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Friday, August 21, 2009

Jum'ah Journal-- Deen/Religion

There is an Aya in Qur'an ( #193, Surah II)
"And fight them on until there is no more tumult or oppression and there prevail justice and faith in Allah......"
And another one (#85, Sura III)
"If any one desires a religion other than Islam (Submission to Allah), never will it be accepted of him........."
The Arabic in the upper one is "yakoon-ad-deeno lillah" which is translated by Yusuf Ali as "there prevail Justice and faith in Allah" and in the second one "Deen" is translated as "religion"
First point I wish to make is that Allah ordered Muslims to fight in the WAY OF ALLAH for the defence of Islam, so that when fighting against Islam is given up, stopped by the enemy, stop fighting with them. Allah did not say keep fighting until you win because jehad when taken to mean fighting in the way of Allah means just that what is given above and the endpoint is not personal winning, but the end of fight/war against Islam/Muslims. This is the aya from the group of ayaat (from #190 to #194) which allowed the Muslims for the first time to wage war aginst the enemies (Mushrikeen). That is why in this jehad, no woman, no child, no old man, no priest or such religious man is to be killed and no cattle or such animals and no trees or crop fields to be destroyed (repeated instruction of the prophet PBUH and his Khalifas)
There is no doubt that clearcut aggression is NOT jehad and only defensive fighting is for the sake of Allah (establishment of Justice and faith-- or supremacy of God, like Yusuf Ali's translation indicates.) Allama Asad gives lot of references to support the 'defense' connotation.
Maulana Maudoodi in his Khutba (published as "deen aur Shariat") explains: deen has multiple meanings 1. Authority, Government, kingdom or sovereignty, ruling
2. subordination, subdued situation or being a subject being slave
3. accounting, day of accounting, reckoning day of reckoning,
In Qur'an the word deen has been used in all three meanings. one example of deen being used for "the law" is clearly seen in sura Yusuf (12th) verse #76 (deen-al-malik)
" .... thus did We plan for Yusuf. he could n ot take his brother by the LAW OF THE KING...."
So those who quote such ayaat to promote their own desires or understanding (mis-understanding) that killing relentlessly all those who do not call themselves Muslims is justified by such Qur'anic verses are clearly wrong in taking such position. Yes, I am aware that nonMuslims also quote these ayaat to "blame" Qur'an and Islam and the prophet PBUH of 'war-mongering" and so this is for them to understand that they are wrong because taking the ayaat out of context is clear misinterpretation.
It is like the first out of context meaning of an aya I learnt in my school, "la taqrab-as-salata" (Dont approach the prayer) , so does that mean we should not be praying? But we are forgetting the next part, "wa antum sukara" ( with a befogged mind, i.e. when you are drunk)--Sura IV, verse 43.