Beruflich Dokumente
Kultur Dokumente
Readers are advised to first carefully go through the components of the article that appear
in the contents section of the journal so that they can have a clear comprehension of its
overall arrangement.
I. Introduction
The question of Islam’s relationship with other religions of the world carries a
significance that needs no elaboration. Shortened frontiers, enhanced communication and
increased interaction in this present era have only magnified the importance of this issue.
Indeed, the past fourteen centuries of co-inhabitation with other religions has greatly
influenced world history and the shaping of global geographic boundaries.
The general opinion of Muslim scholars on this matter is based on the premise that Islam
is the final truth and therefore only Islam has the right to rule in this world; non-Muslims
better be aware of this or else they will have to face animosity and hostility from
Muslims. Peaceful co-existence is something which generally finds mention in the
Muslim view where they are in power and people of other religions live in subservience
to Muslims. Jeffrey Lang, professor of Mathematics at the Kansas University, who
converted to Islam in the early eighties, vividly records this typical Muslim mindset in
the following words:
‘I’m sure you know that it’s incumbent on Muslims living in the United States to work
and struggle and, if necessary, to fight to establish an Islamic state here’, said the dean of
the Middle Eastern University, aware that tradition and scholarship were on his side.
‘My idea of what makes a state Islamic might be very different from yours’, I answered.
‘Do you, for example, feel that your country is an Islamic state?’
‘Of course it’s not perfect’, he offered. ‘But we’re free to practice our faith and most of
the Sharī‘ah is enforced’.
‘But what if we’re already free to practice our rituals here and to influence the laws and
government through democracy?’
‘But democracy recognizes the will of the majority, while an Islamic state gives final
authority to God as revealed in the Qur’ān and teachings of the Prophet!’
‘Might not the two converge in a society where the majority are committed to the
viewpoint that God is the supreme authority and Muhammad is His Prophet? If the
majority is not so committed, then what purpose is served by declaring an Islamic state or
a state religion?’
‘What you’re advocating is secularism!’1
A little deliberation shows that Muslim scholars base their view on what transpired in
Arabia fourteen hundred years ago when Muhammad (sws) the last of the Messengers of
Allah led a long struggle against the exponents of Kufr (denial of the truth). Many verses
of the Qur’ān and certain Āhadīth which record and depict this struggle apparently ask
the believers to be hostile to non-Muslims. There are directives like severing ties with
non-Muslims and cursing them in prayer. Some Qur’ānic verses and Āhadīth even ask
the believers to put to death non-Muslims. As Rev. Stephene puts it:
In the Qur’ān, the Mussulman is absolutely and positively commanded to make war upon
all those who decline to acknowledge the Prophet until they submit, or, in the case of
Jews and Christians, purchase exemption from the conformity by the payment of tribute.
The mission of the Mussulman, as declared in the Qur’ān, is distinctly aggressive. We
might say that Mahomet bequeathed to his disciples a roving commission to propagate
his faith by the employment of force where persuasion failed. ‘O Prophet, fight for the
religion of God’ – ‘Stir up the faithful to war,’ such are commands which Mahomet
believed to be given to him by God. ‘Fight against them who believe not in God, nor the
last day’, ‘attack the idolatrous in all the months’, such are his own exhortations to his
disciples.2
So the conclusion is simple. Muslims must follow what is written in their Holy book and
what is ascribed to their Prophet (sws).
غَرْقَنا
ْ ن َأ
ْ ض َوِمْنُهْم َم
َ لْر
َْ سْفَنا ِبِه ا
َخ
َ ن
ْ حُة َوِمْنُهْم َم
َ صْي
ّ خَذْتُه ال
َ ن َأ
ْ صًبا َوِمْنُهْم َم
ِ حا
َ عَلْيِه
َ سْلَنا
َ ن َأْر
ْ خْذَنا ِبَذْنِبِه َفِمْنُهْم َم
َ ل َأ
ّ َفُك
٤٠ : ٢٩))
Each one of them We seized for their crime: of them, against some We sent a violent
tornado with showers of stones; some were caught by a mighty blast; some We sunk in
the earth; and some We drowned in the waters. (29:40)
Referring to the second form of divine punishment, the Qur’ān asserts:
١٤: ٩) عَلْيِهْم
َ صْرُكْم
ُ خِزِهْم َوَيْن
ْ ل ِبَأْيِديُكْم َوُي
ُّ )َقاِتُلوُهْم ُيَعّذْبُهْم ا
Fight them [ O Believers!] and God will punish them with your hands and humiliate them
and help you to victory over them. (9:14)
١٧: ٨) ل َقَتَلُهْم
َّ ن ا
ّ )َفَلْم َتْقُتُلوُهْم َوَلِك
It is not you [O believers] who slew them; it was [ in fact] God [who slew] them. (8:17)
While explaining this verse, the celebrated Muslim authority, Shāh Walī Ullāh, writes:
ٌعَدةِ ن ّيَعّقَد ِفْيِهْم َقاْ غْيِر َأ
َ ن ْ سعى ِم َ ن اْلَملِئَكَة َت
ْ غْيَر َأَ ل َتَعالى ُ ي ِإْتَماِم َما َأَمَر ا
ْ ى ِفَ سع ْ ك ِبَمْنِزَلِة اْلَمَلِئَكِة َتَ ي َذِل
ْ صاُرْوا ِف َ َف
سَنُد إّنَماْ ل لَ ُيُ صاَر اْلَقْت َ ل َو ِ عَما
ْل
َْ ظُم اَع ْ ك َأَ عَمُلُهمْ َذِل
َ نَ ل َتَعالى َوَكا ُ عّلَمُهْم ا َ عَدِة ُكّلّيٍةِ ل َقاِج َل َِ نَ ن ُيَقاِتُلْو
َ سِلُمْو
ْ ُكّلّيٌة َواْلُم
ل َقَتَلُهْم
َ نا ّ َوُهَو َقْوُله َتَعاَلى ’َفَلْم َتْقُتُلْوُهْم َوَلِك.ف ِ سّيا ّ ن ال
ِ لِمْيِر ُدْو
ْ ىا َ ى ِإل
ْ ص ِ ل اْلَعا ُ سَنُد َقْت
ْ لِمْيِر َكَما ُي َْ سَنُد ِأَلى اْ ُي
The Prophet Muhammad (sws) and his Companions (rta) in the fulfillment of this mission
became like angels who also strive for the implementation of God’s directives. The
difference between angelic and human undertakings is that the former strive without
being guided by any universal principle, while human beings fight for the sake of a
definite overall objective given to them by the Almighty. Thus Jihād becomes the greatest
of all their deeds. That is why the act of killing is not attributed to them. It is attributed to
the Divine Being who issued the directive to kill. This is like ascribing the act of killing
of a traitor to the ruler rather than the slayer, as the Qur’ān says: ‘You slew them not, but
God slew them’.6
In other words, what needs to be understood is that it was the Almighty who took matters
in His own hands and punished the Kuffār in this world in the time of His Messengers. It
is precisely for this reason that in this particular sphere, the Prophet Muhammad (sws) is
not a role model for Muslims. What mankind needs to learn from this whole exercise is to
be mindful of a reality that it tends to forget: reward and punishment in the Hereafter on
the basis of a person’s deeds. This reward and punishment which is to take place in the
Hereafter is substantiated visually by the Almighty through the agency of His Messengers
so that mankind may always remain heedful to this reality. The court of justice which will
be set up for every person on the Day of Judgement was set up for the nations of
Messengers in this world so that the latter could become a visual testimony to the former.
