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Building out the Quran section with academic sources, including how these relate to the sira-maghazi literature
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Jews and Christians were required to pay the ''jizyah'' while pagans were required to either accept Islam or die.<ref>{{cite web |title=Islam |url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/Islam |work=Encyclopedia Britannica |location=New York |date=17 August 2021|access-date=12 January 2022}}</ref> Upon payment of the tax (''jizya''), the ''dhimmi'' would receive a receipt of payment, either in the form of a piece of paper or parchment or as a seal humiliatingly placed upon their neck, and was thereafter compelled to carry this receipt wherever he went within the realms of Islam - failure to produce an up-to-date ''jizya'' receipt on the request of a Muslim could result in death or forced conversion to Islam of the ''dhimmi'' in question<ref>{{cite book|last1=Yeʼor|first1=B|title=The decline of Eastern Christianity under Islam|date=2011|publisher=Madison, NJ: Fairleigh Dickinson University Press|page=79}}</ref>. | Jews and Christians were required to pay the ''jizyah'' while pagans were required to either accept Islam or die.<ref>{{cite web |title=Islam |url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/Islam |work=Encyclopedia Britannica |location=New York |date=17 August 2021|access-date=12 January 2022}}</ref> Upon payment of the tax (''jizya''), the ''dhimmi'' would receive a receipt of payment, either in the form of a piece of paper or parchment or as a seal humiliatingly placed upon their neck, and was thereafter compelled to carry this receipt wherever he went within the realms of Islam - failure to produce an up-to-date ''jizya'' receipt on the request of a Muslim could result in death or forced conversion to Islam of the ''dhimmi'' in question<ref>{{cite book|last1=Yeʼor|first1=B|title=The decline of Eastern Christianity under Islam|date=2011|publisher=Madison, NJ: Fairleigh Dickinson University Press|page=79}}</ref>. | ||
Scholars from as early as the Ummayad period interpreted the Quran as legitimising expansionist warfare. Modernist scholars emphasise the hostile environment in which the verses were revealed and dispute the traditonal interpretations, including their extensive use of the doctine of [[Naskh_(Abrogation)|abrogation]]. | |||
==Jihad in the Qur'an and Sunnah== | ==Jihad in the Qur'an and Sunnah== | ||
===Jihad in the Qur'an=== | |||
The words "jihad" and "fighting" (قتال--Qitaal) appear frequently in the Qur'an. In his academic book on this topic, Reuven Firestone documents in detail the traditional interpretations of such verses. Regarding the key fighting verses in general, Firestone notes the lack of consistent tradition in commentaries on how to interpret them, while the legal literature fits the verses into an evolutionary schema of increasing permission to fight, from defensive purposes all the way to aggressive warfare. Firestone himself considers the verses to be inconsistent and to reflect different factions of believers who sought to influence Muhammad with their views on fighting, noting the abundant evidence in the Quran itself that there were groups strongly disinclined to fight. Disregarding the traditional chronology of verses, which is inextricably tied to the evolutionary model of later interpretation, he groups verses according to these factions.<ref>Reuven Firestone, ''Jihad: The Origin of Holy War in Islam'', New York: Oxford University Press, 1999, pp. 64-69</ref> | |||
Many modern academic scholars are influenced by the traditional evolutionary model regarding permission to fight, though other academics, as well as modernist Muslim scholars (from as early as the 19th century) and increasingly, Muslims scholars more widely are emphasising the Quran as the primary historical source for this period, which later historical material should be interpreted in light of rather than the other way around. | |||
===Jihad in the Qur'an=== | According to Patricia Crone, modernist muslim scholars cast the conflicts fought by Muhammad as "defensive or pre-emptive", as did some earlier scholars such as Ibn Taymiyyah.<ref>https://www.ias.edu/sites/default/files/hs/Crone_Articles/Crone_la_ikraha.pdf p. 159</ref> These modernist Muslim scholars do not regard the Quran as anywhere giving a general dispensation for expansive warfare, which like some academic scholars, they argue was a later reinterpretation to legitimise the emerging Arab empire. | ||
