Why Jihad, In the Sense of Qital, is Not Taking Place in India? Jihad in Islamic Jurisprudence in Indian Context - Part 3

By Grace Mubashir, New Age Islam 26 September 2022 A Community Of Another Country Entering Into A Treaty With The Head Of State Of One Country Is Equivalent To Two Heads Of State Entering Into A Treaty. Since Our Forefathers Signed An Agreement Then And We Renew It Every Five Years, Our Obligation Is To Live As If Both People Have Equal Rights Without Seeing That All The Other People Of This Country Are Outside Or They Are The Only Ones Inside ----- (This article discusses the jurisprudential discussions on Jihad according to Shafi School of law and Tafsir Razi and other prominent Seerah literature) Part 1 The question arises in the mind of many people why Jihad, in the sense of Qital, is not taking place in India. This article aims to find the answer. Ibn Hajar (may Allah be pleased with him) states the early ruling of Jihad in Al-Tuhfa Volume IX, Chapter 212. “In the early days of Islam, before the Hijra, Jihad was a taboo. Till fourteen years after Nubuwwat and advent of Islam, i.e. 13 years in Makkah and one year in Madinah, Jihad was prohibited through more than 70 verses of the Qur'an.” See al-Baqarah 190. "The call is to fight those who fight you.' It is very clear that only those who fight you are meant. In the second stage Jihad was permitted during the months when fighting was prohibited. And that too only to the belligerent deniers intent on destroying Islam and the Muslims. This permission was given for any level of Jihad against the aforementioned enemies after the conquest of Makkah. Jihad is permitted by the 41st verse of the Surah Tawbah. From this it is clear that during the lifetime of the Messenger of Allah (PBUH) the fate of Jihad was in three stages. Let us move through Surah Anfal and Surah Taubah with the aim of recitation. We should not try to derive the rules of Jihad from Tawbah or Anfal because we are not capable of it. We must follow the rulings that the previous scholars who were able to determine the rules of Jihad, have carefully examined the chapter of Tawbah, the chapter of Anfal, and similar verses and determined from it. Only that can be followed. Just as we have no authority to judge directly from the Qur'an and Hadith on matters of prayer or fasting, neither do we have authority on Jihad. Online self-proclaimed tutors on Islam following literal understanding of religion should be exposed. Allah has divided people into two levels. Those who are capable of making judgments and those who are not. Among the scholars who were able to determine the rulings, those who codified it accurately were Imam Abu Hanifa, Imam Shafi'i, Imam Hambali and Imam Maliki. There are scholars other than these who are capable of determining rulings but we have no authority to follow them as they are not codified. What we should follow is how the scholars who have defined and codified have looked at the Anfal chapter and the Tawbah chapter. The question of why Muslims are waiting is not answered when Anfal chapter and Taubah chapter encourage Jihad so much? Remember that none of the above applies to the Indian situation. We will talk about that later. The Problem of Text & Context Some writers and speakers quote the Qur’anic verses out of context and try to blame Islam for promoting violence and terrorism. They take a “text” and use it outside its “context”. It is just like someone searches through the Bible and picks the following words or sentences to prove that the Bible promotes violence: Chapter 9 (Surah at-Tawbah), verse 12: “Fight the leaders of unbelief” (9:12). This is just part of the whole passage where God talks about the Muslims in Medina and their truce agreement with the unbelievers of Mecca. See verses 12 to 14: “And if they break their oaths after their agreement and revile your religion, then fight the leaders of unbelief –surely their oaths are of no value– so that they may desist” (9:12). “What is the matter with you that you do not fight a people who broke their oaths and aimed at the expulsion of the Prophet [from Mecca], and they attacked you first? Do you fear them? But God is most deserving that you should fear Him, if you are believers” (9:13). “Fight them; God will punish them by your hands and bring them to disgrace, and assist you against them, heal the hearts of a believing people, remove the rage of their hearts, and God turns (mercifully) to whom He pleases, and Allah is Knowing, Wise” (9:14). The context clearly gives the right of defense to the Muslim but, in no way, does it promote aggression. Chapter 9 (Surah at-Tawbah), verse 36: “Fight the polytheists all together” (9:36). In reality, this sentence is part of an entire verse in which God talks about the sacredness of four of the twelve months in which fighting is forbidden. Then it says: “And fight the polytheists all together as they fight you all together; and know that God is with those who guard (evil)” (9:36). The theological and historical documents also support this argument. Seerah of Tabari and Ibn Sa’d’s Kitab al-Tabaqat al-Kabir also points to the ephemeral nature of the verse. Tafseer Jalalyni has also mentioned