Koran Curious - A Guide for Infidels and Believers (15 page)
Read Koran Curious - A Guide for Infidels and Believers Online
Authors: C.J. Werleman
[7:133] Consequently, we sent upon them the flood, the locusts, the lice, the frogs, and the blood - profound signs. But they maintained their arrogance. They were evil people.
Muhammad warns Hell awaits those who hear or read the words of the Koran, only to reject its authority later.
[7:176] Had we willed, we could have elevated him therewith, but he insisted on sticking to the ground, and pursued his own opinions. Thus, he is like the dog; whether you pet him or scold him, he pants. Such is the example of people who reject our proofs. Narrate these narrations, that they may reflect.
[7:177] Bad indeed is the example of people who reject our proofs; it is only their own souls that they wrong.
[7:178] Whomever GOD guides is the truly guided one, and whomever He commits to straying, these are the losers.
[7:181] Among our creations, there are those who guide with the truth, and the truth renders them righteous.
[7:182] As for those who reject our revelations, we lead them on without them ever realizing it.
How Muslims should treat those who reject the teachings and guidance passed from God to Muhammad.
[7:199] You shall resort to pardon, advocate tolerance, and disregard the ignorant.
[7:202] Their brethren ceaselessly entice them to go astray.
[7:203] If you do not produce a miracle that they demand, they say, “Why not ask for it?” Say, “I simply follow what is revealed to me from my Lord.” These are enlightenments from your Lord, and guidance, and mercy for people who believe.
In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful
Containing seventy-five verses, “Al-Anfal” (“The Spoils of War”) was recited by Muhammad in Medina shortly after the Battle of Badr.
In the introductory chapters of this book, we discussed how victory at Badr provided Muhammad’s leadership of Medina with a certain amount of legitimacy. Thus, this sura serves as somewhat of a boast that God had raised up Muhammad glorious in battle and that Allah was truly on the side of the Muslims. Surely, victory over the very people who had laughed him out of Mecca in his early days must have come like sweet summer rain to Muhammad, and it is evident in these verses.
The Battle of Badr was waged between Muhammad’s chief protagonists, the Quraysh of Mecca, and the prophet’s army on March 13, 624. Until that time, battles between the Muslims and the Meccans had been confined to the odd skirmish here and there. Badr was the first time the two sides met in a large-scale engagement.
Despite the comparative wealth of Mecca and its superior military might, Muhammad’s season caravan stalkers and renegades broke the Meccan defensive lines, killed or captured their top lieutenants, resulting in a Meccan retreat in a little more than a few hours after hostilities began.
Word spread throughout Arabia that an irresistible force had arrived, and a steady flow of conversions to Islam began. Having said that, we must take into consideration that at the time of this sura’s writing, Islam was still in its infancy. Yes, peoples throughout Arabia were beginning to hear of Muhammad’s Muslims in Medina, but they had not yet established themselves as a cultural phenomenon at this stage. In other words, Muslims were yet to be identifiable by their clothing, nor by their cultural, social, and political practices. Further, they were continually mocked and taunted by the Meccans, who believed they were militarily and socially superior to the Muslims of Medina. One Islamic scholar said that prior to the Battle of Badr, Islam was merely a religion and a state, but after the battle it came became the state religion, then later the state itself.
Shortly after securing the Meccan’s loot and prisoners, Muhammad declares these to be not the “Spoils of War”, but rather as the “Bounties of Allah.” Of significant importance is the fact that Muhammad believes that the purpose of war is not so much as to procure treasures and physical assets, but as a means of eliminating opposition to the establishment and spread of Islam.
Interestingly, Muhammad then says that the “Bounties of God” seized in battle belong to God and his messenger i.e. him, and that he alone should be the sole executor of the treasures.
[8:1] They consult you about the spoils of war. Say, “The spoils of war belong to GOD and the messenger.” You shall observe GOD, exhort one another to be righteous, and obey GOD and His messenger, if you are believers.
[8:7] Recall that GOD promised you victory over a certain group, but you still wanted to face the weaker group. It was GOD’s plan to establish the truth with His words, and to defeat the disbelievers.
[8:8] For He has decreed that the truth shall prevail, and the falsehood shall vanish, in spite of the evildoers.
[8:9] Thus, when you implored your Lord to come to the rescue, He responded to you: “I am supporting you with one thousand angels in succession.”
[8:13] This is what they have justly incurred by fighting GOD and His messenger. For those who fight against GOD and His messenger, GOD’s retribution is severe.
[8:14] This is to punish the disbelievers; they have incurred the retribution of Hell.
[8:17] It was not you who killed them; GOD is the One who killed them. It was not you who threw when you threw; GOD is the One who threw. But He thus gives the believers a chance to earn a lot of credit. GOD is Hearer, Omniscient.
[8:30] The disbelievers plot and scheme to neutralize you, or kill you, or banish you. However, they plot and scheme, but so does GOD. GOD is the best schemer.
[8:41] You should know that if you gain any spoils in war, one-fifth shall go to GOD and the messenger, to be given to the relatives, the orphans, the poor, and the traveling alien. You will do this if you believe in GOD and in what we revealed to our servant on the day of decision, the day the two armies clashed. GOD is Omnipotent.
