Prevalence of Islam and Attitude Towards Non-Muslims
Question:
Dear Sir,
It is interpreted by ghamidi sb against the consuetude of Islamic scholars from Quran that fighting (qital) was a punishment for the non muslims of that era.
Then:
1. Why sahaba, tabeen, and muslim caliphs continued that?
2- If prophet pbuh punished for not accepting islam because islam cancelled all other religions then why we are not bound to spread and impose islam upon other cancelled religions?
3- Prophet pbuh declared islam and punished those who did not accept islam and hated them and discouraged relations with them then how can we have friendships with non muslims?
Regards
Answer:
1. As for why the companions continued fighting with the neighbouring countries, according to many scholars, like Javed Ahmad Ghamidi, this was their ijtihad, motivated by the letters that the prophet (pbuh) sent to those neighbouring countries. For more detail about this please read my article: Revisiting the Jihad of the companions after the demise of the Prophet (pbuh).
In my current own opinion, the motivation for wars outside of Arabia was more of a political nature rather than a religious one.
2. You wrote: "If prophet pbuh punished for not accepting islam because islam cancelled all other religions then why we are not bound to spread and impose islam upon other cancelled religions?"
The prophet (pbuh) did not punish others for not accepting Islam. He punished them because as a Rasul (messenger) he had the duty to bring God’s punishment to those who did not accept Islam out of arrogance.
Also please note that according to the Qur'an (6:92, 42:7, 36:6) the area of responsibility of the warning for the prophet (pbuh) was only Arabia. I therefore do not share your assumption about "cancelled religions". Please read this article for more details.
3. It will be a huge unfairness to the God’s justice and His compassion to say that the prophet (pbuh) hated those who did not accept Islam. We know that the prophet (pbuh) was so keen to save his nation from God’s punishment that verses of the Qur’an were revealed to comfort him and advise him that he should not put himself in so much pressure to convince those who did not accept Islam. We know that the prophet (pbuh) was so passionate about people that he used to pray for those who died in the state of polytheism (shirk), to the extend that the Qur'an advised him not to do that.
The reason the prophet (pbuh) did not like those who eventually rejected Islam and discouraged having relationship with them is the same that is explained in answering part 2 of your question. It was the arrogance of the rejecters that made them not worthy of any more compassion and relationship. Arrogance here means rejecting the truth despite recognising it, or rejecting the opportunity to see the truth due to extreme ego and selfishness.
Note that this ‘arrogant’ attitude is not exclusive to non-Muslims.
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February 2014
Revised July 2016
Dear Sir,
It is interpreted by ghamidi sb against the consuetude of Islamic scholars from Quran that fighting (qital) was a punishment for the non muslims of that era.
Then:
1. Why sahaba, tabeen, and muslim caliphs continued that?
2- If prophet pbuh punished for not accepting islam because islam cancelled all other religions then why we are not bound to spread and impose islam upon other cancelled religions?
3- Prophet pbuh declared islam and punished those who did not accept islam and hated them and discouraged relations with them then how can we have friendships with non muslims?
Regards
Answer:
1. As for why the companions continued fighting with the neighbouring countries, according to many scholars, like Javed Ahmad Ghamidi, this was their ijtihad, motivated by the letters that the prophet (pbuh) sent to those neighbouring countries. For more detail about this please read my article: Revisiting the Jihad of the companions after the demise of the Prophet (pbuh).
In my current own opinion, the motivation for wars outside of Arabia was more of a political nature rather than a religious one.
2. You wrote: "If prophet pbuh punished for not accepting islam because islam cancelled all other religions then why we are not bound to spread and impose islam upon other cancelled religions?"
The prophet (pbuh) did not punish others for not accepting Islam. He punished them because as a Rasul (messenger) he had the duty to bring God’s punishment to those who did not accept Islam out of arrogance.
Also please note that according to the Qur'an (6:92, 42:7, 36:6) the area of responsibility of the warning for the prophet (pbuh) was only Arabia. I therefore do not share your assumption about "cancelled religions". Please read this article for more details.
3. It will be a huge unfairness to the God’s justice and His compassion to say that the prophet (pbuh) hated those who did not accept Islam. We know that the prophet (pbuh) was so keen to save his nation from God’s punishment that verses of the Qur’an were revealed to comfort him and advise him that he should not put himself in so much pressure to convince those who did not accept Islam. We know that the prophet (pbuh) was so passionate about people that he used to pray for those who died in the state of polytheism (shirk), to the extend that the Qur'an advised him not to do that.
The reason the prophet (pbuh) did not like those who eventually rejected Islam and discouraged having relationship with them is the same that is explained in answering part 2 of your question. It was the arrogance of the rejecters that made them not worthy of any more compassion and relationship. Arrogance here means rejecting the truth despite recognising it, or rejecting the opportunity to see the truth due to extreme ego and selfishness.
Note that this ‘arrogant’ attitude is not exclusive to non-Muslims.
-----------
February 2014
Revised July 2016
