Islam's normative injunctions are all designed to foster freedom and justice and to promote a just social order. Its moral universe is informed by the Living Presence of Allah (swt), to whom people are responsible individually and collectively as a group- sect, religion, tribe, clan, nation, community, etc. - and are bound to account for their acts and omissions on the Day of Judgement. Several verses in the Qur'an affirms the inherent freedom of choice in people: "Had your Lord willed, all the people on earth would have believed. So can you (Prophet) compel people to believe? It is not for a soul to believe , save by God's Leave" (10: 99-100). 'Say, Now the truth has come from you Lord: let those who wish to believe in it do so, and let those those who wish to reject it do so' (18: 30).
Life in Arabia during the Holy Prophet's time also produced within its varied contingencies complex questions of freedom of choice in faith matters. Some of the Muslim parents had a dilemma: whether to force their children to join the then nascent Muslim community; or to respect the children's choice of joining their foster- parents' clan (Jewish tribe- Banu Nadir that was leaving from Madinah and some also wishing to join Christian merchants going to Syria). It might seem astonishing to some; but the Qur'anic verse-"There is no compulsion in religion" (2: 257) was originally revealed to ensure the freedom of choice of the people who wished to leave Islam against the wishes of their Muslim families!
Even as Islam commands freedom of conscience and respects the right of people to make choices, it also allows resistance to oppression and injustice and to wage wars in self-defence in compelling political circumstances. What is not required or unjustified in general conditions of life, may gain validity of law and practice in exceptional circumstances. Necessity, proportionality, fairness and even-handed dealings are central to Islamic ethics, and the 'text' of moral injunctions need to be seen in the 'context' of the evolving circumstances of the Muslim life. Muslim Ulema who celebrate the 'cult of sword' in the name of Jihad/preaching of Islam are grossly misguided in reading the text without knowing its context. Their ill-considered views are detrimental to the fair name and legacy of Islam as a religion that appeals to human conscience and secular reasoning in equal measure. In his first Friday Sermon of the New Year- on 5th January 2018, Hadhrat Khalifatullah (atba) expounds profoundly on freedom of choice from a Qur'anic perspective and corrects the doctrinal mistakes of the Muslim Ulema on this vital question.
Read the Friday Sermon Below:
No Compulsion in Religion
Laaa Ikraaha fid deeni qat tabiyanar rushdu minal ghayy; famai
yakfur bit Taaghuuti wa yu’mim billaahi faqadis tamsaka bil’urwatil wusqaa lan
fisaama lahaa; wallaahu Samii’un ʻAliim.
There is no compulsion in religion.
Verily, the Right Path has become distinct from the wrong path. Whoever rejects
false deities (and/ or evil) and believes in Allah, then he has grasped the
most trustworthy handhold that will never break. Allah is All-Hearing,
All-Knowing. (Al-Baqara, 2: 257).
The majority of Mullahs from the other Muslim sects
since years have wrongfully affirmed that in the time of the Mahdi people would
be forced to accept Islam. God, the Exalted, says: There
shall be no compulsion in matters of faith.
At one time Christians forced people to accept
Christianity - But Islam has from the outset been opposed to the use of force.
Force is used by those who have no heavenly signs. No prophet has performed so
many miracles as did our Holy Prophet Muhammad (pbuh). The miracles of the
previous prophets died with them but the miracles of our Prophet (pbuh)
continue to be manifested even today and will continue to be manifested till
the end of time. Whatever is manifested in my support are the miracles of the
Holy Prophet (pbuh). Are there any advocates of other faiths who can show
similar signs? Indeed not; however much they might try they cannot show a
single sign. For their gods are artificial; they do not follow the True God.
Islam is an ocean of miracles; it has never used force. It has no need to use
force.
That Islam permits any kind of compulsion in the
matter of religion is therefore false. A careful study of the Holy Quran,
Hadiths and history, would establish beyond a doubt that this charge against
Islam is utterly unfounded, and has been preferred by those who, casting aside
all evidence, have based themselves only on prejudice and bigotry. The time is,
however, drawing near when seekers after truth will be convinced of the baselessness
of such charges.
How can such a charge be levelled against a faith the
scripture of which so clearly and unequivocally directs: There shall be no compulsion in religion? Can
anyone charge that great Prophet with compulsion who during thirteen years of
bitter and unrelenting persecution in Mecca continuously and consistently
admonished his followers to be steadfast and not to oppose persecution with
force?
