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Violence
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Question:
Does the Quran really contain dozens of verses promoting violence?
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Summary Answer:
The Quran contains at least 109 verses that call Muslims to war with
nonbelievers for the sake of Islamic rule. Some are quite graphic, with commands to chop off heads and
fingers and kill infidels wherever they may be hiding. Muslims who do
not join the fight are
called 'hypocrites' and warned that Allah will send them
to Hell if they do not join the slaughter.
Unlike nearly all of the
Old
Testament verses of violence, the verses of violence in the Quran
are mostly open-ended, meaning that they are not restrained by the historical context
of the
surrounding text. They are part of the eternal,
unchanging word of Allah, and just as relevant or subjective as anything else in
the Quran.
Most of today's Muslims exercise a personal choice to interpret their holy
book's many calls to violence according to what their own moral preconceptions
find justifiable. Apologists cater to their preferences with tenuous
arguments that gloss over historical fact and generally do not stand up to
scrutiny. Still, it is important to note that the problem is not
bad people, but bad ideology.
Unfortunately, there are very few verses of tolerance and peace to
abrogate or even balance out the many that call for nonbelievers to be fought
and subdued until they either accept humiliation, convert to Islam, or are
killed. Muhammad's own martial legacy - and that of his companions -
along with the remarkable stress on
violence found in the Quran have produced a trail of blood and tears across world history.
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The Quran:
Quran
(2:191-193)
- "And slay them wherever ye find them, and drive them out of the places
whence they drove you out, for persecution [of Muslims] is
worse than slaughter [of non-believers]... but if they desist, then lo!
Allah is forgiving and merciful. And fight them until
persecution is no more, and religion is for Allah." The
historical context
of this passage is not defensive warfare, since Muhammad and his Muslims
had just relocated to Medina and were not under attack by their Meccan
adversaries. In fact, the verses urge offensive warfare, in that
Muslims are to drive Meccans out of their own city (which they
later did). The use of the word "persecution" by some Muslim translators is
thus disingenuous (the actual Muslim words for persecution - "idtihad" - and
oppression - a variation of "z-l-m" - do not appear in the verse). The actual Arabic comes from "fitna" which can
mean disbelief, or the disorder that results from unbelief or temptation.
Taken as a whole, the context makes clear that violence is being authorized
until "religion is for Allah" - ie. unbelievers desist in their
unbelief.
Quran (2:244)
- "Then fight in the cause of Allah, and know that Allah Heareth and knoweth
all things."
Quran (2:216)
- "Fighting is prescribed for you, and ye dislike it. But it is
possible that ye dislike a thing which is good for you, and that ye love a thing
which is bad for you. But Allah knoweth, and ye know not." Not
only does this verse establish that violence can be virtuous, but it also
contradicts the myth that fighting is intended only in self-defense, since the
audience was obviously not under attack at the time. From the Hadith, we
know that this verse was narrated at a time that Muhammad was actually trying to motivate his people into
raiding merchant caravans for loot.
Quran (3:56)
- "As to those who reject faith, I will punish them with terrible agony in
this world and in the Hereafter, nor will they have anyone to help."
Quran (3:151)
- "Soon shall We cast terror into the hearts of the Unbelievers, for that
they joined companions with Allah, for which He had sent no authority".
This speaks directly of polytheists, yet it also includes Christians, since they believe in the Trinity
(ie. what Muhammad incorrectly believed to be 'joining companions to Allah').
Quran (4:74)
- "Let those fight in the way of Allah who sell the life of this world for
the other. Whoso fighteth in the way of Allah, be he slain or be he victorious,
on him We shall bestow a vast reward." The martyrs of Islam are
unlike the early Christians, led meekly to the slaughter. These Muslims
are killed in battle, as they attempt to inflict death and destruction for the
cause of Allah. Here is the theological basis for today's suicide bombers.
Quran (4:76)
- "Those who believe fight in the cause of Allah…"
Quran (4:89)
- "They but wish that ye should reject Faith, as they do, and thus be on the
same footing (as they): But take not friends from their ranks until they flee in
the way of Allah (From what is forbidden). But if they turn renegades, seize
them and slay them wherever ye find them; and (in any case) take no friends or
helpers from their ranks."
