have read the answer to the
question on violence provided by Professor Shahul Hameed,
yet I am not convinced. The professor have said that no
man may kill, but for a just cause. Whereas the Biblical
commandment does not allow any exceptions. It says “thou
shalt not kill”. So who will determine what is a just
cause. I'm sure the terrorist from 9/11 can argue that
their cause is just! Second, when he quotes the Bible,
he also should look at its context. The only quote he
presented from the New Testament was a quote from a
story Jesus was telling about a nobleman who was talking
to his servants. Those words "bring hither, and slay
them before me" are the words of that nobleman in the
story, not Jesus'!
Anyway your argument is that it is permissible to
murder! And finally, how about this passage in the
Qur'an which means:
*{This because
those who reject Allah follow vanities, while those
who believe follow the Truth from their Lord: Thus
does Allah set forth for men their lessons by
similitudes.}* (Muhammad 47:3)
*{Remember thy
Lord inspired the angels (with the message): "I am
with you: give firmness to the Believers: I will
instil terror into the hearts of the Unbelievers:
smite ye above their necks and smite all their
finger-tips off them." This because they contended
against Allah and His Messenger: If any contend
against Allah and His Messenger, Allah is strict in
punishment.}* (Al-Anfal 8:12-13)
This is not just talking about
enemies, but those who don't believe what the Muslims
believe. I am not taking this out of context. I also
think it's important to look at the fact that you can
clearly see from the Bible, if there are any metaphoric
examples, Jesus clearly does not want violence. You can
see that HE was not involved in war, HE did not say that
you can kill, period… for any reason!! Even if you see
that your cause is just! To conclude, I don't mean to
sound offensive. On the contrary, I feel passionate
about this lone issue because I love and appreciate the
value of Islam, but am finding it very difficult to get
by this particular issue.
I have not found an answer or justification to allow me
to accept this and thus the Islamic faith. My aim is to
be blunt and to receive a blunt and simple answer for
why there are so many violent passages in the Qur'an.
Passages that are not speaking metaphorically as the
Bible sometimes does, but instead calling its followers
to fight, even if they don't want to. |
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Thank you for your
question.
You have claimed that the Biblical references to killing
are sometimes metaphorical; but the Qur'anic commands
are literal. This is a moot point; and for the time
being I would dispute your contention by citing examples
from the Old Testament where killing on a large scale
has been done with the help and guidance of Jehovah or
Yahweh.
Read the Book of Joshua, Chapters 8 to 11. About four
chapters speak of nothing but killing, killing, killing
and again killing, as commanded by Yahweh. I quote just
the last part of Joshua Chapter 10:
30: and the LORD gave it also and its king into
the hand of Israel; and he smote it with the edge of the
sword, and every person in it; he left none remaining in
it; and he did to its king as he had done to the king of
Jericho.
31: And Joshua passed on from Libnah, and all
Israel with him, to Lachish, and laid siege to it, and
assaulted it:
32: and the LORD gave Lachish into the hand of
Israel, and he took it on the second day, and smote it
with the edge of the sword, and every person in it, as
he had done to Libnah.
33: Then Horam king of Gezer came up to help
Lachish; and Joshua smote him and his people, until he
left none remaining.
34: And Joshua passed on with all Israel from
Lachish to Eglon; and they laid siege to it, and
assaulted it;
35: and they took it on that day, and smote it
with the edge of the sword; and every person in it he
utterly destroyed that day, as he had done to Lachish.
36: Then Joshua went up with all Israel from
Eglon to Hebron; and they assaulted it,
37: and took it, and smote it with the edge of
the sword, and its king and its towns, and every person
in it; he left none remaining, as he had done to Eglon,
and utterly destroyed it with every person in it.
38: Then Joshua, with all Israel, turned back to
Debir and assaulted it,
39: and he took it with its king and all its
towns; and they smote them with the edge of the sword,
and utterly destroyed every person in it; he left none
remaining; as he had done to Hebron and to Libnah and
its king, so he did to Debir and to its king.
40: So Joshua defeated the whole land, the hill
country and the Negeb and the lowland and the slopes,
and all their kings; he left none remaining, but utterly
destroyed all that breathed, as the LORD God of
Israel commanded.
I understand that 'he left none remaining' means, Joshua
killed the men, the women and the kids—even babies.
At the command of Yahweh.
And we read this in the Book of Isaiah:
"Every one that is found shall be thrust through; and
every one that is joined unto them shall fall by the
sword. Their children also shall be dashed to pieces
before their eyes; their houses shall be spoiled, and
their wives ravished." (Isaiah 13:15-16)
Here we see how the Bible tells of God's commands to
fight and kill.
In the New Testament, Jesus Christ is quoted as saying
that he had come to bring the sword, to "set father
against son and mother against daughter" (Luke 12:53)
and called on his followers to kill: "But those mine
enemies, which would not that I should reign over them,
bring hither, and slay them before me" (Luke 19:27).
you can see that the parable comes to an end with the
previous verse, namely Luke 19:26: "For I say unto you,
That unto every one which hath shall be given; and from
him that hath not, even that he hath shall be taken away
from him."
