No compulsion in Religion -1

Assalaamu alaikum [peace be to you],

I got a note from a fellow Christian who said:
"I mean this most respectfully, I'm Christian, and I know that most Muslims hate us (please don't say you don't. The Koran clearly teaches you to kill us)"
so I thought, it would be a good idea for me to write something about this issue for the benefit of all of you.


Does Islam really allow the killing of innocent unbelievers*?
^{*Unbeliever means a non-Muslim. a follower of Christianity, Judaism, paganism or any other religion.}
This is one misunderstanding that keeps rising up against Islam. Islam does not in anyway allow for the killing of any innocent soul. I have gathered some of the Noble Qur'anic Verses that deal directly with war and peace to shed some light upon you guys and girls.


A: NOBLE VERSES THAT ORDER THE KILLING OF THE ENEMIES:

Let us look at the Verse 9:29
قَاتِلُوا الَّذِينَ لَا يُؤْمِنُونَ بِاللَّهِ وَلَا بِالْيَوْمِ الْآخِرِ وَلَا يُحَرِّمُونَ مَا حَرَّمَ اللَّهُ وَرَسُولُهُ وَلَا يَدِينُونَ دِينَ الْحَقِّ مِنَ الَّذِينَ أُوتُوا الْكِتَابَ حَتَّىٰ يُعْطُوا الْجِزْيَةَ عَن يَدٍ وَهُمْ صَاغِرُونَ
Fight those who do not believe in Allah or in the Last Day and who do not consider unlawful what Allah and His Messenger have made unlawful and who do not adopt the religion of truth from those who were given the Scripture - [fight] until they give the jizyah willingly while they are humbled.
^{those who were given the Scripture means the Jews and the Christians}
"Wow!" you may say, "that's horrible, the Qur'an asks Muslims to fight the Christians and the Jews". well, it may seem so at first glance. but let's read carefully. there is one word that needs explanation in this verse. it's the word Jizyah:

جزية JIZYAH simply means tax given by non-Muslims residing in Muslim land. according to Islamic law, Muslims have to pay a tax called Zakat, and non-Muslims have to pay a tax called Jizyah. of course not every non-Muslim in Muslim land is required to pay. for example, the poor, the females and children, monks and hermits don't have to pay Jizyah. only strong and healthy adult men able to fight have to pay.
the Zakat is usually used to help the poor Muslims and improve the Muslim land, while the Jizyah is used as compensation for protection of non-Muslim minorities in Muslim land in time of war. when the Muslim land is under Attack, Muslims have the obligation to defend the land and protect the non-Muslim citizens and these last ones don't have the obligation to fight.
So, the jizyah is only concerning the non-Muslims living in Muslim land. not every non-Muslim around the globe.

Let's return to the verse. this verse stated a couple of important conditions of this fight:
the Christians or Jews concerned are those who:
- do not believe in the God or in the Last Day (day of resurrection). notice that nothing is mentioned about the prophet Mohammed -peace be upon him-. so these people are not fought simply because they disbelieve in Islam.
- do not consider unlawful what the God and His Messenger have made unlawful. this basically means they do not respect the law of the Muslim country.
- do not adopt the religion of truth. this means they are not Muslims. since they are not Muslims, they are considered Non-Muslim residents of Muslim land.

Now notice the "until they give the jizyah." it means these guys are living in Muslim land, they disobey the God, and break the Islamic law (while residing in Islamic land) and REFUSE to give the jizyah. which is part of the Islamic law of the Muslim land.
let's imagine the Muslims in the United states decided not to follow the American law and not to pay any taxes to the American government. will the US government keep quiet? I don't think so.
Every country has laws regarding its citizens. if the citizens break the law, then some measurements have to be taken to keep the order. this is basically what the above verse is talking about. it doesn't say "Kill the Christians and Jews wherever you find them." first, they must be residing in Muslim land, and they must be breaking the law of the country and refusing to pay the Jizyah. only in that time, the Muslims have to follow the command in the above verse.



Let us look at Verse 9:5
فَإِذَا انسَلَخَ الْأَشْهُرُ الْحُرُمُ فَاقْتُلُوا الْمُشْرِكِينَ حَيْثُ وَجَدتُّمُوهُمْ وَخُذُوهُمْ وَاحْصُرُوهُمْ وَاقْعُدُوا لَهُمْ كُلَّ مَرْصَدٍ ۚ فَإِن تَابُوا وَأَقَامُوا الصَّلَاةَ وَآتَوُا الزَّكَاةَ فَخَلُّوا سَبِيلَهُمْ ۚ إِنَّ اللَّهَ غَفُورٌ رَّحِيمٌ
"And when the sacred months have passed, then fight the pagans wherever you find them and capture them and besiege them and sit in wait for them at every place of ambush. But if they should repent, establish prayer, and give Zakat, then leave their way free. Verily, Allah is Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful."
"Wow!" you may say again, "that's horrible". well, it may seem so. but let us see things in context: the Muslims in that time had a peace agreement with the pagans of Mekkah. and in the agreement was that no one would attack the other. the pagans broke their side, attacked and killed some Muslims. so these verses from chapter 9 (At-Tawbah - repentance) were revealed.

but if you are still not convinced yet, let's see the verses before and after this verse 5.
verse 4:
إِلَّا الَّذِينَ عَاهَدتُّم مِّنَ الْمُشْرِكِينَ ثُمَّ لَمْ يَنقُصُوكُمْ شَيْئًا وَلَمْ يُظَاهِرُوا عَلَيْكُمْ أَحَدًا فَأَتِمُّوا إِلَيْهِمْ عَهْدَهُمْ إِلَىٰ مُدَّتِهِمْ ۚ إِنَّ اللَّهَ يُحِبُّ الْمُتَّقِينَ
"Except those with whom you made a treaty among the pagans and then they have not been deficient toward you in anything or supported anyone against you; So fulfill their treaty to them to the end of their term. Indeed, Allah loves the righteous."
and verse 6:
وَإِنْ أَحَدٌ مِّنَ الْمُشْرِكِينَ اسْتَجَارَكَ فَأَجِرْهُ حَتَّىٰ يَسْمَعَ كَلَامَ اللَّهِ ثُمَّ أَبْلِغْهُ مَأْمَنَهُ ۚ ذَٰلِكَ بِأَنَّهُمْ قَوْمٌ لَّا يَعْلَمُونَ
And if any one of the pagans seeks your protection, then grant him protection so that he may hear the words of Allah . Then deliver him to his place of safety. That is because they are a people who do not know."
it's clear that these verses are specific for a specific event that happened in a specific time. and the God put great importance on peace.
people who usually use the verse 9:5 to attack Islam, they never quote the verses 9:4 and 9:6. having things in context proves the claim to be false.

Don't make your conclusions yet. there are more verses to explore...

To be continued here:



I hope this was beneficial for you.

IN THE DRAWING
the Arabic expression is written in Thuluth calligraphy style.


for more reading, I recommend my slideshow ISLAMOPHOBIA:


if I am right, it's from the God. if I am wrong, it's from me.