|
list
|
..
|
Question
# 2: Why do Other Believers in One God Belonging to
Other Religions Need to Accept
Islam:
Question:
If the aim of Islam is to guide mankind toward
monotheism, then why is it that religious battles took place
in the early period of Islam with the Jews, when their
revealed Books teach nothing extraneous to monotheism? What
is jihad? Or why should it now be considered essential for
the Jews and other monotheists to accept Islam for their
salvation?
The
Answer:
It is, first of all, pointed
out that the Jews during the time of our Prophet had
digressed greatly from the teachings of the Torah.
Admittedly, monotheistic principles were to be found in
their books but they had seized to derive any benefit from
them. The real objective for which man has been created, and
for which religious Books have been revealed had become
completely lost to them. True monotheism entails not only
belief in God's existence and acceptance of His unity, but
also total commitment to obeying and seeking the pleasure of
the Perfect and Bounteous God, and valuing His love above
all else. In practice, this monotheism had ceased to exist
in the Jews. The awe of God's Greatness and Glory had
departed from their hearts. They paid lip service to God but
their hearts worshipped at the altar of the Devil. They
exceeded all bounds in their adoration of worldly objects,
of hankering after worldly gains, and in committing deceit
and fraud. They had taken their doctors of religion as gods,
while extremely shameful deeds of indecency were rife among
them. Hypocrisy had increased, and deception
multiplied.
It is obvious that monotheism does not
consist merely in repeating orally "There is no god but
Allah" while the heart harbours thousands of idols. A person
who thinks that his effort, stratagem, cunning or plan will
suffice him instead of God, or who places such trust in a
man as should be placed in God alone, or who gives himself
importance as should only be given to God, is an idolater in
the sight of God. Idols are not just the icons of gold,
silver, brass, stone, etc. that are relied upon for some
good by their worshippers, but every object, word or action
that is glorified like God alone should be glorified is an
idol in the sight of God. It is true that the Torah does not
give a clear explanation of this form of idolatry, but the
Quran makes this point abundantly clear. In the revelation
of the Quran, therefore, it was one of God's purpose to do
away with this form of idolatry that was sticking to mankind
like a chronic illness. The Jews of that time were sunk deep
in this idolatry, but the Torah was incapable of extricating
them because it did not contain this subtle teaching. In
addition, this scourge had become so widespread in the
Jewish nation that its eradication demanded a living
personality of eminent perfection to act as an immaculate
exemplar of monotheism.
It should be remembered that real
monotheism, which God demands of us and on which our
salvation depends, requires pure devotion to Him,
uncontaminated by any associate, be it an idol, man, sun,
moon, a person's ego, stratagem or cunning. It requires
acceptance of God as the Most Powerful, the Nourisher, the
Most Honourable, the sole Helper, and the only one deserving
of these attributes in their perfection. It dictates
absolute devotion to God, and a conviction that He is the
only resolver of fears, hopes, and problems. Thus monotheism
cannot be complete without the following three
specifications:
1. Unity of Person.
This implies He is One -- the Creator, and that all
created have no reality beside Him, are subject to
annihilation, and are of no consequence in comparison to
Him.
2. Unity of Attributes. This
implies that the qualities of Divinity and Lordship, like
the power to create, develop and sustain, belong only to
Him, and that the apparent providers of sustenance and
benefits are really only part of His scheme.
3. Unity in devotion. This
implies total engrossment in Him as manifested by
unadulterated love, sincerity and purity of worship, that
is totally uncontaminated by other associates.
The Jews had lost the essence of
monotheism, comprised of the three aspects described above,
on which salvation really depends. They professed faith in
God with their lips, but their immoralities bore clear
testimony to the bankruptcy of faith in their hearts.
Accordingly, the Quran charges the Jews and the Christians
with want of faith, and declares that if they had kept to
the guidance in the Torah and Gospel, they would have been
blessed with spiritual and physical sustenance. They would
have received Heavenly sustenance as evidenced by miracles,
acceptance of prayers, visions and revelation, and also
worldly sustenance. But they were left completely bereft of
the heavenly sustenance, and as for the worldly sustenance,
its acquisition was not by turning to God but by turning
solely to this world. As such, the real blessing of both
these sustenance was denied to them.
