stevecanuck
Well-Known Member
The first 86 surahs of the Qur'an were created/revealed during Islam's first 12 years in Mecca as Mohamed tried, largely in vain, to convince the Pagans that he was receiving revelations from the 'one true god' via the angel Jabreel (Gabriel). Not once in those surahs did Allah so much as hint that fighting in His cause would become a requirement in Islam. It was not until Mohamed relocated to Yathrib (renamed to 'Medina' after he purged it of Jews) in the migration known as the Hijra (the start of the Islamic calendar) that blood-letting became first a part of Islam, and finally a requirement. Some call it the 'sixth pillar'.
When Mohamed began preaching to the Jews of Yathrib he challenged them in verse 2:94 to explain why they did not wish for death if they were indeed God's chosen people. He then scolded them in the next two verses for instead being greedy for life - "Say [to the Jews, Mohamed]: If the future abode with Allah is specially for you to the exclusion of the people, then invoke death if you are truthful. But they will never seek death, on account of the (sins) which their hands have sent on before them. and Allah is well-acquainted with the wrong-doers. Thou wilt indeed find them, of all people, most greedy of life even more than the idolaters [Pagans of Mecca]: Each one of them wishes He could be given a life of a thousand years: But the grant of such life will not save him from (due) punishment. For Allah sees well all that they do."
This was more than a mere rebuke of the Jews. It set the stage for preparing Muslims to accept the same logic. Rather than coming straight out and telling them to strive for martyrdom by fighting unbelievers, thereby gaining admittance to heaven, the Qur'an arrived there gradually. Verse 2:154 introduced Muslims to two new concepts; dying for "the cause of Allah", and assuring them that doing so would not in fact be death; but everlasting life - "Do not consider those who are slain for the cause of Allah to be dead. They are alive but you are unaware of them". After laying the groundwork, the Qur'an began to give explicit commands pertaining to fighting, dying, and the reward for doing so. This process occurred in four escalating stages:
1. Verse 2:216 - States that fighting is a requirement without yet broaching the subjects of martyrdom and admittance to heaven - "Fighting is prescribed for you, and you dislike it. But it is possible that you dislike a thing which is good for you."
2. Verse 4:74 combines the requirement to fight with the reward for dying in the process -"Therefore let those fight in the way of Allah, who sell this world's life for the hereafter; and whoever fights in the way of Allah, then be he slain or be he victorious, We shall grant him a mighty reward." Note the phrase, "who sell this world's life for the hereafter". It hints at the bargain described in stage 4.
3. Next, it explicitly states that Muslims should not merely accept death as a possible consequence of fighting for Allah, but that they should wish for it. In recounting the disastrous Battle of Uhud, verse 3:143 says, "You were longing for death before you met it; now you have seen it, while you were beholding."
4. Finally, verse 9:111, one of the last in Islam's 22-year evolution, ups the ante. Previous verses tell Muslims that fighting assures them of admittance to heaven, but this one further states that it is actually a requirement - "God has bought from the believers themselves and their possessions against the gift of Paradise; they fight in the way of God; they kill, and are killed".
These verses, and many more like them, are never quoted by those who would sell us the lie that Islam is a religion of peace.
When Mohamed began preaching to the Jews of Yathrib he challenged them in verse 2:94 to explain why they did not wish for death if they were indeed God's chosen people. He then scolded them in the next two verses for instead being greedy for life - "Say [to the Jews, Mohamed]: If the future abode with Allah is specially for you to the exclusion of the people, then invoke death if you are truthful. But they will never seek death, on account of the (sins) which their hands have sent on before them. and Allah is well-acquainted with the wrong-doers. Thou wilt indeed find them, of all people, most greedy of life even more than the idolaters [Pagans of Mecca]: Each one of them wishes He could be given a life of a thousand years: But the grant of such life will not save him from (due) punishment. For Allah sees well all that they do."
This was more than a mere rebuke of the Jews. It set the stage for preparing Muslims to accept the same logic. Rather than coming straight out and telling them to strive for martyrdom by fighting unbelievers, thereby gaining admittance to heaven, the Qur'an arrived there gradually. Verse 2:154 introduced Muslims to two new concepts; dying for "the cause of Allah", and assuring them that doing so would not in fact be death; but everlasting life - "Do not consider those who are slain for the cause of Allah to be dead. They are alive but you are unaware of them". After laying the groundwork, the Qur'an began to give explicit commands pertaining to fighting, dying, and the reward for doing so. This process occurred in four escalating stages:
1. Verse 2:216 - States that fighting is a requirement without yet broaching the subjects of martyrdom and admittance to heaven - "Fighting is prescribed for you, and you dislike it. But it is possible that you dislike a thing which is good for you."
2. Verse 4:74 combines the requirement to fight with the reward for dying in the process -"Therefore let those fight in the way of Allah, who sell this world's life for the hereafter; and whoever fights in the way of Allah, then be he slain or be he victorious, We shall grant him a mighty reward." Note the phrase, "who sell this world's life for the hereafter". It hints at the bargain described in stage 4.
3. Next, it explicitly states that Muslims should not merely accept death as a possible consequence of fighting for Allah, but that they should wish for it. In recounting the disastrous Battle of Uhud, verse 3:143 says, "You were longing for death before you met it; now you have seen it, while you were beholding."
4. Finally, verse 9:111, one of the last in Islam's 22-year evolution, ups the ante. Previous verses tell Muslims that fighting assures them of admittance to heaven, but this one further states that it is actually a requirement - "God has bought from the believers themselves and their possessions against the gift of Paradise; they fight in the way of God; they kill, and are killed".
These verses, and many more like them, are never quoted by those who would sell us the lie that Islam is a religion of peace.
