Voices of Islam (110 page)

In establishing this society in Medina, the Prophet sought to keep his new nation safe, just as today every country has security as a dominant concern. Therefore, he built up an army of his followers to keep his borders safe from enemy attack. In particular the Muslims were under threat due to the Prophet’s teaching opposing the hegemony of tyrants.

Thus, Medina became the fi city for the believers in which the new message, Islam, was established and the Prophet and his followers sought to keep it safe. Just as all nations do today, they built up an army and weaponry. And, just as is done in the modern world, if anyone attacks a nation, its citizens are obliged to respond and repel those who attack them.

So the majority of Muslim scholars including Imam Abu Hanifa, Imam Malik, and Imam Ahmad ibn Hanbal say that combative Jihad is to defend oneself and to repel the aggressors.

RELIGIOUS FREEDOM OF NON-MUSLIMS

It is a right for the People of the Book to practice the laws of their religion, and to maintain judges and courts, enforcing the rules of their own religion among themselves. Their churches or temples are not to be demolished nor are their crosses (religious symbols) to be broken.

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The Messenger of God said, ‘‘Leave them to what they worship.’’

Additionally, the right of a Christian or a Jewish spouse of a Muslim is that she may go to her church or to her temple. It is not the right of her husband to prevent her from going.

Islam permits non-Muslims to eat the foods that their religion allows. Swine are not killed nor is wine destroyed as long as it is permitted to them. Therefore, non-Muslims have more latitude than the Muslims, who are prohibited from drinking wine and eating pork.

They have the freedom to follow their own laws of marriage, divorce, and charity and to conduct these affairs as they wish without any conditions or limits.

Their honor and rights are under the protection of Islam, and they are given freedom to the right of deliberation and discussion within the limits of reason and decorum, while adhering to respect, good conduct and avoiding rudeness and harshness. God says:

And dispute ye not with the People of the Book, except with means better (than mere disputation), unless it be with those of them who infl t wrong (and injury): but say, ‘‘We believe in the revelation which has come down to us and in that which came down to you; Our God and your God is one; and it is to Him we bow (in Islam).’’

(Qur’an 29:46)

If one amongst the Pagans ask thee for asylum, grant it to him, so that he may hear the word of God; and then escort him to where he can be secure. That is because they are men without knowledge.

(Qur’an 9:6)

This also shows that even if polytheists come to the Muslims, seeking to live and work in their nation for any reason, it is ordered to grant them safety and security to demonstrate the great care and compassion Islam takes in the care of others. Such are free to move where they like. This clarifies the understand- ing that combative Jihad is only against those who actively disturb the peace. In the view of some schools of jurisprudence, Islam mandates equal punishment for Muslims and non-Muslims except for those things permitted

in their faith such as drinking wine or eating pork.

Islam makes lawful eating what the People of the Book slaughter and Muslim men are permitted to marry their women. God says:

This day are (all) things good and pure made lawful unto you. The food of the People of the Book is lawful unto you and yours is lawful unto them. (Lawful unto you in marriage) are (not only) chaste women who are believers, but chaste women among the People of the Book, revealed before your time,-

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when ye give them their due dowers, and desire chastity, not lewdness, nor secret intrigues
.. .
.

(Qur’an 5:5)

Islam sanctions visiting and counseling their sick, offering them guidance, and dealing with them in business. It is established that when the Messenger of God passed to his Lord, his armor was given as credit for a debt from a Jewish person.

In another case, when some of the Companions sacrifi a sheep the Prophet said to his servant, ‘‘Give this to our Jewish neighbor.’’

It is obligatory for the leader of the Muslims (caliph) to protect non- Muslims who are in Muslim lands just as he would protect Muslims and to seek the release of non-Muslims who are captured by the enemy.

The Messenger of God forbade killing non-Muslims when he said:

The one who kills a convenanter (
dhimmi
) will not smell the fragrance of paradise.
15

It can truly be said that in Arab and Muslim nations, the Christians, the Jews, and all other non-Muslims are in fact covenanters, for they pay their taxes supporting the nation’s standing army. Thus, it is the duty of the ruler to protect the safety of the covenanter. The concept of a covenant of protection, while not explicitly spelled out today, is fulfi through government taxation.