The Battles
with Jews and Christians were in Self-Defence:
Conflicts did take place
between the Muslims, on the one hand, and Jews and
Christians on the other, as is evident by references to
these hostilities in the Quran. However, these conflicts
were neither initiated by the Muslims nor was their purpose
the forceful conversion of the opposing party to Islam. On
the contrary, these conflicts took place when the opponents
of Islam either directly oppressed the Muslims or aided
others in this oppression. They thus provoked God's wrath
and brought His punishment upon them. However, the infinite
mercy of God provided a way of escape from this punishment
for those of them who accepted Islam or agreed to pay the
jaziya [A
capitation tax.].
This room for mercy is completely in accord with the nature
of man made by God. For it is in human nature that when
evil, in the form of disease or famine, overtakes a person
as punishment, he inclines to prayer, repentance, and
charity, and makes humble supplications for the punishment
to be lifted. So it has been since time immemorial. This
provides testimony to the fact that the merciful God Himself
inspires within man the way for averting punishment. For
example, the prayers of Prophet Moses found acceptance on
several occasions and averted punishment from the
Israelites. In summary then, the genesis of the conflicts
lay in the oppression, aggression and tyrannical acts of the
opponents of Islam. The military campaigns were a
chastisement for these acts of the hardhearted opponents of
Islam but Divine mercy left a provision for them to avoid
punishment. The supposition that Islamic battles were fought
to propagate monotheism is totally baseless.
Jews Paid
Only Lip Service to an Imperfect Monotheism in their
Books:
A response has already been
given to the question about the need for Jews to accept
Islam despite their adherence to a monotheistic faith. It
has been pointed out that monotheism had ceased to exist in
the practical life of the Jews. Monotheism was still to be
found in their books, but even there the concept was far
from comprehensively developed. It was, therefore, necessary
for them to imbibe the true spirit of monotheism as without
it, salvation is not possible. The Jews were in a state of
spiritual death. Their hard-heartedness and repeated
transgressions had killed their spirituality and left them
bereft of any spiritual connection with God. The Torah,
which had suffered alteration of words and meanings and loss
of some parts, was not in a fit condition to provide
complete guidance. God, therefore, revealed a new life
giving message, akin to fresh rain. He invited the Jews to
this message so that they may rid themselves of false
delusions and errors, and thus be able to achieve real
salvation. Among the needs for the revelation of the Holy
Quran, therefore, were the following:
1. To teach the real meaning
and practice of monotheism to the spiritually dead
Jews.
2. To warn them of their
errors.
3. To give detailed descriptions of
issues that had only been dealt summarily in the Torah
like, for example, the doctrines of Resurrection, the
eternal life of the soul, and heaven and hell.
The Torah
and Gospel Prophecy about a Complete and Perfect
Guidance:
It is a fact that the seeds of
truth were planted with the Torah and that the Gospel came
forth from the sprouting of these seeds as a harbinger of
another future message. Just like the healthy green sprouts
of a field convey, by their condition, the glad tidings of
good fruits and goodly ears of grain to follow, likewise,
the Gospel came to give the good news of a complete and
perfect guidance. With the Quran, that seed reached its
perfection by bringing forth a complete guidance that
clearly differentiated truth from falsehood, and took
spiritual knowledge to the level of perfection. This had
been clearly predicted by the Torah in the statement: "The
Lord came from Sinai, and rose up from Seir unto them; he
shined forth from mount Paran."
[Deuteronomy
33:2. Pharan is a mountain in the valley of
Mecca.]
Quran is
Unique in Perfecting all Facets of Shari'ah (Revealed
Law):
It is an established fact that
it is in the Quran alone that all aspects of the revealed
law have reached perfection. There are two main parts of the
revealed law -- the rights of God and the rights of human
beings. It is only the Quran that has perfected both these
parts. It was the plan of the Quran to transform the savage
man into a civilised person, the civilised person into a
moral person, and the moral person into a godly person. The
Quran has so admirably fulfilled this mission that the Torah
does not even come close by comparison.
