Tuesday, May 30, 2017

Is it Islamic to kill disbelievers of the Faith?

For believers, the time of Ramadhan is not just about fasting--the total concept is the cleansing of one's body, mind and soul from the yearly filth the Believer gets from living in this world. Aside from abstaining one's self from food, the Muslim also abstains from negative thoughts and ideally, fills his mind with spiritual knowledge by going back to his roots and reading the Noble Qu'ran. Actually, the reading of the Qu'ran is obligatory and is part of salah, or the Muslim prayer. To those who have read and have mastered the Qu'ran, these Pious ones can very well use quotes from the Sura and include them in their prayers. For ordinary Muslims, remembering a few verses from any Sura is not just a part of daily life, but is a note worthy deed which merits a reward in the Day of Judgement.

Anyway, I strive to myself to read what the Noble Qu'ran said about disbelief in Islam. The Qu'ran had given us so many forms of disbelief, which, in later posts, I will list down.

What is important in today's post is for us to resolve this one question---what does the Noble Qu'ran say about disbelief? What is the duty of a Pious Muslim when he encounters a disbeliever? Is it a duty for him to kill a disbeliever?

How does Allah deal with disbelievers

In Surah 1:7, we find that the path which a Muslim takes is a straight one. And the basis for which we determine what is straight and what is not, lies with the Noble Qu’ran. Surah 2:2, says:

This is the Book about which there is no doubt, a guidance for those conscious of Allah –
 
The Noble Qu’ran was sent as a healing and mercy for the believers; but it does not increase the number of disbelievers.

Sura 17:82: And We send down of the Qur'an that which is healing and mercy for the believers, but it does not increase the wrongdoers except in loss.
 
Noble Qu’ran speaks of the truth about the straight path to one’s salvation.

Sura 17:107: Say, "Believe in it or do not believe. Indeed, those who were given knowledge before it - when it is recited to them, they fall upon their faces in prostration,
 
Why is it that the path is a straight one for those whom Allah SWT wants to believe and be saved from the destruction on the Day of Judgment?

Sura 18:2: [He has made it] straight, to warn of severe punishment from Him and to give good tidings to the believers who do righteous deeds that they will have a good reward

Allah alone guides whom He wishes to guide to the straight path

Sura 5:16: By which Allah guides those who pursue His pleasure to the ways of peace and brings them out from darknesses into the light, by His permission, and guides them to a straight path.

Whoever Allah guides he is rightfully guided.

Sura 17:97: And whoever Allah guides - he is the [rightly] guided; and whoever He sends astray - you will never find for them protectors besides Him, and We will gather them on the Day of Resurrection [fallen] on their faces - blind, dumb and deaf. Their refuge is Hell; every time it subsides We increase them in blazing fire.
 Sura 18:17: And [had you been present], you would see the sun when it rose, inclining away from their cave on the right, and when it set, passing away from them on the left, while they were [laying] within an open space thereof. That was from the signs of Allah . He whom Allah guides is the [rightly] guided, but he whom He leaves astray - never will you find for him a protecting guide.
 Sura18:24: Except [when adding], "If Allah wills." And remember your Lord when you forget [it] and say, "Perhaps my Lord will guide me to what is nearer than this to right conduct."
 
Prophet Muhammad (SWS) was sent as a warner and a bringer of good tidings.

Sura 17:105: And with the truth We have sent the Qur'an down, and with the truth it has descended. And We have not sent you, [O Muhammad], except as a bringer of good tidings and a warner.

Allah already knows who will believe and those who will not believe.

Sura 16:36: And We certainly sent into every nation a messenger, [saying], "Worship Allah and avoid Taghut." And among them were those whom Allah guided, and among them were those upon whom error was [deservedly] decreed. So proceed through the earth and observe how was the end of the deniers.

Allah knows that there will be those who will go on the straight path and those who will deviate.

Sura 16:9: And upon Allah is the direction of the [right] way, and among the various paths are those deviating. And if He willed, He could have guided you all.
 
Allah knows what is happening in the universe.

Sura 17: 55: And your Lord is most knowing of whoever is in the heavens and the earth. And We have made some of the prophets exceed others [in various ways], and to David We gave the book [of Psalms].

In our life on earth, Allah has already willed that there will be discensions caused by Satan, according to what Allah Willed.

Sura 17:53: And tell My servants to say that which is best. Indeed, Satan induces [dissension] among them. Indeed Satan is ever, to mankind, a clear enemy.
 
How? We find in Sura 17:41: And We have certainly diversified [the contents] in this Qur'an that mankind may be reminded, but it does not increase the disbelievers except in aversion.

In Sura 5:98, we need to “Know that Allah is severe in penalty and that Allah is Forgiving and Merciful.”  Allah SWT alone guides whom He wishes to guide to the straight path.

Sura 5:16: By which Allah guides those who pursue His pleasure to the ways of peace and brings them out from darknesses into the light, by His permission, and guides them to a straight path.

