Allah’s Divine Plan in Sending Messengers – Impressionistic Vs Analytical View

By Naseer Ahmed, New Age Islam 16 August 2024 It Is Also A Mistaken Belief That Prophet Muhammad Was Fighting Battles Against The Disbelievers To End Disbelief. When Allah Did Not Destroy Anyone For Merely Disbelieving, Prophet Muhammad Could Not Have Been Fighting Against Disbelief. Indeed, No Verse Of The Quran Commands Fighting Against Disbelief. The Only Justification For Fighting In The Quran Is To End Oppression. ------ The stories of prophets oft repeated in the Quran during the first 13 years of the Meccan period are the stories of Noah, Lut, Moses, Hud, Salih, and Shoaib peace be upon all of them. What is common in these oft-repeated stories is that the people actively opposed the Prophets and tried to harm them and their followers or were intransigent rejecters of the Message. An act of God utterly destroyed these rejecters. There are 86 Surahs of the Meccan period, and the stories of these prophets are found in 32 of these Surahs, in varying detail. These are the only stories repeated in the Quran, some of which overlap with the story told elsewhere, and additional information not found in other Surahs or only a summary of the story related in greater detail elsewhere. It's important to note that the stories of Prophet Yusuf, Elias, and Yunus, which are told only once in the Meccan Surahs, present significant exceptions. Their people were not destroyed. In the case of Prophet Yunus, all the people accepted Islam. In the case of Prophet Elias, most people rejected him. In the case of Prophet Yusuf, the story is silent on this matter, possibly because he was not sent as a Rasool but as a Nabi. These exceptions are crucial in understanding Allah’s Divine Plan and should not be overlooked. However, since the stories of the Prophets whose people were destroyed are repeated 32 times, they form the dominant narrative, from which the scholars have drawn erroneous conclusions, ignoring the exceptions. Javed Ghamidi’s understanding of Allah’s Divine Plan In Javed Ghamidi’s Al-Mawrid publication, “Playing God: Misreading a Divine Practice”, the author Shehzad Saleem, an associate of Ghamidi writes as follows: “To understand divine religions, it is essential to comprehend a particular unalterable practice of God. This practice is a divine scheme devised and executed by God through natural disasters or His messengers and followers. God, through natural disasters or His messengers, punishes and humiliates in this very world. They are the foremost and direct addressees who deliberately deny the truth communicated to them by their respective messengers and reward those among them who adhere to the truth. When this humiliation occurs through the messengers and their followers, they act as nothing but divine weapons. It is God’s retribution carried out by God Himself. This worldly retribution aims to make mankind mindful of the most important reality it tends to forget: reward and punishment based on a person’s deeds in the Hereafter. This reward and punishment to take place in the Hereafter is substantiated visually by the Almighty through the agency of His messengers so that mankind may always remain heedful to this reality. The court of justice, which will be set up for every person on the Day of Judgement, was set up for the nations of messengers in this world so that the latter could become a visual testimony to the former. To put it another way: before the advent of the greater Day of Judgement, several lesser days of Judgement were brought about in this world in which people were rewarded and punished based on their deeds so that they could become visual evidence to the judgement that will take place in the Hereafter. The details of this practice abound in the Qur’an. Although faint references to this divine practice can be found in the works of our previous scholars, Hamid al-Din al-Farahi (1863-1930) was the first person to point out this divine practice concretely. Later, his pupil Amin Ahsan Islahi (1904-1997) consolidated the views of his mentor by providing copious references from the Qur’an in his Tafseer Tadabbur-i Qur’an. Javed Ahmad Ghamidi (b. 1951), a pupil of Islahi, has developed the views of his two illustrious predecessors and has enunciated precise details of this divine practice.” The above is a very dramatic, impressive, and persuasive theory, except that it is not mindful of all the facts and, therefore, is defective. What it says is that every prophetic mission ended with the complete annihilation of the disbelievers by an act of God and, in the case of