Muslims Scholars spend Billions of $ in Dawah to convert people into Islam. After getting fooled(converted) into Islam, still the new converts have many misconceptions about Islam. Following is a Question asked by a New Convert to Islam to the Grand Mufti of Egypt. The Grand Mufti replies him, but as usual his replies is full of lies. Below I’ll try to correct him based on authentic teachings of Islam. His wrong answers will be STRIKETHROUGH with my comments in bold red below.
Question:
I am a new convert to Islam and I have read in Islamic sources that Jihad is obligatory till judgment day. At the same time I understand that there is no compulsion in religion then what is the meaning of Jihad? Also should Muslims wage wars against non Muslims every where and slaughter them? How do we balance between the concept of no compulsion in religion and between the following verse “And when the sacred months have passed, then kill the polytheists wherever you find them and capture them and besiege them and sit in wait for them at every place of ambush. But if they should repent, establish prayer, and give zakah, let them [go] on their way. Indeed, God is Forgiving and Merciful. (9:5) And the prophetic hadith which says “I was commanded to fight people until they attest that there is no god but God…” Please clarify.
Answer:
The original state which guides the relationship between Muslims and non Muslims is coexistence and peace not war.God says in the Quran, “God does not forbid you from those who do not fight you because of religion and do not expel you from your homes – from being righteous toward them and acting justly toward them. Indeed, God loves those who act justly”. 60:8
COMMENTS:- The original state of relation between Muslims and Non-Muslims can never be peaceful, as the Holy Quran itself says, “Then, when the sacred months have passed, slay the idolaters wherever ye find them, and take them (captive), and besiege them, and prepare for them each ambush.” [Quran 9:5] As this verse is used in this reply, so we will talk about it later. Grand Mufti cleverly uses Quran 60:8 to prove that Islam is a religion of peace and Quran commands Muslims to be righteous and peaceful towards Non-Muslims if they are not hostile. But this is not completely true. If we read verse 60:8 with is context then we will find that this verse is talking about a specific family. As Ibn Kathir in explanation of this verse writes:-
Imam Ahmad recorded that Asma’ bint Abu Bakr said, “My mother, who was an idolatress at the time, came to me during the Treaty of Peace, the Prophet conducted with the Quraysh. I came to the Prophet and said, `O Allah’s Messenger! My mother came visiting, desiring something from me, should I treat her with good relations’ The Prophet said,(Yes. Keep good relation with your mother.)” The Two Sahihs recorded this Hadith. Imam Ahmad recorded that `Abdullah bin Zubayr said, “Qutaylah came visiting her daughter, Asma’ bint Abi Bakr, with some gifts, such as Dibab, cheese and clarified (cooking) butter, and she was an idolatress at that time. Asma’ refused to accept her mother’s gifts and did not let her enter her house. `A’ishah asked the Prophet about his verdict and Allah sent down the Ayah
So as per evidence the above verse was revealed in context of Abu Bakr’s daughter and cannot be taken in general, so here Allah is not commanding to be in peace with Non-Muslims who are not fighting Muslims. Even if Allah does commands Muslims to live peacefully with Non-Combating idolaters in 60:8, then there is a contradiction in Quran, as 9:29 commands Muslims to fight all those who does not believe in Allah and his Messenger.
God also says “And if they incline to peace, then incline to it [also] and rely upon God. Indeed, it is He who is the Hearing, the Knowing.” (8:61)
Therefore the legal evidence from both the Quran and the Sunnah along with the Muslims’ actions along centuries indicate that they opened people’s minds and hearts before entering their lands and this understanding does not defy the concept of Jihad and its role in fighting oppression and elevating injustice. In other words, it is a mutual fighting and not one sided killing which means that non Muslims are not fought because of the mere fact that they are non Muslims. For this reason Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) prohibited desecrating place of worship of non Muslims or subjecting them to any kind of harm and even the non Muslim militant combatants who fight against Muslims in a war, if they back off from oppression and tyranny then Muslims have no right to continue fighting them. God says, “Fight in the way of God those who fight you but do not transgress. Indeed. God does not like transgressors.” (2:190)
COMMENTS:- Here the entire paragraph is deceitfully written to put a veil on the verses from Quran and narrations from Hadith which exhorts Muslims to become terrorist, inhumane and barbaric. At the very first place the verse used by the respectable Mufti, in view of many early scholars is abrogated. Ibn Jalalayan and Ibn Abbaas view the verse is abrogated by the verse of SWORD, i.e. 9:5. Ibn Jalalayan writes:-
And if they incline to peace (read silm or salm, meaning, ‘settlement’), then incline to it, and conclude a pact with them: Ibn ‘Abbās said, ‘This has been abrogated by the “sword verse” [Q. 9:5]’; Mujāhid said, ‘This [stipulation] applies exclusively in the context of the People of the Scripture, for it was revealed regarding the Banū Qurayza; and rely on God, put your trust in Him; truly He is the Hearer, of words, the Knower, of actions.