The Qur’ān at numerous instances has used this argument to substantiate the reward and
punishment in the Hereafter. In Sūrah Hāqqah, for example, it says:
ٍعاٌد َفُأهِْلُكوا ِبِريح َ غَيِة َوَأّما ِ طا ّ عِة َفَأّما َثُموُد َفُأْهِلُكوا ِبال َ عاٌد ِباْلَقاِرَ ت َثُموُد َو ْ حاّقُة َكّذَبَ ك َما اْل
َ حاّقُة َوَما َأْدَرا
َ حاّقُة َما اْل
َ اْل
ْ خاِوَيٍة َفَه
ل َ ل ٍخْ جاُز َن َع ْ عى َكَأّنُهْم َأ َ صْر َ سوًما َفَتَرى اْلَقْوَم ِفيَها ُحُ ل َوَثَماِنَيَة َأّياٍم
ٍ سْبَع َلَيا
َ عَلْيِهْم
َ خَرَها ّس َ عاِتَيٍة
َ صٍر َ صْر َ
طَغى َ خَذًة َراِبَيًة ِإّنا َلّما
ْ خَذُهْم َأ َ ل َرّبِهْم َفَأ
َ سو ُ صْوا َر َ طَئِة َفَع ِ خا َ ت ِباْل
ُ ن َقْبَلُه َواْلُمْؤَتِفَكا
ْ ن َوَمُ عْو
َ جاَء ِفْر
َ ن َباِقَيٍة َو
ْ َتَرى َلُهْم ِم
١٢-١: ٦٩) عَيٌة ِ ن َوا ٌ جَعَلَها َلُكْم َتْذِكَرًة َوَتِعَيَها ُأُذ
ْ جاِرَيِة ِلَنَ حَمْلَناُكْم ِفي اْلَ )اْلَماُء
The Inevitable! What is the Inevitable? What do you know what the Inevitable is? It is
the Pounding One which the ‘Ād and the Thamūd denied. As for the Thamūd, they were
destroyed by a calamity that exceeded all bounds and the ‘Ād by a storm, fierce and
violent. He let loose this [storm] on them for seven nights and eight days to ravage them.
You would have seen them lying overthrown as though they were hollow trunks of palm-
trees. So do you now see any of them? And the same crime was committed by Pharaoh
and those before him and by the overturned settlements also such that they disobeyed the
Messenger of their Lord [sws]. So He gripped them with an intensifying grip. [Similarly,
as a consequence of denying Noah (sws)] when [the storm blew over and] the flood rose
high it was We who carried you upon the ark to make this [account of your ancestors] a
reminder for you and that retaining ears may retain it . (69:1-12)
The justification of the retribution carried out by the Messengers on the Kuffār is that
through divine help, the basic truths7 become manifest in their personalities to the extent
that no one is left with any excuse to deny it. In the words of the Qur’ān, this is called
Shahādah ‘ala al-nās (bearing witness to the truth before other peoples). The Almighty
has referred to this aspect in the following words:
١٥: ٧٣) ً سو
ل ُ ن َر
َ عْو
َ سْلَنا ِإَلى ِفْر
َ شاِهًدا عََلْيُكْم َكَما َأْر
َ ل
ً سو
ُ سْلَنا ِإَلْيُكْم َر
َ )ِإّنا َأْر
To you [O People of the Quraysh!] We have sent forth a Rasūl as witness to the truth
upon you just as we sent a Rasūl to the Pharaoh. (73:15)
In other words, what authorizes a Messenger to punish the Kuffār is that it can be
ascertained in this very world that they are guilty of denying the basic truths in spite of
being convinced about them. Good and evil are elucidated with ultimate clarity and
people who accept evil do so not because of any confusion but because of their own
stubbornness.
So it can be concluded that since a Messenger reveals the basic truths in their ultimate
form and those who deny it do so because of their stubbornness and even confess their
sins, a Messenger has the perfect justification to punish his people after they have denied
him.
c. The Preaching Mission of the Messengers
As mentioned earlier, a detailed analysis of the preaching mission of the Messengers shall
now be made so that the punishment meted out by the Almighty through them to the
Disbelievers can be viewed by the reader in the overall perspective. This will be done in
two sections. The first covers the general features of this mission and the second one
covers the manifestation of these features in the era of Muhammad (sws).
1. General Features
i. The Objective of the Messengers
In the words of the Qur’ān, the basic objective of the Messengers of Allah is to decide
the fate of their respective peoples in this world in such a manner that if these people
deny their Messengers, they are subdued in this very world:
سِكَنّنُكْم
ْ ن َوَلُن
َ ظاِلِمي
ّ ن ال
ّ حى ِإَلْيِهْم َرّبُهْم َلُنْهِلَك َ ن ِفي ِمّلِتَنا َفَأْو
ّ ضَنا َأْو َلَتُعوُد
ِ ن َأْر
ْ جّنُكْم ِم
َ خِر
ْ سِلِهْم َلُن
ُ ن َكَفُروا ِلُر
َ ل اّلِذي
َ َوَقا
١٤-٩: ١٤) عيِد ِ ف َو
َ خاَ ف َمَقاِمي َو َ خا َ ن ْ ك ِلَم
َ ن َبْعِدِهْم ذَِل
ْ ض ِم
َ لْر َْ )ا
And the disbelievers said to their Messengers: We will drive you out of our land, or you
return to our religion’. But their Lord inspired [this message] to them [–the Messengers
–]: ‘Verily We will cause the wrong-doers to perish! And verily We will cause you to
abide in the land, and succeed them. This is for those who feared the time when they shall
stand before My tribunal and those who feared My warnings’. (14:9-14)
It has been ordained that the Almighty and His Messengers will always prevail:
١-٢٠: ٥٨) عِزيٌز
َ ي
ّ ل َقِو
َّ ن ا
ّ سِلي ِإ
ُ ن َأَنا َوُر
ّ غِلَب
ْلَ ل
ُّ ب ا
َ ن َكَت
َ لَذّلي
َ ك ِفي ا
َ سوَلُه ُأْوَلِئ
ُ ل َوَر
َّ ن ا
َ حاّدو
َ ن ُي
َ ن اّلِذي
ّ )ِإ
Indeed those who are opposing Allah and His Messenger are bound to be humiliated. The
Almighty has ordained: I and My Messengers shall always prevail. Indeed Allah is
Mighty and Powerful. (58:20-1)
The Old Testament refers to this law in the following words:
If you ever forget the Lord your God and follow other gods and worship and bow down
to them, I testify against you today that you will surely be destroyed. Like the nations the
Lord destroyed before you, so you will be destroyed for not obeying the Lord your God.
(Deuteronomy, 8:19-20)
The New Testament mentions this law in the following words:
Now there were some present at that time who told Jesus about the Galileans whose
blood Pilate had mixed with their sacrifices. Jesus answered: ‘Do you think that these
Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans because they suffered this way?
I tell you, no! But unless you repent, you too will all perish’. (Luke, 13:1-4)
ii. Phases of the Mission
A Rasūl’s mission after passing through various phases culminates in achieving the above
mentioned objective of deciding the fate of his nation in this very world. This mission can
be categorized in the following phases:8
a. The Propagation Phase
b. The Acquittal Phase
c. The Judgement Phase
In the following paragraphs, we will take a look at some of the important features of
these phases.
And remember Dhu’l-Nūn, when he departed in wrath thinking that We will not hold him
responsible! So he cried through the depths of darkness: ‘There is no god but You. Glory
to You. I was indeed wrong!’ (21:87)
The Prophet Muhammad (sws) was told to exercise patience and not be like Jonah (sws)
until the decree of Allah arrived:
٤٨: ٦٨) ظوٌم
ُ ت ِإْذ َناَدى َوُهَو َمْك
ِ حو
ُ ب اْل
ِ ح
ِ صا
َ ن َك
ْ ل َتُك
َ ك َو
َ حْكِم َرّب
ُ صِبْر ِل
ْ )َفا
So wait with patience for the Command of your Lord, and be not like the Companion of
the Fish, -- when he cried out in agony. (68:48)
On the other hand, when Abraham (sws) argued with the Almighty that the nation of his
nephew, the Prophet Lot (sws), be given more respite, he was told that none among the
righteous were left in it. While the Qur’ān (11:74) makes a passing reference to this, the
Bible gives the following details:
Then Abraham approached Him and said: ‘Will You sweep away the righteous with the
wicked? What if there are fifty righteous people in the city? Will you really sweep it
away and not spare that place for the sake of the fifty righteous people in it? Far be it
from you to do such a thing – to kill the righteous with the wicked, treating the righteous
and the wicked alike. Far be it from you! Will not the Judge of all the earth do right?’ The
Lord said: ‘If I find fifty righteous people in the city of Sodom, I will spare the whole
place for their sake’. Then Abraham spoke up again: ‘Now that I have been so bold as to
speak to the Lord, though I am nothing but dust and ashes, what if the number of the
righteous is five less than fifty? Will you destroy the whole city because of five people?’
‘If I find forty-five there’, He said: ‘I will not destroy it’. Once again he spoke to him:
‘What if only forty are found there?’ He said: ‘For the sake of forty, I will not do it’.
Then he said: ‘May the Lord not be angry, but let me speak. What if only thirty can be
found there?’ He answered: ‘I will not do it if I find thirty there’. Abraham said: ‘Now
that I have been so bold as to speak to the Lord, what if only twenty can be found there?’
