Refuting Islamophobic Claim That Jihadists Represent Islam- Part 6 On the Killing of Mushrikin and Kuffar
New
Age Islam Special Correspondent
6 February
2021
The
Jihadist narrative of ‘Killing Mushrikin and Kuffar’ is based on the
misunderstanding of the Quran and Ahadith. The ruling of killing Mushrikin is
mentioned in the Quran, but the revelation of this ruling was specifically
meant for the Mushrikin of Makka only in the state of war, which was not to be
implemented in the state of peace. However, the Jihadists seek to achieve their
nefarious ambitions of taking over the state power, they are bound to make
force-fitted arguments in a bid to succeed in their pursuits. Muslim civilians
including Sufi-Sunnis and Shias are not willing to capitulate to the
Wahhabi-Jihadist creeds. Thus it becomes their duty to label these Muslims as
Mushrikin and Kuffar so as to justify their killing, regardless of the fact that
even the real Mushrikin in the Prophetic era were not fought on the basis of
their acts of shirk and kufr, but rather on the cause of their repeated
oppressive and persecuting behaviour.
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In this
part of the Refutation of Jihadists and Islamophobes, the common people who
have fallen prey to the Jihadist misunderstanding of the Quran, Ahadith, or
Islam, can learn a good understanding of this subject to remove their own
doubts and help remove others’. Since the classical methodology largely impresses
the mainstream Muslims and convince them, we will utilize the classical
jurisprudential principles in this refutation of Jihadists so as to share with
them that the Jihadists are on the fault line even according to the classical
and traditional principles of jurisprudence through which the Quran and Ahadith
are properly understood in letter and spirit. This will indeed shut up the
Islamophobic-mouth which in the media limelight appears to claim that the
Jihadists are based on the Quran, Ahadith, and Islam.
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The
Jihadists such as ISIS militants repeatedly quote the Quranic verse (9:5) to
justify the killing of Mushrikin and Kuffar. In the seventh issue of their
mouthpiece magazine called ‘Dabiq’, they have quoted this verse to argue that
“Islam is the religion of the sword not pacifism” (Dabiq, 7th issue, p.20). The
following is an excerpt quoted in their magazine with reference to Tafsir-e-Ibn
Kathir;
“‘Alī Ibn
Abī Tālib (radiyallāhu ‘anh) said, “Allah’s Messenger (sallallāhu ‘alayhi wa
sallam) was sent with four swords: a sword for the Mushrikin, {And when the
sacred months have passed, then kill the Mushrikin wherever you find them}
[At-Tawbah: 5], a sword for Ahlul-Kitāb, {Fight those who do not believe in
Allah or in the Last Day and who do not consider unlawful what Allah and His
Messenger have made unlawful and who do not adopt the religion of truth from
those who were given the Book – [fight them] until they give the jizyah
willingly while they are humbled} [At-Tawbah: 29], a sword for the munāfiqīn,
{O Prophet, fight against the Kuffar and the Munāfiqīn} [At-Tawbah: 73], and a
sword for the bughāt (rebellious aggressors), {Then fight against the group
that commits baghy (aggression) until it returns to the ordinance of Allah}
[Al-Hujurāt: 9]” [Tafsir Ibn Kathīr]. (Quoted from ISIS’ magazine ‘Dabiq’, 7th
issue, p.20)
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Anyone who
ignores the context of the verses quoted in the above excerpt and simply reads
them literally may misunderstand them. However, if he ponders over the
circumstances and causes of revelation (Shane Nuzul or Asbab Al-Nuzul) of these
verses, he will surely understand that these verses were revealed in the
context of war and their ruling was to be implemented only in the state of war,
and not in the state of peace as today.
With the
use of jurisprudential principles, we will refute the Jihadist understanding of
the Quranic verse 9:5, as was done earlier by Mr. Ghulam Ghaus Siddiqi, a
regular columnist of New Age Islam. This refutation can be described as a short
summary of Mr. Siddiqi’s refutation.
