By Badruddoja Razvi Misbahi, New Age Islam
(Translated from Urdu by Newageislam.com)
Explaining the Verses of Jihad (2:191, 4:89, 9:1, 9:14) out of 26 Verses Presented by Wasim Rizvi in Supreme Court
Main points discussed in part 7
1. The verses of Jihad refer to defensive war and not to aggressive one
2. Understanding these verses out of context might create confusion and misunderstanding
3. Verse 2:191 commands the believers to fight in defense against the aggression of enemies and not to fight in aggression
4. Verse 4:89 denote fighting the hypocrites who betrayed to join the enemies
5. Most verses of Jihad as mentioned in Surah Tawbah refer to fighting those infidels and polytheists who had broken the peace-treaty and initiated war against the Muslims. They don’t encourage to fight the brothers of the homeland.
(8) “And kill them wherever you find them and drive them out from where they drove you out, and their mischief is worse than killing, and do not fight them near the Sacred Mosque until they fight you there and if they fight you, kill them. That is the recompense of the disbelievers. (2:191)
(9) “They wish that you should disbelieve, as they disbelieved, so that you may all be one. So do not take anyone as a friend until they leave the house in the way of Allah. If they turn away, then seize them and kill them and do not take any of them as a friend or helper.” (4:89)
(10) “Verily, Allah has bought from the Muslims their property and their lives in exchange for Paradise for them. they fight in the cause of Allah, they kill and die. The true promise is upon His mercy in the Torah and the Gospel and the Qur'an. Who will fulfil the most than Allah? Rejoice in the bargain which you have made with Him, and that is the great attainment. (9:1)
(11) “So fight them, Allah will chastise them with your hands and disgrace them and will help you against them and will cool the hearts of the believers.” (9:14)
The aforementioned four verses are also blamed for inciting violence and hatred (may Allah protect us from such blaming). The command of fighting is mentioned in these four verses, therefore, we have included these verses together in the contents of this part.
Before discussing these verses, let us make it clear to the non-Muslim brothers of the country and followers of Islam that if you ponder, with honesty, over the meaning, denotation, cause of revelation and context of these verses, deviating from prejudice, it will become clear to you that these verses denote the meaning of defensive war and teaching a lesson to the disbelievers and polytheists as a result of their violation of the treaty. None of these verses commands or allows the believers to take aggressive and unlawful actions against their rivals.
There are many verses in the Holy Qur'an that are so deeply connected with their preceding and following verses and contexts that unless they are taken into account, it is very difficult to understand their meaning. Many verses, if not connected with their preceding and following verses, might stand completely as opposed to the intended meaning. For the comprehension of this interpretative rule, let us see a clear example;
Who does not know that prayer (salah) is obligatory on every sane and mature Muslim? This has been emphatically enjoined in the Qur'an and Hadith, for example,
“And establish prayer” (2:43)
“Establish prayer” (17:78)
“Maintain with care the [obligatory] prayers” (2:238)
In the same way, the virtue and usefulness of Namaz (prayer/salah) have been highlighted in the Ahadith (plural of hadith) to such an extent that it has been declared one of the significant pillars of Islam. Now, declaring war against the Quran, if people like Wasim Rizvi say that it (commanding the believers to establish prayer) is wrong as the message of Allah cannot be of two kinds, and hence these verses should be deleted from the Qur'an because the Qur'an clearly says, “O believers! Do not approach the prayer” (4:43). So will the brothers of the homeland or the supreme court of our country not understand the clever trick of Wasim Rizvi?
Will they blindly believe his trick and announce the decision that Muslims should not go near the prayers from today? Will they not disclose the cunning veil of Wasim Rizvi by declaring that Wasim Rizvi is throwing dust in the eyes of the world? Will they not reveal that he has cunningly ignored the part of the verse “while you are intoxicated” that comes after the words “do not approach prayer” and that the full verse is as follows;
“O you who have believed, do not approach prayer while you are intoxicated until you know what you are saying….” (4:43)
Understanding the Qur'an is not easy work. This requires divine help and blessing.
You must have understood from what I have said that the willful meaning has been forged here with great skill and dishonesty. There was needed to present the full context of the verse, but the act of pruning was demonstrated with great ingenuity, which strictly violates the requirement of honesty. After such an explanation, now we will present to you the true meaning of these verses with the context in the light of authentic commentaries so that the brothers of the homeland can remove their confusion or misunderstanding about these verses, if they have, though a little bit.
The verse (2:191) mentioned first at the beginning of this seventh part is contextually related to its previous verse 2:190. The meaning of verse 2:191 cannot be understood properly unless verse 2:190 is considered carefully. Therefore, to make you understand the meaning of verse 2:191, we are presenting to you verse 2:190 with its meaning and cause of revelation.