He said: ‘For the sake of twenty, I will not destroy it’. Then he said: ‘May the Lord not
be angry, but let me speak just once more. What if only ten can be found there?’ He
answered: ‘For the sake of ten, I will not destroy it’. (Genesis, 18:23-32)
غَرْقَنا
ْ ن َأ
ْ ض َوِمْنُهْم َم
َ لْر
َْ سْفَنا ِبِه ا
َخ
َ ن
ْ حُة َوِمْنُهْم َم
َ صْي
ّ خَذْتُه ال
َ ن َأ
ْ صًبا َوِمْنُهْم َم
ِ حا
َ عَلْيِه
َ سْلَنا
َ ن َأْر
ْ خْذَنا ِبَذْنِبِه َفِمْنُهْم َم
َ ل َأ
ّ َفُك
٤٠: ٢٩))
Each one of them We seized for their crime: of them, against some We sent a violent
tornado with showers of stones; some were caught by a mighty blast; some We sunk in
the earth; and some We drowned in the waters. (29:40)
The ‘Ad, nation of Hūd (sws), the Thamūd nation of Sālih (sws) as well as the nations of
Noah (sws), Lot (sws) and Shu‘ayb (sws) were destroyed through such natural disasters
when they denied their respective Messengers as is mentioned in the various sūrahs of the
Qur’ān.10 In the case of Moses (sws), the Israelites never denied him. The Pharaoh and
his followers however did. Therefore, they were destroyed.
The Prophet Jonah’s people accepted faith and were saved from punishment:
حَياِة الّدْنَيا َوَمّتْعَناُهْم ِإَلى
َ ي ِفي اْل
ِ خْز
ِ ب اْل
َ عَذا
َ عْنُهْم
َ شْفَنا
َ س َلّما آَمُنوا َك
َ ل َقْوَم ُيوُن
ّ ت َفَنَفَعَها ِإيَماُنَها ِإ
ْ ت َقْرَيٌة آَمَن
ْ ل َكاَن
َ َفَلْو
٩٨ :١٠) ٍ حي
ن ِ)
Why was there not a single township which professed faith so that its faith should have
profited it, -- except the people of Jonah? When they believed, We removed from them
the penalty of ignominy in the life of the present, and permitted them to enjoy their life
for a while. (10:98)
In the second case, a Messenger is able to win a fair amount of companions and is also
able to migrate to a place where he is able to acquire the reins of political power through
divine help. In this case, a Messenger and his companions subdue their nation by force,
and execute them if they do not accept faith. The nation of a Messenger is then given
further respite during which the Messenger starts to purge and cleanse the people who
accept faith and organizes them for a final onslaught upon the forces of evil. He also
strengthens his hold and authority in the land. Once his companions are ready for an
armed conflict, these addressees are given a final ultimatum and then attacked. The forces
of a Messenger are destined to triumph and humiliate his enemies. The punishment,
which in the previous case descended from the heavens, in this case emanates from the
sword of the believers. It was this situation which arose in the case of Muhammad (sws).
His opponents were destroyed by the swords of the Muslim believers until at the conquest
of Makkah, the remaining accepted faith. (Details follow in the next section).
Referring to this form of divine punishment, the Qur’ān asserts:
١٤: ٩) عَلْيِهْم
َ صْرُكْم
ُ خِزِهْم َوَيْن
ْ ل ِبَأْيِديُكْم َوُي
ُّ )َقاِتُلوُهْم ُيَعّذْبُهْم ا
Fight them and God will punish them with your hands and humiliate them and help you
to victory over them. (9:14)
١٧: ٨) ل َقَتَلُهْم
َّ ن ا
ّ )َفَلْم َتْقُتُلوُهْم َوَلِك
It is not you [O believers] who slew them; it was [ in fact] God who slew them. (8:17)
In other words, as pointed out earlier, it is the Almighty Himself who punishes the
addressees of Messengers if they deny their respective Messengers; the Messengers and
their companions are no more than a means to carry out this Divine plan.
The punishment and humiliation of nations towards whom Messengers were sent
generally took place in two ways: Nations who subscribed to monotheism were spared if
they accepted the supremacy of their respective Messenger, while nations who subscribed
to polytheism were destroyed. The latter fate is in accordance with the fact that
polytheism is something that the Almighty never forgives:
٤٨: ٤) ظيًما
ِعَ ل َفَقْد اْفَتَرى ِإْثًما
ِّ ك ِبا
ْ شِر
ْ ن ُي
ْ شاُء َوَم
َ ن َي
ْ ك ِلَم
َ ن َذِل
َ ك ِبِه َوَيْغِفُر َما ُدو
َ شَر
ْ ن ُي
ْ ل َيْغِفُر َأ
َ ل
َّ ن ا
ّ )ِإ
God never forgives those guilty of polytheism though He may forgive other sins to whom
He pleases. Those who commit polytheism devise a heinous sin. (4:48)
٧٢: ٥) صاٍر
َ ن َأن
ْ ن ِم
َ ظاِلِمي
ّ جّنَة َوَمْأَواهُ الّناُر َوَما ِلل
َ عَلْيِه اْل
َ ل
ُّ حّرَم ا
َ ل َفَقْد
ِّ ك ِبا
ْ شِر
ْ ن ُي
ْ )ِإّنُه َم
God has absolutely forbidden Paradise to the person who is guilty of polytheism. Fire
will be his abode. For the wrong-doers, there will be no help. (5:72)
For similar reasons, in the Judaic law, perpetrators of polytheism were to be punished
with death in this world:
If a man or woman living among you in one of the towns the Lord gives you is found
doing evil in the eyes of the Lord your God in violation of his covenant, and contrary to
my command has worshipped other gods, bowing down to them or to the sun or the moon
or the stars of the sky, and this has been brought to your attention, then you must
investigate it thoroughly. If it is true and it has been proved that this detestable thing has
been done in Israel, take the man or woman who has done this evil deed to your city gate
and stone that person to death. (Deuteronomy 17:2-5)
Consequently, the Israelites were told that they should put to death all the polytheist
nations and not to spare them in any way:
When the Lord your God brings you into the land you are entering to possess and drives
out before you many nations – the Hittites, Girgashites, Amorites, Canaanites, Perizzites,
Hivites and Jebusites, seven nations larger and stronger than you – and when the Lord
your God has delivered them over to you and you have defeated them, then you must
destroy them totally. Make no treaty with them, and show them no mercy. Do not give
your daughters to their sons or take their daughters for your sons, for they will turn your
sons away from following me to serve other gods, and the Lord’s anger will burn against
you and will quickly destroy you. This is what you are to do to them: Break down their
altars, smash their sacred stones, cut down their Asherah poles and burn their idols in the
fire. (Deuteronomy 7:1-5)
The Old Testament also mentions that there were certain nations that were to be spared if
they were prepared to live a life of subjugation. In the light of the Qur’ān, it can be
adduced that such nations were those who did not subscribe to polytheism. They were not
put to death and were given the option to live if they accepted the supremacy of the
Mosaic law:
When you march up to attack a city, make its people an offer of peace. If they accept and
open their gates, all the people in it shall be subject to forced labour and shall work for
you. If they refuse to make peace and they engage you in battle, lay siege to that city.
When the Lord your God delivers it into your hand, put to the sword all the men in it. As
for the women, and children, the livestock and everything else in the city you may take
these as plunder for yourselves. And you may use the plunder the Lord your God gives
you from your enemies. This is how you are to treat all the cities that are at a distance
from you and do not belong to the nations nearby. (Deuteronomy, 20:10-15)
Consequently, the People of the Book (the Israelites) were not wiped out as a nation
because, being the People of the Book, they were basically adherents to monotheism.
