Louie Horning
Reading the Qur’an
Professor Sharon Albert
16 November 2017
The Qur’an and the Sword
For this commentary project I will be focusing on the ethics of war (as in, how war may be waged in addition to when it may be waged) in regards to non-believers. The reason that I am writing on this topic is that Islam is twofold. First, the ethics of war is a topic that I examined in high school in the context of the early Christian Scholar Saint Augustine and his Just War Theory. It is of interest to me to read a perspective from a different culture on the topic of warfare and to examine the similarities and differences between the two. Although the Qur’an is a different type of text entirely than any of Saint Augustine’s works, it is far more influential and still contains ideas regarding the ethics of war that would compare with those found in Christianity. Second, the idea that the Qur’an, and by extension Islam, demands that its followers wage war against the non-believers without exception is an idea that is becoming more prevalent in the Western world, and unfortunately, perhaps in the Middle East as well. It is because of the modern political landscape of a post 9/11 world and the rise of the Islamic State that some in the West have begun to see Islam as a religion based on war and oppression, and as the antithesis of Liberal Western values of freedom. Thus, examining the Qur’an more specifically in regard to waging war against non-believers will allow a more in-depth understanding of the religion and how the words of the Qur’an have been twisted or taken out of context to serve an ideological function. I am already aware that the Qur’an argues that wars can be just, and that Mohammed, in addition to his function as a political leader, also served as a military leader. I am also aware that Mohammed lived in an era when political and military leadership often blurred together. Additionally, I am aware that the Qur’an calls for restraint and forbids violence against women and children. I have several resources with which I am looking to examine this topic. I have acquired the PDFs of 3 books that all address the topic of war in the Qur’an in some aspect. These books are The Qur’an and Combat by Imam Mahmoud Muhammad Shaltut, Warfare in the Qur’an by Joel Hayward, Jihad and the Islamic Law of War. I am also looking to access the works of Ad-Dahhak bin Muzahim, Ibn Khathir.
One verse of great significance in the discussion of war in the Qur’an is the so-called “Verse of the Sword”. Imam Mahmoud Muhammad Shaltut translates this verse in The Qur’an and Combat as “Oh you who believe, fight those of the disbelievers who are near to you, and let them find harshness in you, and know that God is with the pious.” (Al-Tawhah, 9:123). Shaltut argues that this verse should not be considered alongside other verses that validate the use of warfare, as this particular verse was revealed “to show a practical war plan to be followed when legitimate combat breaks out.” (Shaltut 45) Rather than giving a cause for war, Shaltut states that the verse is instead giving instructions for how to wage war after a legitimate cause has already been acquired. He explains: “The verse guides the Muslims that, when enemies are manifold, the nearest of them should be fought first and so on, in order to clear the road from enemies and to facilitate victory.” (Shaltut 45)
In Warfare in the Qur’an by Dr. Joel Hayward, Hayward translates the passage as “But when the forbidden months are past, then fight and slay the pagans wherever ye find them, beleaguer them, and lie in wait for them in every stratagem (of war). (Al-Tawbah, 9:5). He asserts that the Surah was revealed following the violation of the Treaty of Hudaybiyah by Mecca, after which Mohammed peacefully took the city. The passage was revealed as a warning to those who practiced polytheism within the city of Mecca, who were given four months to convert or leave the city of Mecca. If “pagans” still remained in the city of Mecca after these “forbidden months”, then and only in this particular context were Mohammed and his followers to “fight and slay the pagans.” Hayward goes on to cite the early Muslim scholar Ad-Dahhak bin Muzahim, who described the Verse of the Sword as a verse in which the purpose was that it “cancelled out every treaty which had granted pilgrimage rights to Arab pagans to travel along Islamic routes, enter Mecca and perform unpalatable rituals there.” (Hayward 26) Other scholars, such as Robert Spencer cite the medieval Islamic Scholar Ibn Kathir, and interpret his writings (though Hayward argues incorrectly) to mean that the Verse of the Sword “abrogates all peaceful verses ever previously uttered by the prophet.” (Hayward 26)
In Jihad and the Islamic Law of War, the verse is translated more specifically: “When the sacred months have passed, kill the polytheists wherever you find them, capture them and besiege them, and lie in wait for them at every ambush. But if they repent, and perform the Prayer and give Alms, then let them alone. Indeed God is forgiving, merciful. (Al-Tawbah (9:5). One question the text raises is the discussion of whether or not the nonbelievers (in this interpretation polytheists) are to be slain because they are assumed to be enemies of Islam, or if they are to be slain on account of their belief alone. The passage uses the following Surah from the Qur’an to contextualize the Verse of the Sword and to support the former: “If any of the polytheists seeks asylum from you, grant him asylum until he hears the Word of God. Then convey him to his place of safety. That is because they are a people who do not know.” (Al-Tawbah 9:6) Some scholars have claimed that this second verse, however, is abrogated by the first. Yet, the text argues that to claim that abrogating the second verse (thereby claiming that nonbelievers must be fought solely on the basis of their religious beliefs) would contradict with 140 other Quranic verses that call for peace with pagans.
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