In her article "War" for the Encyclopedia of the Quran, Crone says fighting is legitimised in the Quran for self defence, including pre-emptively ({{Quran|9|8}} and {{Quran|60|2}}), as well as for the defence of others ({{Quran|4|75}}) and against treaty breakers ({{Quran-range|9|13|14}}). She says that throughout the Quran it is stressed that fighting must stop when the enemy does so and the language of forgiveness is reiterated amidst the often militant language. To Crone, the only verse which seems to endorse aggressive warfare is {{Quran|9|29}}, though this perhaps can be read as a continuation of {{Quran-range|9|1|23}} concerning the treaty breakers.<ref name="CroneWarSummary">A brief summary of Crone's Encyclopedia of the Quran article can be seen[https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/Islamic_International_Law_and_Jihad_War/YgazDwAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&pg=PA22&printsec=frontcover here]</ref> | |||
Modernists stress the oppressive environment and danger faced by the early community, pointing out that the Quran itself mentions a number of times that the believers were forced to migrate to Medina, and according to early tradition (especially the first letter of 'Urwa b. Zubayr), previously migrated to Abyssinia following the first and second fitna (persecutions), respectively. | |||
In the sections below, important Quranic themes and verses are examined, along with their interpretations by traditional Muslim scholars, Islamic modernists and modern academic scholars. Early Islamic historical literature is also discussed in relation to the interpretations of the verses. | |||
====Early fighting verses==== | |||
There was a consensus among commentators that {{Quran|2|217}} was revealed following a caravan raid which was controversial in terms of whether or not the sacred months in which fighting was prohibited had finished.<ref>Reuven Firestone, ''Jihad'' Firestone p. 57</ref> This raid was the first expedition mentioned by 'Urwa' b. Zubayr in his letters about the early history of Islam. These letters are regarded as an important early source and the relevant letters are summarised in a later section in this article. In that verse, the Quran justifies killing in the sacred months in the context of the "fitna" (oppression) and forced migration of the believers to Medina. | |||
There was considerable discussion about the scope of the obligation to fight mentioned in the previous verse, Q 2:216, especially on whether it was a collective obligation (fard kifiya) that could be met by just a group of believers without involving everyone. In this regard, {{Quran|9|122}} was also a key verse ("And the believers should not all go out to fight [...]").<ref>Reuven Firestone, ''Jihad'' pp. 60-61</ref> | |||
{{Quote|{{Quran-range|2|216|217}}|216 Fighting has been enjoined upon you while it is hateful to you. But perhaps you hate a thing and it is good for you; and perhaps you love a thing and it is bad for you. And Allah Knows, while you know not.<BR /> | |||
217 They ask you about the sacred month - about fighting therein. Say, "Fighting therein is great [sin], but averting [people] from the way of Allah and disbelief in Him and [preventing access to] al-Masjid al-Haram and the expulsion of its people therefrom are greater [evil] in the sight of Allah. And fitnah is greater than killing." And they will continue to fight you until they turn you back from your religion if they are able. And whoever of you reverts from his religion [to disbelief] and dies while he is a disbeliever - for those, their deeds have become worthless in this world and the Hereafter, and those are the companions of the Fire, they will abide therein eternally.}} | |||
===="And fight them until persecution is no more, and religion is for Allah."==== | |||
Q 2:190-94 is regarded as a particularly important passage in terms of the principles for fighting. | |||
{{Quote|{{Quran-range|2|190|194}}|190 Fight in the way of Allah those who fight you but do not transgress. Indeed. Allah does not like transgressors.<BR /> | |||
191 And kill them wherever you overtake them and expel them from wherever they have expelled you, and fitnah is worse than killing. And do not fight them at al-Masjid al- Haram until they fight you there. But if they fight you, then kill them. Such is the recompense of the disbelievers.<Br /> | |||
192 And if they cease, then indeed, Allah is Forgiving and Merciful.<BR /> | |||
193 Fight them until there is no [more] fitnah and [until] worship is [acknowledged to be] for Allah. But if they cease, then there is to be no aggression except against the oppressors.<BR /> | |||
194 [Fighting in] the sacred month is for [aggression committed in] the sacred month, and for [all] violations is legal retribution. So whoever has assaulted you, then assault him in the same way that he has assaulted you. And fear Allah and know that Allah is with those who fear Him. | |||
}} | |||