It was after this we find these verses: "But those mine
enemies, which would not that I should reign over them,
bring hither, and slay them before me." And when
he had thus spoken, he went before, ascending up to
Jerusalem.
It is clear that he did not want his disciples to put
this into effect immediately. And certainly the mission
of Jesus in those days did not include fighting, nor was
he prepared for it. But it would be naive to say that
Jesus did not know the role of wars in the history of
humanity. He certainly knew the Law of Moses and the
significance of fighting in Jewish history. Didn't he
know that the Law of Moses taught the philosophy of an
eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth? And yet what did
he say of the Law?
"Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the
prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil. For
verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one
jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law,
till all be fulfilled..." (Matthew 5: 17, 18).
And from the manner in which he drove out the money
changers in the Jerusalem Temple (John 2: 13-15), it is
clear that he did not completely rule out the use of
force, in establishing peace on earth.
The question is how did the Christians interpret the
words of Jesus in their practical life? Most assuredly
the import of the parable (quoted above) was not lost
upon the Christians of the later centuries. If we
examine the history of Christianity, we see the above
words of Jesus have been enacted in bloody reality many
times - starting when an important political rebellion
against the Roman Catholic Church took on a religious
slant - leading to the split in European Christendom
between Catholic and Protestant. This split sparked off
a series of religious wars which were ultimately to be
responsible for the death of nearly a third of the
entire White race.
If we argue that the essential message of Jesus is
"turning the other cheek" even in the face of the worst
provocation, then we have to admit that Jesus' avowed
followers have belied his teaching repeatedly. Even when
their tongues call Jesus "the Prince of Peace", weapons
of mass destruction are being forged in their backyards
to massacre the non-Christians. Every time a Christian
bomb tears apart the limbs of an Iraqi man, woman or
child in Baghdad or Fallujah, Christ's teaching is
proved to be null and void. It is funny to hear the
Christians blaming Muslims for taking up weapons while
they themselves had exploded two Christian atom bombs
that killed millions; and theirs is the monopoly of
manufacturing, distributing and using the most horrible
weapons ever made by the hand of man - the followers of
the Prince of Peace indeed!
The Qur'an is a continuation and completion of the
earlier scriptures like the Torah and the Gospel; and
the mission of Muhammad was a reconciliation between the
harsh Law of Moses and the non-violent Gospel of Jesus.
Consider this Muslim idea in the light of Islam's
acceptance of Moses and Jesus as prophets of God and
their books as God-given scriptures. Muhammad never
claimed that he was preaching a new religion: he said
that his mission can be compared to a brick; the last
brick needed to complete the construction of a building.
All the prophets—indeed thousands of them—had preached
the Religion of God before, and every prophet had a
mission to fulfill. And when the time was ripe the Last
Prophet came and completed the Religion of God.
The Qur'an has said what means:
*{So when you meet in battle those
who disbelieve, then smite the necks until when you
have overcome them, then make (them) prisoners, and
afterwards either set them free as a favor or let
them ransom (themselves) until the war terminates…}*
(Muhammad 47:4)
The context of this verse was when the Muslims were to
fight their enemies for their very existence. After
thirteen years of endurance and patience, the prophet
and his companions had to leave their home town of
Makkah and to emigrate to Madinah. When the people of
Madinah had welcomed him there and he was accepted as a
leader there, the Makkans became unhappy. They wanted to
eliminate Muhammad and his religion; and so they sent
their army to root out Islam. And the crucial battle
took place in Badr. It was just before this that
Muhammad received the revelation from God to fight:
*{And fight in the way of Allah with
those who fight with you, and do not exceed the
limits, surely Allah does not love those who exceed
the limits.}* (Al-Baqarah 2:190)
This meant that the Prophet and his companions were not
to start the fighting; but to defend themselves against
aggressors. That was how fighting was ordained; but we
must know that once we fight, we fight to defeat the
aggressors, so that we can live without fear of
molestation and invasion; so that we can live in peace;
so that justice is done. Remember God does not command
any one to start fighting; rather He permits
people to fight in self defense or for the defense of
those who are attacked unjustly.
All the passages in the Qur'an referring to fighting
have been revealed in the context of the threats of
battles from the enemies of Truth and Justice. And when
you are told to fight, you are commanded to fight on
till justice is established; till the criminals are
brought to book, till Peace can prevail.
When DU bombs are dropped from a height of 30,000 ft,
how can you turn the other cheek? By their invasions and
occupations the people whom the Muslims see as
representing the Christians have been proving Jesus'
message of Peace irrelevant and meaningless in the world
of reality. And then they quote Jesus and ask Muslims
not to resist them while they go on brutally maiming and
massacring people and demolishing their mosques!
Useful links:
Islam and Terrorism
Supporting Terrorism?
Did Islam Grow by Killing Non-Believers?
Beheading Civilians... Islamic?
To Kill or Not to Kill
Declaration of War… Against Non-Muslims?!
The Way of the Sword |
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