By M H Ahssan
Islam is generally associated with Jihad popularly interpreted as war. But the fact is that a careful understanding of the Qur’an in its totality clearly establishes that mercy, compassion and peace are the predominant values. There are few verses in Qur’an on war and killing. These verses have been given more importance both by some Muslims as well as antagonistic non-Muslims.
Muslims, because they wanted to justify war for territorial conquests and non-Muslims as they wanted to prove Islam is a religion of war and violence. Both these Muslim’s as well as non-Muslims, have strong vested interests in understanding the Qur’an in their own ways so as to promote their interests. However, those who have no such interests, would like to understand Qur’an in its real spirit.]
Before we proceed further I would like to emphasize that Islam is a religion, not a political system or ideology, as some Muslims and non-Muslims would like to project it. It is also not true that in Islam politics cannot be divorced from religion. If we examine Islamic history, it would be abundantly clear that Islam as a religion had always been twisted to suit political ends. It is politics which always reined supreme subordinating religion to its interest.
Religion represents human beings’ inner, spiritual need and always stresses spiritual values and practices designed to realize these spiritual values. Spiritual values can be realized only when there are conditions of peace both inner and outer. Inner peace is necessary for outer peace and similarly peace out there reinforces peace within. No religion thus will promote war and destruction.
It is only rulers and conquerors who resort to war and often use religion or certain aspects of religion for the justification of territorial war. But a truly religious person who takes spiritual aspects of religion seriously, would not only shun war but oppose it, whatever justification by the rulers.
The Prophet of Islam was intensely spiritual person and hence Qur’an describes him as Rahmatun lil alamin (Mercy of the worlds). Had he been in pursuit of power he would not be described as such. The whole biography of the Prophet (PBUH) shows he never went out in pursuit of power. He never raised an army for that purpose. He remained committed to peace.
However, there were occasions in his life when he had to fight, fight in defence of himself and fledgling community of Muslims as unbelievers of Mecca never left him in peace. He had to migrate from Mecca when oppression by Meccan unbelievers became intolerable. It speaks volumes for the Prophet (PBUH) that he never prayed against them even during worst of the situations he faced.
When he entered Mecca during last years of his life he never sought revenge from anyone.[1] He showed compassion to worst of his enemies like Hinda who had chewed liver of his Uncle Hamza. The tribal law of Arabia required that she be killed and her liver also be chewed. However, Prophet (PBUH) being highly spiritual man, resorted to compassion rather than qisas (retaliation in equal measure).
The Prophet never declared war against any nation, nor against any tribe. But when attacked he fought for his defense. All such verses in Qur’an about war pertain to such situations Prophet faced. In many cases the tribes with which Prophet had entered into peace treaty broke it and treacherously attacked Muslims. It was only then that Qur’an ordered him to fight in self defence.
We would like to quote some such verses so that we can understand its context. In this context the chapter 9 known as Surah Bara’ or chapter on Immunity. This chapter mainly deals with the problem of some tribes breaking their treaty with Muslims repeatedly and advises Muslims to declare immunity (bara’) from such treaty as these tribes were not observing terms and conditions of the treaty.
Maulana Muhammad Ali, a noted commentator on the Qur’an observed in the opening statement to this chapter, “The title of this chapter is taken from the opening statement, which contains declaration of immunity from obligations with such of the idolatrous tribes as had repeatedly broken their engagements. This declaration is one of the most important events in the history of Islam, for hitherto the Muslims had constantly suffered from the hostility of the unscrupulous idolatrous tribes who had no regard for their treaties, dealing a blow at the Muslims wherever they had an opportunity of doing so.”
Thus it should be remembered that in this chapter there are verses asking Muslims to fight and kill wherever they find members of the tribe who had broken the treaty and dealt heavy blow to Muslim’s. Taken out of this context the verses will surprise any reader of these verses as to how a compassionate and just God could order such killings. But these verses must be read in the context in which they were revealed and utter adversity which Muslims were facing in that society where violence was very way of life.
Thus this chapter opens with these words, ” A Declaration of immunity from Allah and His Messenger to those of the idolaters with whom you made an agreement.” (9:1) Now this statement right at the outset of the chapter 9 explains why Muslims were allowed to fight against idolatrous tribes. The fact that Muslims had entered into treaty with these tribes clearly show that they wanted to co-exist with these idolaters provided they reciprocated. Peaceful co-existence was the main objective.