Mohamad Khalil in his academic book on Jihad describes the views of medieval commentators as well as modern interpretations of the key verses.<ref>Mohammad Hassan Khalil, ''Jihad, Radicalism and the New Atheism'', Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2017</ref> Khalil notes that the conditional instruction to end hostilities when the enemies "cease" in Q 2:193 was reinterpreted by medieval exegetes to mean that they have ceased not only fighting but also their disbelief.<ref>M. H. Khalil, ''Jihad'' p. 12</ref> | |||
This was in line with their interpretation that mere disbelief could qualify as "fitna". Javad Hashmi, an Islamic modernist and academic, notes the defensive principles apparent in the passage, and argues that in the Quran fitna simply means religious persecution, pointing to the related verse {{Quran|2|217}} quoted above which seems to define fitna in terms of obstruction of worship (though it also says "and disbelief in Him"<ref>Hashmi awkwardly glosses this as [while] disbelieving in Him, but perhaps "and to disbelief in Him" is a more plausible alternative in keeping with his definition of fitna i.e. they turn people from the way of Allah and to disbelief.</ref>).<ref name="HashmiPart12hr14to22">[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9l_9WwaoDYQ Jihad, War and Peace in Islam by Dr. Javad Hashmi (Part 1)] - Youtube.com, April 2020 (see 2 hours 14 to 22minutes)</ref> {{Quran-range|8|34|39}} quoted below seems also to support the interpretation that fitna refers to oppression. | |||
Medieval commentators such as al-Tabari interpreted the command to fight in Q 2:193 and Q 8:39 in terms of religious expansionism, supported by a famous hadith. Modernists question its authenticity (in line with the modern academic view that hadiths in general cannot be relied upon at face value). | |||
{{Quote|{{Muslim|1|30}}|It is reported on the authority of Abu Huraira that the Messenger of Allah said: | |||
I have been commanded to fight against people so long as they do not declare that there is no god but Allah, and he who professed it was guaranteed the protection of his property and life on my behalf except for the right affairs rest with Allah.}} | |||
Hashmi argues that "religion is for Allah" in 2:193 and "religion is all for Allah" in Q 8:39 should be understood not in a religious hegemonic sense, but rather in terms of the oppressed believers (hence, "fitna") not being forced to include pagan gods alongside their worship of Allah. His interpretation is one also mentioned by al-Tabari and Ibn Ishaq. The preceding verses, Q 8:34-38 arguably support this view better than they do the traditional interpretation. <ref name="HashmiPart12hr14to22" /> In further support of his interpretation, Hashmi has also argued that wiping out pagan religion would not have been a viable goal at that early, post-migration time period. It may similarly be worth noting that the second of 'Urwa b. Zubayr's letters states that Q 8:39 was revealed before Muhammad called the remaining Muslims in Mecca to migrate.<ref>Quote the letter from Sean Anthony or the al-Tabari and fight them quote from QHS Muhammad and jihad</ref> | |||
{{Quote|{{Quran-range|8|34|39}}|34 But why should Allah not punish them while they obstruct [people] from al-Masjid al- Haram and they were not [fit to be] its guardians? Its [true] guardians are not but the righteous, but most of them do not know.<BR /> | |||
35 And their worship at the (holy) House is naught but whistling and hand-clapping. Therefore (it is said unto them): Taste of the doom because ye disbelieve.<BR /> | |||
36 Indeed, those who disbelieve spend their wealth to avert [people] from the way of Allah. So they will spend it; then it will be for them a [source of] regret; then they will be overcome. And those who have disbelieved - unto Hell they will be gathered.<BR /> | |||
37 [This is] so that Allah may distinguish the wicked from the good and place the wicked some of them upon others and heap them all together and put them into Hell. It is those who are the losers.<BR /> | |||
38 Say to those who have disbelieved [that] if they cease, what has previously occurred will be forgiven for them. But if they return [to hostility] - then the precedent of the former [rebellious] peoples has already taken place.<BR /> | |||
39 And fight them until there is no fitnah and [until] the religion, all of it, is for Allah. And if they cease - then indeed, Allah is Seeing of what they do.}} | |||
====Non-aggression / defensive principle==== | |||
Khalil highlights Q 22:39-40 and Q 4:75 as early Medinan verses calling for fighting in self defence and the defence of others.<ref>M. H. Khalil, ''Jihad'' p. 9</ref> According to the traditional exegesis of the Qur'an in Sunni Islam, the first verse "revealed" to Muhammad about fighting was Q 22:39. In Q 22:40 even synagogues and churches as worthy of defence. | |||