Quran as
the Arbitrator of the Dispute about the Status of Jesus:
One reason, among others, for
the revelation of the Quran was the need to resolve the
conflict among the Jews and the Christians about the status
of Jesus. The Quran adjudicated this dispute, and the
Quranic verse: "O Jesus, I will cause thee to die and exalt
thee in My presence" (3:54), is directed toward the
resolution of this disagreement. The Jews believe that
Jesus, the Prophet of the Christians, was strung on the
cross and, according to the Law of the Torah, this made him
accursed and incapable of exaltation before God. This, to
their mind, is a proof that Jesus was an impostor. The
Christians accepted that Jesus was accursed but maintained
that he was accursed for their sake. Subsequently, the curse
was lifted and Jesus ascended to God Who seated him on His
right side. The above Quranic verse gave the verdict that
exaltation before God was without delay, and that neither
the assertion of the Jews of an eternal curse, which would
prevent exaltation forever, nor the Christian assertion of a
short lived curse followed by ascension was correct. In this
verse, God has also explained that the exaltation of Jesus
was not in contravention of the Law of Torah because the Law
against exaltation of the accursed is applicable in case of
death on the cross. A mere contact with the cross or the
bearing of some suffering on the cross short of death does
not make one accursed and debarred from exaltation. The
intention of the Torah is that since the Cross is an
instrument of death for criminals, whoever dies on it is
accursed because of meeting his end in a criminal
state.
Similarity
between Jesus and Jonah:
But Jesus did not die on the
Cross as God saved him from such an end. Jesus had
prophesied that his condition was like that of Jonah the
prophet [Matthew,
12:39,40.]. Just as Jonah
escaped death despite being in the belly of the fish, so too
did Jesus escape death despite being on the cross. His
prayer, "Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani"
[Ibid.,
27:46.] was answered. If
he had died on the Cross, Pilate must surely have been
punished by God for the angel had warned Pilate's wife that
if Jesus died, calamity would befall them
[Ibid.,
27:27.]. But no calamity
befell Pilate. Additional evidence that Jesus was alive,
when he was taken off the Cross, is furnished by the facts
that his bones were not broken, and that blood flowed from
him when his side was pierced [John,
19:33-34.]. He showed his
wounds to his disciples after the crucifixion
[Luke, 24:38,39;
also John, 20:27.], and,
obviously, with a new body and life, the wounds would not be
present. This evidence proves that Jesus did not die on the
Cross, and hence was not accursed. Most certainly, he died
an honourable death (much later) and, like the other
honourable prophets of God, he too returned to God after his
death and was exalted in His presence according to the
promise, "O Jesus, I will cause you to die and exalt you in
My presence." If Jesus had died on the Cross, his own words
would have given the lie to him because then there would be
no similarity between him and Jonah.
Quran
Resolves Dispute between Jews and Christians:
This on-going dispute between
the Jews and the Christians was finally resolved by the
Quran. It is surprising, therefore, to find the Christians
questioning the need for the revelation of the Quran. O you
who don't reflect! the Quran brought to perfection our
knowledge of monotheism, it harmonised reason with
tradition; it provided proofs of God's oneness and His
attributes. It furnished proof of God's existence both with
logical and factual reasoning, and through the phenomenon of
revelation. It put religion, which had been handed down
through the ages as stories and myths, on an intellectual
foundation. It clothed every tenet of faith in wisdom and
brought to perfection the evolution of spiritual knowledge.
It removed the stigma of an accursed death from Jesus, and
testified to his exalted status as a truthful prophet. With
all this beneficence, is there still any doubt about the
need for the revelation of the Quran?
