Fighting in the cause of God is one of the most misunderstood issues in Islam
(Submission), even by those who consider themselves Muslims. Many of the
so called "Muslim" scholars have confused the issue by their personal opinion
that has NO support in the Quran. Most of these deviant
opinions originate from false teachings found in the books of Hadiths and
sunna. Hadiths and sunna books are a collection of fabricated stories about
prophet Muhammed that have all kinds of cruel inhumane and corrupted opinions
that contradict the Quran, contradict itself, and contradict as well any
common sense. Most of the corruption we see in the "Muslim" world today comes
from these man made books that were collected over 200 years after the death
of Prophet Muhammed. Prophet Muhammed himself never advocated any books but
the Quran and even instructed his followers NOT to write or collect such
books. Please see our Hadiths and Sunna section for
details. Prophet Muhammed himself NEVER waged any war except for self
defense and never lived except by the peaceful words of God in the
Quran.
Quran defines clearly for the believers what is it , the cause of God.
First we have to realize some very important concepts about war and peace
in the Quran.
(1)God condemns aggression in the Quran (2:190-191). This
doesn’t mean that we should not defend ourselves when we are being attacked.
And this is the only time you will find believers fight others, when they
themselves are being attacked, aggressed upon. Believers will never initiate
war, or an aggression. The Quran is a fully detailed book, which provides
us with guidance on how to deal with all kinds of situations we encounter
in this life. One of those situations are war. Thus God gives us very exact
guidelines on how to behave in those situations. A commonly quoted verse
is 9:5. It is a verse that deals with a situation of war. The believers have
been attacked, and their enemy has broken a peaceful truce, and they are
told how to defend themselves.
[9:5]Once the Sacred Months are past, (and they refuse to make peace)
you may kill the idol worshipers when you encounter them, punish them, and
resist every move they make. If they repent and observe the Contact Prayers
(Salat) and give the obligatory charity (Zakat), you shall let them go. GOD
is Forgiver, Most Merciful.
(2) Whenever possible we should resort to peace.Throughout
the Quran, God teaches us that whenever possible we should resort to peace.
[8:61.3] If they resort to peace, so shall you, and put your trust
in GOD. He is the Hearer, the Omniscient.
[9:4] If the idol worshipers sign a peace treaty with you, and
do not violate it, nor band together with others against you, you shall fulfill
your treaty with them until the expiration date. GOD loves the righteous.
[4:90] …if they leave you alone, refrain from fighting you, and offer
you peace, then GOD gives you no excuse to fight them. As we also
read in 9:6, even people with different belief than our own, during the actual
war situation, is to be granted safe passage with us if he seeks it.
[9:6] If one of the idol worshipers sought safe passage with you, you shall
grant him safe passage, so that he can hear the word of GOD, then
send him back to his place of security. That is because they are people who
do not know.
(3) Whenever attacked, defend yourselves;
As much as
any civilized nation would do, e.g. USA today, God gave the believers the
right to defend themselves if resorting to peaceful means did not work out
and they are still attacked, as we clearly see in 47:4. This verse deals
with a war situation, in a situation where the believers are under attack.
[47:4] If you encounter (in war) those who disbelieve, you may strike
the necks. If you take them as captives you may set them free or ransom them,
until the war ends. Had GOD willed, He could have granted you victory, without
war. But He thus tests you by one another. As for those who get killed in
the cause of GOD, He will never put their sacrifice to waste.
Some expressed concerns about the allegorical expression of "strike the necks".
It is an indication of the severity of the war and the attacks where the
believers should not save any means of legitimate weapon to defeat those
who attacked them. Those who watched the America bombing of the terrorists
in Afghanistan using all that the American arsenal has would understand this
expression.
Again in self defense God commands, [9:29] You shall fight
back against those who do not believe in GOD, nor in the Last
Day, nor do they prohibit what GOD and His messenger have prohibited, nor
do they abide by the religion of truth - among those who received the scripture
- until they pay the due tax, willingly or unwillingly. As we again learn
from this verse and the other verses, the fighting only occurs when being
aggressed against.
(4) Fighting in the cause of God;
[4:75] Why should you not fight in the cause of GOD when
weak men, women, and children are imploring: "Our Lord, deliver us from this
community whose people are oppressive, and be You our Lord and Master."
Those who believe fight in the cause of God. What that means is that
they fight according to God’s commandments. God’s commandments
forbids aggression, calls for peace but allows self defense. God’s
commandments tells us that there shall be no compulsion in religion, His
commandments tells us that we should offer maximum freedom and equal rights
to all people, regardless of their belief or lifestyle. Those who
disbelieve on the other hand, they fight in the cause of Tyranny: oppression,
dictatorship, domination, autocracy, despotism, absolutism, cruelty,
totalitarianism.
[4:76] Those who believe are fighting for the cause of GOD, while those
who disbelieve are fighting for the cause of tyranny. Therefore, you shall
fight the devil's allies; the devil's power is nil.
(5) Non military Fighting in the cause of God;
In principle,
the believers want to have guaranteed freedom, freedom of worship for them
and for all those who live with them, freedom of expression, freedom of trade
and move. The freedom to be treated equally in the land with no discrimination
as a result of color, age, gender or beliefs.
Fighting in the cause of God therefore does not have to be a military fighting
but the student of the Quran will strongly realize that such military fighting
should be the exception. A very important teaching in the Quran is to strife
to be strong, not to be an aggressor ,but to prevent others from aggressing
against you.
[8:60] You shall prepare for them all the power you can muster, and all
the equipment you can mobilize, that you may frighten the enemies of GOD,
your enemies, as well as others who are not known to you; GOD knows them.
Whatever you spend in the cause of GOD will be repaid to you generously,
without the least injustice.
All the super powers in our world today, USA, China, Russia..etc are following
this rule. None of the so called "Muslim" countries has been able to follow
his rule as they have deserted most of the Quranic rules.
In our civilized world today, the power of the pen is stronger and
more effective than the power of the bullet. A bullet or a bomb may affect
a group of people at a certain location, while the pen can reach all over
the globe, e.g.the Internet, where people have the complete freedom
to accept or reject any stated idea. Fighting in the cause of God has gone
a long way and a message like the one you are reading now is seen around
the globe and read by people who speak different languages as the computers
changed the face of the world. The prediction of the advent of the computer
in the Quran, 72:28, has been a landmark of the
miracle of the Quran. Yes, we can fight oppression and aggression around
the world as we are commanded in the Quran by the pen, one of the most peaceful
way of achieving global results and understanding.
[ 96:1-5] Read, in the name of your Lord, who created. He created man
from an embryo. Read, and your Lord, Most Exalted. Teaches by means of
the pen. He teaches man what he never knew.
Fatimah
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