you satisfaction with their mouths, while their hearts refuse, and most of them are sinners. 9:9 They have sold Allah’s Revelations for a small price, and have barred [others] from His Path. Evil is indeed what they do! 9:10 They observe with the believers neither kingship nor compact. Those are the real transgressors. Nonetheless … 9:11 Yet, if they repent, perform the prayer and pay the alms, they will be your brethren in religion. We expound the revelations to a people who know. If they break their oath, you know what to do! 9:12 But if they break their oaths after their pledge [is made] and abuse your religion, then fight the leaders of unbelief; for they have no regards for oaths, and that perchance they may desist. 9:12 But if they break their oaths after their pledge [is made] and abuse your religion, then fight the leaders of unbelief; for they have no regards for oaths, and that perchance they may desist. 9:13 Will you not fight a people who broke their oaths and intended to drive the Messenger out, seeing that they attack you first? Do you fear them? Surely, you ought to fear Allah more, if you are real believers. 9:14 Fight them, Allah will punish them at your hands, will disgrace them, give you victory over them, and heal the hearts of a believing people. 9:15 And Allah will remove the rage from their hearts. Allah shows mercy to whomever He pleases, and Allah is All-Knowing, Wise. Christians and Jews For the Jews and Christians and the illusive Sabians it’s a little more complicated. If you are a Jew or a Christian and, as unlikely as it would seem, you don’t believe in the God of Abraham, then you are no better than an idolater and not converting is not an option. Unbelievers who believe, and only believe in the God of Abraham (the so-called People of the Book) are not to be killed “wherever you find them” if they are submissive, and are willing to humbly pay money in the form of a poll-tax (a tax levied on people rather than on property) so that their lives might be spared. 9:29 Fight those among the People of the Book who do not believe in Allah and the Last Day, do not forbid what Allah and His Messenger have forbidden and do not profess the true religion, till they pay the poll-tax out of hand and submissively. Allah quickly reminds the believer, in the verse immediately following 9:29, that while He is willing to spare the lives of Christians and Jews ready-and-able to dutifully pay his life-saving-tax while acknowledging His pre-eminence, they are still a perverted people for saying that Allah has a son after he told them not to. 9:30 The Jews say: “Ezra is the son of Allah”, and the Christians say: “The Messiah is the son of Allah.” That is their statement, by their mouths; they emulate the statement of the unbelievers of yore. May Allah damn them; how they are perverted! 9:31 They take their rabbis and monks as lords besides Allah, as well as the Messiah, son of Mary, although they are commanded to worship none but One God. There is no god but He; exalted He is above what they associate with Him. And why would they do this? 9:32 They wish to put out Allah’s Light with their mouths, and Allah allows nothing less than perfecting His Light, even if the unbelievers should resent it. 9:33 It is He Who sent His Messenger with the guidance and the true religion, in order to make it triumph over every religion, even if the polytheist should resent it. And then, there are times when a bloody beating, some time spent in chains and a ransom is all that is needed. Killing is optional. 47:4 So when you meet the unbelievers, strike their necks till you have bloodied them then fasten the shackles. Thereupon, release them freely or for a ransom till the war is over. So be it. Yet had Allah wished, He would have taken vengeance upon them, but he wanted to test you by one another. Those who die in the Cause of Allah, He will not render their works perverse. ------------------------ The more verbose Mohsin Khan translation is unambiguous as to what “strike their necks” is all about, among other things. 47:4 So, when you meet (in fight - Jihad in Allah's Cause) those who disbelieve, smite (their) necks till when you have killed and wounded many of them, then bind a bond firmly (on them, i.e. take them as captives). Thereafter (is the time) either for generosity (i.e. free them without ransom), or ransom (according to what benefits Islam), until the war lays down its burden. Thus [you are ordered by Allah to continue in carrying out Jihad against the disbelievers till they embrace Islam and are saved from the punishment in the Hell-fire or at least come under your protection], but if it had been Allah's Will, He Himself could certainly have punished them (without you). But (He lets you fight) in order to test some of you with others. But those who are killed in the Way of Allah, He will never let their deeds be lost. ------------------------ Killing During the Sacred Months War’s First Casualty 4:71 O believers, be on your guard; so march in detachments or march altogether. 