:bism: (In the Name of God, the Most Beneficent, the Most Merciful)
Hi Jack! Thank you for coming to IB and asking us these questions; we hope we can do justice to them with our answers. :)
And best wishes for your project, Jack! Hope you bring the best grade in this school project! Work hard and do your best always!
So, for Muslims, it is imperative that the
Seerah (biography) of Prophet Muhammad :saws:
(peace and blessings be upon him) as specific verses of the Revelation came down at specific points in time, sometimes in dreams, sometimes in meditation, sometimes in public. A good Seerah that I highly recommend is Martin Lings's
Muhammad: His Life Based on the Earliest Sources and I also recommend Hajjah Amina Adil's
Muhammad :saws: The Messenger of Islam: His Life & Prophecy. They're both really great works in their own right, and I like both of them.
ANSWER 1.
Muslims have exegesis of the Quran which is how Muslims understand what verse was revealed within what context and why and how it should be interpreted, which is known as
tafseer in Arabic. So, Muslims accept the Quran as the literal Divine Revelation of God forwarded through Angel Gabriel
(peace be upon him) onto the heart of Prophet Muhammad :saws:
(peace and blessings be upon him) to proclaim to humanity, the Message which is Oneness of God or monotheism.
The verse 4:89 was revealed in Medina and needs to be read in the context of other verses, which are:
"So, what is the matter with you that you have
become two groups about the hypocrites, while Allah has upturned them because of what they did. Do you want to guide the one whom Allah has let go astray? And the one whom Allah lets go astray, for him you shall never find a way. [4:88] They wish that you should disbelieve, as they have disbelieved, and thus you become all alike. So, do not take friends from among them unless they migrate in the way of Allah. Then, if they turn away, seize them,and kill them wherever you find them, and do not takefrom among them a friend or a helper. [4:89]
Except those who join a group between whom and you there is a treaty, or who come to you their hearts declining to fight you or to fight their people -- And if Allah had so willed, He would have given them power over you,then they would have fought you -- so, if they stay away from you and do not fight you and offer you peace, then Allah has not given you a way against them. [4:90]You will find others who want to be secure from you,and secure from their own people. Whenever they are called back to the mischief, they are thrown into it.
So,if they do not stay away from you and do not offer peace to you, and do not restrain their hands, then seize them, and kill them wherever you find them, and against these we have given you an open authority."
Commentary of Maariful Quran: The verses quoted above describe three groups of people aboutwhom two injunctions have been given. The following narrationsclarify events surrounding these groups:1. 'Abdullah ibn Hamid has narrated from. Mujahid that some disbelievers of Makkah came to Madinah. They pretended to havebecome Muslims and claimed to have come there as emigrants. Later,they turned into apostates. They went to the Holy Prophet :saws:, toldhim about their plan to go to Makkah to buy merchandise from there.Having made their false excuse, they departed for Makkah and neverreturned. There arose a difference of opinion about their behavioramong the Muslims of Madinah. Some said that they were believers. It was in verse 88 (So what is the matter with you that you have become two groups about the hypocrites) where AllahAlmighty declared that they were disbelievers and should be killed.)
Maulana Ashraf 'Ali Thanavi has explained the Qur'anic word,'munafiq' (hypocrite) by saying that they were hypocrites when theyclaimed to have become Muslims - they had never believed in theirhearts. The fact was that hypocrites were not killed because theyconcealed their inner disbelief. But, the case of these people wasdifferent as their apostasy had come out in the open. As for those whotook them to be Muslims, they may have, perhaps, taken a benignview of their action under some interpretation. However, this interpretationwas based on sheer opinion not supported by any proof from theShari'ah. That is why no reliance was placed on it.2. Ibn Abi Shaybah has narrated from Hasan that Suraqah ibnMalik al-Mudlaji visited the Holy Prophet :saws: after the events of Badr and Uhud and requested him to make peace with his tribe,Bani Mudlaj. Thereupon, he sent Sayyidna Khalid to them to conclude a peace treaty. The terms of the treaty were as follows:"We will not support anyone against the Holy Prophet :saws:. If the Quraysh become Muslims, We too shall become Muslims.All tribes who enter into alliance with us, they too shall become a party with us in this treaty." Thereupon, this verse (They wish thatyou disbelieve like they have disbelieved) was revealed.3. It has been narrated from Sayyidna Ibn 'Abbis that thepeople mentioned in the verse: (You will find others who want to be secure from you) are those belonging to the tribes of Asad and Ghitfan who, when they came to Madinah, professed Islamoutwardly, but to their own people they would confide that they had really believed in monkeys and scorpions while before Muslims theywould piously declare that they were followers of their faith.However, Dahhik ascribes this conduct to the tribe of 'Abd al-Daraccording to a report from Sayyidne Ibn 'Abbes. The first and the second narration appears in Ruh al-Ma'ani, while the third narration can be seen in Ma'elim. Maulana Ashraf 'Ali Thanavi likens the state of those mentioned in the third narration as that of the first one since it proves that they were no Muslims to begin with, therefore, they fall under the injunction governing disbelievers in general, that is, 'do not fight them in the presence of a peace treaty - otherwise, do.' Thus, regarding those mentioned in the first narration, the second verse (89,: (then if they turn away, seize them and kill them) carries the injunction that they be arrested and killed, while the statement in the third verse (90): (except those who join a group with whom you have a treaty) gives them a clear exemption in the event of peace,a situation which finds mention in the second narration. This exemption has been emphasised once again in (if they stay away from you) later in the same verse (90).Regarding those mentioned in the third narration, it has been saidin the fourth verse (91) ; you will find others ....I which meansthat should these people refuse to leave you alone and insist onfighting, then do fight against them. From this, it can be deduced thatin the event they make peace, there should be no fighting against them. (Bayan al-Qur'Zn)In short, the three groups mentioned here are:1. Those who do not emigrate despite their ability to do so in a period of time when emigration was a pre-requisite of faith in Islam.Or, after having emigrated, they go out of the new abode of Islam (Darr-al-Islam) and return to the abode of disbelief (Darr al-Kufr).2. Those who themselves enter a no-war pact with Muslims or those who join hands with those entering into such a pact.3. Those who make peace to buy time and once there comes anoccasion to fight a war against Muslims, they would readily join theenemy camp throwing all treaty obligations to winds. The injunction governing the first group is similar to that whichgoverns the disbelievers in general. The second groups is exempted from being arrested and killed. The third group deserves the samepunishment as fixed for the first. These verses yield a total of two injunctions, that is, fighting in the absence of peace; and not fightingin the event of peace.
