As_salaamu Alaikumto brothers and sisters in Islam, and peace to my brothers
and sisters in humanity,
A clarrification I would like to add is that, like brother Ayub mentioned
there is no intolerance taught in these verses, but I do believe that the Quran
is valid for all time and situations. One thing that has been overlooked, is
that besides the explanation of brother Ayub, the word used "Qaatiluhum"
involves reciprocity. This means that the fighting of the non-Muslims until
there is no "fitnah" and the "Deen is all to Allah" is initiated by the
non-believers against the Muslims, which is referred here as "fitnah (trial)".
Consequently, Allah is instructing the Muslims to fight back until there is no
more "fitnah", and the "Deen" is all to Allah, meaning until order and justice
reign. History shows us that Muhammed, peace be upon him, lived amongst
non-Muslims and he, peace be upon him, did not fight them until they fought
him. And Allah knows best ...
Peace,
Omar B.
"K a r i m a"@yahoo.com wrote:
Surain Dhanoa <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: Re: [DDN] Teachings of the
Qur`aan: Al-Anfaal - Aayaat 36-40
Dear Sir
I am a non Muslim.I have all respect for Kuran and the Prophet Muhammed but I
do believe that just as the Prophet brought Allah's message to the Arabs,
there have been others who brought Allah's message to their people. The
position is recognised in the Kuran. Imho the commentary given of the Ayat
36-40 makes the Muslims intolerant of others.In the present global society it
makes the position of Muslimsdifficult and it leads to their isolation in other
societies.
Does it not rquire a reconsideration by the Ulema?
Surain Dhanoa Calgary Canada
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Response from Ustaadz Ayub A. Hamid
Dear Surain,
Thanks for expressing your concern and sharing your views .
Yes, there were other prophets and messengers who brought message to different
people, but they all have been superseded by last of them, Prophet Muhammad,
(peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) who was sent for the whole mankind,
not just the Arabs. After Prophet Muhammad's advent, (peace and blessings of
Allaah be upon him), salvation is not possible without believing in him. But
these verses or my comments on these verses are not implying that non-Muslims
should not be tolerated or that they should be killed. Not at all.
Please consider the following points to understand these verses in their
proper perspective:
§ The verses are not talking about how the Muslims should behave after the
Messenger of Allaah has accomplished the objectives assigned to him by Allaah.
§ The fate of those who were violently opposing the Prophet was not decided by
the Messenger himself but mandated by the Creator, according to His way He had
always done before the Prophet.
§ It was a specific situation mandated only for the Messenger's own mission and
pertained only to his people and his particular locality where he was sent.
§ This was true for all messengers in the past. For example, that is why the
people who rejected Noah were destroyed by flood; those who tried to stop Moses
were drowned into the sea; those who tried to kill Jesus were destroyed by
Roman invasion. That is the way of Allaah which Allaah has used consistently
for all Messengers.
§ These verses pertain to the past. And the past cannot be reconstructed, just
as we cannot reconstruct the killing of the disbelievers in the cases of Noah,
Moses, etc.
As for the idea of reconstructing Islamic teachings in general, please remember
that Islam is based on the commands of Allaah and His Messenger, not on the
ideas of people or scholars. Hence, no command of Allaah or His messenger can
be changed or amended until the Day of Judgment. Had these verses been a
command to Allaah to all Muslims of all times, we could not have changed them
or "reconstructed."
I hope these points will help you understand that there is no "intolerance"
being taught here. Rather, these verses describe a very specific situation
which was true for all messengers of the past.
Kind regards,
Ayub A. Hamid
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