{{Quote|{{Quran-range|22|39|40}}|Permission [to fight] has been given to those who are being fought, because they were wronged. And indeed, Allah is competent to give them victory.<BR /> | |||
[They are] those who have been evicted from their homes without right - only because they say, "Our Lord is Allah." And were it not that Allah checks the people, some by means of others, there would have been demolished monasteries, churches, synagogues, and mosques in which the name of Allah is much mentioned. And Allah will surely support those who support Him. Indeed, Allah is Powerful and Exalted in Might.}} | |||
{{Quote|{{Quran|4|75}}|And what is [the matter] with you that you fight not in the cause of Allah and [for] the oppressed among men, women, and children who say, "Our Lord, take us out of this city of oppressive people and appoint for us from Yourself a protector and appoint for us from Yourself a helper?"}} | |||
In line with this general principle, a number of verses state that fighting must stop if the enemy does so. Such verses include those discussed in this article ({{Quran|2|193}}, {{Quran|4|90}}, {{Quran|8|39}}, {{Quran|9|3}}). | |||
Perhaps in slight tension with the principle is {{Quran|47|35}}. Surah 47 dates to soon after the migration from Mecca (verse 13 refers to the believers being driven out) and the first fighting verses had been revealed (mentioned in verses 20-21). Verse 35 says, "So do not weaken and call for peace while you are superior; and Allah is with you and will never deprive you of [the reward of] your deeds." The surrounding verses are concerned with those who have reverted to disbelief and those who do not want to spend in the cause of Allah. A noteworthy verse on the conduct of war occurs in the same surah, {{Quran|47|4}}, which states that captives should be freed or ransomed until the war lays down its burdens. | |||
====Proportionate retaliation principle==== | |||
Javad Hashmi, as well as noting the non-aggression principle apparent in many fighting verses such as those quoted above, proposes that another prevalant fighting principle in this context is that of qisas, or proportionate retaliation. | |||
The | The basic proportionate retaliation principle in the context of killing is given in {{Quran-range|2|178|179}}. Patricia Crone similarly noted that retaliation generally must be proportionate in {{Quran|22|60}} and {{Quran-range|42|39|41}}.<ref name="CroneWarSummary" /> | ||
Hashmi too notes that the latter passage brings in the equal retaliation principle, while also praising the alternative of forgiveness in verse 43. His thesis is that there is a concept of proportionality associated with fighting in the Quran. He notes that the principle is also apparent in verses such as Q 2:191 and Q 2:194 discussed above. Often a preference for forgiveness and patience is expressed alongside this principle.<ref>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9l_9WwaoDYQ Jihad, War and Peace in Islam by Dr. Javad Hashmi (Part 1)] - Youtube.com, April 2020 (see 1 hour 30 to 50 minutes)</ref> | |||
{{Quote|{{Quran-range|42|39|43}}|And those who, when tyranny strikes them, they defend themselves,<BR /> | |||
And the retribution for an evil act is an evil one like it, but whoever pardons and makes reconciliation - his reward is [due] from Allah. Indeed, He does not like wrongdoers.<BR /> | |||
And whoever avenges himself after having been wronged - those have not upon them any cause [for blame].<BR /> | |||
The cause is only against the ones who wrong the people and tyrannize upon the earth without right. Those will have a painful punishment.<BR /> | |||
And whoever is patient and forgives - indeed, that is of the matters [requiring] determination.}} | |||
====Surah 9 (at-Tawbah)==== | |||
Surah 9, al-Tawbah, was traditionally revealed the year after the conquest of Mecca, though Hashmi, crediting [[w:Cheragh Ali|Cheragh Ali]] (d. 1895), argues that the opening of the surah was more likely revealed soon after the treaty of Hudabiya was violated by the Meccans, but before what turned out to be a peaceful conquest of the city.<ref>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9l_9WwaoDYQ Jihad, War and Peace in Islam by Dr. Javad Hashmi (Part 1)] - Youtube.com, April 2020 (see 2 hours 38 minutes)</ref> Hashmi argues that the principles discussed above are evident even in the opening verses of surah al-Tawbah.<ref>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9l_9WwaoDYQ Jihad, War and Peace in Islam by Dr. Javad Hashmi (Part 1)] - Youtube.com, April 2020 (see 2 hours 42 minutes)</ref> Similarly, Khalil notes that the early part of the surah has various qualifiers congruous with the restraining principles of earlier passages.<ref>M. H. Khalil, ''Jihad'' p. 14</ref> | |||
In this opening section, Q 9:5 became known as 'the verse of the sword' by some scholars and gives instructions against the mushrikeen who broke the treaty: | |||
