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JESUS OR MUHAMMAD? WHO ADVOCATED LIFE BY THE SWORD?
Its rather unfair that non-muslims will judge Muhammad by
comparing him to Jesus. It is often
said that Islam is a religion of the sword. However this is not true. The old
tribal ethic affected the Qura’nic message, but the new religion was the first
received by the Arab of Mecca. In an atmosphere of a cut-throat capitalism and
high finance, Muhammad did not have the same atmosphere as Paul and
Jesus had. Each religion of suffering adversity has its battles. Jesus and St.
Paul did not have to worry about the social and political order because it was
already setup for them. Indeed Paul’s long Missionary journeys would have been
impossible outside the pax of Romana and without his Roman citizenship. In
Arabia and unprotected man could be killed with impunity on the road. Eventually
Christianity felt that they did not have to create an entirely political order:
They simply baptised the old Roman
law and institutions. Politics, therefore, remained a separate sphere.
Sometimes we often forget that Jesus, unlike Muhammad had a
world at peace. Muhammad was born into the Bloodbath of Seventh Century Arabia
where old values were being radically undermined and nothing adequate had yet appeared
to take their place. Muhammad as well as the other Prophets had preached
social Justice. Neither Muhammad or Jesus advocated war. But both would have
given their life to Spread Allah’s deen.
JIHAD?
The Quran began to urge us Muslims to fight for our
Justice against those who oppress us. This would involve fighting and bloodshed.
The root word of Jihad (JHD) implies more than Holy War. It signifies a physical,
moral spiritual and intellectual effort. There are plenty of words in Arabic
denoting armed struggle, such as (harb) which means war, (sira’a) which means
combat, (ma’araka). which the Qur’an could have used if war was the intended
meaning of this struggle. Instead Jihad a richer word which has a range of
connotations. The Jihad is not even one of the five pillars of Islam. Jihad is a
moral, spiritual struggle to achieve excellence.
Jihad is not also valid without a state. Here are some Scholars on the subject:
“And the third category of collective duties is one in
which [the authority of] the State is a [necessary] condition; for example,
jihaad and the implementation of the law of punishments in Islam. (fiqhussunnah,
assayyidussaabiq; vol.3, page 30)
Writes Ghamidi about the reason for this opinion of Muslim scholars:
The reason for this [condition] is that without political sovereignty jihaad becomes
fasaad [disorder, chaos, anarchy, etc]. How is it
possible that a group which does not even have the right to award punishment to
a criminal should be given the right to wage war? (meezaan, qaanuune da`wat;
Urdu; page 35)
An explanation of this reason can be found in Islaahi’s da`wate diin or us kaa tariiqe kaar
(Urdu; Chapter 14, pages 241 and 242):
The first reason [for this condition] is that God Almighty
does not like the dissolution and disintegration of even an evil system until a
strong probability exists that those who are out to disintegrate the system will
provide people with an alternative and a righteous system. Anarchy and disorder
are unnatural conditions. In fact, they are so contrary to human nature that
even an unjust system is preferable to them….this confidence [that a group
will be able to harmonise a disintegrated system and integrate it into a united
whole] can be reposed in such a group only as has actually formed a political
government and has such control and
discipline within the confines of its authority that the group can be termed as
aljamaa`ah [the State, or the government]. Until a group
attains this position, it may strive [by religiously allowable means] to become
aljamaa`ah — and that endeavour would
be its jihaad for that time — but it does not have the right to wage an `armed’
jihaad.
The second reason is that the import of the power which a
group engaged in war gets over the life and property of human beings is so great
that sanction to wield this power cannot be
given to a group the control of whose leader over his followers is based merely
on his spiritual and religious influence on them [rather than being based on legal authority]. When the control of a
leader is based merely on his spiritual and religious influence, there is not
sufficient guarantee that the leader will be able to stop his followers from
fassad fil’ard [creating a situation of disorder, chaos, anarchy on the earth].
Therefore, a religious leader does not have the right to allow his
followers to take out their swords [that is to wage an armed struggle] merely on
the basis of his spiritual influence over them, for once the sword is unsheathed
there is great danger that it will not care for right and wrong and that those
who drew it will end up doing all [the wrong which] they had sought to end. Such
radical groups as desire revolution and the object of whom is nothing more than
disruption of the existing system and deposition of the ruling party to seize
power for themselves play such games — and they can, for in their eyes
disruption of a system is no calamity, nor is cruelty of any kind an evil.
Everything is right to them [ as long as it serves their purpose]. However, the
leaders of a just and righteous party must see whether they are in a position to
provide people with a system better than the one they seek to change and whether
they will be able to stop their followers from doing such wrong as they
themselves had sought to root out. If they are not in that position, then they
do not have the right to play games with the life and property of people on the
basis of their confidence in mere chances and to create greater disorder than
the one they had sought to end.”
