By Ghulam Ghaus Siddiqi, New Age
Islam
06 May 2019
Islam does not allow destruction of places
of worship, but rather it guarantees the protection of churches, temples and
other houses of worship belonging to non-Muslims both within and outside
Islamic lands. The beloved Prophet (peace be upon him) granted a constitutional
status this protection through his commands, contracts, agreements and accords.
The religious rights and freedoms granted by the Prophet to the people of
Najran are notable and a solid proof in this regard.
The Prophet (peace be upon him) is reported
to have said,
“Indeed, Najran
and her allies are under the protection of God and the guarantee of the
Messenger of God. They are to be protected in their wealth, lives, lands and
religion. This includes their priests, monks, those who are present amongst
them and those who are absent and others amongst them, and their delegations
and the like. They shall not be forced to change that (faith) which they are
upon and no right of theirs is to be forfeited. No monk, priest or attendant
amongst them should lose that which is in his possession, be it plentiful or
scarce, and no fear or danger will threaten them” (This Hadith cited by Imam
Abu Yusuf Hanafi in al-Kharaj, 78)
During the caliphate of Hazrat Abu Bakr
al-Siddiq, the non-Muslims enjoyed similar rights as their Muslim counterparts.
Whenever any army left for a military expedition, Hazrat Abu Bakr would give
special instructions to the commander of the army, “Do not spread corruption in
the earth and do not disobey orders….Do not drown or burn date-palm trees. Do
not kill any animal. Do not cut down a fruit-bearing tree. Do not demolish a
church. Do not kill any children, old people or women. Soon you shall come upon
people who have secluded themselves in cloisters; leave them to engage in that
for whose sake they have secluded themselves” (narrated by Imam Bayhaqi in Sunan
Al-Kubra, Imam Malik in Muwatta etc)
When Hazrat Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased
with him) sent Yazid b. Abi Sufyan to Syria, he said, “Do not demolish any
place of worship…and do not kill an old, feeble man or an infant or a child or
a woman” (Narrated by Imam Bayhaqi in Sunan Kubra)
According to a tradition cited by Imam
Shaybani, Hazrat Umar bin Abd al-Aziz used to instruct his officials, saying,
“Do not demolish
any church, cloister or Zoroastrian temple” (Kitab al-Hujja ala Ahl al-Madina
and Imam Shafi’I in Kitab al-Umm 7:320)
A Quranic verse 22:40 is also quoted by
classical jurists and Mufasserin in order to substantiate the view that
Muslims are prohibited from damaging or destroying the places of worship
belonging to non-Muslims with whom there is a treaty both within and outside
Islamic lands.
Allah Almighty says in the verse,
“[They are]
those who have been evicted from their homes without right - only because they
say, "Our Lord is Allah." And were it not that Allah checks the
people, some by means of others, there would have been demolished monasteries,
churches, synagogues, and mosques in which the name of Allah is much mentioned.