It is thru Allah SWT alone that the people would get the answers to their questions, not solely from believers or the Pious ones.
 In Sura 5:102: A people asked such [questions] before you; then they became thereby disbelievers.
 
And since the dawn of time, Allah SWT already knows who will believe and who will not believe in Him. Hence, Allah has placed coverings in the hearts of the disbelievers.

Sura 17:46: And We have placed over their hearts coverings, lest they understand it, and in their ears deafness. And when you mention your Lord alone in the Qur'an, they turn back in aversion.
 
Disbelievers will do comparisons and they will not discover the truth.

Sura 17:48: Look how they strike for you comparisons; but they have strayed, so they cannot [find] a way.

For disbelievers are blind, hence, they will surely not tread the straight path.

Sura 17:72: And whoever is blind in this [life] will be blind in the Hereafter and more astray in way.

Allah has sealed the hearts, ears and eyes of disbelievers.

Sura16:108: Those are the ones over whose hearts and hearing and vision Allah has sealed, and it is those who are the heedless.

However, there is still hope for those who want to be saved.

Sura 5:39: But whoever repents after his wrongdoing and reforms, indeed, Allah will turn to him in forgiveness. Indeed, Allah is Forgiving and Merciful.
 Sura 5:40: Do you not know that to Allah belongs the dominion of the heavens and the earth? He punishes whom He wills and forgives whom He wills, and Allah is over all things competent.
 

What the Pious Ones are instructed to do with disbelievers

Sura 86:17 of the Noble Qu’ran is clear---leave them alone. There is time for addressing disbelief. Why is the instruction this clear? Allah expects some to still repent. However, hell is a certainty for those who disbelieve.

Sura 17:8: [Then Allah said], "It is expected, [if you repent], that your Lord will have mercy upon you. But if you return [to sin], We will return [to punishment]. And We have made Hell, for the disbelievers, a prison-bed."
 
What is the basis for one’s punishment? His deeds recorded.

Sura 17:13: And [for] every person We have imposed his fate upon his neck, and We will produce for him on the Day of Resurrection a record which he will encounter spread open.

Those whom Allah wills will be guided and the Pious Ones are not to be burdened by the sins or burdens of another

Sura 17:15: Whoever is guided is only guided for [the benefit of] his soul. And whoever errs only errs against it. And no bearer of burdens will bear the burden of another. And never would We punish until We sent a messenger.
 
It is God Who punishes the unbelievers, not the believers. In Sura 17:16, we find this passage:

And when We intend to destroy a city, We command its affluent but they defiantly disobey therein; so the word comes into effect upon it, and We destroy it with [complete] destruction.
 
The Pious ones are expected to exercise patience.

Sura 16:1: The command of Allah is coming, so be not impatient for it. Exalted is He and high above what they associate with Him.
 
Allah wants the Believers to be patient and rely on Him and Him alone.

Surah 16:42: They are] those who endured patiently and upon their Lord relied.

Allah alone guides whom He wishes to guide to the straight path.

Sura 5:16: By which Allah guides those who pursue His pleasure to the ways of peace and brings them out from darknesses into the light, by His permission, and guides them to a straight path.

Justice from God has an appointed time.

Sura 18:58: And your Lord is the Forgiving, full of mercy. If He were to impose blame upon them for what they earned, He would have hastened for them the punishment. Rather, for them is an appointment from which they will never find an escape.

And the time is fast coming, and the reign of disbelievers is ending.

Sura 16:117: [It is but] a brief enjoyment, and they will have a painful punishment. 
Who destroys cities whose people are continually sinning? In Sura 18:59: And those cities - We destroyed them when they wronged, and We made for their destruction an appointed time.

Is it the intention of Allah SWT to punish those who continue on sinning before their appointed time?

Surah 16:33: Do the disbelievers await [anything] except that the angels should come to them or there comes the command of your Lord? Thus did those do before them. And Allah wronged them not, but they had been wronging themselves.

There is no city to be destroyed before the Day of Judgment

Sura 17:58: And there is no city but that We will destroy it before the Day of Resurrection or punish it with a severe punishment. That has ever been in the Register inscribed.

Is it the duty of the Pious to correct the injustices of this world? No.

Sura 16:41: And those who emigrated for [the cause of] Allah after they had been wronged - We will surely settle them in this world in a good place; but the reward of the Hereafter is greater, if only they could know.
Sura 16:119: Then, indeed your Lord, to those who have done wrong out of ignorance and then repent after that and correct themselves - indeed, your Lord, thereafter, is Forgiving and Merciful.
 Sura 16:126: And if you punish [an enemy, O believers], punish with an equivalent of that with which you were harmed. But if you are patient - it is better for those who are patient. 
Why? The strivings of a Believer is not to live in this world, but the Hereafter

Sura 16: 30: And it will be said to those who feared Allah, "What did your Lord send down?" They will say, "[That which is] good." For those who do good in this world is good; and the home of the Hereafter is better. And how excellent is the home of the righteous –
Sura 16:31. Gardens of perpetual residence, which they will enter, beneath which rivers flow. They will have therein whatever they wish. Thus does Allah reward the righteous – 
The things of this earth are but an adornment to test those who believe

Sura 18:7: Indeed, We have made that which is on the earth adornment for it that We may test them [as to] which of them is best in deed.
The responsibility of a Pious believer is to himself.