Quran (4:95)
- "Not equal are those believers who sit (at home) and receive no hurt, and
those who strive and fight in the cause of Allah with their goods and their
persons. Allah hath granted a grade higher to those who strive and fight with
their goods and persons than to those who sit (at home). Unto all (in Faith)
Hath Allah promised good: But those who strive and fight Hath He distinguished
above those who sit (at home) by a special reward,-" This passage
criticizes "peaceful" Muslims who do not join in the violence, letting
them know that they are less worthy in Allah's eyes. It also
demolishes the modern myth that "Jihad" doesn't mean holy war in the
Quran, but
rather a spiritual struggle. Not only is the Arabic word used in this
passage, but it is clearly not referring to anything spiritual, since the
physically disabled are given exemption. (The Hadith reveals the context
of the passage to be in response to a blind man's protest that he is unable to
engage in Jihad and this is reflected in other translations of the verse).
Quran (4:104)
- "And be not weak hearted in pursuit of the enemy; if you suffer pain, then
surely they (too) suffer pain as you suffer pain..." Is pursuing
an injured and retreating enemy really an act of self-defense?
Quran (5:33)
- "The punishment of those who wage war against Allah and His messenger and
strive to make mischief in the land is only this, that they should be murdered
or crucified or their hands and their feet should be cut off on opposite sides
or they should be imprisoned; this shall be as a disgrace for them in this
world, and in the hereafter they shall have a grievous chastisement"
Quran (8:12)
- "I will cast terror into the hearts of those who disbelieve. Therefore
strike off their heads and strike off every fingertip of them" No
reasonable person would interpret this to mean a spiritual struggle.
Quran (8:15)
- "O ye who believe! When ye meet those who disbelieve in battle, turn not
your backs to them. (16)Whoso on that day turneth his back to them, unless
maneuvering for battle or intent to join a company, he truly hath incurred wrath
from Allah, and his habitation will be hell, a hapless journey's end."
Quran (8:39)
- "And fight with them until there is no more fitna (disorder,
unbelief) and religion should
be only for Allah" Some translations interpret "fitna" as
"persecution", but the traditional understanding of this word is not supported
by the historical context (See notes for 2:293, also). The Meccans were simply refusing
Muhammad access to their city during Haj. Other Muslims were allowed
to travel there - just not as an armed group, since Muhammad had declared war on
Mecca prior to his eviction. The Meccans were also acting in defense of
their religion, since it was Muhammad's intention to destroy their idols and
establish Islam by force (which he later did). Hence the critical part of
this verse is to fight until "religion is only for Allah",
meaning that the true justification of violence was the unbelief of the
opposition.
According to the Sira (Ibn Ishaq/Hisham 324) Muhammad further explains that "Allah must have no rivals."
Quran (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."
Quran (8:59-60)
- "And let not those who disbelieve suppose that they can outstrip (Allah's
Purpose). Lo! they cannot escape. Make ready for them all thou canst of
(armed) force and of horses tethered, that thereby ye may dismay the enemy of
Allah and your enemy."
Quran (8:65)
- "O Prophet, exhort the believers to fight..."
Quran (9:5)
- "So when the sacred months have passed away, then slay the idolaters
wherever you find them, and take them captive 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." According to this
verse, the best way of staying safe from Muslim violence is to convert to Islam
(prayer (salat) and the poor tax (zakat) are among the religion's
Five Pillars). This popular claim that the Quran only inspires violence
within the context of self-defense is seriously challenged by this passage as
well, since the Muslims to whom it was written were obviously not under attack.
Had they been, then there would have been no waiting period (earlier verses make
it a duty for Muslims to fight in self-defense, even during the sacred months).
The historical context is Mecca after the idolaters were subjugated by
Muhammad and posed no threat. Once the Muslims had the power, they
violently evicted those unbelievers who would not convert.
Quran (9:14)
- "Fight them, Allah will punish them by your hands and bring them to
disgrace..."
Quran (9:20)
- "Those who believe, and have left their homes and striven with their wealth
and their lives in Allah's way are of much greater worth in Allah's sight. These
are they who are triumphant." The Arabic word interpreted as
"striving" in this verse is the same root as "Jihad". The context is
obviously holy war.
Quran (9:29)
- "Fight those who believe not in Allah nor the Last Day, nor hold that
forbidden which hath been forbidden by Allah and His Messenger, nor acknowledge
the religion of Truth, (even if they are) of the People of the Book, until they
pay the Jizya with willing submission, and feel themselves subdued."