The popular, yet controversial, Islamic scholar Shaykh Yusuf al-Qaradawi said:

Jihad is an obligation on everyone but not killing and fighting.

Citing Ibn Qayyim’s division of Jihad into 14 different levels including struggle against the ego, struggle against Satan, and the establishment of education, only one of them being combat against an aggressor, Shaykh al-

Qaradawi states:

Whoever looks into the sources as to the understanding of Jihad, will see that one can be a
mujahid
[of the 14 categories] but it is not necessary to be a combatant; that is only when combat is forced on you by the invasion of your country.

FORCED CONVERSION

We have seen above that the foundation of Jihad is Islamic propagation (
da‘wa
). The question often asked is whether Islam condones or teaches

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the forced conversion of non-Muslims. This is the image sometimes projected by Western scholars and as any Muslim scholar will tell you, it is seriously flawed. The Qur’an clearly states:

There is no compulsion in religion, the path of guidance stands out clear from error.

(Qur’an 2:256; 60:8)

In this verse, the phrase ‘‘path of guidance’’ (Ar.
rushd
) refers to the entire domain of human life, not just to the rites and theology of Islam.

There is no debate about the fact that pre-Islamic Arabia was a misguided society dominated by tribalism and a blind obedience to custom. In contrast, the clarity of Islam and its emphasis on reason and rational proofs excluded any need to impose Islam by force. This verse is a clear indication that the Qur’an is strictly opposed to the use of compulsion in religious faith. Similarly, God addressed the Prophet saying:

Remind them, for you are only one who reminds.

(Qur’an 88:21)

God addresses the believers, urging them to obey the injunctions of Islam:

Obey God, and obey the Messenger, and beware (of evil): if you do turn back, then know that it is Our Messenger’s duty to proclaim (the message) in the clearest manner.

(Qur’an 5:92)

This verse makes it clear that the Messenger’s duty is only to proclaim and preach the message; it remains to each individual to accept and to follow.

As for forced conversion, no reliable evidence exists that Muslims ever intended or attempted to impose the specific rites and beliefs of Islam. The histories of Central Asia, Spain, India, the Balkans, and all of Southeast Asia are concrete proof of this.

Islam’s History of Good Treatment of Non-Muslims

It is thus well established in history that when persecution took place in non-Muslim lands against the People of the Book, they would seek refuge with the leader of the Muslims (caliph), and this refuge was not refused. A well-known example of this is the plight of the Jews in Andalusia after it was conquered by the Spanish and taken from the hands of the Muslim Moors. With the imposition of the infamously cruel Inquisition in 1492,

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Jews and Muslims had no choice but to flee their homes, convert to Catholicism, or die. The Jews sought the protection of Sultan Suleyman of the Ottoman Empire, and asylum was granted. For this reason, one fi a sizable population of Jews in Istanbul, which was the seat of the Ottoman Empire at that time.

CONDITIONS FOR COMBATIVE JIHAD

The ruler, the Imam, is completely answerable to the people and their legal apparatus, the most important representatives of whom are the scholars. The position of the law is that Jihad is permissible only when it can be proven that

• there are aggressive designs against Islam;
  

• there are concerted efforts to eject Muslims from their legally acquired property; and,
  

• military campaigns are being launched to eradicate them.
  

At such a time the ruler can declare and execute the provisions of combative Jihad.

Precondition: Leadership

Dr. Buti in
Jihad in Islam
says:

It is known that Islamic Shari‘a rules can be divided into two groups: first, the Communicative Rules (
ahkam al-tabligh
) that inform you how to behave in your life, including all matters of worship and daily life, and second, the Rules of Leadership (
ahkam al-imama
) which are related to the judicial system, the Imam or leader.