Quran verse 47:4 was revealed in the context of warfare wherein hostilities have already been initiated which reads in Yusuf Ali translation as the following:
"Therefore,
when ye meet the Unbelievers (in fight), smite at their necks; At length, when ye have thoroughly subdued them, bind a bond firmly (on them): thereafter (is the time for) either generosity or ransom: Until the war lays down its burdens. Thus (are ye commanded): but if it had been Allah's Will, He could certainly have exacted retribution from them (Himself);
but (He lets you fight) in order to test you, some with others. But those who are slain in the Way of Allah,- He will never let their deeds be lost."
For example, General Patton in WWII is quoted to have said the following: “
I don't give a damn about the color of your skin, just kill as many sons of *****es wearing green as you can.” Now, this does not mean that General Patton was promoting extrajudicial violence or killing if you're wearing green pants or shirt or just any other person in the normal everyday life but definitely only persons on the battleground wearing the green-colored uniform whom he and his fellow army men knew to be meeting in the specific context of warfare. The same is true for that verse in the context of Quran.
ANSWER 2.
I think Muslims have already been doing a lot to counter radicalization and spreading the understanding that
Daesh is a terrorist organization that is an enemy of Muslims and Islam. However, I'd say that no matter how much, there's always room to improve. I don't think working with the government is necessarily the best answer because any open association with the government tends to make some extremist Muslims believe that the mosques are complicit in the slaughter of Muslims with drone strikes in the Middle East; so, I think while government groups should be invited to speak on the issues facing the country in an objective way in Islamic centers, mosques should necessarily be limited to being only places of worship and should not host such politically charged discussions except in forums that are conducive to such.
ANSWER 3.
No,
Alhamdhullilah (praise, credit, and thanks is to God) that I myself have never seen or experienced anything in any Islamic gathering about which I would have been uneasy or thought that any radical ideas were being taught.
ANSWER 4.
I do not think there should be any verses of the Quran that are the problem because clearly reading the verses in their proper context makes easy to understand what the verses generally mean. More importantly, Muslims believe that the Quran has been preserved in its pristine form as a Revelation and is primarily that which is memorized word for word, which is why Muslims are able to easily spot and reject any Quran which does not match the actual Revelation. For example, two American companies following War of Terror had started distributing versions of the Quran which had omitted verses of
jihad and other things as well in the Middle East and that book was completely rejected because Muslims knew that that was simply not the Quran.
I neither believe that Quran is the impetus for violence nor do I believe that Quran endorses such violence; the extremists who commit this type of violence even when confronted with Quran and
Sunnah (prophetic foosteps) and
ahadith (prophetic traditions) ignore the exhortations to peace or any other understanding contradicting that understanding because they're generally in modern day found to be following Salafist Islam, which necessarily provides the framework of using classical scholarly words of
fiqh of
jihad out of context and even the most fringe interpretation to allow and exist for means of political efficiency and expediency.
Wishing you the best for your project, and in your life, Jack, :)
format_quote Originally Posted by
mu1999
Hi,
my name is jack and i'm currently doing a project in school about Islamaphobia and the causes of it, I'm officially a Christian but often refer to parts of the Quran and Hadith in day to day life as well. I'm really intersted in things like counter radicalisation and how Muslims in U.K. Feel about the current crisis going on in the Islamic world.
A few few questions to my fellow Muslims:
- bearing in mind that Islam means finding peace by submitting to Allah, what do you do when you cross parts of the Quran such as Surah 4:89 and Surah 47:4 in which it is quite blatant that violence exists, do you just ignore it or do you have an explanation on how you interpret it? (For example I choose not to follow some violent bits of the bible because I accept that times were different when it was written and doesn't fit today's society)
- do you think more could be done by Muslims in the UK to counter radicalisation for terror groups such as so called Islamic State? Such as working with the government?
- do you feel in anyway discriminated against by non Muslims? How do you feel about it?
- have you ever been approached by or told anything in an Islamic gathering where you felt uneasy about what was being said? E.g. Slightly radical ideas being taught?
- do you think the violent verses of the Quran should be removed to stop radicals using the scripture to justify themselves?
any answers would be appreciated massively and I hope you all understand not everybody is against you guys, i think Islam is a beautiful religion and I fully stand by you peaceful Muslims in this time of atrocities being blamed on you!
Thank you
Jack :)