Historical
Testimony on the Need for the Revelation of Quran:
The Quran cogently gives the
need for its revelation. It states clearly: "Know that Allah
gives life to the earth after its death" (57:17). In the
period preceding the revelation of the Quran, historical
testimony bears out that the moral and spiritual standard of
the nations of the world had fallen abysmally. This is
admitted even by a biased writer like Reverend Pfander, the
author of Mizan-ul-Haq. In his book, he gives
testimony that, at the time of the revelation of the Quran,
the Jews and Christians were in an abominable state of moral
depravity and sinking further, and the revelation of the
Quran was a clear admonition for them. Despite this
admission, he puts forward a completely untenable argument
that it was God's plan to admonish the Jews and Christians
by sending a false Prophet. This is blasphemy against God.
Can we attribute to the Glorious God such a loathsome act in
which, finding a community sunk in evil, He conceives of a
plan by which millions are lead astray to their damnation by
His own hands? Do the laws of nature, as they operate in
times of trial and tribulation, furnish this evidence about
Him?
What a pity that the Judeo-Christian
nations, from a love of this world, are heedless of the
Quran whose light shines like the bright sun. They call a
mere man a god, and accursed at the same time. However, they
deny the great Prophet who came at a time when the nations
of the world were spiritually dead, and question the need
for the Book he brought.
O unmindful ones! The Quran came at a
time of spiritual darkness unparalleled in the history of
earlier prophets. It found the world steeped in darkness and
gave it light, found it astray and provided guidance, found
it dead and gave it life. Is there still need for any
further proof to justify the revelation of the Quran? If it
is argued that the Quran did not bring anything new because
monotheism already existed, then it reflects an inadequate
understanding of the issue. As already stated, monotheism
that existed at the advent of the Quran was imperfect, and
it is impossible to show otherwise. Moreover, the real
spirit of monotheism had died, and it had ceased to exist in
practice. The Quran, not only reminded the people of
monotheism but perfected it. Consequently, one of the names
of the Quran is Al-Zikr or the Reminder because it is
a Book that reminds. Reflect with an unbiased mind whether
even the monotheistic teachings of the Torah were entirely
new, the like of which had not been given to any previous
prophets? Is it not true that Adam, Seth, Noah, Abraham, and
all other prophets who preceded Moses received the
monotheistic doctrine? It could then also be argued that the
Torah did not present anything new. O people! There isn't a
new and different God every day. The God at the time of
Moses was the same as at the time of Adam, Seth, Noah,
Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and Joseph and hence the Torah
expounded the same monotheistic doctrine that the earlier
prophets had.
Why the
Torah Repeated the Same Monotheistic Doctrine?
Some may raise the question
that if monotheism was not a new concept, then what was the
need for mentioning it in the Torah at all? The answer to it
is that the issue of existence and oneness of God is not a
new one and has existed from the dawn of human history.
However, during some periods, it was abandoned in practice
and debased. It was precisely at such times when the focus
on monotheism had blurred and indulgence in polytheistic
practices had proliferated that the prophets came, and the
Books were revealed to restore the original lustre of the
monotheistic doctrine. During the course of history, this
issue has been polished thousands of time, only to get
covered and concealed by the rust of time. Whenever this
happened, God sent a messenger to restore and propagate the
doctrine. In this way spiritual darkness and light
alternated with each other.
An excellent measure of the success of
any prophet is to see the conditions prevailing at the time
of his advent and the quantum of reforms he instituted. It
behoves one not to be distracted by the clamour of
prejudiced, mischief mongers and to apply this test
honestly. The key is to examine the facts of each prophet,
and to see the condition the people were in when he was
charged with their reformation and then to observe the
factual change that he caused in their faith, character and
conduct. This would clearly show the ranking of the prophets
by the dire need for their advent. The need of a prophet for
sinners is exactly analogous to the need of a doctor for the
sick. Just as the abundance of sick patients requires a
doctor, so too does an abundance of sinners requires a
reformer.
Prophet
Muhammad Ranks Ahead of All Other Prophets:
Keeping this test in mind, if
the history of the Arabs is examined with respect to their
condition at the advent of Prophet Muhammad and the
transformation that he wrought, there is no doubt that he
ranks ahead of all other prophets in his holiness of spirit,
his great impressive personality and spiritual munificence.