At last, when the evil of the enemy exceeded all
bounds and all tribes combined to destroy Islam by force, divine indignation
ordained that those who had taken up the sword should perish by the sword,
those who come forward to kill the Muslim should be killed instead. Had Islam
permitted the use of force for its propagation, then the companions of the Holy
Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) having been converted to Islam, as falsely alleged, by
force, would not in times of trials have proved the sincerity of their faith by
offering up their lives like true and sincere believers, which they were. This
is a fact so well established as to need no further affirmation. They attested
their faith with such steadfastness as would be difficult to match in the
annals of any other people. They behaved under the shadow of swords with such
perseverance and fortitude as can only be generated by the light of faith.
No true Muslim ever held the belief that Islam should
be spread by the sword. Islam has always been spread through inherent
excellences. Those who believe that Islam should be spread by the sword, are
obviously not convinced of its inherent merits and their attitude is that of
wild beasts.
It is sheer ignorance on the part of some of the so-called divines
to assert that the Holy Prophet (pbuh) took up the sword to convert people to
Islam by force. The same applies to some Christian missionaries who adhere to
that view. There can be no greater injustice and falsehood than to charge a
faith with such calumny whose foremost direction is: There shall be no compulsion in religion.
The wars of the Holy Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) and his
companions were waged to defend themselves against the aggression of their
enemies, or to establish peace by repelling those by the sword who employed the
sword to keep people from believing.
The Quran affirms repeatedly that there can be no
compulsion in religion and makes it clear that the Holy Prophet (pbuh) did not
fight to force people to become Muslims. He fought either by way of retribution
against those who had killed a large number of Muslims and had expelled some of
them from their homes most wrongfully as set out in the Holy Quran: Permission to fight is granted to those against whom war
is made, because they have been wronged, and Allah indeed has the power to help
them. (Al-Hajj 22: 40); or by way of defence against open
aggression, or to establish freedom of conscience where force was used against people
to keep them from believing.
So today's Mullahs read this verse of the Holy Quran
and affirm that there is no compulsion in religion, yet unfortunately they do
the contrary of what they recognise as the truth and insist that their version
of the Mahdi will appear with the sword and will not be satisfied with anything
short of the non-Muslims professing Islam.
There is no compulsion in religion. Guidance and error have been clearly distinguished.
So there is no need for compulsion. It is a pity that despite such a clear
exposition in the Quran that no compulsion is permissible in religion, those
whose hearts are pervaded with enmity and rancour persist in charging the word
of God with permitting compulsion.
There must be freedom of religion. Allah, the Exalted,
has said: There shall be no compulsion in
religion. There is no such directive in the Bible. What led to
fighting? If the basic directive was fighting then the thirteen years of the
ministry of the Holy Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) at Mecca would have been in vain,
for he did not use the sword at once. The truth, however, is that fighting was
permitted because of wrongs and oppression. The directive
was not: The time of the sword has come, now convert people to Islam
by the sword. The directive was: You
have endured wrong, now oppose the sword with the sword. Every system of law
permits self-defence to a wronged one.
17 Years of the Divine Manifestation
May Allah (swt) bless all of you to understand this
first and very important Friday Sermon of the year 2018, which marks also
seventeen years since our expulsion from the Nizam-e-Jamaat Ahmadiyya,
and it was on the 5th January 2001
itself, in the Friday Sermons around the small island of Mauritius that those
at the head of the Jamaat (Ahmadiyya Muslim Association) in Mauritius ate our
flesh with appetite, disregarding the very essence of the teachings of Islam.
What did we do? We forebear and preached throughout these years the right
teachings of Islam, inviting them to reform themselves to reflect the true
Islam. Seventeen years have gone by and shall not return back.
By the grace of Allah, as promised by Allah to this
humble servant and caliph of Allah, the Jamaat Ul Sahih Al Islam is spreading
around the world and those who plotted to extinguish the light of Allah shall
perish by their own breath (or any device or means they use) except those who
repent and reform. May Allah bless all my sincere disciples worldwide, those
who through thick and thin have always lend a helping hand to Allah and His
Messenger and sacrifice their all for the cause and pleasure of Allah. May
Allah reward you all handsomely in this life and the life to come and make us
march from success to success with humility, sincerity, honestly and true faith
- such faith which can move mountains - to conquer our greatest treasure: Allah and His exquisite love for us all. Insha-Allah,
Ameen.
---Friday Sermon of 05 January 2018 (17 Rabi’ul Aakhir 1439 AH) by Hadhrat Muhyi-Ud-Din Al Khalifatullah Munir Ahmad Azim Saheb (atba) of Mauritius.