Their humiliation took the form of constant subjugation to the followers of Jesus (sws)
till the day of Judgement as referred to by the following verse:
ن َكَفُروا ِإَلى َيْوِم َ ق اّلِذي
َ ك َفْو
َ ن اّتَبُعو
َ ل اّلِذي
ُعِ جا
َ ن َكَفُروا َو
َ ن اّلِذي
ْ ك ِم
َ طّهُر
َ ي َوُم
ّ ك ِإَل
َ ك َوَراِفُع
َ سى ِإّني ُمَتَوّفي
َ عي
ِ ل َيا
ُّ ل ا
َ ِإْذ َقا
٥٥ :٣) )اْلِقَياَمِة
Remember when God said: ‘O Jesus! I will give death to you and raise you to Myself and
cleanse you from those who have denied; I will make those who follow you superior to
those who reject faith till the Day of Resurrection. (3:55)
Here one might ask: Why were the People of the Book in particular the Christians
regarded to be monotheists when they ascribed to trinity -- which apparently is a
polytheistic doctrine? The answer to this question is that Christians are basically
followers of monotheism. The Bible is very explicit about it:
The most important one, answered Jesus, is this: ‘Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the
Lord is one’. (Mark, 12:29)
Christians never admit to polytheism, though they are involved in certain polytheistic
practices. A person becomes a polytheist when he openly admits that he is a polytheist. A
person who claims to be a monotheist in spite of being involved in polytheistic practices,
cannot be regarded as a polytheist. The reason is that a person might be doing something
wrong without realizing that what he is doing; all Christians whether of today or from the
period of Jesus (sws) never admit to polytheism; trinity to them is in accordance with
monotheism. Of course Muslims do not agree with them but unless they claim
polytheism, it can only be said that in spite of claiming to be monotheists they are
involved in polytheism. Their case is the case of a Muslim who goes to the grave of a
saint to ask him to grant a wish; we will not call such a Muslim a polytheist; we shall tell
him that what he is doing is something which is against monotheism to which he himself
strongly claims adherence. Similarly, we will not call Christians polytheists but we will
keep telling them that what they are doing is not in accordance with monotheism.
It is precisely for this reason that the Qur’ān never called the People of the Book as
polytheists though they subscribed to certain blatant forms of polytheism. The Qur’ān
only called the Ismaelites as polytheists because they admittedly subscribed and testified
to the creed of polytheism. They strongly advocated that polytheism was the very religion
the Almighty had revealed and claimed that they were strong adherents to this religion.
Because of this very reason, they were called the Mushrikūn (the adherents to the creed
of shirk) by the Qur’ān.
Soon shall We cast terror into the hearts of those who have denied [the basic truths]
because they joined companions with Allah for which He had sent no authority; their
abode will be the Fire; and evil is the home of the wrongdoers! (3:151)
It is precisely for this reason that their denial of monotheism amounted to a deliberate
rejection of the message of Muhammad (sws), as a result of which they would have to
face the punishment of Hell in the Hereafter:
سَوّدٌة
ْ جوُهُهْم ُم
ُ ل ُو
ِّ عَلى ا َ ن َكَذُبواَ ن َوَيْوَم اْلِقَياَمِة َتَرى اّلِذي
َ ن اْلَكاِفِري
ْ ت ِم
َ ت َوُكْن
َ سَتْكَبْر
ْ ت ِبَها َوا
َ ك آَياِتي َفَكّذْب
َ جاَءْت
َ َبَلى َقْد
٦٠-٥٩: ٣٩) ن َ جَهّنَم َمْثًوى ِلْلُمَتَكّبِري
َ س ِفيَ )َأَلْي
Nay there came to you My signs and you rejected them and showed haughtiness and as a
result became from among the disbelievers. On the Day of Judgement you will see that
faces of those who told lies against God will turn black. Is not in Hell an abode for the
haughty. (39:59-60)
Similarly, the People of the Book were asked to desist from their attitude of hostility and
antagonism and to honour the covenant they had made of professing belief in the final
Messenger – someone whose name was mentioned in their very books:
َ ن َو
ل َ ل َيْعَلُم َما َتْفَعُلو َّ ن اّ ل ِإ
ً عَلْيُكْم َكِفي
َ ل َّ جَعْلُتْم اَ ن َبْعَد َتْوِكيِدَها َوَقْد َ لْيَماَْ ضوا ا ُ ل َتنُق َ عاَهْدُتْم َو
َ ل ِإَذا
ِّ َوَأْوُفوا ِبَعْهِد ا
ْن ُأّمٍة ِإّنَما َيْبُلوُكم
ْ ي َأْرَبى ِم َ ن ُأّمٌة ِهَ ن َتُكو ْ ل َبْيَنُكْم َأ
ًخَ ن َأْيَماَنُكْم َد َ خُذو
ِ ن َبْعِد ُقّوٍة َأنَكاًثا َتّت
ْ غْزَلَها ِم
َ تْ ض َ َتُكوُنوا َكاّلِتي َنَق
٢-٩١ : ١٦) ن َ خَتِلُفو
ْ ن َلُكْم َيْوَم اْلِقَياَمِة َما ُكْنُتْم ِفيِه َتّ ل ِبِه َوَلُيَبّيَن
ُّ )ا
Fulfill the Covenant of Allah when you have entered into it, and break not your oaths
after you have confirmed them: indeed you have made Allah your witness; for Allah
knows all that you do. And be not like a woman who breaks into untwisted strands the
yarn she has spun after it has become strong. Nor take your oaths to practice deception
between yourselves, lest one party should be more numerous than another: for Allah will
test you by this; and on the Day of Judgement He will certainly make clear to you [the
truth of] that wherein you disagree. (16:91-2)
ن ُهْم ِبآَياِتَنا
َ ن الّزَكاةَ َواّلِذي َ ن َوُيْؤُتو َ ن َيّتُقو َ سَأْكُتُبَها ِلّلِذي
َ يٍء َفْ ش
َ لّ ت ُكْ سَعِ حَمِتي َو ْ شاُء َوَر َ ن َأ
ْ ب ِبِه َم
ُ صيِ عَذاِبي ُأ َ لَ َقا
ل َيْأُمُرُهْم ِباْلَمْعُروفِ َوَيْنَهاُهْم ِ جيِ لن ِْ عْنَدُهْم ِفي الّتْوَراِة َوا ِ جُدوَنُه َمْكُتوًبا
ِ ي اّلِذي َي ّ لّم ُْ ي ا
ّ ل الّنِب
َ سو ُ ن الّرَ ن َيّتِبُعو
َ ن اّلِذي
َ ُيْؤِمُنو
ن آَمُنوا ِبِه َ عَلْيِهْم َفاّلِذي
َ ت ْ ل اّلِتي َكاَن َلَغ ْل َْ صَرُهْم َوا ْ عْنُهْم ِإ َ ضُعَ ث َوَي َ خَباِئ
َ عَلْيِهْم اْل
َ حّرُم َ ت َوُيِ طّيَبا
ّ ل َلُهْم ال
ّحِ ن اْلُمنَكِر َوُي
ْع َ
٧-١٥٦ :٧) ن َ حو ُ ك ُهْم اْلُمْفِلَ ل َمَعُه ُأْوَلِئَ صُروُه َواّتَبُعوا الّنوَر الِّذي ُأنِز َ عّزُروُه َوَن َ )َو
He [-- the Almighty --] said: ‘With My Punishment I visit whom I will; but My Mercy
extends to all things. That [mercy] I shall ordain for those who do right, and practice
regular charity, and those who believe in Our Signs – Those who follow the Messenger,
the unlettered Prophet, whom they find mentioned in their own [Scriptures] in the Torah
and in the Injīl – for he commands them what is just and forbids them what is evil; he
allows them as lawful what is good [and pure] and prohibits them from what is bad [and
impure]; he releases them from their heavy burdens and from the yokes that were upon
them. So those who believe in him, honour him, help him, and follow the Light which is
sent down with him – it is they who shall prosper. (7:156-7)
Like the Idolaters also, their real crime, according to the Qur’ān, was deliberate denial:
a. The Reward
After Muhammad (sws) migrated to Madīnah, the people of Arabia on whom the truth
had already been unveiled were given a further chance to contemplate upon the
consequences of their denial. Here in Madīnah, the believers were prepared to launch a
final assault on the Kuffār. They were told that their opponents would never be able to
triumph over them:
ًل َتْبِديل
ِّ سّنةِ ا
ُ جَد ِل
ِ ن َت
ْ ل َوَل
ُ ن َقْب
ْ ت ِم
ْ خَل
َ ل اّلِتي َقْد
ِّ سّنَة ا
ُ صيًرا
ِ ل َن
َ ن َوِلّيا َو
َ جُدو
ِ ل َي
َ لْدَباَر ُثّم
َْ ن َكَفُروا َلَوّلْوا ا
َ َوَلْو َقاَتَلُكْم اّلِذي
٣-٢٢: ٤٨))
If the Kuffār should fight you, they would certainly turn their backs; then would they find
neither protector nor helper. Such has been the practice approved of God already in the
past: no change will you find in the practice approved of God. (48:22-3)
They are given glad tidings of success in the following words:
ْن َلُهْم ِديَنُهم
ّ ن َقْبِلِهْم َوَلُيَمّكَن
ْ ن ِم َ ف اّلِذيَ خَل
ْ سَت
ْ ض كََما ا
ِ لْرَْ خِلَفّنُهم ِفي ا
ْ سَت
ْ ت َلَي
ِ حا
َ صاِل
ّ عِمُلوا ال َ ن آَمُنوا ِمْنُكْم َو َ ل اّلِذي
ُّ عَد ا
َ َو
)ن َ سُقوِ ك ُهْم اْلَفاَ ك َفُأْوَلِئ َ ن َكَفَر َبْعَد َذِل
ْ شْيًئا َوَم
َ ن ِبي
َ شِرُكوْ ل ُي
َ خْوِفِهْم َأْمًنا َيْعُبُدوَنِني
َ ن َبْعِد
ْ ضى َلُهْم َوَلُيَبّدَلّنُهْم ِم َ اّلِذي اْرَت
٥٥:٢٤)
God has promised to those among you who professed belief and did righteous deeds that
He will of surety grant you political authority in this land as He granted it to those before
them; that He will establish their religion – the one which He has chosen for them; and
that He will change [their state] after the fear in which they [lived] to one of security and
peace: ‘They will worship Me [alone] and not associate anyone with Me’. If any do reject
faith after this, they are rebellious and wicked. (24:55)
The sincere among them who were guilty of some blemishes were forgiven after some
punishment:
ِّ ن ا
ل ْ جَأ ِم
َ ل َمْل
َ ن ْ ظّنوا َأ
َ سُهْم َو
ُ عَلْيِهْم َأنُف
َ ت
ْ ضاَق َ ت َو ْ حَب
ُ ض ِبَما َر ُ لْر َْ عَلْيِهْم ا
َ ت
ْ ضاَق
َ حّتى ِإَذا
َ خّلُفوا
ُ ن
َ لَثِة اّلِذي
َ عَلى الّث
َ َو
١١٨: ٩) حيُم ِ ب الّرُ ل ُهَو الّتّوا
َّ ن ا ّ عَلْيِهْم ِلَيُتوُبوا ِإ
َ بَ ل ِإَلْيِه ُثّم َتا
ّ )ِإ
[He turned in mercy also] to the three whose matter was deferred to such a degree that the
earth seemed constrained to them for all its spaciousness, and their souls seemed
straitened to them – and they perceived that there is no fleeing from Allah but to Him.