Linguistically
analysing, the Arabic word “Mushrikin” is in the plural form and thus denotes
generality (‘Umum). Mr. Ghaus says, “Those who are not well-versed in Arabic,
even despite being the Arabs, must know that the general words (‘Aam Kalimat)
of the Quran always include the possibility of incorporating some individuals,
or a majority of individuals, or few individuals or sometimes one individual.
The jurists of all ages have unanimously agreed in their respective principles
of jurisprudence that any word of the Quran whose meaning is apparent (Zahir)
still has the possibility of specification or further interpretation. Therefore
no one in this world can present this verse (9:5) as a piece of definitive
evidence to prove that the word “Mushrikin” mentioned in the Quran refers to
all Mushrikin of the world or of all ages.”
The
characteristic creeds of the Mushrikin of Makkah are different from the
Mushrikin living in the 21st century. This can be seen in the article
referenced below;
Another
point to remember while reading the Quranic verse 9:5 is that the ‘Mushrikin’
were fought as violators of peace-treaty not because they had committed shirk
(an act of associating partners with Allah). The Mushrikin mentioned in this
verse were the religious persecutors and had violated the peace-treaty after
signing it. For as long as 14 or 15 years, the early Muslims suffered insults,
outrages, and injuries at the hands of these religious persecutors. Initially,
despite suffering the religious persecutions, the Muslims were not permitted to
fight back in defense but after about 15 years, they were permitted to fight
back in defense and it was the state of war that the verse “kill the Mushrikin
.....” was revealed. Hence it can’t be
argued from verse 9:5 that they were fought because of their Shirk. This is
also supported by the following interpretations made by the classical scholars,
as quoted by Mr. Ghulam Ghaus Siddiqi in his article.
“Al-Baydawi
(d.685H) in his book “Anwar al-Tanzeel wa Asrar al-Taweel (The Lights of
Revelation and the Secrets of Interpretation, V. 3, p. 71, 9:5- Arabic
version)”, a classical tafsir which is included in Madrasas of the Indian
subcontinent, writes while interpreting the verse, "فاقتلوا
المشركين (أي) الناكثين",
which means that the word Mushrikin mentioned in the Ayah 9:5 refers to
Nakithin- those who violated the peace treaties by waging war against the
Muslims.
Allama
Al-Alusi (d.1270H) in his “Rooh al-Ma’ani (v. 10, p. 50, - 9:5, Arabic
version), another classical book of Tafsir, writes,
على هذا فالمراد بالمشركين في قوله سبحانه: (فاقتلوا
المشركين) الناكثون
Translation:
“Therefore the word Mushrikin in the statement of God Almighty “so kill the
Mushrikin...” means Nakitheen, i.e. those who violated peace treaties by
initiating war against the Muslims.
“Abu Bakr
al-Jassas, a classical scholar, (d.370H) writes,
"صار
قوله تعالى: {فَاقْتُلُوا المُشْرِكِينَ حَيْثُ وَجَدْتُمُوهُمْ} خاصّاً في مشركي
العرب دون غيرهم"
Translation:
“The verse (Kill the Mushrikin wherever you find them) was particular to the
Mushrikin of Arab and does not apply to anyone else” (Ahkam al-Quran lil
Jassas, V. 5, p. 270, Arabic edition)
“Imam
Jalaluddin Suyuti writes,
“In his
commentary on the above mentioned Quranic Ayah 9:5, Imam Ibn Hatim quotes
Hazrat Ibn Abbas (may Allah be pleased with him, who was the companion and
cousin of the beloved Prophet peace be upon him) as saying: ‘The Mushrikin
mentioned in this Ayah refer to those Mushrikin of Quraish with whom the
Prophet –peace be upon him- had made treaty [of peace]” (Durr-e-Manthoor, V.3,
p.655- Urdu version)
“He also
reports, “Imam Ibn Munzir, Ibn Abi Hatim and Abu Shaikh (may Allah be pleased
with them) have quoted Hazrat Muhammad bin Ibad b. Jafar as saying “These
Mushrikin are Banu Khuzaima b. Amir who belong to Bani Bakr b. Kananah” (Durr-e-Manthoor, V.3, p.655- Urdu version)
Such
commentaries, according to other Islamic scholars are substantiated by what the
Qur’an itself says in the Ayah 13 of the same chapter,
“Will you
not fight against those who violated their oaths (of peace-treaties), plotted
the expulsion of the messenger, and initiated the fighting against you?” (9:13)
“Implication
of these two verses (9:13) and (9:36) and comments of classical jurists as
mentioned above is that the Mushrikin mentioned in verse 9:5 were not all the
Mushrikin but those who were the religious persecutors and had violated
peace-treaties by waging war against the early Muslims. Hence it is not
appropriate to deduce that the Mushrikin were fought because of their Shirk.
