Mani (Mainstream): Good morning, Modi. I received a note from another cousin last night. We are invited to spend some time with his family and friends.
Modi (Moderate): I expected as much, listening to that blow-hard Sadr. I guess they are going to set up some defenses to protect themselves from his thugs.
Mani: Actually not. As I understand it, our people want to go after his armory as quickly as possible, especially the one in Sadr City. I will know more about it later on. Don’t say any more, here comes Radi.
Radi (Radical): Good morning. I have a verse I would like to discuss right off the bat, Modi, Sura 8:57.
"If thou comest on them in the war, deal with them so as to strike fear in those
who are behind them, that haply they may remember."
Modi: I remember that one right away. In the Qur’an, Allah appears to be addressing his remarks to His prophet; however, it also seems to be general advice to us all. Again, it is about non-Muslim states or communities who sign treaties with the Muslims. Allah wants the Muslims to know that they must make examples of those who break their treaties, especially if they find them as part of the enemies arrayed against them in war. Others need to know we are not taking it lightly.
Mani: I suspect that it is okay when we do it--the Treaty of Hudaibiyya, for example--but not okay if someone does it to us.
Modi: Good point, Mani. Yes, many Muslims throughout history, including Yassir Arafat, signed treaties they knew they had no intention of keeping. Arafat held up a Camp David document, laughed, and shouted “Hudaibiyya”! All Muslims and Jews instantly knew it was a treaty to be broken. The West had no clue. (Radi laughs at that)
Radi: I have a couple from Sura 9, verses 9:5 and 9:14. The Qur’an seems to be talking about the same situation.
"So when the sacred months have passed away, then slay the idolaters wherever
you find them, and take them captives and besiege them and lie in wait for them
in every ambush, then if they repent and keep up prayer and pay the poor-rate,
leave their way free to them."
"Fight them, Allah will punish them by your hands and bring them to disgrace..."
Modi: Suras 8 and 9 are regarded by some as a single sura; indeed, you will not find Bismillah beginning the text, as there is in every other sura. But in any case, Allah begins this sura or part sura declaring that He disavows anyone who ascribes divinity to anyone but Him. In Muhammad’s eyes, this would include Christians who believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. Some Christian heretics do not believe in the divinity of Christ, and Muhammad could not possibly agree with such a divinity himself because 1) he could not understand the concept of the Trinity, 2) people he knew did not agree with it, 3) as God’s messenger/prophet, he would have to explain the concept, and 4) having “The Son of God” in the equation between Allah and him would be rather awkward. Having Allah declare that He alone was God, and no sons or daughters to share his divinity, was a relief for him.
Mani: I can see that. I read here in verses 1 through 3 that Allah would be very angry with those who still insist on making arguments for Christ’s divinity.
Modi: Most assuredly. However, in verse 4, He excepts from His chastisement anyone who makes a treaty with the Muslims and keeps it, not assisting anyone else bent on attacking the Muslims. But it only sets up verse 5. Another way of putting verse 5 could be this way:
When our yearly traditional four months of cease-fire is up, do everything
allowed in warfare to gain victory over these stubborn people. However, if
they repent and convert to Islam, or at least pay their jizya tax, then let them
go on their way.
Mani: Muslims found that the exorbitant jizya tax paid by Dhimmis that allowed them to live in Muslim lands as a third-class citizen, was another form of income that was affecting their vision of solidarity. Sometimes they refused to allow Jews or Christians to convert--they would lose too much money.
Radi: Are you sure about that, Mani?
Mani: It is part of our history. Modi, I see here that Allah continues to discuss the divinity problem and allowing them to either convert or pay the jizya up through verse 11. In verse 12, He brings up the idea that some of the people with the perverse divinity concept may break their pledges and again attack the Muslims, thus the reason behind 9:14.
Radi: So what we are looking at is simply that polytheism or Trinity-speak should be stamped out, unless those unbelievers are friendly with you and have covenants or treaties with you. Eventually, though, you will have to fight them. However, if they convert to Islam or enter Dhimmitude with its taxes and humiliations, then you can forget about them. Later on, if they act up again, just step on them again.
Modi: Seems as if you understand it now.
Mani: I found two that sound particularly eerie, but I think I understand them. They are 9:38 and 39.