this fact. Those who like to take this Qur’anic verse out of its context conveniently miss out the part “as they fight you all together”. As you see, this verse is also responding to the aggression started by the polytheists against the Muslims; it does not talk about initiating a war. From these examples, it is quite clear that Islam is not talking about the minor jihad for the sake of aggression; rather it is allowing the Muslims to physically defend their lives, properties, and lands against any aggression, and also to fight for ending tyranny against the oppressed men, women and children. (Tafseer Razi) But contemporaries interpret jihad as simply war. It is completely misleading. As part of this interpretation, many assumed that Jihad was incarnated as a religious law in Madinah. This perception needs to be corrected. Just as the verses dealing with Jihad were revealed in Madinah, so were such verses revealed in Makkah. The greatest Jihad is the Jihad carried out by the Prophet at the time of the emergence of Islam. It is patience. Jihad is of three types. One is Jihad in the heart. By two tongues. Or, Jihad through Speech. Jihad through three wars. It is through Surat al-Furqan that the Qur'an asks the Holy Prophet to perform Jihad in Makkah. (This Surah was completely revealed in Makkah). 'Do not obey the infidels. Wage a mighty Jihad against them. Most Tafseer scholars also say that this surah is in Makkah. Prominent among them are Ibn Zubair, Hasanul Baswari, Ikrima, Atwa and Jabir (ra). (According to Ibn Abbas, verses 95, 96, 97 of this surah are not in Makkah.) Jihad is mentioned here in the Makkah verse. The interest of the Hijra mentioned in this verse is about the Hijra who went to Habsinia. In the context of these verses, the Jihad that should be given the most importance is the Jihad carried out by the Prophet and his Companions in the early stages of Islam. It is the feeling towards the Makkah polytheists. It is to invite them to the path of truth. Prophet’s Jihad in Mecca was a most distinguished preaching mission to show the futility of the religious beliefs their forefathers preached. Therefore, the word of truth is the most essential type of Jihad. Allah described this Jihad as Jihad ul Kabira. Or it means to wage Jihad against them with the Qur'an and the intellectual precepts put forward by the Qur'an. This Qur'anic document is supported by a verse. The best Jihad is to speak truthfully to an oppressive king. It can be seen in another Hadees. Jihad against one's own soul in the cause of Allah is the best Jihad. The Sahabah raised this question when he was in Madinah (Which is the best Jihad?) The Jihad of telling the truth, living with patience, and fighting against the soul can be likened to food, and Jihad by war to medicine. Because medicine becomes necessary only when disease occurs. So is war jihad. But among contemporaries, when they say Jihad, they understand that it is a strategy of war. There is jihad based on war. Jihud al-Qital is Jihad when many conditions are met. It is very clear in the Hadees. Despite saying that the best Jihad is to speak the truth, many people widely misapply Jihad as an act of war without any authentic evidence. There was no militant jihad in Makkah. Umar's raising his sword when he left for Hijra cannot be counted as part of Jihad. It is part of the ‘sial’. Or fighting for self-preservation. This form of Jihad existed when the Holy Prophet reached Madinah. In other words, the core elements of Jihad remained unchanged in His life in Madinah. An Islamic social atmosphere becomes present in the Madinah life. Moreover, a system was established in Madinah that made the very existence of Muslims possible. Muslims are obliged to protect it. Jihad Is Internal Struggle for Purification Jihad is commanded only against those who fight with you or those who are of that state of mind. Then the Dhimmi Kafir (disbelievers who are friends with Muslims) will not be included in this. A belligerent disbeliever who has been given refuge by a Muslim or nation, known as a 'Musta'min', cannot wage Jihad until the end of the period of refuge granted. Then they too will not fall into this fate. This does not include a citizen of a nation that entered into a non-combat truce, known as a "Mu'ahid". Once a truce is made, it is obligatory for all the people of the nation to keep that truce with each other. The difference between a Musta'min and a Mu'ahid is that even a mere citizen of a Muslim country can give refuge to a Musta'min. Even after the Prophet's (PBUH) daughter Zainab (RA) became a Muslim, the wife's husband remained hostile to the Muslims. He came to Madinah in the sixth year of Hijra for a purpose. At that time Zainab Biwi announced that I had given shelter. It was announced by a woman who is a citizen of a Muslim country. The moment Allah's Messenger (may peace be upon him) heard this, he said: If a person of our nation, be it a man or a woman, gives shelter, it is incumbent on everyone to follow it. But truce (Ahd) can be made only by a head of state. The Prophet (PBUH) had made peace with the polytheists before the declaration of deliverance from the polytheists and those who entered into