Muhammad (PBUH), by the sword of man. According to these scholars, it couldn’t be otherwise because this formed Allah’s unaltering practice through the ages. Ghamidi, being a moderate, however, warns that the killing of all the Mushrikin by the sword of man in the case of the last Prophet should not be taken as his Sunnat to be followed by later Muslims. Only the prophets can be instruments of God’s punishment in this manner and not ordinary folks. He is propounding a theory of exceptionalism. He is wrong. The Prophet did not kill any of the Mushrikin, as punishment, as we will see later. He says: “However, many scholars have misread this practice of God; they have regarded it to be a part of the Shari’ah, and as a result, think that after the departure of the Prophet (sws), later Muslims too have the right to punish and subjugate people who deny the truth. Due to this misreading, many other erroneous inferences have also resulted. Matters to be left to God have been taken up by human beings. In this manner, they are now guilty of inadvertently playing God.” He further describes the Prophet’s mission in three phases as follows: i. The Propagation Phase In this phase (Propagation), the messengers of Allah never use force or retaliate against any oppression or persecution encountered. After thirteen long years of propagation and exhortation, the leaders of the Quraysh had refused the calls of sense and reason. Their denial was based on nothing but stubbornness even though the truth had been revealed to them in its purest form. The last verse of the Sûrah Al_Kafirun,” [So, now] to you your religion and to me mine.” (109:1-6) it must be appreciated, is not an expression of tolerance; it expresses renunciation on the part of the Prophet (sws) and a warning to the disbelievers that they must now get ready to face the consequences of their obdurate denial. ii. The Acquittal Phase iii. The Judgement Phase In this case, a messenger and his companions subdue their nation by force and execute them if they do not accept faith. The Punishment It should be remembered that as per the divine practice discussed in the previous pages, the Idolaters and the People of the Book had become worthy of death after intentionally denying the truth. However, the Almighty selectively awarded death to them. While the active adversaries of both denominations were put to death, the People of the Book were spared if they lived in subjugation to the Muslims, and the Idolaters were not given this option: they had to accept Islam or face death.” Javed Ghamidi is sure that in every case, a Prophetic mission ends with the destruction of the disbelievers by an act of God and, in the case of Muhammad (PBUH), through the sword of man. My Analysis Ghamidi and his predecessors ignored the exceptions where the Prophetic missions did not end in the destruction of the disbelievers. Prophet Elias’s story is a very clear exception. Nor did Allah destroy all the disbelievers in Egypt at the end of Moses's mission, but only those who followed him into the sea to kill him. Neither was Moses's mission to make the people accept Islam but to free the enslaved Children of Israel. In the case of the people of Lut, we do not even know whether they were believers or disbelievers. They rebelled against Lut and tried to harm him. Therefore, I analysed what was common to the prophetic missions at the end of which those who continued defying the prophet were destroyed. The following is the finding: What is common to all these stories is that the people rejected the Messenger, actively opposed him and hindered or otherwise persecuted those who followed him. They also mocked and taunted the Messenger, asking him to bring down the punishment of Allah that the Messenger had repeatedly warned about. These Messengers also prayed to Allah to deliver them and their followers from the violent rejecters. Those who heeded the Messenger and Allah’s message were saved, and the rest were destroyed by an act of Allah “to accomplish that of which they were in doubt” (15:53). It is, therefore, not the rejection of the Messenger or any other crimes/sins that the people practised that resulted in their destruction. It was their violent opposition and persecution of the Messenger and his followers, culminating in taunting Allah and His Messenger that if they were speaking the truth, they should bring about the punishment that they had warned. Therefore, only the people who asked for the punishment got punished. In the case of the people of Elias, although they rejected him, they may have done it peacefully and were not destroyed. Muhammad’s (PBUH) Prophetic Mission In the case of the prophetic mission of Muhammad, the violent rejecters were only a few, and the passive non-believers were many. These violent rejecters alone are addressed in Surah 109 as Kafirun. The violent rejecters also asked for the punishment to descend but Allah did not send His punishment on all the disbelievers since many were only passive disbelievers “who could yet seek pardon”. Allah punished the few violent rejecters with the sword of the Muslims in battle. Most accepted Islam after their violent and cruel leaders were eliminated and whose fear had perhaps prevented them from accepting Islam earlier. (8:32) Remember how they said: "O Allah if this is indeed the Truth from Thee, rain down on us a shower of stones form the sky, or send us a grievous penalty."(33) But Allah was not going to send them a penalty whilst thou wast amongst them; nor was He going to send it whilst they could ask for pardon.(34) But what plea have they that Allah should not punish them, when they keep out (men) from the sacred Mosque - and they are not its guardians? No men can be its guardians except the righteous; but most of them do not understand. So apart from the disbelievers daring the Messenger to bring down the punishment, the other condition to be satisfied for their destruction was that there remain none among them who could yet seek pardon. The following verse also confirms this: (11:36) It was revealed to Noah: "None of thy people will believe except those who have believed already! So grieve no longer over their (evil) deeds. This was the case with the people of Lut. The decision to destroy all except Lut and his daughters was taken even before the Messengers (Angels) sent for it reached Lut. (11:76, 15:57-67) It is only when the people reach a point of no return that they are referred to as Kafir in the Quran. The Kafirin are not every disbeliever, but those who oppose Allah and His Deen and reach a point from where they will not return to the Deen of Allah. Abu Lahab and his wife are examples of such kafirin on whom the punishment of Hell in the Hereafter is declared a decade before their death in Surah 111. The others are Abu Jahl in Surah 96 and Walid-ibn-Mughiyrah in Surah 68, referred to indirectly and not by name and Pharaoh in verse 10:88. It is also a mistaken belief that Prophet Muhammad was fighting battles against the disbelievers to end disbelief. When Allah did not destroy anyone for merely disbelieving, Prophet Muhammad could not have been fighting against disbelief. Indeed, no verse of the Quran commands fighting against disbelief. The only justification for fighting in the Quran is to end oppression. Moreover, it is evident from the verses of Surah Taubah that some Mushrikin remained well beyond the Prophet’s death as jiziya paying citizens. The End of Muhammad’s (PBUH) Prophetic Mission The proclamation of the severing of treaties and four months of amnesty is made on the day of Haj. This was the last Haj in which the Musrikin were allowed in the Sacred Mosque. The next Haj was the Prophet’s farewell Haj; he died a few months later. (9:11) A (declaration) of immunity from Allah and His Messenger, to those of the Mushrikins with whom ye have contracted mutual alliances:- (2) Go ye, then, for four months, backwards and forwards, (as ye will), throughout the land, but know ye that ye cannot frustrate Allah (by your falsehood) but that Allah will cover with shame the Kafirin. (3) And an announcement from Allah and His Messenger, to the people (assembled) on the day of the Great Pilgrimage,- that Allah and His Messenger dissolve (treaty) obligations with the Mushrikins. If then, ye repent, it were best for you; but if ye turn away, know ye that ye cannot frustrate Allah. And proclaim a grievous penalty to the Kafaru. (4) (But the treaties are) not dissolved with those Mushrikins with whom ye have entered into alliance and who have not subsequently failed you in aught, nor aided any one against you. So fulfil your engagements with them to the end of their term: for Allah loveth the righteous. (5) But when the forbidden months are past, then fight and slay the Mushrikins wherever ye find them, an seize them, beleaguer them, and lie in wait for them in every stratagem (of war); but if they repent, and establish regular prayers and practise regular charity, then open the way for them: for Allah is Oft-forgiving, Most Merciful. (6) If one amongst the Mushrikins ask thee for asylum, grant it to him, so that he may hear the word of Allah; and then escort him to where he can be secure. That is because they are men without