"People of the Book" refers to Christians and Jews. According to
this verse, they are to be violently subjugated, with the sole justification
being their religious status. This was one of the
final "revelations" from Allah and it set in motion the tenacious military
expansion, in which Muhammad's companions managed to conquer two-thirds of the
Christian world in the next 100 years. Islam is intended to dominate
all other people and faiths.
Quran (9:30)
- "And the Jews say: Ezra is the son of Allah; and the Christians say: The
Messiah is the son of Allah; these are the words of their mouths; they imitate
the saying of those who disbelieved before; may Allah destroy them; how they are
turned away!"
Quran (9:38-39)
- "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." This is a warning to
those who refuse to fight, that they will be punished with Hell.
Quran (9:41)
- "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."
See also the verse that follows (9:42)
- "If there had been immediate gain (in sight), and the journey easy, they would
(all) without doubt have followed thee, but the distance was long, (and weighed)
on them" This contradicts the myth that Muslims are to fight only in
self-defense, since the wording implies that battle will be waged a long
distance from home (in another country and on Christian soil, in this case,
according to the historians).
Quran (9:73)
- "O Prophet! strive hard against the unbelievers and the hypocrites and be
unyielding to them; and their abode is hell, and evil is the destination."
Dehumanizing those who reject Islam, by reminding Muslims that they are merely
firewood for Hell, makes it easier to justify slaughter. It also explains
why today's devout Muslims have little regard for those outside the faith.
Quran (9:88)
- "But the Messenger, and those who believe with him, strive and fight with
their wealth and their persons: for them are (all) good things: and it is they
who will prosper."
Quran (9:111)
- "Allah hath purchased of the believers their persons and their goods; for
theirs (in return) is the garden (of Paradise): they fight in His cause, and
slay and are slain: a promise binding on Him in truth, through the Law, the
Gospel, and the Quran: and who is more faithful to his covenant than Allah?
then rejoice in the bargain which ye have concluded: that is the achievement
supreme."
Quran (9:123)
- "O you who believe! fight those of the unbelievers who are near to you and
let them find in you hardness."
Quran (17:16)
- "And when We wish to destroy a town, We send Our commandment to the people
of it who lead easy lives, but they transgress therein; thus the word proves
true against it, so We destroy it with utter destruction." Note that
the crime is moral transgression, and the punishment is "utter destruction."
(Before ordering the 9/11 attacks, Osama bin Laden first issued Americans an
invitation to Islam).
Quran
(18:65-81)
- This parable lays the theological groundwork for honor killings, in which a
family member is murdered because they brought shame to the family, either
through apostasy or perceived moral indiscretion. The story (which is not
found in any Jewish or Christian source) tells of Moses encountering a man with
"special knowledge" who does things which don't seem to make sense on the
surface, but are then justified according to later explanation. One such
action is to murder a youth for no apparent reason (74). However, the wise
man later explains that it was feared that the boy would "grieve" his parents by
"disobedience and ingratitude." He was killed so that Allah could provide
them a 'better' son. (Note: This is one reason why honor killing
is sanctioned by Sharia. Reliance of the Traveler (Umdat al-Saliq) says
that punishment for murder is not applicable when a parent or grandparent kills
their offspring (o.1.1-2).)
Quran (21:44)
- "We gave the good things of this life to these men and their fathers until
the period grew long for them; See they not that We gradually reduce the land
(in their control) from its outlying borders? Is it then they who will win?"
Quran (25:52)
- "Therefore listen not to the Unbelievers, but strive against them with the
utmost strenuousness..." "Strive against" is
Jihad - obviously not in the personal context. It's also significant to
point out that this is a Meccan verse.
Quran
(33:60-62)
- "If the hypocrites, and those in whose hearts is a disease, and the
alarmists in the city do not cease, We verily shall urge thee on against them,
then they will be your neighbors in it but a little while. Accursed, they
will be seized wherever found and slain with a (fierce) slaughter."
