'Jihad': Never Through Compulsion!
Allah says in the Quran:
Allah says in the Quran:
Laa-Ikraaha
fid-Deen.
« There is no compulsion in religion. »---(Al-Baqara, 2 : 257)
« There is no compulsion in religion. »---(Al-Baqara, 2 : 257)
Some
Ulema of
other Jamaats, after [the revelation of] this verse, try to prove
that the use of force is absolutely legal in matters of religion, but
we, the Jamaat Ul Sahih Al Islam demonstrates the opposite.
The
Jamaat Ul Sahih Al Islam accepts this verse in its entirety, and
fully appreciates its message. Another aspect of this teaching,
different from that of the Orthodox, was put forward by the Jamaat Ul
Sahih Al Islam. Not only is there no doubt about the prohibition of
the use of force, whatever its form in matters of faith, but it is
impossible to achieve the goal sought by such means. This is what the
following verse tells us.
Two Forms of Compulsion
Compulsion
can be in two ways:
1.
The use of force to spread a religion.
2.
Forcibly remove someone from his religion.
So
this verse tells us that we cannot force someone to accept a new
faith, much less, we cannot force him to give up his faith. But those
who do their utmost to dissociate Islam from its most faithful
believers, will not succeed, because the verse tells us, further.
“...
and whoever believes in Allah will surely have grasped a solid and
unbreakable handhold ...” (Al-Baqara 2: 257).
This
is the most tangible meaning of this verse. Those who are not
convinced that one cannot force anyone to embrace or renounce a
religion, need only try it. Besides, history confirms the veracity of
this Quranic verse.
The Practice of Islam through Force
Raising
public awareness of sincerity, honesty, patriotism, peace, protecting
the rights of others and other Islamic teachings is a big project of
both Islamic and non-Islamic governments or dynasties. But they got
it all wrong again because they wanted to use force. For example, in
this present era, the Ahmadiyya authorities are using punishment,
coercion and boycotts to force truth seekers to lie against the
Khalifatullah and the Divine Manifestation.
Every
sincere Ahmadi Muslim has the firm conviction that Islam is a divine
religion, he believes from the bottom of his heart in the oneness of
Allah, he believes that Muhammad (pbuh) is the greatest and the seal
of all the prophets of Allah. The Ahmadi Muslims believe that the
door of prophethood will remain forever open, and that the elects of
Allah, the messengers and prophets of Allah will continue to come in
the Ummah
of the Holy Prophet Hazrat Muhammad (pbuh), without hurting in the
least the supremacy of the prophethood of the Holy Prophet of Islam
(pbuh). But by brutality/ force, the Ahmadiyya authorities want to
make the members of the Jamaat Ul Sahih Al Islam and other truth
seekers believe the opposite by pressurizing/ coercing them,
threatening them. Now it is only on the lips that the door of
prophethood is opened, especially in their arguments against other
non-Ahmadi Muslims; but in reality, in practice, they have indeed
closed this door, saying that after the Promised Messiah Hazrat Mirza
Ghulam Ahmad (as) there will be no more Islamic messiahs or prophets
who will come, and that the caliphate after the Promised Messiah, who
according to them will be continually elected by man will continue to
reign for all times! This is their double standards! Completely
contrary to what our beloved prophet Hazrat Muhammad (pbuh) and the
Promised Messiah Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad (as) have taught us.
How
can a Jamaat (such as the Jamaat of Hazrat Massih Maoud (as)) claim
to be universal, international or global, and moreover peaceful, and
having no hatred for anyone and cause so much friction?
No
true religion that has a universal message and the ambition to unite
humanity under its banner could even for a moment consider using
force to spread its message. Persecution, boycott, the command to
sever family ties, the severe penalties - in short, the fear for
creatures - can conquer thousands of people, but not hearts. This
fear can bend the heads, but not the spirits. Islam prohibits the use
of force to block the road to Allah and His chosen servant (The Elect
of Allah of the time).
Thus,
coercion is not necessary. It is up to man to determine for himself
where the truth is. Addressing the Holy Prophet (pbuh), God (Allah)
explains that he should not think that we can reform a society by
using force.
Even
though a struggle and violent reactions are developed during this
process of propagation of a new ideology, Islam (and more
particularly, the Jamaat Ul Sahih Al Islam) urges its adherents to
show the greatest patience and perseverance, in order to avoid
conflict, as far as possible, because of the fact that Islam rests
solely and entirely on the strength of arguments and not on the
material power that could be deployed.
All
other ideologies shall be vanquished except that of Islam - the Sahih
al Islam which is revived by divine help to consolidate His religion,
the true faith. All the stratagems/ plans shall be defeated except
the divine plan through the Jamaat Ul Sahih Al Islam; neither will it
collapse nor will it be thwarted, but it will demolish the forces of
evil. Insha-Allah, Ameen.
THE
TRUTH ON JIHAD
It
is high time to dispel any misunderstanding and formally declare that
Islam forbids any use of force/ compulsion in matters of religion.
Moreover, to our knowledge, it is the only religion that guarantees
freedom of conscience in its sacred text, and speaks of it in terms
of respect for temples, churches and synagogues of the followers of
other religions. We denounce and reject as totally wrong and
defamatory against Islam and the Prophet (pbuh) the point of view of
the so-called scholars and Mullahs
of Islam who have as agenda to create division and insecurity among
the Muslims, and who cling to the power of this world, abandoning the
true divine teachings.
