Author: M. Asem Ismail Zahi
Humanism (Part 13)
Humanism Confronting the Muslim! (Continued)
Islam does not wage war or engage in jihad in order to impose its creed upon people while they dislike it; rather, as we mentioned earlier, it fights to dismantle ignorant forces that block people from the truth. It does not concern itself with psychological or merely material obstacles, but with forces that manifest in ignorant laws and systems which, in reality, weigh heavily upon people’s lives, as well as armies and governments that support these ignorant systems and grant them power and legitimacy on earth. When these obstacles are removed, then there is: “لَا إِكْرَاهَ فِي الدِّينِ” Translation: There is no compulsion in religion.
“لَا إِكْرَاهَ فِي الدِّينِ قَدْ تَبَيَّنَ الرُّشْدُ مِنَ الْغَيِّ” Translation: There is no compulsion in accepting religion; guidance and right conduct have become clearly distinct from error and misguidance. [1]
Rather, divine justice is established so that people may benefit from it and continue their lives under its shade, even if they do not accept the creed of Islam.
The Muslims conquered Egypt while its people were Christians; yet the Muslims did not force them to accept Islam. Had there been coercion or compulsion, no trace of the Coptic Christians would have remained until today.
Instead, the Muslims established divine justice exactly as Allah (Glorified and Exalted) commanded them. Through this justice, they restored to the Copts the dignity that had been taken away from them; dignity that the Roman rulers, who shared their religion but followed a different sect, had stripped from them. In reality, the Romans used to lash and bruise the backs of the Copts merely because of sectarian differences, while the Copts were unable to repel this oppression and found no refuge that could grant them freedom of belief, justice, and dignity.
But when the Muslims came, they granted them all these rights. The story of that Coptic man who traveled to Madinah to complain to Umar ibn al-Khattab (RA) about a blow from a stick that the son of Amr ibn al-As (RA) had struck on his son’s back is well known and does not need repetition.
However, its implication is clear: this same Coptic man who used to be whipped by the Romans without uttering a word, without protesting, and without reclaiming his violated dignity, undertook this long and arduous journey in pursuit of justice. Islam had restored his dignity; therefore, he now objected to injustice and demanded justice. And because Islam provided a true refuge in which he could seek justice, he sought justice there.
It is for this reason that Muslims fight; not to impose their creed, not for colonial expansion, not to plunder people’s resources and use them against them, nor for any worldly benefit for which all states strive but rather to carry out the commands of Allah, Glorified and Exalted, and to spread this divine justice on earth.
The Muslims conquered Al-Andalus and remained there for eight consecutive centuries, yet they did not impose the creed of Islam upon the Christians of Al-Andalus. Rather, some people embraced Islam out of love for it and belief in its truthfulness, while the Christians remained Christian until they repaid this good conduct by expelling the Muslims from Al-Andalus with torture, torment, and displacement in the most horrific manner history has witnessed.
The Muslims spread light through schools, universities, teachers, books, sciences, and their civilization in Al-Andalus and other lands a civilization that even the few fair-minded Western witnesses have acknowledged and recorded. Al-Andalus was, in fact, the safest refuge for Jews and Christians, who felt complete security there under Islamic rule, while all of Europe was persecuting Jews, and even Christians who opposed the Catholic Church lived in constant fear and terror.
The Muslims also conquered India and ruled it for eight centuries, yet they did not impose the Islamic creed upon the idol-worshippers of India. Rather, they left them free with their beliefs that no rational person would accept, such as worshipping cows and seeking blessing from their dung and urine.
They only compelled them to abandon some of their savage customs and traditions, such as burying widows alive with their deceased husbands or burning them alive. This was done to elevate people to the level of humanity in certain behaviors, without infringing upon or harming their beliefs.
Thus, Hindus continued to live under Islamic rule while maintaining their beliefs and traditions, until with the help of the English Crusaders they took control of India. At that point, they responded to the Muslims’ good conduct with repeated aggressions, the burning of villages, deliberate incitement, and the wounding of people’s sentiments.
In this manner, Muslims conquered lands, and Allah the Exalted commanded them to fight and wage jihad to spread this call because of these lofty principles. Yet despite all this, the Muslims were not the initiators of war. Rather, they first presented Islam; if people did not accept Islam from them, they requested jizyah; and if they did not accept jizyah either, then war and fighting took place to bring people out of the darkness and oppression of ignorance into the justice and tolerance of Islam in a manner that historical reality itself bears witness to and confirms.
To be continued…
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References:
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Surah Al-Baqarah verse: 256