This passage sanctions the slaughter (rendered "merciless" and "horrible murder"
in other translations) against three groups: Hypocrites (Muslims who refuse to
"fight in the way of Allah" (3:167)
and hence don't act as Muslims should), those with "diseased hearts" (which include Jews and
Christians
5:51-52), and "alarmists" or "agitators who include those who merely speak
out against Islam, according to Muhammad's biographers. It is worth noting
that the victims are to be sought out by Muslims, which is what today's
terrorists do. If this passage is meant merely to apply to the city of
Medina, then it is unclear why it is included in Allah's eternal word to Muslim
generations.
Quran (47:3-4)
- "Those who reject Allah follow vanities, while those who believe
follow the truth from their lord. Thus does Allah set forth form men their
lessons by similitude. Therefore when you meet in battle those who disbelieve, then smite the necks
until when you have overcome them, then make (them) prisoners,"
Those who reject Allah are to be subdued in battle. The verse goes on to
say the only reason Allah doesn't do the dirty work himself is in order to to
test the faithfulness of Muslims. Those who kill pass the test. "But if
it had been Allah's Will, He could certainly have exacted retribution from them
(Himself); but (He lets you fight) in order to test you, some with others. But
those who are slain in the Way of Allah,- He will never let their deeds be
lost."
Quran (47:35)
- "Be not weary and faint-hearted, crying for peace, when ye should be
uppermost (Shakir: "have the upper hand") for Allah is with you,"
Quran (48:17)
- "There is no blame for the blind, nor is there blame for the lame, nor is
there blame for the sick (that they go not forth to war). And whoso obeyeth
Allah and His messenger, He will make him enter Gardens underneath which rivers
flow; and whoso turneth back, him will He punish with a painful doom."
Contemporary apologists sometimes claim that Jihad means 'spiritual struggle.'
Is so, then why are the blind, lame and sick exempted? This verse also
says that those who do not fight will suffer torment in hell.
Quran (48:29)
- "Muhammad is the messenger of Allah. And those with him are hard (ruthless)
against the disbelievers and merciful among themselves" Islam is
not about treating everyone equally. There are two very
distinct standards that are applied based on religious status. Also the
word used for 'hard' or 'ruthless' in this verse shares the same root as the
word translated as 'painful' or severe' in verse 16.
Quran (61:4)
- "Surely Allah loves those who fight in His way"
Religion of Peace, indeed! The verse explicitly refers to "battle array"
meaning war. This is followed by (61:9):
"He it is who has sent His Messenger (Mohammed) with guidance and the
religion of truth (Islam) to make it victorious over all religions even
though the infidels may resist." (See next verse, below).
Infidels who resist Islamic rule are to be fought.
Quran (61:10-12)
- "O You who believe! Shall I guide you to a commerce that will save you
from a painful torment. That you believe in Allah and His Messenger (Muhammad ),
and that you strive hard and fight in the Cause of Allah with your wealth and
your lives, that will be better for you, if you but know! (If you do so) He will
forgive you your sins, and admit you into Gardens under which rivers flow, and
pleasant dwelling in Gardens of 'Adn - Eternity ['Adn (Edn) Paradise], that is
indeed the great success." This verse refers to physical battle
in order to make Islam victorious over other religions (see above). It uses
the Arabic word, Jihad.
Quran (66:9)
- "O Prophet! Strive against the disbelievers and the hypocrites, and be
stern with them. Hell will be their home, a hapless journey's end."
The root word of "Jihad" is used again here. The context is clearly holy
war, and the scope of violence is broadened to include "hypocrites" - those who
call themselves Muslims but do not act as such.
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From the Hadith:
Bukhari (52:177) - Allah's Apostle said, "The Hour will not be
established until you fight with the Jews, and the stone behind which a Jew will
be hiding will say. "O Muslim! There is a Jew hiding behind me, so kill him."
Bukhari (52:256) - The Prophet... was asked whether it was permissible to
attack the pagan warriors at night with the probability of exposing their women
and children to danger. The Prophet replied, "They (i.e. women and children) are
from them (i.e. pagans)." In this command, Muhammad establishes that it is
permissible to kill non-combatants in the process of killing a perceived enemy.
This provides justification for the many Islamic terror bombings.
Bukhari (52:65) - The Prophet said, 'He who fights that Allah's Word,
Islam, should be superior, fights in Allah's Cause. Muhammad's words
are the basis for offensive Jihad - spreading Islam by force. This is how
it was understood by his companions, and by the terrorists of today.
