:bism: (In the Name of God, the Most Beneficent, the Most Merciful)
(Peace be upon you)
Did America and the west have talks before they blew up muslim lands? Did they or did they not? And guess what we have conflicts, even with your master plan of talking clearly didnt work. And ive learnt that anyone that blows up our lands is an enemy to allah, to muhammad saw and to me. Yet you want to love them as your own? Where is your backbone? Where is your love for your ummah, for muhammad saw ummah? Where is it? So do you believe that imam madhi and Esa AS will spread hate?
Hi. Welcome to this board! I know this question is not directed at me, but I've followed some posts in this thread with interest and therefore would like to address you for the sake of Allah because I do not like the misunderstanding of specifics to be propagated in the name of Islam.
Prophet :saws:
(peace and blessings be upon him) said,
“The entire humanity is Allah’s family, and Allah loves him most from among this family, who benefits the family most"
(Mishkawt). This prophetic tradition specifically talks about entire human beings as a general recipient of benefit that Allah likes to see happen without specification of who is non-Muslim or who is Muslim. Prophet :saws:
(peace and blessings be upon him) said, “
Do unto all men as you would wish to have done unto you; and reject for others what you would reject for yourselves” (Abu Dawud). This is a harking back to the Golden Rule as a means of encompassing all humanity as part of emphasizing how our best behavior should be reserved for others if we would reject from others their worst behaviors for ourselves.
The Qur'an (49:13) says, "
O mankind, indeed We have created you from male and female and made you peoples and tribes that you may know one another. Indeed, the most noble of you in the sight of Allah is the most righteous of you. Indeed, Allah is Knowing and Acquainted." The word used in this
ayah (verse) is "Ya ayyuha annas" referring to human beings. Allah could have said, "Ya Muslimeen" as a reference to Muslims instead to refer to getting to know other Muslims if Allah had wanted to limit it. However, this
ayah (verse) specifies us even as Muslims getting to know one another, different cultures and peoples and religions, from the human tribe. Because knowing others is the first step in being able to share ourselves and our faith.
Next, I wanted to address the topic and concept of al-wala' wa-l-bara'
(loyalty and disassociation) which you mentioned is meant
not to inculcate an us vs. them mentality but to have Muslims understand that loving and hating for the sake of Allah is the primary means through which we do not fall for the stratagems of
shaitaan. So, we need to contextualize what it means. So, for example,
wala' for non-Muslims who are not fighting are legitimate because if this was not then no Muslim would been allowed to carry out loyalty and love to his non-Muslim wife. What Allah forbids from Muslims is worldly relations to grow to the extent with non-Muslims that it comes above allegiance to Allah and His Prophet :saws:
(peace and blessings be upon him) leading Muslims to possibly betray Islamic principles and the
ummah like the Arab revolts that led to the fall of the Ottoman Empire. King Negus was a
kafir king whose goodness and trustworthiness Prophet :saws:
(peace and blessings be upon him) vouched and also asked some of the persecuted Companions :ra: to take shelter in his kingdom because not all Muslims are from whom we required to make
bara'. And if there was a blanket prohibition on any type of association of this type, then Allah would not have said the Words in the Qur'an (5:82) "...and you will find the
nearest of them in affection to the believers those who say, 'We are Christians.'" That is because among them are priests and monks and because they are not arrogant." Also, let's remember that Prophet :saw:
(peace and blessings be upon him) started the interfaith dialogue when he invited disbelievers to his home including Abu Jahl with the intention of proclaiming his prophethood and the Message of Islam. Prophet :saws:
(peace and blessings be upon him) recited the Qur'an to disbelievers as a means of inviting interfaith dialogue which is how we even had
Surah Kafiroon (Chapter Disbelievers) which is the 109th Chapter of the Qur'an Revealed. Also, Prophet :saws:
(peace and blessings be upon him) let's remember used to for the first thirteen years of his prophetic mission used to offer his prayers with his face towards Baytul Maqdis (Jerusalem) with the intention that the Jewish tribes' hearts would be softened to Islam and that perchance they may take heed; this is another example of trying to build interfaith relations; and as you may have a reason to know that Islam was Revealed over a period of 23 years. This means that only a little less than half of Prophet :saws:
(peace and blessings be upon him) was spent softening the hearts of Jewish tribes through this interfaith action.
Therefore, the modern understanding that is most notable in some radicalized elements of the Muslim community specific to
al-wala' wa-l-bara' (loyalty and disassociation) is a modern deviation from Prophet's :saws: life and conduct specific to unbelievers.
The Prophet :saws:
(peace and blessings be upon him) said: "
I have been sent to perfect the best of conduct (your behavior and character)" (Bazzaar).
Jihad in Arabic means "to strive for some objective." Thus, the common assumption, that
jihad is manifestly only combat, is incorrect. In fact
jihad, in its precise meaning, has several branches, among which only some are the combative forms of
jihad.
For example, Ibn Rushd, in his
Muqaddimaat, divides Jihad into four kinds: "
Jihad by the heart;
jihad by the tongue;
jihad by the hand and
jihad by the sword."
Also, I'd like to mention in regards to the objection you raised specific to the prophetic tradition on
jihad-al-akbar. While we observe that it is a weak narration, please understand that weak prophetic traditions are not discarded in Islam as they are still considered very valuable but just not a thing on the basis of which we can declare a matter
halal (permissible) or
haram (forbidden). And it is for this specific reason that notably Imam Nawawi has said: "The scholars from the muhaddiths, the fuqaha and others said: 'it is permissible and recommended to act upon the weak hadith, which is not fabricated, with regard to excellent and virtuous actions, encouragements and warnings.'"
And we already know Allah has said in the Qur'an: “
Those who have striven for Our sake, We guide them to Our ways” (29:96).
And in the Qur'an Allah also says, “
But those will prosper who purify themselves” (87:14).
Allah has thereby made guidance and success dependent on striving within this vein. Therefore, the most perfect of people are those of them who struggle the most for Allah's sake, and the most obligatory of jihads have long been considered
jihad against the ego, the
jihad against desires, the
jihad against the devil, and the
jihad against the lower world (for which the respective Arabic words are
jihad al-nafs wa jihad al-hawa wa jihad al-shaytan wa jihad al-dunya). Whoever struggles against these four, Allah will guide them to the ways of His Infinite Pleasure which leads to His Paradise.
:wa: (And peace be upon you)