It becomes self evident then that the need for this Prophet
and the Quran was far greater than that of any other prophet
or scripture.
Consider, for example, what was the
need for the advent of Jesus and whether there is any proof
that the need was indeed fulfilled? Did he cause any
significant change in the morality, habits and faith of the
Jews, or did he purify his followers to perfection? None of
these changes can be proven. The only thing that can be
established is that a few greedy persons became his
followers, and in the end betrayed him shamefully. And if
Jesus met with a self-invited death, I can find no
justification for such a suicidal action that forever mars
his humanity and intelligence. Can an intelligent man commit
an action that even under all man made laws is a crime?
Certainly, not. We ask, therefore, what did Jesus
accomplish? Just the accursed sacrifice that appears futile
both to our intelligence and sense of justice?
No
Incremental Excellence in the Teachings of the Gospels Over
the Torah:
The Gospels are merely a
restatement of the teachings in the Torah and do not
contribute any incremental excellence. Large portions of the
Talmud, are to be found in the synoptic Gospels and many
reputed Jewish scholars allege that this is the result of
blatant plagiarism. I have recently read a book by a Jewish
scholar in which he devotes several pages to giving proofs
of this allegation and has presented testimony regarding the
specific passages that have been plagiarised. I had ordered
these books specifically to show them to Mr. Sirajuddin but,
unfortunately, he left before the books reached
me.
Impartial Christians admit that the
Gospels are a summary of Jesus' favourite passages from the
Jewish scriptures, and argue that the purpose for the coming
of Jesus on earth was not to bring any new teachings, but to
offer his person as sacrifice. So it is back again to the
accursed sacrifice that, however, I forbear to criticise any
further. Thus, Christians are under the mistaken belief that
the religious law for man's conduct, i.e., shari'ah
was completed in the Torah. Jesus, therefore, did not bring
any new laws but instead brought the means for the salvation
of the world. They contend that the Quran started a new code
of conduct that was unwarranted because the previous code
was complete. This mistaken supposition has kept them from
believing in the Quran.
Their premise though is faulty. The
fact is that human beings are prone to omission and
forgetfulness so that the practical observance of God's
commandments wanes with the passage of time. Consequently,
there is always a need to remind the people anew and to
impart spiritual strength to them. The Quran came to fulfil
these two needs but these were, by no means, the only
reasons for the revelation of the Quran.
The Quran
Completes and Perfects Previous Books:
The Quran completes and
perfects the teachings of the previous scriptures. For
instance, the Torah emphasises retribution and the Gospels
patience and forgiveness. Each prescribed what was most
suitable according to the then prevailing conditions. The
Quran uses both these approaches based upon the exigency of
the situation. Similarly, in most issues the Torah leans
toward harshness and the Gospels toward leniency, but the
Quran follows a middle course, placing emphasis on the need
to consider situational requirements
[The prescribed
harshness and leniency advocated by the Torah and the
Gospels respectively were justified given the exigency of
their times but these commandments did not constitute the
core part of the teachings so that they could not be
changed.].
Although the real spirit of the
teachings in the three Books is the same, there is a
difference in the degree of emphasis. The Torah may expand
and expound one aspect of an issue, and the Gospels may do
the same with another aspect. The way of the Quran, however,
is always to follow a middle course, in line with the nature
of man. Since wisdom demands that the situational
requirements be considered, the Quran is quite unique in
imparting this wisdom. Like blood, when it comes into the
breast, becomes the source of milk, the commandments of the
Torah and the Gospels, when amalgamated in the Quran, become
a source of wisdom. If the Quran had not been revealed, the
efficacy of the commandments of the Torah and the Gospels
would have been like the efficiency of a blind archer whose
arrows may find the target once or twice but miss more
often. In short, the religious code of conduct came to us
from the Torah in the form of stories, and from the Gospels
in the form of analogies, but the Quran cloaked them in
wisdom and made it available for the seekers of
truth.