Bukhari (52:220) - Allah's Apostle said... 'I have been made victorious
with terror'
Abu Dawud (14:2526) - The Prophet (peace_be_upon_him) said: Three things
are the roots of faith: to refrain from (killing) a person who utters, "There is
no god but Allah" and not to declare him unbeliever whatever sin he commits, and
not to excommunicate him from Islam for his any action; and jihad will be
performed continuously since the day Allah sent me as a prophet until the day
the last member of my community will fight with the Dajjal (Antichrist)
Abu Dawud (14:2527) - The Prophet said: Striving in the path of Allah
(jihad) is incumbent on you along with every ruler,
whether he is pious or impious
Muslim (1:33) - the Messenger of Allah said: I have been commanded to
fight against people till they testify that there is no god but Allah, that
Muhammad is the messenger of Allah
Bukhari (8:387) - Allah's Apostle said, "I have been ordered to fight the
people till they say: 'None has the right to be worshipped but Allah'.
And if they say so, pray like our prayers, face our Qibla and slaughter as we
slaughter, then their blood and property will be sacred to us and we will not
interfere with them except legally."
Muslim (1:30) -
"The Messenger of Allah said: I have been commanded to fight against people so
long as they do not declare that there is no god but Allah."
Bukhari (11:626) - [Muhammad said:] "I decided to order a man to
lead the prayer and then take a flame to burn all those, who had not left their
houses for the prayer, burning them alive inside their homes."
Muslim (1:149) - "Abu Dharr reported: I said: Messenger of Allah, which
of the deeds is the best? He (the Holy Prophet) replied: Belief in Allah and
Jihad in His cause..."
Muslim (20:4645) - "...He (the Messenger of Allah) did that and said:
There is another act which elevates the position of a man in Paradise to a grade
one hundred (higher), and the elevation between one grade and the other is equal
to the height of the heaven from the earth. He (Abu Sa'id) said: What is that
act? He replied: Jihad in the way of Allah! Jihad in the way of Allah!"
Muslim (20:4696) - "the Messenger of Allah (may peace be upon him) said:
'One who died but did not fight in the way of Allah nor did he express any
desire (or determination) for Jihad died the death of a hypocrite.'"
Muslim (19:4321-4323) - Three separate hadith in which Muhammad shrugs over
the news that innocent children were killed in a raid by his men against
unbelievers. His response: "They are of them (meaning the enemy)."
Muslim (19:4294) - "When the Messenger of Allah (may peace be upon him)
appointed anyone as leader of an army or detachment he would especially exhort
him... He would say: Fight in the name of Allah and in the way of Allah. Fight
against those who disbelieve in Allah. Make a holy war... When you meet
your enemies who are polytheists, invite them to three courses of action. If
they respond to any one of these, you also accept it and withhold yourself from
doing them any harm. Invite them to (accept) Islam; if they respond to you,
accept it from them and desist from fighting against them... If they refuse to
accept Islam, demand from them the Jizya. If they agree to pay, accept it from
them and hold off your hands. If they refuse to pay the tax, seek Allah's help
and fight them.
Tabari 7:97
The morning after the murder of Ashraf, the Prophet declared, "Kill any Jew
who falls under your power." Ashraf was a poet, killed by Muhammad's
men because he insulted Islam. Here, Muhammad widens the scope of his
orders to kill. An innocent Jewish businessman was then slain by his
Muslim partner, merely for being non-Muslim.
Tabari 9:69
"Killing Unbelievers is a small matter to us" The words of
Muhammad, prophet of Islam.
Tabari 17:187
"'By God, our religion (din) from which we have departed is better and more
correct than that which these people follow. Their religion does not stop them
from shedding blood, terrifying the roads, and seizing properties.' And they
returned to their former religion." The words of a group of Christians
who had converted to Islam, but realized their error after being shocked by the
violence and looting committed in the name of Allah. The price of their
decision to return to a religion of peace was that the men were beheaded and the
woman and children enslaved by the caliph Ali.
Ibn Ishaq/Hisham 327:
- “Allah said, ‘A prophet must slaughter before collecting captives. A
slaughtered enemy is driven from the land. Muhammad, you craved the desires of
this world, its goods and the ransom captives would bring. But Allah desires
killing them to manifest the religion.’”