{{Quote|{{Quran|9|5}}| | {{Quote|{{Quran|9|5}}|And when the sacred months have passed, then kill the polytheists wherever you find them and capture them and besiege them and sit in wait for them at every place of ambush. But if they should repent, establish prayer, and give zakah, let them [go] on their way. Indeed, Allah is Forgiving and Merciful.}} | ||
The same language (capture them and kill them wherever you find them) is directed at the hypocrites in {{Quran-range|4|88|90}}, with reprieve for those who do not want to fight the believers or who flee to a place where they are protected by treaty. Unlike in Q 9:5, they do not need to convert to Islam, which is a condition not present in earlier fighting verses. A similar phrase appears also in Q 2:191, discussed above (in that passage emnity is only against oppressors - Q 2:193). In the early part of surah 9, patience has run out for those proven untrustworthy to abide by their treaties. They must repent and join the religion (or perhaps just just observe prayer and zakat<ref>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9l_9WwaoDYQ Jihad, War and Peace in Islam by Dr. Javad Hashmi (Part 1)] - Youtube.com, April 2020 (see 2 hours 35 minutes)</ref>), individually seek protection, or die. | |||
Khalil writes that Q 9:5 was interpreted by scholars in the Ummayad and Abbasid imperial centres as abrogating certain earlier verses and opening the door for expansionst warfare against pagans, not just the treaty breakers who are explicitly the target of the verse. In contrast, scholars who did not live near these centres or at later times did not hold such a view and had a far more conservative opinion on abrogation generally.<ref>M. H. Khalil, ''Jihad'' p. 13</ref> A minority extreme view was that "all" peaceful passages were abrogated.<ref>M. H. Khalil, ''Jihad'' p. 16</ref> See also the introductory discussion in [[List of Abrogations in the Qur'an]]. | |||
Examples of later scholars who held the abrogationist-expansionist view are Ibn Kathir and al-Qurtubi: | |||
{{Quote|Tafsir ibn Kathir on surah 9:5| وَهَذِهِ الْآيَةُ الْكَرِيمَةُ هِيَ آيَةُ السَّيْفِ الَّتِي قَالَ فِيهَا الضَّحَّاكُ بْنُ مُزَاحِمٍ: إِنَّهَا نَسَخَتْ كُلَّ عَهْدٍ بَيْنَ النَّبِيِّ(٩) ﷺ وَبَيْنَ أَحَدٍ مِنَ الْمُشْرِكِينَ، وَكُلَّ عَهْدٍ، وَكُلَّ مُدَّةٍ. | {{Quote|Tafsir ibn Kathir on surah 9:5| وَهَذِهِ الْآيَةُ الْكَرِيمَةُ هِيَ آيَةُ السَّيْفِ الَّتِي قَالَ فِيهَا الضَّحَّاكُ بْنُ مُزَاحِمٍ: إِنَّهَا نَسَخَتْ كُلَّ عَهْدٍ بَيْنَ النَّبِيِّ(٩) ﷺ وَبَيْنَ أَحَدٍ مِنَ الْمُشْرِكِينَ، وَكُلَّ عَهْدٍ، وَكُلَّ مُدَّةٍ. | ||
This holy verse is the verse of the sword, which Dahaak bin Muzaahim said of it "Verily it has withdrawn | This holy verse is the verse of the sword, which Dahaak bin Muzaahim said of it "Verily it has withdrawn every covenant/treaty between the prophet, Allah's prayer and peace be upon him, and between any mushrik (polytheist/non-muslim), every covenant and every bond of aide."}} | ||
Al-Qurtabi has this to say | Al-Qurtabi has this to say | ||
| Line 36: | Line 107: | ||
"Fight the unbelievers" meaning: a general decree concerning every mushrik (polytheist | "Fight the unbelievers" meaning: a general decree concerning every mushrik (polytheist). But the Sunnah has narrowed its application in the declaration of surat-al-baqarah (surah 2) verse 3, excluding women, monks, children and other (non-combatants)......"Wherever you find them" meaning: a general decree for all places}} | ||
Another verse, Q 9:29, was associated with the expedition to face the Byzantines in northern Arabia at Tabuk in 630 CE.<ref>Reuven Firestone, ''Jihad'' p. 64</ref> Tabuk is not mentioned in the letters of 'Urwa (discussed below), though later traditional sources claim there were rumours that the Romans (Byzantines) were going to invade. There are possibly some problems with the chronology of this expedition and the battle of Mu'tah in Jordan against the Byzantines and their Ghassanid vassals in 629 CE.<ref>See this [[https://twitter.com/ShahanSean/status/1388882455738920971 Twitter discussion]] (2 May 2021) between Sean Anthony and Juan Cole</ref> | |||
This verse also became the basis of the [[Dhimma]] and the tax of the [[Jizyah]], the systems of financial and social apartheid to be instituted against Jews and Christians (and also Zoroastrians) in order to secure the supremacy of Islam in the [[Dar al-Harb and Dar al-Islam (the Abodes of War and Peace)|Dar al-Harb]] | |||
{{Quote|{{Quran|9|29}}|Fight those who do not believe in Allah or in the Last Day and who do not consider unlawful what Allah and His Messenger have made unlawful and who do not adopt the religion of truth from those who were given the Scripture - [fight] until they give the jizyah willingly while they are humbled.}} | |||