Torah and
Gospels Cannot Compare with Quran:
How can the Torah and the
Gospels compete with the Quran? Even if the first chapter of
the Quran, the Fatiha, consisting of seven small
verses, is compared with the whole of the Torah and the
Gospels, the latter books suffer by comparison. The
structure and form of the verses, the suitability of their
arrangement, the natural progression of ideas, and the
hundreds of religious truths and spiritual wisdom met in the
Fatiha cannot be gleaned from the entire Books of
Moses or from the rather brief Gospels although one may
spend a lifetime trying to do it. This is not an idle boast,
but a factual statement that the Torah and the Gospels
cannot compete with the Fatiha in the sagaciously
formulated spiritual knowledge. Unfortunately, the Christian
clergy is not disposed to accepting any of my proposals to
settle this matter.
However, I would like to make another
proposal to them. If they consider their Torah and their
Gospels the perfect exponent of the Divine word and the
repository of complete wisdom and truth, then let them
produce from their voluminous scriptures, which number about
seventy, as I would from the Fatiha, the distinctive
characteristics of the Divine word -- the facts and
knowledge of Divine ordinances, the wisdom and gems of
knowledge contained therein and the beauty of the
arrangement and structure of ideas. If the Christian
clergymen can produce anything comparable, I am willing to
pay them Rupees five hundred as reward, and if they consider
this amount small, I am willing to increase it, at their
request, to any amount I can afford.
To obtain a final judgement on this
issue, I will first prepare and publish an exhaustive
treatise on the Fatiha. I will show in it the
extraordinary marvels of truth and wisdom contained in the
Fatiha, quite impossible to find in a human work, and
furnishing proof, thereby, of its Divine origin. It will
then be the duty of the Christian clergymen to prepare a
similar work using the Torah, Gospels and their other
scriptures as a source. If they choose to enter this
contest, both the documents will then be submitted to three
judges belonging to other religions. If the judges rule that
the finer points, knowledge, and the distinctive
characteristics of the Divine word shown to be in the
Fatiha are also proven in the passages presented by
the Christian clergymen, then I will forfeit the Rupees five
hundred reward money, which I am willing to deposit
beforehand with a person they trust.
Is there a Christian priest who has
the courage to accept this challenge? The word of God has
the perfection of His attributes and is easily recognised by
it, just as the Divine origin of the creation is recognised
by the marvels it exhibits. It is absurd to discredit divine
origin of some parts of God's word by arguing redundancies.
For example, the sky is full of stars, but if a person
points to a particular group of stars and states that this
is not part of God's creation because there was no need for
it, or names a few herbs, stones or animals and states that
they are not part of divine creation because life would have
continued perfectly well without them, then such an argument
can proceed only from a deranged or a very foolish
person.
An
Analogical Comparison of the Torah with the Quran:
The Quran is a compendium of
all that is necessary for the perfection of the soul. An
analogical comparison of the Torah with the Quran is that of
an inn that has been reduced to a rubble by violent storms
and earthquakes. The bricks of the inn lie helter skelter
with the bricks of the bathroom lying in the kitchen, and
those of the kitchen in the bathroom. The owner of the inn
feels sorry for the wayfarers and in place of the old inn,
he has a better and more comfortable new inn constructed
immediately. The accommodation for the travellers is in
beautifully designed, and comfortable suites and nothing of
necessity lacks in the inn. In the construction of the new
inn, the owner utilises some bricks of the previous
structure but provides enough new bricks, timber and cement
to complete the new structure to perfection. The Quran is
that second inn. Those with insight can see it.