Then, He turned to them that they might repent: for Allah is Oft-Returning, Most
Merciful. (9:118)
The weak among them were told that if they repented and mended their ways and
remained steadfast, then hopefully the Almighty would also forgive them:
١٠٢: ٩) حيٌم
ِ غُفوٌر َر
َ ل
َّ ن ا
ّ عَلْيِهْم ِإ
َ ب
َ ن َيُتو
ْ ل َأ
ُّ سى ا
َعَ سّيًئا
َ خَر
َ حا َوآ
ً صاِل
َ ل
ً عَم
َ طوا
ُ خَل
َ عَتَرُفوا ِبُذُنوِبِهْم
ْ نا
َ خُرو
َ )َوآ
And others who have acknowledged their wrong-doings: they have mixed an act that was
good with another that was evil. Perhaps, God will turn unto them [in mercy]: for God is
Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful. (9:102)
b. The Punishment
In the Judgement phase, the humiliation of the Disbelievers took place in two phases.
Initially, all active adversaries were put to death whether they belonged to the Idolaters of
Arabia or the People of the Book. Some of the Jews killed were only done so after they
had broken the pacts which had guaranteed them security and protection. The following
verse mentions this first phase:
١٩٢:٢) ل
ِّ ن
ُ ن الّدي
َ ن ِفْتَنٌة َوَيُكو
َ ل َتُكو
َ حّتى
َ )َوَقاِتُلوهُْم
Keep fighting against them until persecution does not remain and [in the land of Arabia]
Allah’s religion reigns supreme. (2:192)
Though this verse addresses only the Idolaters, its last words ‘and [in the land of Arabia]
Allah’s religion reigns supreme’, shows that followers of all other religions were also to
be subdued until the religion of Islam reigned supreme in the Arabian peninsula.
In the next phase, when the believers had been prepared for a final onslaught against the
Kuffār, who had been given ample time to contemplate on the consequences of their
denial, the stage was set to pronounce the final judgement against the addressees of
Muhammad (sws). Sūrah Tawbah describes in detail the events which took place in the
final phase regarding the three major opponents: the Idolaters, the People of the Book and
the Hypocrites. The sūrah is divided into three sections. In the first, the Idolaters of
Arabia; in the second, the People of the Book, and, in the third, the Hypocrites are dealt
with.
ن َتاُبوا
ْ صٍد َفِإ
َ ل َمْرّ صُروُهْم َواْقُعُدوا َلُهْم ُك ُ ح ْ خُذوُهْم َوا ُ جْدُتُموُهْم َو
َ ث َو
ُ حْي
َ ن
َ شِرِكي
ْ حُرُم َفاْقُتُلوا اْلُم
ُ شُهُر اْل
ْلَْ خ ا
َ سَل
َ َفِإَذا ان
٥: ٩) حيٌم ِ غُفوٌر َر
َ ل َّ ن ا
ّ سِبيَلُهْم ِإ
َ خّلوا
َ لَة َوآَتُوا الّزَكاةَ َف
َص ّ )َوَأَقاُموا ال
When the forbidden months are over, slay the Idolaters wherever you find them. Seize
them, surround them and everywhere lie in ambush for them. But if they repent from
their wrong beliefs and establish the prayer and pay Zakāh, then spare their lives. God is
Oft-Forgiving and Ever Merciful. (9:5)
However, if a person asked for asylum to understand the teachings of Islam, he was to be
given this asylum and no action was to be taken against him until this period was over.
٦ : ٩) َ ل َيْعَلُمو
ن َ ك ِبَأّنُهْم َقْوٌم
َ ل ُثّم َأْبِلْغُه َمْأَمَنُه َذِل
ِّ لَم ا
َ سَمَع َك
ْ حّتى َي
َ جْرُه
ِ ك َفَأ
َ جاَر
َ سَت
ْ نا
َ شِرِكي
ْ ن اْلُم
ْ حٌد ِم
َ ن َأ
ْ )َوِإ
If anyone among the Idolaters asks you for asylum, grant it to him so that he may hear the
Word of Allah and then escort him to where he can be secure. That is because they are
men without knowledge. (9:6)
d. Misplaced Directives
It shall be shown on the basis of the above discussion that there are some directives of
Islam which are solely related to the Kuffār and cannot be related to other non-Muslims.
The two principles which have been kept in consideration in ascertaining these directives
are:
a. The fact that the basic truths have been revealed in their ultimate form can be
ascertained.
b. People who have knowingly denied these truths can be pinpointed.
Both these points are based on the fact that knowledge of both is dependent on wahī
(revelation) which, of course, is no longer available. It is also to be noted that deliberately
denying Muhammad (sws) the last Messenger of God is equivalent to denying these basic
truths since it was he who for the last time delineated them in their ultimate form on the
face of this earth.
First, here is a summary of these directives:
1. The Punishment of Apostasy
2. Waging War against Non-Muslims
3. Dhimmī Status of Non-Muslim Minorities
4. Prohibition of Friendship with Non-Muslims
5. The Superiority of Muslim Blood
6. Greeting non-Muslims in an Inferior Way
7. Non-Muslims to be necessarily Doomed in the Hereafter
8. Assassination of Non-Muslims
9. Cursing Non-Muslims
10. Prohibition of asking for Forgiveness for Non-Muslims
11. Reward of Killing Non-Muslims
I will now elaborate upon each of these:
It is not proper for the Prophet and those who believe to ask Allah’s Forgiveness for the
Mushrikūn, even though they be of kin, after it has become clear to them that they are the
dwellers of the Fire. (9:113)
Again, it needs to be appreciated, as the verse itself clarifies that the Idolaters of Arabia
of the Prophet’s times were condemned to Hell because of their persistence in denying
the truth in spite of being convinced about it. Today, since no one is in a position to
ascertain this denial, this verse does not relate to non-Muslims of times after the Prophet
(sws) and his Companions (rta).
11. Reward of Killing a Non-Muslim
On the basis of the following Hadīth, it is contended that killing a Non-Muslim absolves
the Muslim who kills him from the wrath of Hell:
١٨٩١ رقم:جَتمُِع َكاِفٌر َوَقاِتُلُه ِفي الّناِر َأَبًدا )مسلم
ْ ل َي
َ)
A disbeliever and his killer will never be together in Hell. (Muslim: No. 1891)
In other words, what is construed from this Hadīth is that a Muslim will be rewarded with
Paradise if he kills a non-Muslim. Consequently, Imam Abū Dā’ūd, the celebrated
Muslim scholar and compiler of Hadīth has placed this Hadīth in a chapter entitled: ‘باب
( ’فى فضل من قتل كافراbāb fī fadli man qatala kāfiran: Chapter on the Reward of a Muslim
who Kills a Kāfir)26.