{{Quran-range|9|30|35}} continues the theme against the Jews and Christians in vitriolic fashion regarding their theology, and condemns the greed of their scholars and monks, though does not allege physical aggression (v. 32 states that "They want to extinguish the light of Allah with their mouths [...]"). | |||
{{Quran-range|9|36|37}} returns focus to fighting the mushrikeen treaty breakers. Modernists would observe here the defensive and equal retaliation principles. | |||
According to Khalil, various Muslim scholars have related these and other verses in surah al-Tawbah each to either a perceived threat from the Byzantines (Q 9:29) or to nearby Arab enemies (9:36, 9:73, and 9:123), especially in light of Q 2:190 ("Fight in the way of Allah against those who fight you, but do not transgress"). In contrast, according to scholars of what Khalil calls the abrogationist-expansionist paradigm these verses in surah al-tawbah supported expansionist warfare.<ref>M. H. Khalil, ''Jihad'' p. 15</ref> Such scholars devised a particularly convoluted abrogational scheme to deal with Q 2:190. | |||
{{Quote|{{Quran|9|36}}|Indeed, the number of months with Allah is twelve [lunar] months in the register of Allah [from] the day He created the heavens and the earth; of these, four are sacred. That is the correct religion, so do not wrong yourselves during them. And fight against the disbelievers collectively as they fight against you collectively. And know that Allah is with the righteous [who fear Him].}} | |||
{{Quote|{{Quran-range|9|73|74}}|O Prophet, fight against the disbelievers and the hypocrites and be harsh upon them. And their refuge is Hell, and wretched is the destination.<BR /> | |||
They swear by Allah that they did not say [anything against the Prophet] while they had said the word of disbelief and disbelieved after their [pretense of] Islam and planned that which they were not to attain. And they were not resentful except [for the fact] that Allah and His Messenger had enriched them of His bounty. So if they repent, it is better for them; but if they turn away, Allah will punish them with a painful punishment in this world and the Hereafter. And there will not be for them on earth any protector or helper. | |||
}} | |||
{{Quote|{{Quran|9|123}}|And it is not for the believers to go forth [to battle] all at once. For there should separate from every division of them a group [remaining] to obtain understanding in the religion and warn their people when they return to them that they might be cautious.<BR /> | |||
O you who have believed, fight those adjacent to you of the disbelievers and let them find in you harshness. And know that Allah is with the righteous.}} | |||
Surah 5, al Maidah, traditionally (and from internal evidence, according to Hashmi) was revealed after the conquest of Mecca. Hashmi points out that here we still see warnings to not aggress and to be just towards those who had previously driven the believers out ({{Quran|5|2}} and {{Quran|5|8}}).<ref>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Iqggj8zcips Jihad, War and Peace in Islam by Dr. Javad Hashmi (Part 2)] - Youtube.com, April 2020 (see 2 hours 14 minutes)</ref> The surah contains nothing about fighting, though generally is very critical of most Jews and Christians. | |||
====The spoils of war==== | |||
{{Quran-range|33|26|27}} is traditonally about the battle of Khaybar in 628 CE. The believers are here said to inherit the land and homes of those who had supported "the companies" in the previous verses. {{Quran|33|50}} of the same surah makes intercourse lawful for Muhammad with "those your right hand possesses from what Allah has returned to you [of captives]". | |||
Surah 48, al Fath (the victory) celebrates the treaty of Hudaybiyah. In verses {{Quran-range|48|18|21}} many victories and much booty is promised now (following the victory over Khaybar) and in the future. Mecca was spared by the treaty, despite religious obstruction at the kaaba (verses 21-25). Verse 29 states that "Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah; and those with him are forceful against the disbelievers, merciful among themselves." | |||
====Terrorising the enemy==== | |||
A few commonly cited verses tend to draw attention in modern times due to the word l-ruʿ'ba, commonly translated as fear or terror. {{Quran|3|151}} states, "We will cast terror into the hearts of those who disbelieve for what they have associated with Allah of which He had not sent down [any] authority. [...]"). Hashmi stresses that this surah mentions a post-Badr context and that the surrounding verses are intended to reassure the believers who are feeling weak and under threat.<ref>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zz8ebohksjo On The Origins of Jihad | Dr. Javad T. Hashmi] - Youtube.com, December 2022 (see 2 hours 4 to 8 minutes)</ref> Certainly these verses are intended to raise the confidence and steadfastness of dispirited believers, though at the same time, the verse in question condemns the enemy for their theological claims. This is a theme of Surah Imran more broadly, which extensively condemns most (though not all) of the people of the book for leading believers astray on religious matters. | |||