4:72 Indeed, among you is one who will stay behind, so that if a disaster befalls you, he will say: “Allah has favoured me, since I have not been a martyr with them.” Why the pretence? 4:73 If, however, a bounty from God comes to you, he will say, as though there was no friendship between you and him: “Would that I had been with them; then I would have won a great victory.” Greeting One Another in Peace and War 4:86 And when you are greeted with a certain greeting, greet back with a better one or return it; for Allah keeps count of everything. 4:94 O believers, if you journey in the Way of Allah, be discerning and do not say to him who greets you: “You are not a believer”, seeking the fleeting goods of the present life. For with Allah are abundant gains. This is how you were before and Allah has been gracious to you; so discern well. Allah is indeed fully aware of what you do! ------------------------ In the early days of Islam the greeting as-salam 'alaykum ('peace be on you') was a distinguishing symbol of the Muslims. When a Muslim greeted another Muslim with this expression it signified that he was a member of the same community… from whom he need entertain no fear of hostility and towards whom, in return, he should not behave with hostility. [This caused a problem] on the battlefield. Whenever a Muslim was in danger of being harmed inadvertently by other Muslims during the fighting, he resorted to either the Islamic greeting (as-salam 'alaykum) or the Islamic creed There is no god save Allah' (ili-Jl^y) in order to indicate that he was their brother-in-faith. The Muslims, however, often suspected this to be merely a ruse of the enemy and therefore sometimes disregarded the utterance of the Islamic greeting or of the Islamic creed, and killed such people and seized their belongings as booty. … God solved the problem by revelation. The purport of the verse is that no one has the right summarily to judge those who profess to be Muslims, and assume them to be lying for fear of their lives … The error of letting an unbeliever go unpunished is preferable to that of killing a true believer. Abul A’la Moududi ------------------------ Stay-at-Home Warriors and Female Jihadists Ibn al-Mubarak came up with a ranking for those who kill and die for Allah. What about your stay-at-home warriors? Perhaps surprisingly, the Koran and the Prophet do not damn them to an eternity in Hell. Their rank in heaven, however, will definitely be lower than a believer who kills and risks his life in the fight to extend Allah’s domain and the rewards stay-at-home warriors can expect in heaven are somewhat diminished. 4:95 Those of the believers who stay at home while suffering from no injury are not equal to those who fight for the Cause of Allah with their possessions and persons. Allah has raised those who fight with their possessions and persons one degree over those who stay at home; and to each Allah has promised the fairest good. Yet Allah has granted a great reward to those who fight and not to those who stay behind. And, as you may have come to expect by now, verses about killing in the cause of Allah, followed by verses extolling the virtues of an “All-Forgiving, Merciful” god. 4:96 Degrees of honour from Him, Forgiveness and Mercy. Allah is All-Forgiving, Merciful. What rewards can a female jihadist expect from Allah for fighting and dying to extend his dominion on earth? Again, according to David Cook, a question was posed on the Hamas website by a prospective female suicide bomber as to what are the “rewards for a female martyr.” Would she get the equivalent of the male suicide bombers who are promised a “fairly extensive harem of women in return for martyrdom.” [Question] I wanted to ask: what is the reward of a female martyr who performs a martyrdom operation; does she marry 72 of the houris? [Answer] … the female martyr gains the same rewards as does the male, with the exception of this one aspect [the houris], so that the female martyr will be with the same husband with whom she dies. “And those who have believed and their progeny, followed them in belief. We shall join their progeny to them. We shall not deprive them of any of their work; every man shall be bound by what he has earned” 52:21. The one who is martyred and has no husband will be married to one of the people of Paradise. David Cook, Understanding Jihad, p.146 Unless I am mistaken, that would be the same reward that a stay-at-home housewife could expect from Allah, therefore there is nothing to be gained by a chaste girl or a pious married women blowing herself up and killing herself and a bunch of innocent people for Allah. Emigrating in the Cause of Allah 8:72 Those who have believed and emigrated and struggled wealth and their lives in the part of Allah, and those who gave refuge and support – those are friends of one another; but those who have believed, yet did not emigrate, you will not be responsible for their protection until they emigrate. Should they seek your support for religion’s sake, you ought to support them, but not against a people with whom you have a compact. Allah is Fully Aware of what you do. 8:74 And those who believed, emigrated and struggled in the Path of Allah, and those who have given refuge and support – those are the true believers. They will have forgiveness and bountiful provision. 