Again, it needs to be appreciated that these words relate to the Idolaters of the Prophet’s
times who had lost their right to live after they had deliberately rejected the truth. These
words are not related to later Muslims.
It can be said that with the above quoted qualification, the political system of Islam
resembles democracy in its essence.
Muslims must therefore adopt democratic means to bring a change in the society they are
living in. They must also remember that as citizens of non-Muslim countries they are
bound in contract with that country. They must follow the laws of the country -- whose
citizens they have become by their own free choice -- in letter and in spirit. Abiding by
laws is their religious duty. Moreover, if they feel that it is not possible for them to
practice their religion because of some hindrance created by a law or ruling of that
country, even then they should not disobey the law and cause any disruption. The correct
attitude in such a case would be to migrate from that country.
d. Jihād32
For many Muslims Jihād is the answer to all their woes. Taking up arms and destroying
the enemy is the solution to the injustices they are suffering. In this regard, guerrilla
warfare, hidden attacks, clandestine offensives on an enemy are considered part of Jihād
by these activists.
In the opinion of this writer, Jihād has unfortunately become one of the most
misunderstood directive of Islam. Here, in this section two of its important aspects shall
be elaborated upon:
1. The Authority to wage Jihād
2. The Sole Grounds for Jihād
1. The Authority to Wage Jihād
Both the Qur’ān and the established practice of the Prophets of Allah explicitly say that
Jihād can only be waged by a state. No group of people has been given the authority to
take up arms, because individual groups if given this license will create great disorder
and destruction by fighting among themselves once they overcome the enemy. A study of
the Qur’ān reveals that the Makkan Sūrahs do not contain any directive of Jihād for the
simple reason that in Makkah the Muslims did not have their own state. One must
remember that Islam does not advocate ‘the law of the jungle’. It is a religion in which
both human life and the way it is taken, hold great sanctity. Islam does not give us any
right to take life unless certain conditions are fulfilled. So, it was not until an Islamic state
was established in Madīnah that the Qur’ān gave the Muslims permission to take up arms
against the onslaught mounted by the Quraysh:
)ل
ُّ ن َيُقوُلوا َرّبَنا ا
ْ ل َأ
ّ ق ِإ
ّح
َ ن ِدَياِرِهْم ِبَغْيِر
ْ جوا ِم
ُ خِر
ْ ن ُأ
َ صِرِهْم َلَقِديٌر اّلِذي
ْ عَلى َن
َ ل
َّ ن ا
ّ ظِلُموا َوِإ
ُ ن ِبَأّنُهْم
َ ن ُيَقاَتُلو
َ ن ِلّلِذي
َ ُأِذ
٤٠-٣٩: ٢٢)
To those against whom war is made, permission is given [to fight] because they have
been oppressed and verily Allah is Most Powerful to help them. [They] are those who
have been expelled from their homes without any basis, only because they said: Our Lord
is Allah. (22:39-40)
Consequently, the Prophet (sws) never retaliated in Makkah to the inhuman treatment
which was given to him as well as to some of his Companions (rta). Muslims must
remember the torment suffered by the Prophet (sws) particularly at Tā’if. Bilāl (rta) was
put through the gravest of tortures. The limbs of Ammār Ibn Yāsir (rta) were torn apart
by strong camels. In spite of this reign of terror let lose by the Quraysh, the Prophet (sws)
and his Companions (rta) never retaliated with force even though they could have easily
done so. The Prophet (sws) preferred to suffer and be persecuted than to counter attack
his enemies, since Muslims at that stage had not fulfilled this all important pre-requisite
of Jihād: establishment of a state.
Similarly, the earlier Prophets were not allowed by the Almighty to wage war unless they
had established their political authority in an independent piece of land. For instance, the
Prophet Moses (sws), as is evident from the Qur’ān, was directed to wage war only after
he had fulfilled this condition. Since the Prophet Jesus (sws) and his Companions (rta)
were not able to gain political authority in a piece of land, they never launched an armed
struggle.
Consequently, there is a consensus among all authorities of Islam that only an Islamic
State has the authority to wage Jihād. No group, party or organization has the authority to
lift arms. People who undertake such activities disobey the religion they follow. Without
state authority Jihād is no more than a terrorist activity. Referring to this pre-requisite of
state authority, the Prophet (sws) is reported to have said:
٢٩٥٧ رقم:ن َوَراِئِه َوُيّتَقى ِبِه )بخارى
ْ ل ِم
ُ جّنٌة ُيَقاَت
ُ لَماُم
ِْ )َوِإّنَما ا
A Muslim ruler is the shield [of his people]. A war can only be waged under him and
people should seek his shelter [in war]. (Bukhārī: No. 2957)
This condition is so explicit and categorical that all the scholars of this Ummah
unanimously uphold it. Sayyid Sābiq, while referring to this consensus, writes:
الجهاد وإقامة الحدود:من الفروض الكفائية ما يشترط فيه الحاكم مثل.
Among Kafāyah obligations, there is a category for which the existence of a ruler is
necessary e.g., Jihād and administration of punishments.33
‘Uthmānī, a Hanafite jurist writes:
ول يخفى أن المير الذي يجب الجهاد معه كما صرح به حديث مكحول إنما هو من كان مسلما ثبتت له المارة بالتقليد
إما باستخلف الخليفة إياه كما نقل أبو بكر رضي ال عنه ’ وإما ببيعة من العلماء أو جماعة من أهل الرأي والتدبير
فلو بايع العلماء أو جماعة من المسلمين رجل ل يقدر على سد الثغور وحماية البيضة وجر العساكر و تنفيذ: …قلت
الحكام بشوكته و بأسه ول على إنصاف المظلوم من الظالم بقدرته وسطوته ل يكون ذلك أميرا ول إماما ’ وإنما هو
بمنـزلة الحكم ومبايعة الناس له منـزلة التحكيم ول يجدي تسميته إماما أو أميرا في القراطيس وأفواه الناس فإن مدار
المارة والمامة على القوة والقدرة دون التسمية والشهرة فقط ’ فل يجب على عامة المسلمين مبايعته ول إطاعة
أحكامه ’ ول الجهاد معه
It is obvious from the Hadīth narrated by Makhūl34 that Jihād becomes obligatory with
the ruler who is a Muslim and whose political authority has been established either
through nomination by the previous ruler similar to how Abū Bakr transferred the reins
[of his Khilāfah to ‘Umar] or through pledging of allegiance by the ulema or a group of
the elite …in my opinion, if the oath of allegiance is pledged by ulema or by a group of
the elite to a person who is not able to guard the frontiers and defend honour [of the
people] organize armies or implement his directives by political force neither is he able to
provide justice to the oppressed by exercising force and power, then such a person cannot
be called ‘Amīr’ (leader) or ‘Imām’ (ruler). He, at best, is an arbitrator and the oath of
allegiance is at best of the nature of arbitration and it is not at all proper to call him
‘Amīr’ (leader) or a ‘Imām’ (ruler) in any [official] documents nor should the people
address him by these designations. The reason for this is that the basis of leadership and
rulership is power and authority and it does not hinge only upon the fact that he gets
famous by this name. It is not imperative for the citizens to pledge allegiance to him or
obey his directives and no Jihād can be waged alongside him.35
Ibn Qudāmah, a Hanbalite jurist, writes:
وأمر الجهاد موكول إلى المام واجتهاده ويلزم الرعية طاعته فيها يراه من ذلك
The matter of Jihād rests with the ruler [of a state] and his Ijtihād. The opinion he forms
in this regard must be obeyed by the citizens of his country.36
Māwardī, a Shafite authority, while enumerating the obligations of a Muslim ruler says:
جهاد من عاند السلم: والسادس
His sixth obligation is to conduct Jihād against those who show hostility against Islam…
37
In the words of Imām Farāhī:
In one’s own country, without migrating to an independent piece of land, Jihād is not
allowed. The tale of Abraham (sws) and other verses pertaining to migration testify to
this. The Prophet’s life (sws) also supports this view. The reason for this is that if Jihād is
not waged by a person who holds political authority, it amounts to anarchy and
disorder.38
While commenting on the underlying reasons which form the basis of state authority for
Jihād, Amīn Ahsan Islāhī, writes:
The first reason [for this condition] is that God Almighty does not like the dissolution and
disintegration of even an evil system until a strong probability exists that those who are
out to disintegrate the system will provide people with an alternative and a righteous
system. Anarchy and disorder are unnatural conditions. In fact, they are so contrary to
human nature that even an unjust system is preferable to them....this confidence [that a
group will be able to harmonize a disintegrated system and integrate it into a united
whole] can be reposed in such a group only as has actually formed a political government
and has such control and discipline within the confines of its authority that the group can
be termed as Al-Jamā‘ah [the State]. Until a group attains this position, it may strive [by
religiously allowable means] to become Al-Jamā‘ah -- and that endeavour would be its
Jihād for that time -- but it does not have the right to wage an ‘armed’ Jihād.