Surah al-Anfal, {{Quran-range|8|12|13}} says, "[...] I will cast terror into the hearts of those who disbelieved, so strike [them] upon the necks and strike from them every fingertip. That is because they opposed Allah and His Messenger [...]" ({{Quran-range|59|2|4}} is a similar passage, traditionally about the expulsion of Banū al-Nadīr from Medina). {{Quran|8|60}} in the same surah states, "And prepare against them whatever you are able of power and of steeds of war by which you may terrify the enemy of Allah and your enemy and others besides them whom you do not know [but] whom Allah knows. [...]". However, the next verse adds, "And if they incline to peace, then incline to it [also] and rely upon Allah". Similar appeals to the Meccans to cease fighting or oppression occur in {{Quran|8|19}} and {{Quran|8|39}} of that surah. | |||
====Other Quranic themes on fighting and jihad==== | |||
{{Quran|61|4}} states that Allah loves those who fight in his cause, while {{Quran-range|61|10|11}} says that those who "strive in the cause of Allah with their wealth and lives" will be saved from a painful punishment. Complaining about the dubious faith of the Bedouins, {{Quran|49|15}} says, "The believers are only the ones who have believed in Allah and His Messenger and then doubt not but strive with their properties and their lives in the cause of Allah. It is those who are the truthful." | |||
{{Quran|4|95}} declares a great reward and Allah's preference for the [[Qur'an, Hadith and Scholars:Mujahids|mujahideen]] compared to believers who stay behind. Similar sentiments are expressed in {{Quran|3|157|158}} and {{Quran|9|20|21}}, for example. Those who are left alive after others die in combat with the unbelievers should not mourn them, for they are yet alive with Allah in paradise enjoying pleasures beyond human comprehension ({{Quran|3|169|172}}). | |||
There are verses dealing with the exemptions of various types of people to jihad (e.g. {{Quran|9|91}}, {{Quran|48|17}}), fighting during the holy months ({{Quran|2|217}}), fighting in the territory of Mecca ({{Quran|2|191}}), prisoners of war ({{Quran|47|4}}), safe conduct ({{Quran|9|6}}), and truces with the enemy ({{Quran|8|61}}). | |||
====Compared with the sῑra-maghāzī literature==== | |||
External sources on early Islam and Islamic sῑra-maghāzī literature (biographical/expedition narratives) literature present a picture of forceful conquest or aggressive expeditions towards the end of Muhammad's career or after his death, though some have argued that archaelogical evidence suggests a more harmonious picture. | |||
In his book ''Muhammad and the Empires of faith'' Sean Anthony argues that while the Quran is the primary source, approached cautiously, there is also some value for the study of early Islamic history in the sῑra-maghāzī material. He argues that the initial, formative compilation of this material took impulse from the late Umayyad court (late 7th/early 8th century CE). The corpus of traditions existed independently of the court, but their formation into sῑra-maghāzī works was a product of political intervention. Anthony contends that "the rhetoric of empire in Late Antiquity profoundly shaped this corpus".<ref>Sean Anthony, ''Muhammad and the Empires of Faith: The making of the Prophet of Islam'', Oakland CA: University of California, 2020, pp. 175-6</ref> | |||
The hadith and sῑra-maghāzī literature speak frequently of the dominion (mulk) of the prophet and his community (ummah). This triumphalist view of the emergence of the early Islamic community "served to sustain and legitimize that community's hegemony, the supremacy of its ruling elite, and the expansionist policy of the burgeoning polity."<ref>Sean Anthony, ''Muhammad and the Empires of Faith'', p. 177</ref> | |||
The concept of the Prophet's dominion became important to the early Caliphates. Quranic verses such as Q. 24:45 were interpreted from Umayyad times and by later scholars such as al-Tabari in terms of this triumphalist vision. | |||
{{Quote|{{Quran|24|45}}|Allah has promised those who have believed among you and done righteous deeds that He will surely grant them succession [to authority] upon the earth just as He granted it to those before them and that He will surely establish for them [therein] their religion which He has preferred for them [...]"}} | |||
