C. Directives Specific to the Age of the last Rasul

    We shall now take a look at the directives which specifically belong to the age of the last Rasul Muhammad (sws) and which have erroneously been extended to the second one. In other words, with the termination of the institution of Risalah, they cannot be applied in a period which is devoid of Rusul. The basic reason, as pointed out earlier, is that in the period of Rusul people who have knowingly denied the truth revealed by a Rasul can be pinpointed while in other periods there is no means of ascertaining it. People about whom it is known that they have knowingly denied the truth are given this punishment in this very world1; their humiliation of course will continue in the next. No Muslim preacher is in a position to reveal the truth in a manner a Rasul is able to, nor can he pinpoint who among his addressees is guilty of knowingly denying the truth. Only on the Day of Judgement will it now be known whether a particular person is a Kafir or not. Consequently, all such directives which relate to people who knowingly deny the basic truths and who can be pinpointed for this denial are not related to this second period of history, which is without such personalities. In other words, these directives do not form part of the Shari‘ah. They are a special class of directives that concern a divine scheme that specifically belonged to the age of Rusul. As pointed out earlier, this does not mean that they have no relevance today. In fact, they have a direct bearing on this second period as well: through their agency, mankind has been provided with the ultimate visual proof that retribution in the Hereafter is an indubitable reality.
    In the following paragraphs, we shall examine the major directives which are specific to the first period of history in their direct application and which in no way can be applied to the second period.
    The principle which has been kept in consideration in ascertaining these directives is that all of them relate to people about whom can be known that they have deliberately denied the truth.2
 

1. Apostasy
    According to most Muslim jurists, a Muslim who leaves the folds of Islam is punishable by death. They base their verdict on the following Hadith as narrated by Ibn Abbas in the following way:

Execute the person who changes his faith. (Bukhari, Kitab Istatabatu’l-Murtaddin)
    In their opinion, the ruling pronounced in this Hadith is regarded to have a general application for all times upon every Muslim who renounces his faith from the times of the Prophet (sws) to the Day of Judgement.
    It has been shown in the previous sections of this article that once the Idolaters of Arabia had knowingly denied the truth revealed to them by Muhammad (sws), they were sentenced to death because of this denial:
When the forbidden months are over, slay the Idolaters wherever you find them. Seize them, surround them and everywhere lie in ambush for them. But if they repent of their wrong beliefs and establish regular prayers and pay Zakah, then spare their lives. God is Oft-Forgiving and Ever Merciful. (9:5)
    The above quoted Hadith is merely a statement of this law for the Arab Idolaters of the Prophet’s times. It has no application to any other people or nation. It does not even relate to the People of the Book of the Prophet’s times. The law for these Idolaters was to either accept faith or face extinction. Hence, it follows that if a person among the Idolaters after accepting faith reverted to his original state of disbelief, he had to face the same penalty. The following Hadith is of similar meaning also:
I have been ordained to fight against these people until they testify to the oneness of God and assent to my prophethood, establish regular prayers and pay Zakah. If they accept these terms, their lives will be spared except if they commit some other violation that entails their execution by Islamic law. (Bukhari, Kitabu’l-Iman)
    Consequently, apart from the Idolaters of Arabia of the Prophet’s times, it has no bearing upon any other person or nation.3

2. Waging War against Non-Muslims
    It is generally held that Muslims must fight the polytheist nations as well as the Jews and Christians of today until they subdue them. It is further held that while the polytheist nations must be put to death if they do not accept faith, the Jews and Christians can be allowed to live on their religions if they submit to Muslim authority by paying Jizyah. The following verses are generally presented in support of this view:

Slay the Idolaters wherever you find them. Seize them, surround them and everywhere lie in ambush for them. But if they repent from their wrong beliefs and establish regular prayers and pay Zakah, then spare their lives. God is Oft-Forgiving and Ever Merciful. (9:5)
Fight those who believe not in Allah or the Last Day, nor hold that forbidden which has been forbidden by Allah and His Messenger, nor acknowledge the Religion of Truth, from among the People of the Book, until they pay the Jizyah after being subdued and live a life of submission. (9:29)
    It has been shown in the previous section of this article that these verses and other verses of similar meaning specifically pertain to the polytheists, the Jews and the Christians of the Prophet’s times. They had knowingly denied the truth and were as a result given this punishment.4 Today, in the absence of the Prophet (sws), it cannot be known whether people are knowingly denying it; therefore, no action can be taken against them. Muslims must continue to develop friendly relations with them and cordially invite them to Islam without threatening their existence or authority.
    After the Prophet, his authorised companions carried on the mission against the major political powers of their times. This onslaught, it has been shown in the previous section, was specific to their status as witnesses to the truth, and their endeavour was basically a manifestation of a divine scheme. Consequently, the age old debate about whether Islam was spread through the sword or not should also be understood in this perspective. The companions of the Prophet (sws) in their collective capacity were only enforcing the implication of their status as witnesses to the religion of the truth. They were not spreading Islam; they were punishing people who had deliberately denied the truth.
    Consequently, after them, as has been stated earlier, Muslims have no right to subdue nations and countries in the name of Islam5 or impose Jizyah upon them.