knowledge……. The Mushrikin who had fought in contravention of their treaty were to be killed as per verse 9:5 but were allowed four months of amnesty, during which they could move about freely and migrate to a neighbouring country to save themselves or accept Islam or get killed. With such a generous judgment, no one remained to be killed. What About the Mushrikin-Covered By 9:4? Verse 9:28 bans the Mushrikin covered by 9:4 and 9:6 from the Sacred Mosque from the next Haj, which was the Prophet’s farewell pilgrimage. The treaty of Hudaibiyya was contracted less than three years earlier and had another seven years remaining. The Prophet died less than two years after this date, five years before the expiry of the treaty. The Quran is silent about what is to be done with the Mushrikin at the end of the treaty because there is no need to say anything. As per verse 9:29, they became jiziya paying citizens. (28) O ye who believe! Truly the Mushrikins are unclean; so let them not, after this year of theirs, approach the Sacred Mosque. And if ye fear poverty, soon will Allah enrich you, if He wills, out of His bounty, for Allah is All-knowing, All-wise. (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. Going by the literal meaning of the verses, it is clear that not every Mushrikin was to be killed, and it would appear that none were killed as per 9:5 because they could escape the punishment by choosing exile or accepting Islam. Javed Ghamidi and his predecessors have got the story wrong; they are not analytical in their approach but are led by an impressionistic understanding of the Quran. A defective but impressive theory proposed by Hamid al-Din al-Farahi (1863-1930) of Allah’s unalterable practice of God has become dogma, which has led to the false belief that the disbelievers can be killed for their disbelief. Why Do Flawed Theories Survive? The longevity of the theory of Allah’s Unalterable Plan is all the more remarkable because it is seriously flawed. The mystery is how a theory of Allah’s unalterable Plan that is vulnerable to such apparent counterexamples such as the Prophetic mission of Elias and the explicit verses that show that the Mushrikin, who were not war criminals could live as Jiziya paying citizens, survived for so long. Daniel Kahneman calls it theory-induced blindness: “once you have accepted a theory and used it as a tool in your thinking, it is extraordinarily difficult to notice its flaws. If you come upon an observation that does not seem to fit the model, you assume that there must be a perfectly good explanation that you are somehow missing. You give the theory the benefit of the doubt, trusting the community of experts who have accepted it.” In this case, it is more than theory-induced blindness. The theory itself is perhaps induced by the following hadith in the two Sahihs in which the Prophet (pbuh) is alleged to have said: “I was commanded to fight against the people until they proclaim, `There is no deity worthy of worship except Allah.' If and when they say it, they will preserve their blood and wealth from me, except for its right (Islamic penal code), and their reckoning is with Allah, the Exalted and Most Honoured." The abovementioned Hadith has not only distorted the message of the Quran but made Muslims believe in a false history of early Islam for which there is no evidence. It is believed, perhaps by all scholars, that the Christians and the Jews under the political authority of the Prophet (pbuh) were given the option to pay Jizya or face war, but the polytheists had no choice but to accept Islam or be killed. They disregard 9:28 which anticipates the presence of the Mushrikin beyond the four-month amnesty period and as per 9:4, for another seven years. Many scholars may have entertained doubts, but they did not pursue the idea to the point of saying, “This theory is seriously wrong because it ignores the fact that Prophet Elias’s mission did not end up the same as that of Prophets Nuh, Lut, Shoiab and Hud and clearly verse 9:4 read with 9:28 and 9:29 anticipate the presence of Mushrikin for another seven years. As the psychologist Daniel Gilbert observed, disbelieving is hard work, and the analytical brain is quickly tired. ----- A frequent contributor to NewAgeIslam.com, Naseer Ahmed is an Engineering graduate from IIT Kanpur and is an independent IT consultant after having served in both the Public and Private sector in responsible positions for over three decades. He has spent years studying Quran in-depth and made seminal contributions to its interpretation. 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