Sura 5:105: O you who have believed, upon you is [responsibility for] yourselves. Those who have gone astray will not harm you when you have been guided. To Allah is your return all together; then He will inform you of what you used to do.
 
And when he encounters disbelief, the Pious invites the disbeliever to the Way without arguing about religion.

Sura 16:125: Invite to the way of your Lord with wisdom and good instruction, and argue with them in a way that is best. Indeed, your Lord is most knowing of who has strayed from His way, and He is most knowing of who is [rightly] guided.
 
The Pious is instructed not to do harmful things, even kill disbelievers for fear of Allah’s wrath

Sura 5:18: If you should raise your hand against me to kill me - I shall not raise my hand against you to kill you. Indeed, I fear Allah, Lord of the worlds.
 
Killing someone is like killing the entire human race.

Sura 5:32: Because of that, We decreed upon the Children of Israel that whoever kills a soul unless for a soul or for corruption [done] in the land - it is as if he had slain mankind entirely. And whoever saves one - it is as if he had saved mankind entirely. And our messengers had certainly come to them with clear proofs. Then indeed many of them, [even] after that, throughout the land, were transgressors.

Allah knows that there will be those who will go on the straight path and those who will deviate.

Sura 16:9: And upon Allah is the direction of the [right] way, and among the various paths are those deviating. And if He willed, He could have guided you all.

There will never be one religion—because Allah wills it.

Sura 16:93: And if Allah had willed, He could have made you [of] one religion, but He causes to stray whom He wills and guides whom He wills. And you will surely be questioned about what you used to do.
 
In due time, Allah will present the punishment for the disbelievers.

Sura 18:100: And We will present Hell that Day to the Disbelievers, on display –

Punishment for disbelief is reserve in the Hereafter: there is no punishment here on earth for those who do corruption

Sura 5:33: Indeed, the penalty for those who wage war against Allah and His Messenger and strive upon earth [to cause] corruption is none but that they be killed or crucified or that their hands and feet be cut off from opposite sides or that they be exiled from the land. That is for them a disgrace in this world; and for them in the Hereafter is a great punishment, 
There is no ransom to be allowed for the redemption of the disbelievers
 Sura5:36: Indeed, those who disbelieve - if they should have all that is in the earth and the like of it with it by which to ransom themselves from the punishment of the Day of Resurrection, it will not be accepted from them, and for them is a painful punishment
 
What is therefore Allah’s instruction to the Pious?

  • ·      Stand firm. Sura 5:8: O you who have believed, be persistently standing firm for Allah, witnesses in justice, and do not let the hatred of a people prevent you from being just. Be just; that is nearer to righteousness. And fear Allah ; indeed, Allah is Acquainted with what you do.
  • ·      Be doers of good. Sura 5:13: So for their breaking of the covenant We cursed them and made their hearts hard. They distort words from their [proper] usages and have forgotten a portion of that of which they were reminded. And you will still observe deceit among them, except a few of them. But pardon them and overlook [their misdeeds]. Indeed, Allah loves the doers of good.
  • ·      Be patient thru prayer. Sura 18:28: And keep yourself patient [by being] with those who call upon their Lord in the morning and the evening, seeking His countenance. And let not your eyes pass beyond them, desiring adornments of the worldly life, and do not obey one whose heart We have made heedless of Our remembrance and who follows his desire and whose affair is ever [in] neglect.
  • ·      Believe in Allah’s will. Sura 18:29: And say, "The truth is from your Lord, so whoever wills - let him believe; and whoever wills - let him disbelieve." Indeed, We have prepared for the wrongdoers a fire whose walls will surround them. And if they call for relief, they will be relieved with water like murky oil, which scalds [their] faces. Wretched is the drink, and evil is the resting place.
  • ·      Hold true to Allah’s promise. Sura 18:31: Those will have gardens of perpetual residence; beneath them rivers will flow. They will be adorned therein with bracelets of gold and will wear green garments of fine silk and brocade, reclining therein on adorned couches. Excellent is the reward, and good is the resting place.
  • ·      Be not distracted of the things of this world, but strive for good deeds. Sura 18:46: Wealth and children are [but] adornment of the worldly life. But the enduring good deeds are better to your Lord for reward and better for [one's] hope.
  • ·      Hold fast to the completion of the Day of Judgment. Sura 18:48: And they will be presented before your Lord in rows, [and He will say], "You have certainly come to Us just as We created you the first time. But you claimed that We would never make for you an appointment."
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