Muhammad believes the Battle of Badr was schemed by God to prove to the Muslims that he is on their side. Muhammad writes that Satan is all around but belief and servitude to God will protect the believers at all times.
[8:42] Recall that you were on this side of the valley, while they were on the other side. Then their caravan had to move to lower ground. Had you planned it this way, you could not have done it. But GOD was to carry out a predetermined matter, whereby those destined to be annihilated were annihilated for an obvious reason, and those destined to be saved were saved for an obvious reason. GOD is Hearer, Omniscient.
[8:46] You shall obey GOD and His messenger, and do not dispute among yourselves, lest you fail and scatter your strength. You shall steadfastly persevere. GOD is with those who steadfastly persevere.
[8:50] If you could only see those who disbelieved when the angels put them to death! They will beat them on their faces and their rear ends: “Taste the retribution of Hell.
Muhammad declares that all treaties, or military coalitions formed with foreign or outside forces, should be honored. If the other party breaks the treaty, however, then they’re to be dealt with mercilessly.
[8:55] The worst creatures in the sight of GOD are those who disbelieved; they cannot believe.
[8:56] You reach agreements with them, but they violate their agreements every time; they are not righteous.
[8:57] Therefore, if you encounter them in war, you shall set them up as a deterrent example for those who come after them, that they may take heed.
Muhammad declares Muslims should always be ready and prepared for war.
[8:60] You shall prepare for them all the power you can muster, and all the equipment you can mobilize, that you may frighten the enemies of GOD, your enemies, as well as others who are not known to you; GOD knows them. Whatever you spend in the cause of GOD will be repaid to you generously, without the least injustice.
[8:65] O you prophet, you shall exhort the believers to fight. If there are twenty of you who are steadfast, they can defeat two hundred, and a hundred of you can defeat a thousand of those who disbelieved. That is because they are people who do not understand.
Muhammad gives instructions for dealing with captured enemy combatants.
[8:67] No prophet shall acquire captives, unless he participates in the fighting. You people are seeking the materials of this world, while GOD advocates the Hereafter. GOD is Almighty, Most Wise.
[8:68] If it were not for a predetermined decree from GOD, you would have suffered, on account of what you took, a terrible retribution.
[8:69] Therefore, eat from the spoils you have earned, that which is lawful and good, and observe GOD. GOD is Forgiver, Most Merciful.
Muhammad stresses the importance of Muslims standing side-by-side one another, no matter who the enemy.
[8:72] Surely, those who believed, and emigrated, and strove with their money and their lives in the cause of GOD, as well as those who hosted them and gave them refuge, and supported them, they are allies of one another. As for those who believe, but do not emigrate with you, you do not owe them any support, until they do emigrate. However, if they need your help, as brethren in faith, you shall help them, except against people with whom you have signed a peace treaty. GOD is Seer of everything you do.
[8:73] Those who disbelieved are allies of one another. Unless you keep these commandments, there will be chaos on earth, and terrible corruption.
[8:74] Those who believed and emigrated, and strove in the cause of GOD, as well as those who hosted them and gave them refuge, and supported them, these are the true believers. They have deserved forgiveness and a generous recompense.
Containing one hundred and twenty nine verses, “The Repentance” was recited not long after the peace Treaty of Hudaibiyah. While the peace treaty had enabled Muhammad to propagate his religion unimpeded, he still had his detractors who were waiting for an opportunity to destroy the fledgling faith.
Islam’s growth brought on a new enemy, however. The Christians living at the southern edges of the Roman Empire, adjacent to Syria, began to hanker for a showdown, as a way of testing who had the one true faith. A Christian terrorist group ratcheted up tensions by killing an Islamic delegation of 15 members in a town called Zat-u-Talah. Word of this atrocity reached Muhammad, and he assembled an army of 30,000 soldiers to exact merciless vengeance. Now, depending on whom you believe, Islamic scholars maintain that the Roman Caesar, upon learning of Muhammad mobilizing his forces against Roman citizens, prepared to deploy a massive force of his own, now known as the Campaign of Tabuk.
As you can imagine, the stakes were extraordinarily high. Should the Romans annihilate 30,000 Muslims, which surely they had the capability to do, then Islam would’ve imploded, and Muhammad’s detractors would’ve seized this as evidence he was not who he claimed to be, a prophet from God. Should he defeat the Romans, however, his allure and prestige would’ve been elevated to divine levels not yet seen. Naturally, the enemies of Muhammad plotted to supply the Christian clans and tribes with military arsenal, while those loyal and sympathetic to Muhammad, did what they could to assist him with his preparations. No one was left on the sideline; this was shaping to be another defining moment for Islam.
The definitive battle was to take place in Tabuk. But when Muhammad’s army arrived for battle, Caesar’s army never showed. Not surprisingly, Muhammad trumpeted this as a great moral victory. He had defeated the great Roman Empire without shedding a drop of blood. We may never know why the Romans never showed, or whether or not they had any plans of tackling an Arab revolutionary who posed no threat to their commerce or trade in the first place, but what we do know is this: The Campaign of Tabuk further elevated Muhammad’s status and Islam’s claim as the one true religion throughout Arabia.
Muhammad outlines the sanctity of treaties established with non-Muslim tribes, while articulating justifications for breaking them.
[9:1] An ultimatum is herein issued from GOD and His messenger to the idol worshipers who enter into a treaty with you.