Anthony writes, "Citations of this qur'anic theme of the righteous inheriting the lands of Abraham and, therefore, the lands and wealth of the sinful nations do not only appear in the sῑra-maghāzī literature; they are nearly ubiquitous in the narratives of the early conquests as well." Some of the Quraysh now ruled as the Umayyad caliphate, so the framing of Muhammad's kin as the righteous inheritors of Abraham served their political hegemony.<ref>Sean Anthony, ''Muhammad and the Empires of Faith'', pp. 179-80</ref> | |||
For this and other reasons, Islamic modernist scholars urge intense skepticism of the aggressive / expansionist expeditions attributed to Muhammad and his companions in this literature (though it may be questionable to what extent this stretches credulity too far the other way). Preference is given to the letters of 'Urwa b. Zubayr (Aisha's nephew), which were in answer to historical queries from the early Umayyad court. | |||
The letters of 'Urwa are free from miraculous or other embellishments seen in later sources, and are taken to be an important early source on Muhammad by academic scholars like Sean Anthony, who translates them in full in ''Muhammad and the Empires of Faith''. The letters broadly come in two recensions (preserved in the work of al-Tabari and some narratives also in other sources). Goerke, Motzki, Schoeler have robustly defended the authenticity of the letters of 'Urwa as probably in some way originating from him, arguing that several traditions can convincingly be traced back to 'Urwa.<ref>See in particular pp. 16-21 of Goerke, A, Motzki, H & Schoeler, G (2012) [https://www.pure.ed.ac.uk/ws/portalfiles/portal/12692843/First_Century_Sources_for_the_Life_of_Muhammad_a_debate.pdf First-Century Sources for the Life of Muhammad? A Debate], Der Islam, vol. 89, no. 2, pp. 2-59. https://doi.org/10.1515/islam-2012-0002</ref> | |||
'Urwa's first letter describes the persecution of Muhammad and his early followers, forcing some of them to flee to Abyssinia and later to Medina. His second letter concerns the battle of Badr. It mentions that the first war with the Quraysh was triggered by a party, some of whom were companions sent by Muhammad, which conducted a raid on the Quraysh at Nakhlah (later biographies portray Muhammad as just sending them on an observational mission, but that the companions decided to raid the caravan in controversial circumstances). The letter recounts that Muhammad later decided to raid Abu Sufyan and a small number of Quraysh on their return from a trading expedition in Syria. The latter were able to call reinforcements by the time they encountered Muhammad and his forces at Badr, but were nevertheless defeated. Badr was the first of nine major battles or seiges fought by Muhammad based on other early sources. | |||
The third letter concerns Muhammad's marriage to Aisha, and the fourth letter details the treaty of Hudaybiya between the Medinans and Meccans in 928 CE, the topic of {{Quran-range|60|10|12}}. The fifth letter details the fairly bloodless conquest of Mecca enabled by a Meccan violation of the treaty after they had sent arms to an allied clan who were fighting another clan allied to Muhammad. It also describes a battle at Hunayn in 630 CE, briefly mentioned as one of many victorious battles in {{Quran-range|9|25|26}}. This battle was against two Arab clans, Hawazin and Thaqif, who had camped at Hunayn in preparation to attack the believers in Mecca, having previously thought that Muhammad was coming for them when he left Medina on his way there. The tribes were defeated and their women, children and cattle taken as booty. Muhammad led his troops straight on to al-Ta'if where he beseiged the Thaqif stronghold for two weeks. Afterwards, he freed the captives from the battle at Hunayn as they had accepted Islam. Delegates from Thaqif gave their allegiance and secured a treaty with Muhammad when he had returned to Medina. The remaining letters concern a range of topics not relevant to this article.<ref>'Urwa's letters are translated in full in chapter 4 of ''Muhammad and the Empires of Faith'' by Sean Anthony</ref> | |||
Islamic Modernists tend to count all of the battles as defensive, especially in the overarching context of the danger from the Meccans. Khalil cites modern academic scholar Ahmed al Dawoody (who also taught at the famous al-Azhar University in Cairo) for arguing in his book, 'The Islamic Law of War', that all Muhammad's major battles and sieges were defensive in nature (Khalil lists Badr, Uhud, the Ditch, Khaybar, Hunayn and Ta'if; Dawoody also includes Banu Qurayza, Mustaliq and the conquest of Mecca). Such a view is, of course, contested. Khalil quotes Reuven Firestone as an example of a contrasting view who maintains that "it was Muhammad and not the Meccan Quraysh who initiated the battles" between them.<ref>Reuven Firestone, ''Jihad'' p. 110 cited in M. H. Khalil, ''Jihad'' p. 15</ref> | |||
===Jihad in the Hadith=== | ===Jihad in the Hadith=== | ||