A Rationale
for the Shortcomings of Torah and the Gospels:
It is pertinent here to answer
another argument. A true and perfect dispensation is one
that considers the specificity of the situation in
prescribing a code, and that explains all spiritual issues
comprehensively. It may be asked, then why is it that the
Torah and the Gospels have been left bereft of this while
the Quran has taken these characteristics to perfection? The
answer to this is that the fault lies not with the Torah or
the Gospels, but in the ability and readiness of the nations
to receive a comprehensive Divine communication. The
Israelites, which Moses dealt with, had lived for about four
hundred years as slaves of the Pharaohs. This experience
under their tyrannical rule had left them unaware of the
meaning of justice and the rule of law. It is natural that
if the ruler, who stands in the position of a preceptor and
educator to his subjects, is equitable then the same traits
get reflected in the ruled, and an intrinsic sense of
fairness is born in them. The civilisation and culture that
results is grounded in equity, and justice becomes a
personality trait among them. If the king is tyrannical,
then the subjects also become cruel and oppressive and are
usually devoid of the trait of justice.
This is what happened to the
Israelites. By staying in servitude to the Pharaohs for an
extended period, and having been subjected to all kinds of
cruelty, their sense of justice atrophied. The first
priority with Prophet Moses was to recreate this trait, and
consequently the commandments of the Torah lay great
emphasis on ensuring justice. There are some verses in the
Torah that deal with mercy, but a closer look at them shows
that these verses are meant to define the limits of just
conduct so that unbridled emotions, and undue rancour may
not transgress these boundaries. The real reason everywhere
is to safeguard the provisions of the laws on justice and
equity.
This, however, is not the objective of
the Gospels that emphasise forgiveness and eschewing
revenge. When we read the Gospels analytically, it becomes
evident from the text that its addresser was convinced that
the addressees were devoid of kindness, patience and
forgiveness and that the addresser earnestly desired them
not to covet seeking revenge, but instead to develop the
traits of patience, tolerance, forbearance, and forgiveness.
The reason for this is that in the time of Jesus, peace be
on him, the moral condition of the Jews had degenerated to
an extent where they had exceeded all limits of animosity
and rancour, resulting in constant litigation. Under the
pretence of being the supporters of justice, the Jews had
completely lost the traits of forgiveness and forbearance.
They were, therefore, admonished and advised in the Gospels,
but these counsels were time and people specific and not
meant to form the structure of an ever lasting law.
Consequently, these injunctions were abrogated by the
Quran.
The Quran
Teaches a Middle Course:
The Torah emphasises revenge
and rigidity as is obvious from the law of retribution, and
this is the rationale it provides for the historical battles
recorded in it. The Gospels embrace, almost exclusively,
forgiveness, patience and forbearance. However, when we
study the Quran intently and impartially, it becomes clear
that the Quran emphasises a middle course. It repeatedly
exhorts its followers to amr-bil-ma'ruf (do good) and
nahy-'anil-munkar (give up evil). The former phrase
means adopting a course of action that follows the religious
code and intellect, and best meets the situational needs.
The latter phrase implies foregoing what is evil and
repugnant to the religious code and intellect.
On reading the Quran, it becomes
obvious that the Quran seeks acceptance of its laws, limits
and commands by appealing to the intellect. It does not
confine an individual into a given personal set of do's and
don'ts but instead provides a generic framework for action.
For example, it lays down the generic principle to do good
(ma'ruf) and to give up evil (munkar). These
two principles, i.e., to do good and to shun evil, are so
comprehensive that they provide the intellectual
underpinning for all Islamic codes, and create an imperative
in all situations to determine what constitutes real
goodness in those circumstances.
Some examples of the use of these
principles may be cited. In the case of a personal injury,
one should examine what constitutes the greater good in that
situation -- forgiveness or retribution. Suppose someone
asks for a loan of Rupees one thousand and the proposed
lender can loan the amount. However, the intended use of the
money is to finance an extravagant wedding of a son
following the family tradition of having firework display,
marching band and singing girls. The principle of
amr-bil-ma'ruf and nahy-'anil-munkar requires
one to reflect whether the generosity of advancing a loan is
misplaced. Thus, for the material and spiritual welfare of
the believers, the Quran requires them to carefully evaluate
the impact of all proposed good deeds.