3. The Daru’l-Islam / Daru’l-Harb Classification
    According to popular Islamic legal theory, a certain political classification exists in this world. According to this classification, lands where Muslims rule and the Islamic law prevails are known collectively as the Daru’l-Islam (the Abode of Islam), and areas of the outside world, inhabited and also governed by non-Muslims constitute what is called the Daru’l-Harb (the Abode of War). The basis of this classification is the theory of Jihad according to which the realm of Islam and the realms of unbelief are canonically in an obligatory and perpetual state of war, which will continue until the whole world either accepts the message of Islam or submits to the rule of those who bring it.
    It has been shown above in (2) that this classification is specific to the age of the Prophet Muhammad (sws) and his worthy companions. Today, this classification no longer holds. Muslims do not have the authority to fight the rest of the world to make them accept Islam.

4.  The Dhimmi Status of Non-Muslim Minorities
    It is generally held that the non Muslim citizens of an Islamic state are of three categories regarding their citizenship in a state:
    (i) Mu‘ahids, viz. those have come under an Islamic State on account of a treaty with it.
    (ii) Dhimmis, viz. those who have come under an Islamic State on account of being subdued in a battle.
    (iii) Musta’mins, viz. non-Muslim residents of Daru’l-Harb who temporarily stay in Daru’l-Islam.
    Since subduing non-Muslims by force is no longer permitted today, non-Muslims can only be of the first category. Dhimmis and Mustamins are categories of non-Muslims specific to the age of the Prophet (sws) and his Companions. All directives of Fiqh related to Dhimmis consequently cannot be related to the non-Muslims of today. The Non-Muslim minorities of today living in Muslim countries can only be classified as Mu‘ahids. Keeping in view the general welfare of the state, through mutual consent, any contract can be made with non-Muslims of today regarding their rights. As such, all dealings with them should be according to the terms of the treaty concluded with them. Muslims have been bound by Islam to abide by these terms in all circumstances and to never violate them in the slightest way. Such violations are totally forbidden according to Islam, and, in fact, amount to a grave transgression. The Qur’an says:

Keep [your] covenants; because indeed on the Day of Judgement you will be held accountable for them. (17:34)
    The Prophet (sws) is reported to have said:
Beware! I myself shall invoke the justice  of  the  Almighty on the Day of Judgement against the person who oppresses and persecutes a Mu‘ahid, or reduces his rights, or burdens him [with responsibilities] he cannot bear, or takes something from him against his will. (Abu Da’ud: Kitabu’l-Jihad)
5. Enmity with Non-Muslims
    Some people are of the view that on the basis of the following verses of the Qur’an, Muslims should never make friends with non-Muslims; in fact, they should show hostility and be venomenous to them:
Believers should not make friends with the Kuffar against the interest of the believers. (3:28)
O believers do not make friends with the Kuffar against the interest of the believers. Do you wish to offer God an open argument against yourselves? (4:144)
Believers take not these Jews and the Christians for your friends. They are but friends to each other. And he amongst you who turns to them [for friendship] is of them. (5:51)
    It is evident from these verses that the actual word used for the Jews and Christians is ‘Kuffar’. These Kuffar, as explained above, must not be confused with the non-Muslims of today. People become Kuffar after they deliberately reject the truth. So, no non-Muslim can be called a Kafir in these times. Secondly, as is evident from these verses, even with such Kuffar, only that friendship is forbidden which is against the interest of the Muslims. Consequently, these verses cannot be related in any sense to the non-Muslims of today.

