The following verse is very popular with some radicals and appears to lead many in the West to believe that Allah is truly on the side of the Muslims.
Allah will punish them by your hands
قَاتِلُوهُمْ يُعَذِّبْهُمُ اللّهُ بِأَيْدِيكُمْ وَيُخْزِهِمْ وَيَنصُرْكُمْ عَلَيْهِمْ وَيَشْفِ صُدُورَ قَوْمٍ مُّؤْمِنِينَ ﴿١٤﴾
Fight them, and Allah will punish them by your hands, cover them with shame, help you (to victory) over them, heal the breasts of Believers…”[1]
Mawdudi
According to Mawdudi’s Introduction to Sura 9 of the Noble Qur’an, the complete text for this verse (verses 7 through 16) “deals with the sanctity of treaties and lays down principles, rules and regulations which must be kept in view before breaking them, in case the other party does not observe them sincerely.” Indeed, “the Muslims have been urged to fight in the Way of Allah the mushrik[2] Arabs, the Jews and the Christians, who were duly warned of the consequences of their mischievous and inimical behavior.”
Allah will punish them by your hands
قَاتِلُوهُمْ يُعَذِّبْهُمُ اللّهُ بِأَيْدِيكُمْ وَيُخْزِهِمْ وَيَنصُرْكُمْ عَلَيْهِمْ وَيَشْفِ صُدُورَ قَوْمٍ مُّؤْمِنِينَ ﴿١٤﴾
Fight them, and Allah will punish them by your hands, cover them with shame, help you (to victory) over them, heal the breasts of Believers…”[1]
Mawdudi
According to Mawdudi’s Introduction to Sura 9 of the Noble Qur’an, the complete text for this verse (verses 7 through 16) “deals with the sanctity of treaties and lays down principles, rules and regulations which must be kept in view before breaking them, in case the other party does not observe them sincerely.” Indeed, “the Muslims have been urged to fight in the Way of Allah the mushrik[2] Arabs, the Jews and the Christians, who were duly warned of the consequences of their mischievous and inimical behavior.”
Original Text (From Message of the Qur’an by Muhammad Asad)
“How could they who describe divinity to aught beside God be granted a covenant by God and His Apostle,[3] unless it be those, [of them] with whom you [O believers] have made a covenant in the vicinity of the Inviolable House of Worship?[4] [As for the latter,] so long as they remain true to you, be true to them: for, verily, God loves those who are conscious of Him. {7}
How [else could it be]?[5]—since, if they [who are hostile to you] were to overcome you, they would not expect and tie [with you,] nor any obligation to protect you. They seek to please you with their mouths, the while their hearts remain averse [to you]; and most of them are iniquitous. {8} God’s messages have they bartered away for a trifling gain, and have thus turned away from His path: evil, behold, is all they are wont to do, {9} respecting no tie and no protective obligation with regard to a believer; and it is they, they who transgress the bounds of what is right. {10}
Yet if they repent and take to prayer, and render the purifying dues, they become your brethren in faith; and clearly do we spell out these messages unto people of [innate] knowledge. {11}
But if they break their solemn pledges after having concluded a covenant[6], and revile your religion, then fight against these archetypes of faithlessness who, behold, have no [regard for their own] pledges, so that they might desist [from aggression]. {12} Would you, perchance, fail to fight against people who have broken their solemn pledges, and have done all that they could to drive the Apostle away[7] and have been first to attack you? Do you hold them in awe? Nay, it is God alone, of whom you ought to stand in awe, if you are [truly] believers. {13}
Fight against them! God will chastise them by your hands, and will bring disgrace upon them, and will succour you against them; and He will soothe the bosoms of those who believe, {14} and will remove the wrath that is in their hearts. And God will turn in His mercy unto whom He wills: for God is all-knowing, wise. {15}
Do you [O believers] think that you will be spared unless God takes cognizance of your having striven hard in His cause without seeking help from any but God and His Apostle and those who believe in Him? For God is aware of all that you do.” {16}
Again we find that the verse is not directed at the West, but at the Christians and the Jews that were in the Mecca – Median region 12 centuries ago. The Christians that lived there, generally were not Christians as we knew them, but various heretical groups—Nestorians in particular—whose own opinions of the Holy Trinity and other aspects of Christian belief may not have been understood at the time. Needless to say, the Jews who were known by the Muslims were either killed or banished before or shortly after the death of Muhammad (632 AD). The Muslims of the time probably never knew an orthodox Christian. True enemies of Islam, mentioned in the Qur’an, were Arabs who had not converted, and perhaps some who had converted. The Jews and Christians of that era for the most part, were neutral to the new religion, but not partial to the wars being waged around them and the continual demands for their conversion. After all, it was the Jews who brought the Prophet to Yathrib when his alternatives were diminishing. They were the ones who gave him political power. They were also the ones who told the Arabs that Muhammad was a Prophet, which brought to him many more followers upon his arrival in Yathrib than he had in Mecca.
In today’s world, unless abused by followers of Islam in the name of Islam, people are generally neutral toward the religion and brotherly toward the Muslims. Europe and the United States have welcomed Muslims into their bosoms with open arms. Despite this obvious magnanimity on the part of Europe and America, we in the West have been vilified and attacked like Meccan villains of the 7th century. Our patience is strong, but not inexhaustible. Mine has departed. If we do not see and end to this enmity, we will do what it takes to end it.
[2] Mushrik: those who practice polytheism or ascribe divinity to others beside Allah. A CONCISE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF ISLAM, by Gordon G. Newby, One World Publications, Oxford, UK, page 160.
[3] Literally, “have a covenant before [or in the sight of] God and before His Apostle.” i.e., be protected by those who believe in God and His Apostle. The specific reference to the latter is meant to stress the fact that he speaks and acts in the name of God.[This note is by Muhammad Asad, The Message of the Qur’an, page 290, note 10.]
[4] The covenant alluded to is the truce-agreement concluded in 6 H. at Hudaibiyyah, in the vicinity of Mecca by the Prophet and the pagan Quraysh, which was (and was obviously) intended to remain a model of self-restraint and the tolerance expected of true believers with regard to such of the unbelievers as are not openly hostile to them. [This note by Muhammad Asad]
[5] This connects with the opening clause of the preceding verse, and relates to the hostile among “those who ascribe divinity to aught but God.” [This note by Muhammad Asad]
[6] …An allusion to the to the breach of the Truce of Hudaibiyyah by the pagan Quraysh, which, in turn led to the conquest of Mecca by the Muslims. [This note by Muhammad Asad]
[7] i.e., from Mecca, thus bringing about his and his followers’ exodus (hijira) to Medina. [This note from Muhammad Asad]
No comments:
Post a Comment