The Rules of Leadership are those rules that have been directed from the leader to the citizens. In the time of the Prophet he was leader, so this applied to anything directed from the Prophet to the Muslims. After the Prophet, such directives became the responsibility of the caliph, his successor. This means that the Imam of the Muslims is the leader of every Muslim nation. He is the person responsible for the application of the rules as he sees fi These rules are fl ble within the geographical, societal, and cultural norms of the nation, which the leader can exercise by God’s grace, to apply them for the benefit of all the people.

Declaring combative Jihad is the foremost responsibility of the Imam (leader, president, or king of a nation). He is the only responsible person that can declare the time and place of Jihad, lead it or terminate its mission. It is in no way the responsibility of individual Muslims to declare Jihad without the order of the leader. Note in this regard the ulama are not in the position to issue a call for combative Jihad.

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There are two kinds of combative Jihad. One is the combative Jihad to fi a nation which attacks a Muslim nation. The second category of combative Jihad, which is called
al-sa’il,
means the fight against an assailant, attacker, or violator. We will not go into this aspect as it falls under the Communicative Rules, not the Rules of Leadership. This is based on the hadith related by ‘Abdullah ibn ‘Umar, in which the Prophet said, ‘‘He who is killed in defense of his belongings, in self-defense, or in defense of his religion is a martyr.’’
16

The category
al-sa’il
refers to someone defending his private possessions as when someone attacks him at home or his business in order to steal, to harm, or out of hatred due to differences of religion. This does not come under the aspect of Leadership, where nations are involved.
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Ibn Qudama

It is an essential precondition that there be a leader of the Muslims, an Imam, to declare combative Jihad. In
al-Mughni,
Ibn Qudama, a respected scholar of the Hanbali school, states:

Declaring Jihad is the responsibility of the Ruler and consists of his independent legal judgment. It is the duty of the citizens to obey whatever the Ruler regards appropriate.
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Dardir

Dardir says: ‘‘Proclaiming Jihad comes through the Ruler’s assignment of a commander.’’
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Jaza’iri

Abu Bakr al-Jaza’iri states that the pillars of combative Jihad are:

A pure intention that it is performed behind a Muslim Ruler and beneath his flag and with his permission
.. .
. And it is not allowed for Muslims to fi t without a Ruler because Allah says: ‘‘O ye who believe! Obey God, and obey the Messenger, and those charged with authority among you’’ (Qur’an 4:59).
20

Tahanui

According to
Kashf al-Qina‘a
by Tahanui:

Ordering combative Jihad is the responsibility of the Imam and his legal judgment (
ijtihad
) because he is the most knowledgeable about the enemy’s status and their nearness or farness, their intention and conspiracy.
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Qirafi Qirafi said:

The Leader is the one who has been chosen for the foreign policy of his county, and he has been entrusted by the people to conduct the common affairs of the state, sign treaties, forbid wrong deeds, suppress criminals, fi aggressors, and settle people down in their homes and the like.
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Mawardi

Mawardi, a Shafi authority, while enumerating the obligations of a Muslim ruler says:

His sixth obligation is to conduct [combative] Jihad against those who show hostility against Islam
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Sarakhsi

Sarakhsi in
al-Mabsut
said:

The Ruler of the Muslims must always exert all efforts to lead an army himself or dispatch a military detachment of Muslims; and trust in God to aid him in achieving victory.
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Sharbini Sharbini said:

Collective-duty Jihad becomes applicable when the Imam fortifies the frontiers (to gain equal military parity with the enemy), reinforces the fortresses and ditches, and arms his military leaders. It also becomes relevant by the Imam or his deputy’s leading the army
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The Pakistani monthly
Renaissance
in discussing the authorization for declaring combative Jihad says:

Both the Qur’an and the established practice of the Prophets of God explicitly say that Jihad can only be waged by a state. No group of people have been given the authority to take up arms, because individual groups if given this license will create great disorder and destruction by fi among themselves once they overcome the enemy. A study of the Qur’an reveals that the Makkan Surahs do not contain any directive of combative Jihad for the fundamental reason that in Makkah the Muslims did not have their own state.