Ibn Ishaq/Hisham 990: -
Lest anyone think that cutting off someone's head while screaming 'Allah Akbar!'
is a modern creation, here is an account of that very practice under Muhammad, who
seems to approve.
Ibn Ishaq/Hisham 992: -
"Fight everyone in the way of Allah and kill those who disbelieve in Allah."
Muhammad's instructions to his men prior to a military raid.
Saifur Rahman, The Sealed Nectar
p.227-228 - "Embrace Islam... If you two accept Islam, you will remain
in command of your country; but if your refuse my Call, you’ve got to remember
that all of your possessions are perishable. My horsemen will appropriate your
land, and my Prophethood will assume preponderance over your kingship."
One of several letters from Muhammad to rulers of other countries. The
significance is that the recipients were not making war or threatening Muslims.
Their subsequent defeat and subjugation by Muhammad's armies was justified
merely on the basis of their unbelief.
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Additional Notes:
Other than the fact that Muslims haven't killed
every
non-Muslim under their domain, there is very little else that they can
point to
as proof that theirs is a peaceful, tolerant religion. Where Islam is
dominant (as in the Middle East and Pakistan) religious minorities
suffer brutal
persecution with little resistance. Where Islam is in the minority (as
in
Thailand, the Philippines and Europe) there is the threat of violence if
Muslim demands are not met. Either situation seems to provide a
justification for religious terrorism, which is persistent and endemic
to
Islamic fundamentalism.
The reasons are obvious and begin with the Quran. Few
verses of Islam's most sacred text can be construed to fit the contemporary virtues of religious tolerance
and universal brotherhood. Those that do are earlier "Meccan" verses
which
are obviously abrogated by later ones. This is why Muslim apologists
speak of the "risks" of trying to interpret the
Quran
without their "assistance" - even while claiming that it is a perfect book.
Far from being mere history or theological construct, the
violent verses of the Quran have played a key role in very real massacre and
genocide. This includes the brutal slaughter of tens of millions of
Hindus for five centuries beginning around 1000 AD with Mahmud of Ghazni's
bloody conquest. Both he and the later Tamerlane (Islam's Genghis Khan)
slaughtered an untold number merely for defending their temples from
destruction. Buddhism was very nearly wiped off the Indian
subcontinent. Judaism and Christianity met the same fate (albeit more
slowly) in areas
conquered by Muslim armies, including the Middle East, North Africa and parts of Europe,
including today's Turkey. Zoroastrianism, the ancient religion of a proud Persian
people is despised by Muslims and barely survives in modern Iran.
So ingrained is violence in the religion that Islam has
never really stopped being at war, either with other religions or with itself.
Muhammad was a military leader, laying siege to towns,
massacring the men,
raping their women, enslaving their children, and taking
the property of others as his own. On several occasions he
rejected offers of surrender from the besieged inhabitants and even butchered
captives. He actually inspired his followers to battle when they
did not feel it was right to fight,
promising them slaves and booty if they did and threatening them with Hell if
they did not. Muhammad allowed his men to
rape traumatized women captured in battle, usually on the very day their
husbands and family members were slaughtered.
It is important to emphasize that, for the most part, Muslim armies waged
aggressive campaigns, and the religion's most dramatic military conquests
were made by the actual companions of Muhammad in the decades following his death. The
early Islamic principle of warfare was that the civilian population of a town was
to be destroyed (ie. men executed, women and children taken as slaves) if they
defended themselves. Although modern apologists often claim that
Muslims are only supposed to attack in self-defense, this is an oxymoron
that is
flatly contradicted by the accounts of Islamic historians and others that go back
to the time of Muhammad.
Consider the example of the
Qurayza Jews, who were completely
obliterated only five years after Muhammad arrived in Medina. Their leader
opted to stay neutral when their town was besieged by a Meccan army that
was sent to
take revenge for Muhammad's deadly caravan raids. The tribe killed no one
from either side and even surrendered peacefully to Muhammad after the Meccans
had been turned back. Yet the prophet of Islam had every male member of
the Qurayza beheaded, and every woman and child enslaved, even raping one of the
captives himself (what Muslim apologists might refer to as "same day marriage").