But when these tribes broke their promise the Qur’an said to Muslims, “Will you not fight a people who broke their oaths and aimed at the expulsion of the Messenger, and they attacked you first. Do you fear them? But Allah has more right that you should fear Him, if you are believers.” (9:13)
Thus this verse clearly states that Muslims have been attacked first and hence they should defend themselves and fight back fearing only Allah and not the enemy. It is well known principle of the civilized world to defend oneself if attacked. How can then one say that Qur’an promotes war and bloodshed and requires believers to kill kafirs. The verses in isolation may seem to mean that way but one must understand significance of these verses only in totality of the Qur’anic verses including value-giving or normative verses. They cannot be taken in isolation.
What is often quoted is the following verse which is apparently shocking, if read in isolation, not only of the historical context but also of normative Qur’anic verses. The verse reads, “Fight those who believe not in Allah, not in the last Day, nor forbid that which Allah and His Messenger have forbidden, nor follow the Religion of Truth, out of those who have been given the Book, until they pay the tax in acknowledgement of superiority and they are in a state of subjection.” (9:29)
Obviously this verse refers to Christians and not idolaters as it uses the words ‘those who have been given the Book’. The Qur’an validates the religions brought by previous prophets from Adam to Christ and calls their followers as people of the Book. And hence there is no reason to declare war against them on the grounds of idolatry. The only reason to declare war against them was determination of Roman Empire which was Christian to uproot Islam and hence Qur’an wanted Muslims to fight to finish with them.
There are other verses in the Qur’an which clearly say that Jews and Christians are also believers and Allah has sent His prophets with truth to them and Muslims must respect them. The Prophet of Islam extended hand of friendship to the Christians of Najran and met their delegation inside his mosque and insisted that they (Christians) pray inside the mosque. He also signed a treaty with them guaranteeing them freedom of their religion and protection of their churches.
Also there are verses in Qur’an which guarantees paradise to Jews and Christians if they do good deeds. Thus in verse 2:62 we read, “Surely who believe, and those who are Jews, and Christians, and the Sabians, whoever believes in Allah and the last Day and does good, they have their reward with their Lord, and there is no fear for them, nor shall they grieve,” if the above verse clearly states that those Jews and Christians who believe in Allah and the Last Day and do good deeds they shall have their reward with their Lord then why Quran ask Muslims to fight until the followers of the Book are defeated unless they are trying to wipe out Muslims and uproot Islam as the Roman Empire wanted to?
The Qur’an in fact is book of guidance, not of war and encourages Muslims to live in peace and harmony and coexist with all people be they unbelievers or Jews or Christians or of any other persuasion whatsoever. It is thus highly necessary that we understand Qur’an and its purpose for which it was revealed. Thorough Meccan period Qur’an kept on advising Muslims to bear all problems with patience and steadfastness and not to retaliate. The Muslims bore all oppression with greatest patience.
In fact the great virtues Qur’an stresses are compassion (rahmah), forgiveness (’afw) and patience (sabr). The Qur’an opens with four words Bism Allah al-Rahman Al-Rahim i.e. I begin in the name of Allah who is Merciful and Compassionate. Thus mercy and compassion are among Allah’s names, among others. And Muslims begin all their work with these words i.e. I begin in the name of Allah who is Merciful and Compassionate. This is so to make Muslims aware of importance of mercy and compassion.
I can say without any hesitation that peace, mercy and compassion are very central to Islam not fighting with non-believers, as one finds in the theology developed during medieval ages. We must thus explore why mercy, compassion, steadfastness, justice and benevolence so central to Qur’anic teachings lost their importance compared to ‘jihad’. In the contemporary world also, some misguided youth who commit acts of terrorism continue to draw from this theology.
As for theology and religious laws called shari’ah were human product in as much as human beings formulated them on selective readings of Qur’an and hadith (Prophet’s sayings. There is definite difference between Qur’anic pronouncements and theological or Shari’ah formulations.
As to this difference we must bear in mind that a religion is practiced at various levels, by people of first generation who live and work with the founder, by ordinary people who convert to that religion for their own reasons, or conviction, by ruling classes to suit their own interests and by those who completely identify themselves with its spirit and renounce their worldly interests.
Among those who were of first generation and lived and worked with the Prophet (PBUH) there were those who imbibed true spirit of Islam and practiced its values and virtues given above. Then there were those who developed political ambitions and interpreted religion in their own way, yet tried also to follow its spirit to a limited extent. Also, Islam kept on spreading outside Arabia and people of non-Arab origin embraced it for their own reasons.
Thus various groups developed in Islam apart from the ruling class Muslims. Many ‘ulama sided with the ruling class and did what was desired by the rulers and some ‘ulama resisted temptations to side with rulers and ruling classes to adhere to the spirit of Islam. Many Muslims withdrew from this struggle and began to live life in isolation from public view in khanqah (hospices).
Those ‘ulama who sided with rulers interpreted Qur’an and hadith in a way acceptable to rulers but never became popular among ordinary Muslims and their views were rejected. But those who developed Islamic laws or constructed Islamic theology independently became acceptable and popular among people but they too carried stamp of their time on their legal and theological systems.