The second reason is that the import of power, which a group engaged in war acquires
over the life and property of human beings, is so great that the sanction to wield this
power cannot be given to a group the control of whose leader over his followers is based
merely on his spiritual and religious influence on them [rather than being based on legal
authority]. When the control of a leader is based merely on his spiritual and religious
influence, there is not sufficient guarantee that the leader will be able to stop his
followers from fasād fi’l-ard [creating a situation of disorder in the society]. Therefore, a
religious leader does not have the right to allow his followers to take out their swords
[that is to wage an armed struggle] merely on the basis of his spiritual influence over
them, for once the sword is unsheathed there is great danger that it will not care for right
and wrong and that those who drew it will end up doing all [the wrong which] they had
sought to end. Such radical groups as desire revolution and the object of whom is nothing
more than disruption of the existing system and deposition of the ruling party to seize
power for themselves play such games -- and they can, for in their eyes disruption of a
system is no calamity, nor is cruelty of any kind an evil. Everything is right to them [as
long as it serves their purpose]. However, the leaders of a just and righteous party must
see whether they are in a position to provide people with a system better than the one
they seek to change and whether they will be able to stop their followers from doing such
wrong as they themselves had sought to root out. If they are not in that position, then they
do not have the right to play games with the life and property of people on the basis of
their confidence in mere chances and to create greater disorder than the one they had
sought to end.39
Here some people justify that in some cases Islam allows Jihād without state authority by
citing the skirmishes carried out by Abū Basīr against the Quraysh. I am afraid this is a
misinterpretation of facts: It is known historically40 that after the treaty of Hudaybiyyah,
Abū Basīr defected to Madīnah. However, according to the terms of the treaty, he was
duly returned back to the Quraysh by the Prophet (sws). He was sent back in the custody
of two people of the Quraysh. On the way back, he killed one of his two custodians and
again defected to Madīnah. When he arrived in Madīnah, the Prophet (sws) was angry
with what he had done. Sensing that the Prophet (sws) would once again return him to the
Quraysh, he left Madīnah and settled at a place near Dhu’l-Marwah, where later on other
people joined him. From this place, they would attack the caravans of the Quraysh.
If these guerrilla attacks are analyzed in the light of the Qur’ān, the basic thing which
comes to light is that whatever Abū Basīr and has Companions (rta) did was not
sanctioned at all by Islam. The Qur’ān says that the actions and deeds of a person who
had not migrated to Madīnah were not the responsibility of the Islamic state:
٧٢: ٨) جُروا
ِ حّتى ُيَها
َ يٍء
ْ ش
َ ن
ْ لَيِتِهْم ِم
َ ن َو
ْ جُروا َما َلكُْم ِم
َ ن آَمُنوا َوَلْم ُيَها
َ )َواّلِذي
And as to those who believed but did not migrate [to Madīnah], you owe no duty of
protection until they migrate. (8:72)
Not only did the Qur’ān acquit the newly founded Islamic state of Madīnah from the
actions of these people, we even find the following harsh remarks of the Prophet (sws)
about Abū Basīr when he returned to Madinah after killing one of his two custodians:
٢٧٣٤ رقم:ن َلُه )بخارى
َ ب َلْو َكا
ٍ حْر
َ سَعَر
ْ ل ُأّمِه ِم
ُ )َوْي
His mother be cursed, if he is able to find some supporters he is bound to ignite the
flames of war. (Bukhārī: No. 2734)
So, one can safely conclude that Jihād without state authority is terrorism and is totally
prohibited in Islam. Moreover, clandestine attacks on a country even with state authority
are not allowed. Jihād must be openly declared against the enemy country. If a peace
treaty has been made with it, then it should first be openly declared null and void.
Similarly, non-combatants of the enemy country should never be targeted. No one has the
right to take the life of innocent civilians.
ُّ ل َتْعَلُموَنُهْم ا
ل َ ن ُدوِنِهْم ْ ن ِم َ خِري َ عُدّوُكْم َوآ
َ ل َوِّ عُدّو ا
َ ن ِبِهَ ل ُتْرِهُبوِ خْي
َ ط اْل
ِ ن ِرَباْ ن ُقّوٍة َوِم
ْ طْعُتْم ِم
َ سَت
ْ عّدوا َلُهْم َما ا
ِ َوَأ
٦٠: ٨) َ ظَلُمو
ن ْ ل ُت
َ ف ِإَلْيُكْم َوَأْنُتْم
ّ ل ُيَو ِّ ل ا
ِ سِبي
َ يٍء ِفي ْ ش
َ ن ْ )َيْعَلُمُهْم َوَما ُتنِفُقوا ِم
Muster against them all the men and cavalry at your disposal so that you can strike terror
into the enemies of Allah and of the believers and others beside them who may be
unknown to you, though Allah knows them. And remember whatever you spend for the
cause of Allah shall be repaid to you. You shall not be wronged. (8:60)
I have also attempted to explain in the previous sections of this article that Jihād is or was
never carried out for territorial aggrandizement or for forcibly converting people to Islam.
People who erroneously justify either or both of these two bases draw their arguments
from the Jihād carried out by the Prophet (sws) and his Companions (rta). It has already
been shown that the Jihād carried out by the Prophet (sws) and his Companions (rta) after
him was governed by a specific law meant only for the Prophets of Allah and their
immediate addressees, and has nothing to do with later Muslims. A study of the Qur’ān
reveals that the purpose of their Jihād was neither territorial aggrandizement nor forcible
conversion of people to Islam: contrary to both, it was a Divine punishment meted out to
people who had arrogantly denied Muhammad (sws) in spite of being convinced about
the truth of his message.41
In the light of these details, it is evident that Muslims today have no right to carry out
Jihād to subjugate other countries to establish the supremacy of Islam or to forcibly
convert people to Islam.
9. These two forms were also referred to earlier in the section ‘Punishment of the
Disbelievers’. (See: p. 9)
10. In particular, a graphic summary of the fate of these nations is found in Sūrah Qamar.
For details, see Appendix B.
11. They are addressed by the word: Kāfirūn.
12. For details see: Ghāmidī, Mīzān, 1st ed., (Lahore: Dāru’l-Ishrāq, 2001), pp. 201-4
13. It is evident from the Qur’ān (2:143) that just as the Companions of the Prophet
Muhammad (sws) were conferred the status of Shuhadā ‘alā al-Nās (witnesses to the truth
before other peoples), the Israelites after Moses (sws), in their collective capacity were
conferred this status.