Allah asks for us to strive for him and only him. This is
the basic concept in Jihad. We only strive for Allah and none other than Allah.
Allah Declares in the Qur’an.
“As for
those who strive (Jahadu) in Us (the cause of Allah), We surely guide them to
Our paths, and lo! Allah is with the good doers.” (The Holy Quran, 29:69)
When we are faced with two competing interests, it becomes
jihad to choose the right one, as the following Hadith exemplify:
“Aisha, wife of the Prophet(s) asked, ‘O Messenger of
Allah, we see jihad as the best of deeds, so shouldn’t we join it?’ He replied,
‘But the best of jihad is a perfect Hajj (pilgrimage to Makkah).'” (Sahih
Al-Bukhari, No. 2784)
At another occasion, a man asked the Prophet Muhammad(s):
“‘Should I join the jihad?’ He asked, ‘Do you have
parents?’ The man said, ‘Yes!’ The Prophet(s) said, ‘Then strive by serving
them!'” (Sahih Al-Bukhari, No. 5972)
Yet another man asked the Messenger of Allah(s):
“‘What kind of jihad is better?’ He replied, ‘A word
of truth in front of an oppressive ruler!'” (Sunan Al-Nasa’i , No. 4209)
The Messenger of Allah(s) said:
“…the Mujahid (one who carries out jihad) is he who
strives against himself for the sake of Allah, and the Muhajir (one who
emigrates) is he who abandons evil deeds and sin.” (Sahih Ibn Hibbanm, No.
4862)
ISLAM DEMANDS JUSTICE AND GOODNESS TO ALL?
Terror, in its broadest sense, is violence committed
against non-military targets for political purposes. To put it in another way,
the targets of terror are entirely innocent civilians whose only crime is, in
the eyes of terrorists, to represent “the other”.
This is an act bereft of any moral justification. This, as
in the case of murders committed by Hitler or Stalin, is a crime committed
against “mankind”.
The Qur’an is a Book revealed to people as a guide to the
true path and in this Book, God commands man to adopt good morals. This morality
is based upon concepts such as love, compassion, tolerance and mercy. God calls
all people to Islamic morals through which compassion, mercy, peace and
tolerance can be experienced all over the world:
You who believe! Enter absolutely into peace (Islam). Do
not follow in the footsteps of Satan. He is an outright enemy to you.
The values of the Qur’an hold a Muslim responsible for
treating all people, whether Muslim or non-Muslim, kindly and justly, protecting
the needy and the innocent and preventing the “dissemination of
mischief”. Mischief comprises all forms of anarchy and terror that remove
security, comfort and peace. As God says in a verse,
“God does not love
mischief makers”. (Surat al-Qasas: 77).
ISLAM A SOURCE OF PEACE FOR ALL?
The word Islam has the same meaning as “peace” in
Arabic. Islam is a religion that came down to offer humanity a life filled with
the peace and well-being in which God’s eternal mercy and compassion is
manifested in the world. God invites all people to accept the moral teachings of
the Qur’an as a model whereby mercy, compassion, tolerance and peace may be
experienced in the world. In Surat al-Baqara verse 208, this command is given:
You who believe! Enter absolutely into peace (Islam). Do
not follow in the footsteps of Satan. He is an outright enemy to you.
As we see in this verse, people will experience well-being
and happiness by living according to the moral teaching of the Qur’an.
FINAL THOUGHT
Although one may have the worst view towards Islam. one
must understand the full context of Jihad. Jihad can be treated is if it were
some object that has misconceptions thrown at it. However Jihad was and is a
tool for muslims to use as a guide, to show us out of the way of ridicule. Moiz
Amjad puts it best:
It is obvious that Qitaal (or Jihad) invariably results in
the loss of lives and property. Taking a human life or even giving life is not a
trivial matter. If any of our decision entails even the possibility of taking a
human life (as would obviously be the case in declaring war), especially in the
name of Islam, we must at least have a clear permission of our Lord to take life
for the particular purpose for which we are declaring that war. Without such
clear permission, it is quite possible that our decision may not be correct and,
if that is indeed the case, we are held responsible for all the loss of life and
property that occurs consequent upon our decision. We must keep in mind that,
according to the Qur’an, taking even one life for a cause not authorized by God
shall follow the same consequence as that of killing the whole of mankind. The
Qur’an has clearly declared:
Whoever killed even a single soul – except being a
punishment of murder or that of spreading unrest in the land – is as if he
killed the whole of mankind. (Al-Maaidah 5: 32)