8:75 And those who believed afterwards, emigrated and struggle with you – those are part of you. And the blood relatives are closer to one another in Allah’s Books. Allah is truly Cognizant of everything. ---- 9:100 The early Emigrants (the early Muslims who emigrated to Medina) and the Helpers (the Muslims of Medina who supported the Emigrants) and those who followed them up in beneficence – Allah is well-pleased with them, and they are well-pleased with Him, and He has prepared for them Gardens beneath which rivers flow, abiding therein forever. That is the great triumph! The previous verses were meant to encourage converts to Islam to emigrate out of pagan controlled areas and join the Prophet's forces at Medina, or emigrate into areas controlled by the pagan Arabs as a means of weakening the opposition to the Prophet’s takeover of the Peninsula. Today these verses are interpreted by Islamists as inviting believers to emigrate where unbelievers are the majority as a means of weakening the opposition in the struggle to bring all of mankind to submit to Allah’s Will ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ A test for the women who would emigrate from areas not controlled by the Prophet’s armies as to the sincerity of their conversion to Islam. 60:10 O believers, if believing women come to you as Emigrants, then test them; Allah knows better their faith. If you find them to be believers, do not send them back to the unbelievers. They are neither lawful to the unbelieving men, nor are those men lawful to them. Give them what they [the unbelieving husbands] had paid in dowry; and you are not at fault if you marry them, provided you pay them their dowries. Do not hold fast to unbelieving women; demand what you have spent and let them demand what they have spent. That is Allah’s Judgement. He judges between you, and Allah is All-Knowing and Wise. The Saudi Solution John L. Esposito author of Unholy War; Terror in the Name of Islam (Oxford University Press) describes Wahhabism this way: Wahhabi theology sees the world in white and black categories—Muslim and non-Muslim, belief and unbelief, the realm of Islam and that of warfare. They regarded all Muslims who [do] not agree with them as unbelievers to be subdued (that is, fought and killed) in the name of Islam.” One of the first to embrace Wahhabi theology was Muhammad Ibn Saud (d. 1765) a local Arab tribal chief. Ibn Saud used the ultra-conservative Wahhabi movement, still according to Esposito, “to legitimate (sic) his jihad to subdue and unite the tribes of Arabia, converting them to this puritanical version of Islam.” Ibn Saud still serves as an example for the current rulers of Saudi Arabia who, like their honoured ancestor, look to the teachings of Ibn Abd al-Whahhab for guidance. Wahhabi theologians have interpreted verse 9:5, The Verse of the Sword, as a command from Allah’s to wage a non-stop active campaign to establish His Kingdom on earth. The Ottoman Empire, in 1818 put a stop to Saudi ambitions to spread their fundamentalist version of Islam by the sword forcing a change in tactics. The war against the unbelievers can also be fought with your wealth. 61:11 Believe in Allah and His Messenger and struggle in the Cause of Allah with your possessions (wealth) and yourselves. That is far better for you, if only you knew. While Saudi Arabia today does not have the military might, Al Qaeda notwithstanding, to spread its puritanical, backward-looking version of Islam by force, it does have the money, and the Koran does say that spending your money (wealth) to spread Islam gets you a free pass into heaven – all is forgiven. 61:12 He will then forgive your sins and admit you into the Gardens, beneath which rivers flow, and into fine dwellings in the Gardens of Eden. That is the great triumph. With the discovery of oil and the wealth that came with it, the House that Muhammad Ibn Saud built has been able to spread the word far and wide by funding Islamic schools on the Wahhabi model, the most notorious being in Pakistan. Calling for Peace The Verse of the Sword, the Salvific Covenant and the letter from God’s Messenger, his Declaration of War, threatening to impose Islam by force would indicate that believers who fight, kill and die in the pursuit of a universal Islam are legally and morally justified from Islamic perspective in doing so. Until Allah or His Messenger declares an end to the hostilities against the unbelievers they have no choice in the matter. Writers on Islam, like Fouad Laroui, would disagree with what appears to be the Prophet and Allah’s sanctioning of extreme measures to establish His kingdom on earth in many of the verses presented so far. In his book On Islamic Fundamentalism – A personal denunciation of religious extremism (my understanding of De L’Islamisme – Une réfutation personnelle du totalitarisme religieux) Laroui quotes from verse 4:171 to support his argument that Allah does not approve of violence to get others to accept Islam as their religion. 