Battles
with the Jews Only in Self-Defence:
I have now completed my
detailed reply to the second question of Mr. Sirajuddin. I
have stated that the battles with the Jews were not the
result of any attempt to forcibly convert them to
monotheism. In fact, it was the continuous mischievous
activities of the opponents of Islam that caused the
hostilities. Some of them took up the sword to kill the
Muslims, while others aided them. Some went out of their way
to prevent the propagation of Islam. It was to punish these
mischief mongers and to repel their evil designs that God
gave permission to wage war against them.
Those who make the baseless allegation
that the Prophet did not wage war during the first thirteen
years of prophethood because he lacked an organised party
belie the facts of history. Such allegations may have had
some place if the opponents of the Prophet had refrained
from cruel, bloody persecution and plans to murder or exile
him, and if the Prophet had voluntarily migrated to Medina
without an attack on his person underway. However, the facts
are well known even to our opponents. For thirteen years,
the Prophet patiently bore all manner of hardship, but
strictly forbade his companions to seek revenge for the
evils inflicted upon them. During this period, the opponents
went so far as to murder some Muslims and the number that
were wounded or grievously hurt by them is countless.
Finally, they launched a plan to murder the Prophet, but God
saved His Prophet from the evil of the enemies and brought
him safely to Medina. God then gave him the good news that
those who had raised the sword against him would now die by
the sword. In all fairness, is it at all possible to
conclude from this that the Prophet had been harbouring a
design to fight from the very beginning and it was
manifested when he was able to gather a few men around
him?
Alas! The Christian critics of Islam
are completely blinded in their prejudice. It does not even
cross their mind that when the Muslims fought their very
first battle against the Meccan army that was coming in
their pursuit to Medina, the Muslims were far from being an
organised group. There were only three hundred and thirteen
Muslims, mostly young and inexperienced, who took the field
in Badr against all the braves of Arabia. Is it at all
conceivable that this little band of Muslims had set out to
punish the hundreds of thousand of Arabs, Christians and
Jews? Clearly, the Muslim presence in the battlefield was
not the result of a man made design or plan to vanquish
their enemies and be victorious. For if this was the case,
then an army of at least thirty to forty thousand should
have been put together to take on the hundreds of thousand
opposing the Muslims. It is abundantly clear then that the
Muslims fought this battle, under very trying circumstances,
not because of any reliance on material resources but
because they had been so commanded by God.
Why was it
Necessary for the Jews to Accept Islam?
It is necessary here to answer
another objection. Some may argue that if salvation lies in
monotheistic belief and righteous deeds, then why were the
Jews invited to accept Islam? Was there not even a single
person among the Jews who was a practising monotheist and
submissive to the commands of God? We have already shown
that most of the Jews during the time of Prophet Muhammad
were transgressors and the Quran bears testimony to it in
verse 3:109, where it says, "... most of them are
transgressors." Since so many of them had ceased to practice
monotheism and the performance of righteous deeds, God's
infinite mercy desired their reformation. So, according to
His ancient tradition, He sent His messenger to them. Even
if we assume that there were a few among the Jews who were
monotheistic and righteous, they ceased to be virtuous when
they rebelled against the Messenger of God. When even a
small sin dirties the soul, how can anyone who disobeys and
opposes the Messenger have a pure soul?
Top
Books
Section
> by
Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad Sahib of
Qadian
> Four
Question Answered (Siraaj-ud-Deen Eesaee Kay Chaar Swaalon
Kay Jawaab)
> Question # 2: Why do Other Believers in One God
Belonging to Other Religions Need to Accept Islam
footer
|
'E-mail'
this page to a friend!
|
E-mail
Us!
This website is designed,
developed and maintained by the members of:
The Lahore
Ahmadiyya Movement for the Propagation of
Islam
(Ahmadiyya
Anjuman Isha'at-e-Islam, Lahore
-- A.A.I.I.L.)
and is being managed in the Netherlands.
The responsibility of the content
of this website lies with the respective
authors
You may print-out and spread this
literature for the propagation of Islam provided our website
[aaiil.org]
is acknowledged
|