One of Islam's most revered modern scholars, Sheikh Yusuf
al-Qaradawi, openly sanctions offensive Jihad: "In the Jihad which you are
seeking, you look for the enemy and invade him. This type of Jihad
takes place only when the Islamic state is
invading other [countries] in order to spread the word of Islam
and to remove obstacles standing in its way." Elsewhere, he
notes: "Islam has the right to take the initiative…this is God’s religion and it is for the whole
world. It has the right to destroy all obstacles in the form
of institutions and traditions … it attacks institutions and
traditions to release human beings from their poisonous
influences, which distort human nature and curtail human freedom. Those who say that Islamic Jihad was merely for the
defense of the 'homeland of Islam' diminish the greatness of
the Islamic way of life."
The widely respected
Dictionary of Islam
defines Jihad as "A religious war with those who are unbelievers in the
mission of Muhammad. It is an incumbent religious duty, established in the
Qur'an and in the Traditions as a divine institution, and enjoined specially for
the purpose of advancing Islam and of repelling evil from Muslims…[Quoting from
the Hanafi school, Hedaya, 2:140, 141.], "The destruction of the sword is
incurred by infidels, although they be not the first aggressors, as appears
from various passages in the traditions which are generally received to this
effect."
Muhammad's failure to leave a clear
line of succession resulted in perpetual internal war following his death.
Those who knew him best first fought to keep remote tribes from leaving Islam
and reverting to their preferred religion (the Ridda or 'Apostasy wars'). Then, within the closer community,
early Meccan converts battled later ones. Hostility developed between those
immigrants who had traveled with Muhammad to Mecca and the Ansar at Medina who
had helped them settle in. Finally there was a violent struggle within
Muhammad's own family between his favorite wife and favorite daughter - a jagged
schism that has left Shias and Sunnis at each others' throats to this day.
The strangest and most untrue thing that can be
said about
Islam is that it is a Religion of Peace. If every standard by which the
West is judged and condemned (slavery, imperialism, intolerance,
misogyny,
sexual repression, warfare...) were applied equally to Islam, the
verdict would be devastating. Islam never gives up what it conquers, be
it religion,
culture, language or life. Neither does it make apologies or any real
effort at moral progress. It is the least open to dialogue and the most
self-absorbed. It is convinced of its own perfection, yet brutally
shuns
self-examination and represses criticism.
This is what makes the Quran's verses of violence so dangerous.
They are given the weight of divine command. While Muslim terrorists take them as literally as anything else in their
holy book,
and understand that Islam is incomplete without Jihad, moderates offer little to
contradict them - outside of opinion. Indeed, what do they have? Speaking of peace and
love may win over the ignorant, but when every twelfth verse of Islam's holiest
book either speaks to Allah's hatred for non-Muslims or calls for their death,
forced conversion, or subjugation, it's little wonder that sympathy for
terrorism runs as
deeply as it does in the broader community - even if most
Muslims personally prefer not to interpret their religion in this way.
Although scholars like Ibn Khaldun, one of Islam's most
respected philosophers, understood that "the holy war is a religious duty,
because of the universalism of the Muslim mission and (the obligation to)
convert everybody to Islam either by persuasion or by force", many other Muslims are either unaware or willfully
ignorant of the Quran's
near absence of verses that preach universal non-violence. Their
understanding of Islam comes from what they are taught by others. In the
West, it is typical for believers to think that their religion must be
like Christianity - preaching the New Testament virtues of peace, love, and
tolerance - because Muslims are taught that Islam is supposed to be
superior in
every way. They are somewhat surprised and embarrassed to learn that the
evidence of the Quran and the bloody history of Islam are very much in
contradiction to this.
Others simply accept the violence. In 1991, a
Palestinian couple in America was convicted of stabbing their daughter to death
for being too Westernized. A family friend came to their defense,
excoriating the jury for not understanding the "culture", claiming that the
father was merely following "the religion" and saying that the couple had to
"discipline their daughter or lose respect." (source).
In 2011, unrepentant Palestinian terrorists, responsible for the brutal
murders of civilians, women and children
explicitly
in the name of Allah were treated to a luxurious "holy pilgrimage" to Mecca by
the Saudi king - without a single Muslim voice raised in protest.
For their part, Western liberals would do well not to
sacrifice critical thinking to the god of political correctness, or
look for reasons to bring other religion down to the level of Islam merely to
avoid the existential truth that this it is both different and dangerous.
There are just too many Muslims who take the Quran
literally... and too many others who couldn't care less about the
violence done in the name of Islam.
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