4:171 O People of the Book, do not exceed the bounds of your religion… So far so good; but like many verses in the Koran, Allah muddles the message by qualifying his instructions about not exceeding “the bounds of your religion” by adding that you must still tell the truth, your religion’s unassailable truth which contradicts another religion’s unassailable truth. 4:171 … nor say about Allah except the truth. The Messiah, Jesus, son of Mary, is only Allah’s Messenger and His Word, which he imparted to Mary, and is a spirit from Him! So believe in Allah and His Messenger and do not say “three” [gods]. Refrain; it is better for you. Allah is truly One God. How – Glory be to Him – could He have a son To him belongs what is in Heaven and on earth. Allah suffices as a Guardian! In the never-ending-war to spread Allah’s unassailable truth and make Islam “triumph over every religion”, should you seek peace with the unbelievers? Only if you are losing (and that is highly unlikely considering your relative worth as warriors, revelations 8:65-66) or they call for peace, revelation 8:61, but be wary, revelation 8:62. “If they incline to peace” may refer to the Arabs only, if revelation 8:61-63 are considered as one. 47:35 So do not weaken and call for peace, while you have the upper hand and Allah is with you. He will not stint you your actions. 47:36 Indeed this present life is but sport and amusement; and if you believe and are God-fearing, He will give you your wages and will not ask you for your possessions. ---- 8:61 And if they incline to peace, incline to it too, and put your trust in a Allah. He is truly the Hearer, the Knower. 8:62 And if they wish to deceive you, then Allah is Sufficient for you and so are the believers, it is He who has strengthened you with His Support and with the believers; 8:63 He brought their hearts together. Had you spend all there is on earth, you could not have brought their hearts together, but Allah has brought them together. He is Mighty and Wise. Part of Abul A’la Maududi commentary on revelation 8:63 Here the allusion is to that strong bond of love and brotherhood that developed among the Arabs who embraced Islam and whose conversion brought them solidarity. This strong solidarity existed despite the fact that they came from a variety of tribes which had long-standing traditions of mutual enmity. Further evidence that the call for peace in 8:61 is between Arab tribes is contained in the revelations which immediately follow. 8:64 O Prophet, Allah is Sufficient for you and so are the believers who follow you. 8:65 O Prophet, urge the believers to fight. If there are twenty steadfast men among you, they will defeat two hundred; and if there are a hundred, they will defeat a thousand of the unbelievers, because they are a people who do not understand. 8:66 Now Allah has lightened your burden; He knows that there is a weakness in you. So, if there are a hundred steadfast men among you, they will overcome two hundred; and if there are a thousand men among you, they will overcome two thousand, by Allah’s Leave. Allah is with the steadfast. The Significance of the Booty Lest we forget what it's all about. 8:67 It is not up to any Prophet to take captives except after too much blood is shed (after the enemy is hard hit and subdued) in the land. You desire the fleeting goods of this world, but Allah desires the Hereafter, and Allah is Mighty, and Wise. 8:68 But for a prior ordinance of Allah, you would have been afflicted on account of what you have taken (an ordinance which made it lawful for Muslims to take spoils and captives) by a terrible punishment. 8:69 So eat of the lawful and good things you have taken as booty. Fear Allah; Allah is truly All-Forgiving, Merciful. If sharing in the booty is not sufficient to convince you to submit to Allah’s Will, remember that in Allah’s eyes you are traitors with all the horrifying stuff that implies with your continued enslavement the best that you can hope for. 8:70 O Prophet, tell those captives in your keeping: “If Allah knows of any good in your hearts, He will give you in return better than what has been taken from you and forgive you.” Allah is All-Forgiving, Merciful. 8:71 But if they wish to betray you, they have previously betrayed Allah, and so He subdued them. Allah is All-Knowing, Wise. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ In this never-ending war to establish His Kingdom on earth what does Allah have to say about Muslims killing Muslims. 4:93 As he who kills a believer intentionally will, as punishment, be thrown into Hell, dwelling in it forever; and Allah will be angry with him, curse him and prepare for him a dreadful punishment.
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