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“We need to
consider two things here; firstly if the act of Shirk (polytheism) had been the
cause of the fighting, the peace-treaty would not have been signed between the
Prophet (peace be upon him) and the Mushrikin of Makkah. Secondly, if those
Mushrikin had not been the religious persecutors or the violators of the
peace-treaty, the fighting would not have occurred. This can also be understood
from the Ahadith, which do not grant permission to kill the women, children,
disabled or old from among the Mushrikin.” Read the full article here; Refutation of
ISIS: Who Are The Mushrikin Mentioned In The Quranic Verse 9:5? - Part 2
In another
part, Mr. Siddiqi says,
“The
jurisprudential principle ‘Dalalat Siyaaq al-Kalam’ refers to the situation
where the literal meaning of any word is dropped due to the context and
structure (Siyaaq) of the speech (Kalam). There are some clues, in such a
situation, which indicate that the literal meaning of the word is not meant.
“The
literal meaning of the word “Mushrikin” means those who commit the acts of
Shirk, that is, those who worship other than Allah Almighty and attribute an
equal partner to Allah in His Essence (Zaat) and Attributes (Sifat).
“The
literal meaning of the word ‘Mushrikin’ mentioned in verse 9:5 demands that all
those who commit shirk should be killed. But the context and structure of the
full relevant text of the verse 9:5 demands that only those who are religious
persecutors, violators of peace-treaty, and have restored the war should be
killed. So based on the principle of ‘Dalalat Siyaaq al-Kalam’, the literal
meaning of the word ‘Mushrikin’ would be dropped here.” Read the full article here: Refutation of
ISIS In The Context and Structure of the Quranic Verse ‘Kill the Mushrikin
wherever you Find them’ (9:5)- Part 4
The Quranic
verse 9:5, according to ISIS and other Jihadist ideologues, has permanently
abrogated the Quranic verses of peace, forbearance, and all treaties of peace.
It is for this reason that they believe all Mushrikin including “the Yazidis”
and the “Sufi-oriented Muslims” must be killed, otherwise, they think, it will
make them accountable to God on the Day of Judgment.
The two
masters of Quranic Sciences, Imam Zarkashi and Imam Suyuti have explained that
the verse 9:5 by no means abrogated the verses of peace and forbearance –
rather, each verse needs to be implemented in its appropriate context. The
ruling of verse 9:5 is a case of context and specification and not of
‘abrogation’ as defined by later jurists. This view is also supported by Imam
Baydawi, Allama Alusi, Imam Abu Bakr Jassas and many others. Please see the
detail here, Refutation of
ISIS That Justifies Terrorism in 21st Century: Did the ‘Sword Verse’ 9:5 Really
Abrogate Verses of Peace and Forbearance? Part -5
From the
above discussion, it becomes clear that the Quranic verse 9:5 was applicable at
the time of its revelation only in the state of war, and hence it should not be
misused or misapplied by the present-day Jihadists to achieve their nefarious
objectives. They should remember that the democratic countries ensure peace and
security and the citizens have vowed to live peacefully under their
constitution by respecting law and order. The basic rights, such as the right
to security, equal protection, religion, freedom of practicing religious
rituals and social transactions (mu’amalaat) etc, are guaranteed for all the
citizens including Muslims and non-Muslims. This should be enough for any
Muslim to spend his life in the worship of Allah which is one of the objectives
of the divine creation plan as beautifully mentioned in the verse, “And I
(Allah) created not the jinns and humans except they should worship Me”
(51:56).
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