14. Ibn Rushd, Bidāyatu’l-Mujtahid, 1st ed., vol. 4, (Beirut: Dāru’l-Ma‘rifah, 1997), p.
304 / ‘Abdu’l-Rahmān Jazīrī, Kitābu’l-Fiqh ‘alā Madhāhibi’l-Arba‘ah, 7th ed., vol. 5,
(Beirut: Dār Ahya’i’l-Turāth al-‘Arabī, 1980), pp. 422-5 / Wahbah al-Rakhīlī, al-Fiqhu’l-
Islāmī wa Adillatuhu, 1st ed. vol. 6, (Damascus: Dāru’l-Fikr), p. 186
15. The original research that forms the basis of this inference has been carried out by
Javed Ahmad Ghāmidī. For details see: Ghāmidī, Burhān, 2nd ed., (Lahore: Danish Sara,
2000), pp. 127-31
16. This is the view of Ahmad, Shāfi‘ī and Ibn Hazm. For details see: Ibn Qudāmah, Al-
Mughnī, vol. 8, (Riyād: Maktabah al-Riyād al-Hadīthah,1981), pp. 500-1 / Shāfi‘ī,
Kitābu’l-Umm, 2nd ed., vol. 4, (Beirut: Dāru’l-Ma‘rifah, 1973), pp. 174-5 / Ibn Hazm,
Al-Muhallā, 1st ed., vol. 5, (Beirut: Dāru’l-Fikr), pp. 413-4. In this regard, the Hanafite
jurists are however of the view that death was only prescribed for the Idolaters of Arabia
of the Prophet’s times. As far as polytheists of other times and lands are concerned they
cannot be put to death if they do not accept Islam. Like the People of the Book, they too
can be allowed to remain on their faith if they accept the superiority of Islam and pay
Jizyah. For details see: Sarakhsī. Kitābu’l-Mabsūt, 2nd ed., vol. 10, (Beirut: Dāru’l-
Ma‘rifah, 1978), p. 7 / Jassās, Ahkāmu’l-Qur’ān 1st ed., vol. 3, (Dāru’l-Kitābi’l-‘Arabī),
p. 93. Mālik and Ibn Qayyim are of the view that Jizyah can be taken from all types of
Idolaters. For details see: Mālik, Al-Mudawwanatu’l-Kubrā, 1st ed., vol. 3, (Beirut:
Dāru’l-Fikr, 1986), p. 406 / Ibn Qayyim, Zādu’l-Ma‘ād, 14th ed., vol. 3, (Beirut:
Mu’assasah al-Risālah, 1986), p. 154
17. ‘Abdu’l-Karīm Zaydān, Ahkāmu’l-Dhimiyyīn wa’l Musta’minīn Fī Dāri’l Islam, 1st
ed., (Baghdad: Maktabatu’l-Quds, 1982), pp. 22-60
18. The Mīthāq (treaty) of Madīnah made with Jewish tribes by the Prophet (sws) is an
example of this type of citizenship.
19. For more details, see the Appendix C.
20. Jassās, Ahkāmu’l-Qur’ān 1st ed., vol. 2, (Dāru’l-Kitābi’l-‘Arabī), p. 228 / Ibn Kathīr,
Tafsīr Al-Qur’ānu’l-‘Azīm, 1st ed, vol. 2, (Lahore: Amjad Academy, 1982), p. 68
21. This is the opinion of Shāfi‘ī and Ahmad Ibn Hanbal. For details see: Al-Mughnī, vol.
7, (Riyād: Maktabah al-Riyād al-Hadīthah,1981), pp. 652-3 / Shāfi‘ī, Kitābu’l-Umm, 2nd
ed., vol. 6, (Beirut: Dāru’l-Ma‘rifah, 1973), p. 38
22. Since the word Mushrik is used in this Hadīth, the directive it mentions does not even
pertain to the People of the Book of the Prophet’s times.
23. ‘Abdu’l-Rahmān Muhaddith Mubārakpurī, Tuhfatu’l-Ahwadhī, 1st ed., vol. 2,
(Faisalabad: Diyā al-Sunnah, ), p. 397
24. For verses of similar meaning, see 3:10, 63, 131; 4:56, 115; 7:41; 8:50; 9:63, etc.
25. Ibn Taymiyyah, Al-Sārimu’l-Maslūl ‘alā Shātmi’l-Rasūl, 1st ed., (Multan: Nashru’l-
Sunnah), pp. 61-180
26. Abū Dā’ūd, Sunan, 1st ed., vol 3, (Beirut: Daru’l-Jayl, 1992), p.7
27. See section on ‘Misplaced Directives’.
28. See for example Mawdūdī, Shahādat i Haq, 10th ed., Islamic Publications, 1961,
Lahore / YY Haddad, The Qur’ānic Justification of an Islamic Revolution: The view of
Syed Qutb, The Middle East Journal, 37 (1), 1983, pp. 17-20
29. The original research that leads to this conclusion has been carried out by Javed
Ahmad Ghāmidī. For details see: Ghāmidī, Burhān, 1st ed., (Lahore: Danish Sara, 2000),
pp. 135-8
30. This of course does not mean that Muslims should not strive for this cause. It only
means that this is not their religious responsibility.
31. Ghāmidī, Mīzān, 1st ed., (Lahore: Dāru’l-Ishrāq, 2001), pp. 98-9
32. For a detailed treatment of this topic see: Ghāmīdī, Mīzān, 1st ed., (Lahore: Dāru’l-
Ishrāq, 2001), pp. 241-79
33. Sayyid Sābiq, Fiqhu’l-Sunnah, 2nd ed., vol. 3, (Beirut: Daru’l-Fikr, 1980), p. 30
34. The complete text of the Hadīth is:
eن َأْو
َ ل َأِميٍر َبّرا َكا
ّ عَلْيُكْم َمَع ُك
َ ب
ٌ ج
ِ جَهاُد َوا
ِ سّلَم اْل
َ عَلْيِه َو
َ ل
ُّ صّلى ا
َ ل
ِّ ل ا
ُ سو
ُ ل َر
َ ل َقا
َ ن َأِبي ُهَرْيَرَة َقا
ْعَ ل
ٍ حو
ُ ن َمْك
ْعَ
َ سِلٍم َبّرا َكا
ن ْ ل ُم
ّ عَلى ُك
َ جَبٌة
ِ لةُ َوا َصّ ل اْلَكَباِئَر َوال
َ عِم
َ ن
ْ جًرا َوِإ
ِ ن َأْو َفا
َ سِلٍم َبّرا َكا
ْ ل ُم
ّ ف ُك
َ خْل
َ عَلْيُكْم
َ جَبٌة
ِ لُة َوا
َصّ جًرا َوال
ِ َفا
٢٥٣٣ رقم:ر )ابو داؤد َ ل اْلَكَباِئ
َ عِم
َ ن
ْ جًرا َوِإ
ِ )َأْو َفا
Makhūl narrates from Abū Hurayrah who narrates from the Prophet: Jihād is obligatory
upon you with a Muslim ruler whether he is pious or impious, and the prayer is
obligatory upon you behind every Muslim whether he is pious or impious even if he is
guilty of the major sins and the prayer is obligatory upon every Muslim whether he is
pious or impious even if he is guilty of the major sins. (Abū Dā’ūd: No. 2533)
35. Zafar Ahmad ‘Uthmānī, Ii‘lā al-Sunan, 3rd ed., vol. 12, (Karachi: Idarātu’l-Qur’ān
wa ‘Ulūmi’l-Islāmiyyah, 1415 AH), pp. 15-16
36. Ibn Qudāmah, Al-Mughnī, vol. 8, (Riyād: Maktabah al-Riyād al-Hadīthah,1981), p.
352
37. Abu’l-Hasan ‘Alī Māwardī, Al-Ahkām al-Sultāniyyah, 1st ed., (Beirut: Dāru’l-Kitāb
al-‘Arabī, 1990), p. 52
38. Farahi, Majmū‘ah Tafāsīr-i-Farāhī’, 1st ed., (Lahore: Faran Foundation, 1991), p. 56
39. Da‘wat-ī-Dīn awr us kā Tarīqah-i-kār (Urdu; ch. 14, pp 241-2) (translated by Asif
Iftikhar)
40. For details see: Bukhārī: No. 2734
41. An obvious corollary of this premise is that the stance adopted by some scholars that
all of Islam’s wars were in self-defence is incorrect. It is against this premise and belies
established history. The following excerpts typically depict this stance:
There are no passages to be found in the Qur’ān that in any way enjoin forcible
conversion, and many that on the contrary limit propagandist efforts to preaching and
persuasion. It has further been maintained that no passage in the Qur’ān authorizes
unprovoked attacks on unbelievers, and that, in accordance with such teaching, all the
wars of Muhammad were defensive.
(Thomas Arnold, The Preaching of Islam, 4th ed., (Lahore: Ashraf Publications, 1979), p.
451)
Islam seized the sword in self-defence, and held it in self-defence, as it will ever do.
(Ameer Ali, The Spirit of Islam, (Lahore: Sang-e-Meel Publications), p. 218)
42. Ghāmidī, Burhān, 2nd ed., (Lahore: Danish Sara, 2000), p. 260
43. Patrick J. Buchanan, Rising Islam May Overwhelm the West, New Hampshire
Sunday News, August 20, 1989.
44. Charles Krauthammar, The Crescent of Crisis: Global Inifada, Washington Post,
October 29, 1991.
45. John L. Esposito, The Islamic Threat, Myth or Reality, 1st ed., (New York: Oxford
University Press, 1992), p. 175
46. W. Montgomery Watt, Islamic Fundamentalism and Modernity, 1st ed., (London:
Routeledge, 1988), pp. 104-5