Most
Muslim sects are still waiting for the coming of a reformer or a
Mahdi or a Messiah who will be according to them a bloodthirsty
character called Imam Mohammad, and the Promised Messiah will be none
other than Jesus, son of Mary in person. Together, these two persons
will begin to roam the earth and kill anyone who refuses to become a
Muslim. It is the notion of Jihad
that these Muslim sects maintain. It was prophesied that the Promised
Messiah would end the war.
The
Promised Messiah and the Mahdi were two titles for one same person
for the reinterpretation of the Holy Quran according to the needs of
the hour. The doctrine of Jihad
as interpreted and propagated by the Muslim theologians of the time
called Maulvis,
the so-called Mullahs
is totally false. It can bring nothing good except that it will turn
the people of the world into ferocious beasts and deprive them of all
the good, humane qualities.
This
is indeed what happened. I know for sure that the burden of the sins
of these people who committed crimes by ignorance and only because of
these sins, they do not even know the reason why Islam had to fight
at its beginnings, and thus all these burdens rest on the shoulders
of those Maulvis
who continue to secretly propagate these dangerous doctrines that
cause so much loss of life. When these same Maulvis
meet with government officials, they make such bows as if they were
going to prostrate before them; but when they are alone among
themselves, they maintain that the country is the house of war, and
that spreading faith at the point of the sword is a compulsory duty.
Few are those who do not agree. The vast majority of them are so
resolutely imbued with this erroneous doctrine which is totally
opposed to the Holy Quran and the teachings of the Holy Prophet
(pbuh), that they condemn as Dajjal
(anti-Christ) anybody who has a different opinion and they proclaim
that he should be killed without fear.
I
have been the subject of such convictions for a long time already.
They must remember that this doctrine of Jihad
as they conceive is not absolutely correct.
In
the first place, it suppresses human sympathy. Their way of thinking
that Jihad
was allowed in the early days of Islam, and that there should be no
reason for it to be allowed today is full of misguidance. We have two
answers to them. The first is that the Holy Prophet (pbuh) never took
the sword except against those who first used the sword and
ruthlessly slaughtered innocent and righteous men, women, and
children. This is what today even the law of the land, international
law qualifies as self-defense. They were slaughtered in such a cruel
way that even today, we cannot stop our tears from shedding.
Second,
even assuming for a moment that at the beginning of Islam such a
Jihad was
obligatory, as the Maulvis
falsely believe, however, this is not valid for our time. It is
indeed written that when the Promised Messiah shall appear, the Jihad
with the sword and all the religious wars would cease. For he will
make no use of the sword or any other temporal weapon, and his only
weapon will be his prayers, and his great determination will be his
sword. He will lay the foundations of peace and gather together the
lions and sheep. His time will be one of peace, kindness and human
sympathy. Why, then, do these people not think about this fact more
than fourteen hundred years ago, when the Holy Prophet (pbuh) has
said with regard to the Promised Messiah that he will put an end to
the war?
O
you Muslim theologians and Maulvis,
listen to me. Verily, I tell you that this is not the moment to fight
between us for faith. Do not disobey the Holy Prophet (pbuh). The
body of Islam should not be divided. The Islamic faith demands unity
and unshakeable faith in the oneness of Allah. Allah is unique, and
it is His help that must be sought in all circumstances.
Islam is not
a country or a person in particular. Islam is not Saudi Arabia, or
Pakistan, or India or any country where Muslims are in the millions.
Islam is you, it’s me when we surrender ourselves as one body, as
one soul to Allah with contentment and seeking only His love and
pleasure.
The
Jihad with
the sword and all the religious wars must stop. But the exception of
course is self-defense, that is to say that when any limit is
exceeded and your life is in danger, when death is pending over you
by the hand of the enemy of the Islam, or even your brother who calls
himself a Muslim but who acts like a lawless person, when he wants to
harm you only because of your faith. Then, in this case, you are
allowed to reply/ retaliate, to defend yourselves by placing your
trust in Allah.
The
war/ battle in the path of Allah in no way means the suicide bombings
of some extremists who distort the words of Allah and the Holy
Prophet Muhammad (pbuh). Suicide is reprehensible in Islam. It is not
the garden of paradise that awaits these people, but hell. May Allah
help the Muslim community as a whole to understand this well and stay
within the permissible limit. Ameen.
This
subject being very vast, I will come back to it, Insha-Allah
a little later. May Allah have mercy on us Muslims, and give us the
courage and the intelligence to unite ourselves so as to consolidate
Islam, and the true teachings of Allah in the world. Insha-Allah,
Ameen.
---Friday Sermon of 08 March 2019 ~ 30 Jamadi’ul Aakhir 1440 AH delivered by Imam-Jamaat Ul Sahih Al Islam Hadhrat Muhyi-ud-Din Al Khalifatullah Munir Ahmad Azim Saheb (atba) of Mauritius.
---Friday Sermon of 08 March 2019 ~ 30 Jamadi’ul Aakhir 1440 AH delivered by Imam-Jamaat Ul Sahih Al Islam Hadhrat Muhyi-ud-Din Al Khalifatullah Munir Ahmad Azim Saheb (atba) of Mauritius.