So again in this case the verse is expired and cannot be used today, as Muslims are commanded to believe and practice verse 9:5. Another blatant lie which the grand Mufti repeated above is that, “non Muslims are not fought because of the mere fact that they are non Muslims.” I guess our Grand Mufti has not understood Quran well, as it clearly commands Muslims to fight all those who do not believe in Allah, so fighting Non-Muslims because they are Non-Muslims is allowed in Islam, read the verse 9:29 which says:-
Fight those who do not believe in Allah or in the Last Day and who do not consider unlawful what Allah and His Messenger have made unlawful and who do not adopt the religion of truth from those who were given the Scripture – [fight] until they give the jizyah willingly while they are humbled. [Quran 9:29]
In authentic hadiths of Muhammad, it is clearly narrated that the Prophet fought and allowed to fight his troops until the innocent people testify that only Islam is the true religion. It clearly proves that Islam allows to fight and kill innocent people because they are Non-Muslim. Regarding the verse 2:190 again I would like to say that the verse is abrogated in view of early scholars of Islam and is not in use, for reference read the Tafsir of Ibn Jalalayan.
Therefore Jihad is a noble war to fight injustice and lift oppression and tyranny and not a shooting spree of individuals as some uninformed people try to promote. If this noble war shifted away from legal guidelines which include all the necessary conditions, restrictions and elements which if applied would qualify fighting as an eligible noble war- if these rules are not applied then jihad is deemed illegal and simply turns to corruption on earth or betrayal and treachery because not every war is jihad and not all killings in war is permissible. Waging wars against non Muslims every where is not part of Islam or its noble teachings as this understanding is a sheer aberration from the correct authentic way of understanding the concept of Jihad in Islam. As for the above mentioned verse which says, “and when the sacred months have passed, then kill the polytheists wherever you find them and capture them and besiege them and sit in wait for them at every place of ambush. But if they should repent, establish prayer, and give zakah, let them [go] on their way. Indeed, God is Forgiving and Merciful.” (9:5)
COMMENTS:- This is the height of fabrication and dishonesty by such a revered scholar of Islam. His definition of Jihad is in contradiction with what Prophet of Islam taught. An Islamic site defines Jihad as:-
As regards jihad, it is to do one’s best to make the Word of Allah, The Most High, prevail, whether by hand, with money or with the tongue. The Prophet (Sallallahu Alaihi wa Sallam) said: “Fight against the polytheists with your money, hands and tongue.” (Reported by Al-Nasa’i, with anauthentic chain of narrations.)
Jihad with hand is fighting against the polytheists and the people of the book and others, to make the Word of Allah prevail.
Allah says: “ And fight them until there is no more Fitnah (disbelief and worshipping of others along with Allah) and (all and every kind of) worship is for Allah (Alone). But if they cease, let there be no transgression except against Az-Zâlimûn (the polytheists, and wrong-doers, etc.) (Al-Baqarah 2:193)
Allah further says: “ O you who believe! Fight those of the disbelievers who are close to you, and let them find harshness in you, and know that Allâh is with those who are the Al-Muttaqûn (the pious).” (At-Tawbah 9:123)
Jihad with money is spending money in the path of Allah. Allah says: “March forth, whether you are light (being healthy, young and wealthy) or heavy (being ill, old and poor), strive hard with your wealth and your lives in the Cause of Allah. This is better for you, if you but knew.” (At-Tawbah 9:41) [SOURCE]
So it would be safe to say that Jihad is killing of Non-Muslims until they embrace Islam and accept Muhammad as the Prophet of God, or pay Jizyah willingly. Waging war against Non-Muslims everywhere possible, is the basic teaching of Islam. Every killing of innocent Non-Muslims in name of Allah and his messenger is Jihad, and this is only the real and true concept of Jihad.
This verse has to do with those who breached their covenant, fought, killed, betrayed Muslims and had calculative moves to annihilate them and thus God commands Muslims to defend themselves against polytheists and God described these polytheists in the later verses as “They do not observe toward a believer any pact of kinship or covenant of protection. And it is they who are the transgressors.” (9:10)
COMMENTS:- The verse 9:5 has nothing to do with anyone who breached the covenant with Muslims. In fact it is even hard to prove that Non-Muslims broke any such covenant. In view of Sayyid Abul Ala Maududi, Chapter 9 was revealed to convert the remaining Non-Muslims in Arabia into Islam. He writes:-
If we keep in view the preceding background, we can easily find out the problems that were confronting the Community at that time. They were:
- to make the whole of Arabia a perfect Dar-ul-Islam,
- to extend the influence of Islam to the adjoining countries,
- to crush the mischiefs of the hypocrites, and
- to prepare the Muslims for Jihad against the non- Muslim world.
Apart from the above evidence, we have the context problem. As per the context of verse 9:5, it is Allah and Muhammad who declared the disassociation of treaty with Polytheists of Arabia, as commanded in Quran 9:1:-
[This is a declaration of] disassociation, from Allah and His Messenger, to those with whom you had made a treaty among the polytheists
So we don’t find the verse saying that the Polytheists broke the treaty, but it was Muhammad who declared that after the grace period of four months no Non-Believer will be safe. Allah even commanded Muslims to kill those non-Muslims who were not deficient towards Muslims.
Conclusion:- In conclusion we can say that the majority of today’s scholars, Muftis and Maulvis are fooling ignorant Non-Muslims to convert them into fold of Islam. They play with words and misinterpret their own Holy Book. If anyone ask me to define Jihad based on the canonical scripture of Islam, I would certainly agree with the actions of Muslims, as they have carried out more than 20,000 terrorist attack since 9/11. The Prophet of Islam himself said, “The highest level of Islam is jihad in the path of Allah.” (Reported by Ahmed and Abu Dawud.) So without a shadow of doubt we can say that Islam is the most Inhumane religion still existing on face of earth, and the followers of Islam are the most barbaric species found today on earth.