Before the Prophet could attempt to impose Allah’s perfect religion on an imperfect world, he first had to convince his fellows Arabs. Most would not be swayed to abandon the gods and goddesses of their forefathers and a vicious civil war ensued where the Muslims, except for the rare occasion, would give no quarter.

During this civil war, all the rules of chivalry and fair play that had guided the relationships between the tribes and clans of the Peninsula were abandoned by the Muslims. Only one thing mattered for the believers in this fratricidal war: idol worshippers i.e. pagans had to convert or die!

Convert or die! This simple easy to understand demand from Allah, made known to the believers by His Messenger, the Prophet Muhammad, allowed for a cold-blooded methodical approach to eliminating the Arab opposition and getting converts for Islam.

But even this straightforward strategy might not have worked if Allah and His Messenger had not been able to attract the young men who would be doing the killing and the convincing to flock to their banner.

Finding a bride in pre-Islamic Arabia, if you were not wealthy or powerful, was problematic. Pre-Islamic Arabs favoured sons; therefore, until a son was born to defend your honour, and to ensure the prospective family’s survival in the harsh desert environment, girls were often quietly disposed of, usually by burying them alive.

This tradition, and the fact that rich men could purchase as many women as they could afford, and powerful ones keep as many as they could abscond with, meant that young frustrated fighting men were plentiful.

The Prophet not only promised these young men that the wives and daughters of the pagan Arabs they killed they could take as slaves or spouses, but should they die in the attempt, Allah would make it to up to them then and there. They would immediately be admitted into Paradise, no questions asked, and be given a harem more impressive than any found on earth, with wall-to-wall virgins all committed to satisfying a young warrior’s every sexual fantasies for an eternity.

The surah Repentance is mainly about war, one of the reason for the lack of the ubiquitous formula-invocation “in the name of Allah, the Compassionate, the Merciful” which you find at the beginning of every surah but two, the first and the ninth.

The ninth surah can serve as an example on how to carry out a successful campaign against the unbelievers; the key being 1) to be ready to die and 2) to show no mercy to no one no matter their age or their sex. This simple strategy to defeat the unbelievers developed by Allah and His Messenger more than a thousand years ago, and of which the believers are constantly reminded throughout the Koran, is the strategy of Al Qaeda and the Taliban.

We end the chapter on ridding the world of those who refuse to submit to the Will of Allah with the remaining revelations from the surah Repentance about strategies, tactics, appealing to the baser instincts of those you need to do the killing and demonizing those to be killed, etc.

 When fighting for Allah you are never alone

9:16 Did you imagine that Allah would leave you alone before knowing who of you fight [in the Way of Allah] and do not seek supporters besides Allah and His Messenger? Allah is Fully Aware of what you do.

Unbelievers are not welcomed here

9:17 The unbelievers should not enter Allah’s Mosques bearing witness thereby against themselves that they are unbelievers. The works of those are vain and in the Fire they will abide forever.

9:18 Only he who believes in Allah and the Hereafter, performs the prayers, gives the alms and fears no one but Allah, shall visit Allah’s Mosques. Those shall be reckoned the rightly guided.

Doing wrong by doing right

9:19 Do you consider those, who give the pilgrims water to drink and maintain the Sacred Mosque, like those who believe in Allah and the Hereafter and fight in Allah’s Way? They are not alike in Allah’s Sight, and Allah will not guide the wrongdoing people.

Winners and losers

9:20 Those who have believed, emigrated and fought in the Path of Allah with their lives are higher in rank in Allah’s Sight; and those are the winners.

9:21 Their Lord announces to them the good news of a mercy from Him, good pleasure and Gardens wherein they have everlasting bliss;

9:22 Abiding therein forever. With Allah is a great reward.

Stoking the flames of a fratricidal war

9:23 O believers, do not take your fathers and brothers as friends, if they prefer disbelief to belief. Those who take them as friends are the wrongdoers.

9:24 Say: “If your fathers, your sons, your brothers, your spouses, your relatives, the wealth you have gained, a trade you fear might slacken, and dwellings you love are dearer to you than Allah and His Messenger or than fighting in His way, then wait until Allah fulfils His Decree. Allah does not guide the sinful people.

The untouchables

9:28 O believers, the polytheists are truly unclean; so let them not come near the Sacred Mosque after this year of theirs; and if you fear poverty, Allah shall enrich you from His Bounty, if He pleases. Allah is Truly All-Knowing, Wise.

The right religion, the right months and the right time to fight

9:36 The number of months, with Allah, is twelve months by Allah’s Ordinance from the day He created the heavens and the earth. Four of these are Sacred. This is the right religion, so do not wrong yourselves during them; but fight the polytheists all together just as they fight you all together; and know that Allah is on the side of the righteous.

Another reminder as to who is deserving of Allah’s Mercy

9:71 As to the believers, males and females, they are friends of one another. They enjoin what is good and forbid what is evil, perform the prayers, give the alms and obey Allah and His Messenger. It is those on whom Allah will have mercy. Allah is Mighty, Wise.

Another reminder of what is included with that Mercy

9:72 Allah has promised the believers, males and females, Gardens beneath which rivers flow, abiding therein forever, and fair dwellings in the Gardens of Eden. However, Allah’s Good Pleasure is greater. That is the great triumph.

Killing and injuring as a good deed

9:120 It is not given to the people of Medina and the desert Arabs around them to stay behind the Messenger of Allah, nor to prefer their own lives to his life for they are afflicted neither by thirst nor fatigue nor hunger in Allah’s Way, nor do they take a step that upsets the unbelievers, nor inflict a blow on the enemy but a good deed is recorded for them on account of it. Allah does not allow the beneficent to lose their reward.

9:121 Nor do they spend anything whether small or large, nor cross a valley but it is recorded for them, so that Allah may reward them for the best of their deeds.

Commissars by another name

9:122 The believers should not all go to war. Why doesn’t a company from each group go forth to instruct themselves in religion and admonish their people (those who go to war) when they return, that perchance, they may beware.

Mercy as an attribute of the Prophet.

9:128 There has come to you a Messenger (the Prophet Muhammad) from among yourselves. It grieves him to see you suffer, he cares much for you, and is kind and merciful towards believers.

Merciful’s opposite is merciless. The last revelation of this most ominous of surahs:

9:129 But if they turn away, say: “Sufficient for me is Allah; there is no God but He; in Him I put my trust. He is the Lord of the Glorious Throne.”