"O ye who believe! what is the matter with you,
that, when ye are asked to go forth in the cause of Allah, ye cling heavily to
the earth? Do ye prefer the life of this world to the Hereafter? But little is
the comfort of this life, as compared with the Hereafter. Unless ye go forth, He
will punish you with a grievous penalty, and put others in your
place."
In this case, Muhammad was not just trying to get up an army to go after some Meccans or Jewish silversmiths. He was intent on attacking a Roman Legion at Tabuk. The people knew the difference and told him so. Abu Bakr and Uthman both gave everything they had to the campaign. The people were not stupid; they knew the Muslim army was no match for the Romans. But the Qur’an came out with verse after verse, urging people to enlist and give money, and threatening them if they did not. That is what the verse is all about, along with a companion verse, 9:41, that said,
"Go forth, light-armed and heavy-armed, and strive with your wealth and your
lives in the way of Allah! That is best for you if ye but knew."
Modi: You are right. Good job.
Radi: You talked about that several weeks ago, Modi. Considering all of the consternation in the Qur’an about the “coming war” with verses flying hither and thither and Allah demanding more and more money for arms, equipment, and horses, what went on in the minds of the faithful when Muhammad reached Tabuk and there was no one there? Did anyone not ask, if Allah knew the Romans would not be there, why did He create all the ruckus?
Mani: He has a good point, Modi.
Modi: As it turned out, my good friends, the Romans knew about the Muslims, but to them it was more like a raiding party and was not worth detaching a unit to drive them off or demolish them. They had other things to do. Of course, Muhammad saw it differently and said so. And, since apparently no one else was interested in that area, Muhammad claimed it (unknown to the Romans), and the nearby nations, not privy to the truth, got in line to sign treaties and pledges with the Muslims, who seemed to be the new power in the region.
Mani: So, just going there to meet the non-existent Romans, then coming back intact, made everyone believe we were invincible. So, as it turned out, it was good that we outfitted ourselves and went.
Radi: I would like to jump forward a little and look at Sura 48:29. It seems to me, though others think it rather harsh, I consider it reasonable.
"Muhammad is the messenger of Allah. And those with him are hard (ruthless) against the disbelievers and merciful among themselves"
Modi: I tend to agree with you. You must know that the sura itself was “revealed” to Muhammad during his return to Medina from Hudaibiyya. He would have been very high on what he considered a great victory. Of course, the victory came from deceit, for he never intended to complete the terms of that treaty. And so, from verse one in this sura to verse through verse 28...
Mani: Oh, I know that part of it. Allah spoke of the trials and hardships that led to this “manifest victory.” He spoke gently of the believers who volunteered to accompany His prophet on this journey, and chastised those Bedouins who were given the opportunity, but declined.
Radi: (looks over Mani’s shoulders) I can see that the Meccans were continually described as “those who are bent on denying the truth” or other expressions akin to that, and the Muslims, of course, are the believers.
Modi: (laughs) I have a lot of help today. Finally, Allah said, as another translation has it, “Muhammad is God’s Apostle; and those who are [truly] with him are firm and unyielding towards all deniers of the truth, [yet] full of mercy towards one another. Thou canst see them bowing down, prostrating themselves [in prayer], seeking favor with God and [His] goodly acceptance: their marks are on their faces, traced by prostration.” Allah finishes up by saying, “[they are] like a seed that brings forth its shoot, and then He strengthens it, so that it grows stout, and [in the end] stands firm upon its stem, delighting the sowers…[Thus will God cause the believers to grow in strength,] so that through them He might confound the deniers of the truth.”
Mani: I would not have said it that way, Modi.
Radi: But you are not God, Mani.
Modi: Did you understand that Allah pushed the idea that Muhammad was firm with the Meccans during the treaty negotiations, and that was what the Qur’an mean about being “unyielding to the deniers of the truth.”
Radi: Now that you mention it, yes. But why bring that up?
Mani: We just discussed a few verses, Radi, that were printed on posters, and appeared to be very nasty and belligerent, downright warlike. How are we going to make these people stop doing that? They are lying about what the Qur’an is saying and exploiting the lies to further immoral and illegal causes.
Modi: They will never stop no matter what. The people that are too stupid to know any better, will stay that way because they are too lazy to learn. That American comedian, Ron White, who we watch a lot, said it all when he said “You can’t fix stupid!”
Radi: What actually does that mean? I don’t get it.
Mani: Case in point.
Modi: Let’s saunter down to the restaurant before Radi figures it out.
Mani: Oh, we have time.
HJS
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