Verse about Killing Non-Muslims (Surah Taubah)

Question:

In Surah Tauba, there are strict words used for war against non-muslims. Can you please shed light on the mention of 'fighting non muslims to drive them out of the city, or to kill them whereever you find them?'

Fizza


Answer:

Salaam sister
 
Many thanks for your query. In the opinion of our scholars in order to fully comprehend any verse of Qur'an we need to take into account the following aspects; firstly, background, situation and the requisites in which the surah was revealed, secondly, who is the addressee and  lastly we need to ascertain whether the verse is a specific  or a general verse in other words does it refer to the addressees at the time of prophet pbuh or is it a general command or instruction for all times to come. All these can be derived by taking into the account the context in which the verse is placed and the coherence of the Qur'an with regard to the placement of its chapters.
 
To answer your query I quote Moiz Amjad:

"According to the Quran when Allah sends His messengers to a nation, they elucidate the Truth to that nation and no one is left with any excuses to deny it. The disbelievers after this are left with no option but to accept the message or to face the punishment of death and sometimes complete annihilation. The Qur'an gives account of nations of previous prophets like Noah, Hud, Shoaib, Saleh, Moses (pbut) and narrates the result of their rejection.
 
The Qur'an goes further to tell us how this punishment was implemented on the polytheists from among the rejecters of the Prophet (pbuh). It tells us that although the previous nations of the messengers of God were annihilated, because of their rejection, through (apparently) natural calamities, the believers of Mohammad (pbuh), because God has given them rule in a land (Medinah), shall fight the rejecters and, thereby, through these believers shall God implement His punishment (9: 14 - 16). It directs them that the Mushrikeen should be killed, without any exception. They should only be allowed to live if they accept Islam (9: 5). On the other hand, it also directs them that the Jews and the Christians (because they were not polytheists), even if they do not enter the folds of Islam, they may be allowed to live if they accept to live under the Muslim rule and agree to pay the appointed Jizyah (9: 29).
 
Thus, according to the Qur'an, as a result of the advent of the Messenger of God in the Banu Ishmael, those who rejected faith from amongst the polytheists were subject to the death penalty, under the provisions of the Divine Law relating to the advent of God's messengers".

 
In conclusion, the verse of Surah Tauba is a specific verse which refers to the disbelievers at the time of prophet pbuh. This cannot be applied to any non Muslims of any other time.
 
I enclose links from our sister web sites that provide further related information on this issue:
 
http://www.understanding-islam.com/q-and-a/sources-of-islam/is-al-taubah-9-5-an-instruction-to-kill-all-non-muslims-5640
 
http://www.understanding-islam.com/q-and-a/sources-of-islam/determining-the-addressees-of-the-qur-anic-verses-5078
 
http://www.understanding-islam.com/discussions/sources-of-islam/are-muslims-directed-to-fight-and-kill-non-believers-al-nisaa-4-89-and-al-taubah-9-123
 
http://www.understanding-islam.com/discussions/sources-of-islam/some-more-verses-and-comments-on-jihad
 
http://www.al-mawrid.org/pages/articles_english_detail.php?rid=871&cid=511&search=make%20up
 

If you have any further queries please do not hesitate to contact us again
 
Best regards

Waseem Aslam
 
UIUK web team

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