a covenant. At that time, Muslims used to travel in Makkah and polytheists in Madinah. (Tafsir Razi) Come to think of it, Jihad is not something that humans can do on their own like prayer or fasting. It should be done very carefully looking at the terms. Farz Kifaya comes only if we stand in our country and the polytheists in their country and we do not make peace with them and fall within the scope of the "disbelievers who are belligerent to you" and our membership reaches exactly half of their membership. Part 2 Indian Situation If you look at the Indian situation, it is not a place where Muslims and non-Muslims stand as two nations. In 1947, Mountbatten divided India into two countries, Pakistan and the Indian Union. Mountbatten declared that due to the many communal riots, India was divided into two and those who liked could choose the place they liked. Almost 100 percent of the Muslims in Pakistan stayed in Pakistan. At the same time, the Muslims in India divided into two groups, one group went to Pakistan, mainly Karachi, and the other remained in India. Leaders like Abul Kalam Azad, Fakhruddin Ali Ahmad, Muhammad Ismail Sahib and Ansari who belonged to the Muslim community at that time saw Nehru as the representative of all the Indian people including Muslims and assured them that they would stay here and fully accept the government. At that time, Nehru replied, "We intend to take this country in a socialist manner. Here no one gets preference on account of religion. No one should take the law into their own hands here. Everyone should follow the rules here. The Muslim leaders promised to comply with all this. The first Lok Sabha elections were between those who supported and those who did not support the constitution drafted under the leadership of Ambedkar. The supporters were represented by Nehru and the non-supporters were represented by the Hindu Mahasabha. In the first election in 1951, our forefathers, the Muslims, voted for the candidates who were fielded by Nehru-led Congress. That vote does not mean that I supported that candidate, it means my support for the constitution. It means that the constitution can be supported by following the laws of this country. The Lok Sabha elections are renewed every five years after the agreement of mandate was made then. It is ostensibly a vote for a candidate, but in reality it is a vote for the Constitution. A community of another country entering into a treaty with the head of state of one country is equivalent to two heads of state entering into a treaty. Since our forefathers signed an agreement then and we renew it every five years, our obligation is to live as if both people have equal rights without seeing that all the other people of this country are outside or they are the only ones inside. This is how Allah's Messenger (PBUH) lived with the Jews for the first six years after he arrived in Madinah. Madinah then belonged to both Muslims and Jews. After the Battle of Ahzab, the Jews committed treason and broke away from that covenant. Our present responsibility is to fulfil our personal, social and international covenants. So our responsibility is to abide by the agreement that our forefathers accepted the constitution. This means and that even if some aggressors take the law into their hands, we will not take the law into our own hands. In many places in the Qur'an, it is said that it is our responsibility to keep the covenant. If we ask why Jamaat-e-Islami or their zealous Brotherhood or those who follow their path are working against all this, it is like this: we do not need Fiqh to find out the Farz and condition of prayer. They do not need Fiqh to judge Jihad as they have decided that only Quran and Sunnah are sufficient. They fell into the mistake of believing that the translation of the Tawbah chapter and the Anfal chapter was enough. We cannot accept that. We should only follow the Imams who are able to judge by looking at the Qur'an and the Sunnah and come forward with their results. And no one should join the ranks of those who form new parties and hold secret meetings at night. Inapplicability of wartime instructions after the war is over. In every war, defensive or for some reason offensive, instructions are given to kill the adversary. But these instructions become infructuous once the war is over. These are contextual, not universal. That is why Shaan e Nozool or context of all verses is taught in madrasas. ----- A regular columnist for NewAgeIslam.com, Mubashir V.P is a PhD scholar in Islamic Studies at Jamia Millia Islamia and freelance journalist. Part One of the Article: What is Jihad? How has it got conflated with the Christian concept of Crusade or Holy War? - Part 1 Part Two of the Article: Jihad Is Not Holy War: Allah Asked the Prophet to Perform Jihad through Preaching Quran - Part 2 URL: https://newageislam.com/radical-islamism-jihad/jihad-qital-india-islamic-jurisprudence-part-3/d/128037 New Age Islam, Islam Online, Islamic Website, African Muslim News, Arab World News, South Asia News, Indian Muslim News, World Muslim News, Women in Islam, Islamic Feminism, Arab Women, Women In Arab, Islamophobia in America, Muslim Women in West, Islam Women and Feminism