The Quranic verse which comes before verse 2:191 “And kills them wherever you find them…” is as follows;
“And fight in the cause of Allah those who fight against you, and do not exceed the limits. For Allah does not like those who exceed the limits” (2:190)
Now if you read verse 2:191 along with verse 2:190, the confusion that Wasim Rizvi is creating will automatically go away and it will become clear to you that this verse does not command aggression against the enemy, but rather the believers are commanded to defend themselves against the aggression of the enemy, as it is clearly stated in this verse that “you should fight those who fight you in the cause of Allah” and at the same time, they are being warned that “you should not exceed the limits”, that is, you should not violate human rights by initiating war, killing any Mu’ahid (peaceful non-Muslim living under the treaty of peace), or by waging a surprise attack, or by mutilating the enemy’s body in the state of war, or by killing those whose killing is forbidden in Islam, such as women, children, old and monks etc. And then the believers are warned that they should keep in their minds that ‘Allah does not like the transgressors, as the author of Tafsir-e-Abi Saud writes in the commentary of the verse “fight those who fight you in the cause of Allah”:
“It means to fight those who are showing enmity by waging war against you and those who are expected to attack you. It does not mean that you should fight against those who don’t fight you, such as old, children, monks and women”.
The author further writes in the commentary of “la ta’taddu (do not exceed the limits)”:
“And do not exceed the limits by initiating war or killing the mu’ahid, or by surprise attack or mutilation and by killing those whose killing is forbidden, such as women, children and so on” (Tafsir-e-Abi Saud, vol. 1, p.204)
And the same interpretation has been done in a popular classical commentary of the Quran “Tafsir-e-Madarik”. Then Allah says that if your enemies initiate the war against you, break the covenant after accepting it, then you can “kill them wherever you find them” in your defence and expel them from their homes as they drove you out of your homes (Makkah).
It has become clear that Muslims are commanded in this verse to fight and defend themselves against human-rights violators and aggressors. The right to defence is a right given to everyone even in today's world and all the governments of the world teach the same lesson.
And let me also tell you that the revelation of verses 190 and 191 of chapter 2 (Surah Baqarah) took place after the peace treaty signed in 6 AH between the Holy Prophet (peace be upon him) and the polytheists of Makkah at the place of Hudaybiyah which is now called "Shamesi" located at a distance of 22 or 23 kilometres from Makkah. Historically this treaty is known as “Suleh Hudaybiyyah” (peace treaty of Hudaybiyyah). Following this treaty, the Muslims returned to Madinah from Hudaybiyyah (Shamesi) without performing Umrah. When as per the treaty they were ready to come to Makkah for Umrah next year, they feared that the polytheists of Makkah would not abide by this agreement and would fight the Muslims in the Haram in the Sacred City, which was displeasing to the Muslims. Then this verse was revealed and Allah permitted the believers that if the polytheists of Makkah don’t abide by the peace-treaty and initiate war, then “kill them wherever you find them” whether the fighting occurs inside or outside the Haram and after victory “drive them out from where they drove you out” but remember that you should not fight in the Haram as long as they don’t fight you therein.
(In verse 2:191, the glad tidings of Fath-e-Makkah (victory of Makkah) has also been given indirectly)
You must have understood after such an explanation that in this verse, Muslims are not commanded to kill or fight the brothers of the homeland wherever they find them without any reason, nor are they commanded to drive them out of their homes and country, as Wasim Rizvi or anti-Islamic elements are trying to set the country on fire by stating the wrong meaning of this verse.
Now let us ponder over the ninth verse that was presented in the PIL of Wasim Rizvi.