Entire legal and theological system was formulated in a situation in which Muslims were an overwhelming majority and also the time frame and the period in which they worked had its own logic which could not be avoided. Though the Qur’an repeatedly stressed that all previous religions were also true and brought by prophets sent by Allah the view that Islam was superior could not be avoided and Muslims became more privileged than others.
The entire legal and theological system carried stamp of this thinking and is fully validated even today. Muslims belonged to the ruling majority and non-Muslims, even those described as people of the Book faced the same fate though they were fully protected and their lives guaranteed. Yet they were non-equal. I think according to the values of the time it was the best bargain for them as among other religious communities Muslims or people of other religions, other than those belonging to non-ruling religious communities, they were treated in a much worse manner.
But the world of Sufis was very different. Their lives were completely devoted to spiritual practices and there was no question of any discrimination. The Muslim Sufis, Christian mystics and Jewish Cabala parishioners met and indulged in spiritual practices on equal terms. The Sufis were devoted to values and not only rituals. The virtues promoted by Qur’an – compassion, patience, humility and quest for truth were practiced in their real spirit.
The Sufis were not drawn towards grandeurs of this world. They preferred utter simplicity and were content with basic needs. One can practice values in their true spirit only when one resists desires and greed. We find striking examples of compassion and forgiveness among these Sufis. They could not bear suffering of others and were moved to remove suffering.
A Sufi saint called Junaid once saw an ant crawling in his room. He thought he would unconsciously trample upon it and it is likely to be killed and this thought made him very restless. He began thinking of ways and means to save the ant. He saw a vessel containing wheat flour and he gently lifted the ant and left it inside the vessel so that it can feed on it and also be saved.
They never wanted to possess anything beyond their basic needs and would give away the rest in the way of Allah. They used to receive offerings from their followers and they would spend all that by running kitchen called langar where all those hungry could eat whenever they liked. Langar was free for all. Even if they had little they would share with those needier.
Once a poor man came to Nizamuddin Awliya, a great sufi saint of thirteenth century India. He wanted few tankas (currency unit of the time) but Nizamuddin had none. He thought for a while and gave him his worn out shoe. The man was surprised as to how this is going to solve his problem. But he had no other way and took it and went out. On the way he met a man and inquired about the worn out shoe. He said it was given to him by Nizamuddin.
He said how much do you need and the poor man told him how much he needed. He gave him twice as much and took away the shoe as some thing highly precious. Then the man understood why Nizamuddin gave him his worn out shoe. These Sufis would help all suffering souls in whatever way they could. They tried to control their desire and interpreted the word jihad, unlike the ruling classes as war against ones own desires rather than war against eternal enemy. For them greatest enemy was ones own desire as this desire actually leads to war for grabbing others territory, others possessions. They called fighting against own desire as jihad-e-akbar i.e. the greatest jihad.
On their scale of values compassion and forgiveness and reducing others suffering stood much higher than fighting against external enemies. They considered themselves as followers of those of Prophet’s companions who were poor and had no worldly ambition and were ever ready to sacrifice everything they had. It is these Sufis who attracted non-Muslims to Islam by being role model.
Today in our contemporary world consumerism and greed are our great enemies. Without resisting undue desire for luxury and comforts at the cost of others we cannot avoid wars. Gandhiji, the saint of modern India observed that there is enough on this earth to fulfill our desires but not enough to satisfy the greed of one. Only those devoid of compassion and blinded by naked desire are responsible for war and destruction in our age also.
Islam’s basic emphasis is also on compassion, human dignity and justice and peace. Islam as a religion spread fast among people because of these values, not because of sword. Sword was wielded by rulers and they frightened rather than attracted whereas Sufis attracted rather than frightened because of their emphasis on values. Those misguided terrorists need to coolly reflect on these values.
Unfortunately they hardly take into account Islamic values of forgiveness, compassion for human suffering and upholding sanctity of human life. This is possible only when you separate religion and religious conduct from power. Powerfulness and religiosity can never go together. Power and arrogance go together. Any individual or nation drunk with power becomes arrogant.
Maulana Rum, a great sufi of his time chided his disciples when they started beating a drunkard when he fell down on them saying he is not in his senses but you are real drunkard as you are drunk with power on helpless person and he is drunk with wine not with power. We cannot be compassionate if we are too drunk with power. I would like to conclude with a quotation from Maulana Rum who represents real spirit of Islam. He said ‘come come to me if you are a Jew or Christian or a Muslim or even if you are a sinner as you are all human beings. Allah is compassionate and forgives sinners, if they repent sincerely. Compassion and forgiveness, not power and arrogance, will make us better Muslims’.
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