And Allah will surely support those who support Him. Indeed, Allah is Powerful
and Exalted in Might.” (22:40)
Hazrat Hasan Al-Basri comments on this
Ayat, saying: يُدْفَعُ
عَنْ هَدْمِ مُصَلَّيَاتِ أَهْلِ الذِّمَّةِ بِالْمُؤْمِنِينَ (translation) “The houses
of worship for non-Muslim civilians shall be defended by the believers” (Ahkam
Al-Quran by Imam Al-Jassas 5/83)
Imam Qurtubi wrote in his book of
Tafsir, قَالَ ابْنُ خُوَيْزِ مَنْدَادَ تَضَمَّنَتْ
هَذِهِ الْآيَةُ الْمَنْعَ مِنْ هَدْمِ كَنَائِسِ أَهْلِ الذِّمَّةِ وَبِيَعِهِمْ وَبُيُوتِ
نِيرَانِهِمْ
translation: “Ibn Khuwaiz said: This Quranic verse includes the prohibition of
demolishing the churches of non-Muslim citizens, their temples, and their
places of worship” (Tafseer Al-Qurtubi 22:40)
The covenant of Hazrat Umar Ibn Al-Khattab,
the second caliph of Islam, which guaranteed the safety of Christians in
Jerusalem, their lives, their property, their places of worship is recorded by
Imam Tabari as follows:
بسم اللَّه
الرحمن الرحيم هذا ما أعطى عبد اللَّه عمر أمير المؤمنين أهل إيلياء من الأمان أعطاهم
أمانا لأنفسهم وأموالهم ولكنائسهم وصلبانهم وسقيمها وبريئها وسائر ملتها أنه لا تسكن
كنائسهم ولا تهدم ولا ينتقص منها ولا من حيزها ولا من صليبهم ولا من شيء من أموالهم
ولا يكرهون على دينهم ولا يضار أحد منهم
“In
the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful, This is what is granted
of security by the servant of Allah, Umar, the commander of the faithful, to
the people of Jerusalem. He grants them safety for their lives, their property,
their churches, and their crucifixes, for their ill, their healthy, and their
entire community. Their churches will not be occupied, demolished, or reduced
in number. Their churches and crucifixes will not be desecrated and neither
anything else of their property. They will not be coerced to abandon their
religion and none of them will be harmed” (Tareekh At-Tabari 2/449)
According to a popularly cited incident, an
Umayyad ruler Walid b. Abd al-Malik captured a piece of property that belonged
to the Church of Damascus and made it a part of a mosque. When Hazrat Umar b.
Abd al-Aziz got this news, he commanded the demolition of that part of the
mosque and that it be returned to the Christians. One of the relevant reports
is cited as follows;
لما استخلف عمر بن عبد العزيز رضي الله عنه،
شكى النصارى إليه ما فعل الوليد بهم في كنسيتهم فكتب إلى عامله يأمره برد ما زاده في
المسجد
Translation: “When Hazrat Umar b. Abd
al-Aziz (may Allah be pleased with him) became the Caliph, the Christians
complained to him about Walid’s seizure of the property of a church. Hazrat
Umar dictated orders to his governor there, commanding him to return to the
Christians the portion that was added to the mosque” (See Futhul Buldan p.150)
The afore-mentioned evidences are notable
and substantiate the view that Islam does not allow destruction of houses of
worship belonging to Non-Muslims both within and outside Islamic lands, or
during peace-time or war-time. The radical ‘Islamist’ individuals associated
with ISIS or any other extremist groups, who justify destruction of houses of
worship, should learn the lesson of this article and introspect to diagnose
their faults that they are making in the name of Islam and by demolishing
houses of worship. The act of destructing houses of worship is an act of
transgression and therefore they should return from acts of transgression and
seek Tauba, otherwise they will be among those to which this verse is applied,
“Allah does not like the transgressors” (2:190). The Divine punishment for
transgressors is mentioned in several verses of the Quran, for example 5:87/7:55/10/74/2:61/2:65).
Those who want to join ISIS any other
radical ‘Islamist’ groups should consider this Quranic verse too, which reads,
“...And do not let the hatred of a people for having obstructed you from
al-Masjid al-Haram lead you to transgress. And cooperate in righteousness and
piety, but do not cooperate in sin and aggression. And fear Allah; indeed,
Allah is severe in penalty” (5:2). They should consider that they are going to
cooperate in sin, aggression and transgression, for which they will have to
face severe penalty.
A regular Columnist with NewAgeIslam.com, Ghulam Ghaus Siddiqi Dehlvi is
an Alim and Fazil (Classical Islamic scholar), with a Sufi-Sunni background and
English-Arabic-Urdu Translator. He has also done B.A (Hons.) in Arabic, M.A. in
Arabic and M.A in English from JMI, New Delhi. He is Interested in Islamic
Sciences; Theology, Jurisprudence, Tafsir, Hadith and Islamic mysticism
(Tasawwuf).
10:21 AM
Moderate Islamist here
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