(9) Allah Almighty says, “They wish that you should disbelieve, as they disbelieved, so that you may all be one. So do not take anyone as a friend until they leave the house in the way of Allah. Then if they turn away, seize them and kill them and do not take any of them as a friend or helper.” (4:89)
This verse of Surah Nisa (4:89) is also related to its preceding verse 4:88, which is as follows;
“So what is the matter with you that you got divided into two groups concerning the hypocrites, whereas Allah has inverted them because of their misdeeds? Do you wish to guide one whom Allah has sent astray? And for one whom Allah sends astray, you will not find a way.” (4:88)
The cause of revelation of this verse (4:89) is that a group of hypocrites went out for jihad with the permission of the Holy Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him). But on the way, they betrayed the Prophet and joined the polytheists. Then there was a difference of opinion among Muslims about them. Some of them said that they were disbelievers and some said they were believers. At that time verse 88 of Surah An-Nisa was revealed in which the Muslims were warned not to disagree about them. Due to their betrayal, apostasy and joining with the infidels and polytheists, Allah has sent them astray, as it is mentioned in Tafsir-e-Madarik:
“Undoubtedly this was a group of hypocrites who sought permission from the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) for going to Makkah to buy merchandise. When they went, they joined the polytheists. Then there arose a difference of opinion among Muslims. Some said that they were disbelievers and some said that they were Muslims” (Tafsir-e-Madarik, vol.1, p.241, published by Asahhul Matabi’, Mumbai)
Immediately after this, in verse 89 of Surah An-Nisa, Allah Almighty tells about the hypocrites that “they wish that you [the believers] should disbelieve, as they [the hypocrites] disbelieved, so that you may all be one [i.e. so that the believers and hypocrites may all be equal in their disbelief]”. It was their hypocrisy and treachery that Allah Almighty commanded the Muslims in this verse that they should not “take any one of them like a friend until they emigrate for the cause of Allah” and prove that their faith is for the pleasure of Allah and His Messenger (peace be upon him) and not for the worldly benefits; and “if they turn away [from emigration and choose to remain on their betrayal] “then seize them and kill them” and if they claim to be your friends and get ready for helping you against your enemies, then “do not take any of them as a friend or helper” because they too are your enemies. (Ruhul Bayan, commentary of the Quran, Surah Nisa Verse 89 and Tafsir-e-Khazin; Surah Nisa verse 89)
In this verse, Muslims are commanded to fight the hypocrites pushing daggers in their backs. Even today the entire world is following the same command. Those who betray the nation and country are severely punished or hanged to death.
(10) Let us now understand verse 111 of Surah Tawbah. In this verse, Allah Almighty has eloquently encouraged Muslims to wage Jihad and has described the lives and property of Muslims as Mabi’ (the things that are sold) and the Paradise as price. Showing a great kindness to the Muslims, Allah Almighty has described Muslims as seller and Himself as a buyer – a buyer of something that He has created. He Almighty commands the Muslims to “rejoice in the bargain which they have made with Him” because they have sold the mortal thing for the immortal thing.
And the part of the verse “The true promise is upon His mercy in the Torah and the Gospel and the Quran” indicates that jihad for the exaltation of the true words is not only prescribed in this Shari'ah but also the previous Shari'ahs.
(11) “So fight them, Allah will chastise them with your hands and disgrace them and will help you against them and will cool the hearts of the believers.” (9:14)
In this verse of Surah Tawbah, Allah Almighty has commanded the Muslims to fight the infidels and polytheists of Arabs who broke their covenant, as its preceding verse refers to this fact, “Would you not fight a people who broke their covenants and determined to expel the Messenger, and they had begun [the attack upon] you the first time? Do you fear them? But Allah has more right that you should fear Him, if you are [truly] believers.” (9:13)
It has been repeatedly explained in the previous parts of the article that in most of the verses of Surah Tawbah, the Muslims are commanded to fight those infidels, Jews and polytheists who had broken the peace treaty. They don’t command to fight those who are common infidels and polytheists.
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Maulana Badruddoja Razvi Misbahi, Principal of Madrasa Arabia Ashrafia Zia-ul-Uloom Khairabad, District Mau, UP (India) is a Sufi-minded, well-mannered, classical Islamic scholar, an expert teacher, an excellent writer, a good poet and orator. He has authored numerous books, some of which are as follows: 1) Fazilat-e-Ramazan, 2) Zad-ul-Haramain, 3) Mukhzin-e-Tib, 4) Tauzeehat-e-Ahsan, the commentary on the well-known logical book “Mulla Hasan” 5) Muhazarat fi Halle Qutbi Tasawwurat, 6) Tahzib al-Faraid commentary on “Sharh al-Aqaid”, 7) Atayib al-Tahani fi Halle Mukhtasar al-Ma’ani, 8) Commentary on Sahih Muslim
Other Parts of the Articles:
The Verses of Jihad: Meaning, Denotation, Reason of Revelation and Background- Part 1
The Verses of Jihad: Meaning, Denotation, Reason of Revelation and Background- Part 2
The Verses of Jihad: Meaning, Denotation, Reason of Revelation and Background- Part 3
The Verses of Jihad- Meaning, Denotation, Reason of Revelation and Background- Part 4
The Verses of Jihad in The Quran - Meaning, Denotation, Reason of Revelation and Background - Part 5
The Verses of Jihad in The Quran - Meaning, Denotation, Reason of Revelation and Background - Part 6
URL: https://www.newageislam.com/debating-islam/badruddoja-razvi-misbahi-new-age-islam/the-verses-jihad-quran-meaning-reason-revelation-context-background-part-7/d/124764
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