6. Greeting Non-Muslims in an Inferior Way
    It is generally held that non-Muslims should not be greeted in the ceremonial way by saying Assalamu ‘alaykum (peace be to you). It is argued that non-Muslims do not deserve this prayer. The following Hadith is presented in support of this view:

When the People of the Book greet you, reply them by saying wa alaykum. (Bukhari, Kitabu’l-Isti’dhan)
    If all the texts of this Hadith are collected and analyzed, what comes to light is the fact that some among the People of the Book of the Prophet’s times used to mischievously twist their tongue in a swift manner and instead of saying the proper words of the salutation would say Assamu ‘alaykum (death be to you), which when quickly pronounced sounded very near to the original words of Assalamu ‘alaykum. It was to counter this devilish prank that the Muslims were directed to say: Wa ‘alaykum (to you too). It must be borne in mind that the Muslims were asked to give this particular reply only after the truth had been revealed in its ultimate form by the Prophet (sws) to the People of the Book after many years of propagation, and in spite of that they were not willing to submit to it. Had this ultimate stage not come, one can safely conclude that Muslims would never have been asked to reply with equally harsh words and would have continued to say the words: Assalamu ‘alaykum, the best of prayers and the best of wishes.
    Today no Muslim preacher can ever be in a position to say that the truth has been unveiled in its ultimate form. Therefore, he must continue his efforts of propagation all his life, and remain a well-wisher of all the non-Muslims of the world, and continue to greet them with Assalamu ‘alaykum.
    Consequently, the following Hadith (which contains a similar directive) also relates specifically to the People of the Book of the Prophet’s times on whom the truth had been unveiled by the Almighty through His last Prophet (sws). It has no bearing with the People of the Book of our times:
Don’t initiate salutations to the Jews or the Christians, and force them to the narrowest of paths when one of them meets you on your way. (Muslim, Kitabu’l-Salam)
    Even in the time of the Prophet (sws), before the non-Muslims of his times had become Kuffar by deliberately rejecting the truth, they too were greeted as Muslims were. In this period, the Prophet (sws) himself said Assalamu ‘alaykum to the non-Muslims of his times. Uthamah Ibn Zayd reports:
The Prophet (sws) once passed by a mixed gathering of the Muslims, the Idolaters and the Jews and said Assalamu ‘alaykum to them. (Bukhari, Kitabu’l-Jihad)
7. Certain Doom for Non-Muslims in the Hereafter
    It is generally held that all non-Muslims will necessarily go to Hell. Verses like the following usually form the basis of this view:
The disbelievers among the People of the Book [Jews and Christians] and the Idolaters shall burn for ever in the fire of Hell. They are the vilest of all creatures. (93:1)6
    Once again, it must be appreciated that these verses speak of the Jews and Christians and the Idolaters of the Prophet’s times, who had knowingly denied the truth.
    As far as the non-Muslims of later times are concerned, they will meet this fate only if they knowingly deny a truth which reaches them and do not fulfil the requisites of their beliefs in the truths they come across. Those who do, shall go to paradise whether they are Muslims or non-Muslims.
    It must also be appreciated that after Muhammad (sws) and his Companions have borne witness to the religion of truth in their times before the non-Muslims, it is now the duty of every non-Muslim to give a sincere thought to Prophethood of Muhammad (sws) and to the consequences of professing disbelief in him.

8. Prohibition of Inheritance from Non-Muslims
    The following Hadith is presented to contend that a Muslim convert cannot inherit from his non-Muslim parents. Similarly, non-Muslim children cannot be heirs to their Muslim parents:

A Muslim cannot be an heir to a Kafir nor can a Kafir to a Muslim’s. (Bukhari, Kitabu’l-Fara’id)
    It is evident from the verses of inheritance (4:11) that the right to obtain an inheritance is based on the underlying cause of aqrabu naf‘an (the most beneficial in kinship). This benefit is by nature present in parents, children, brothers, sisters, husbands, wives and other close relations. Hence, in normal circumstances, they will be considered the heirs to the legacy of a deceased. However, in certain unusual circumstances, if an absence of benefit in any of these relationships is diagnosed by sense and reason, the style and pattern of the verse demand that such a relative should not become an heir to the legacy. Therefore, in such cases, if someone is deprived from his share, it will perfectly be in accordance with the purport of the verse, to which its words so clearly testify.
    In view of this, the Prophet (sws) is reported to have said the above quoted words about the Idolaters and the People of the Book of Arabia. In other words, after these factions were left with no excuse to deny the truth which had been unveiled to them in its ultimate form by the Prophet Muhammad (sws), their enmity and hostility became very clear. Consequently, the benefit of kinship between them and the Muslims stood completely severed. Hence, they could not inherit from one another.
This directive, obviously, has no bearing on the non-Muslims of today.

9. The Superiority of Muslim Blood
    The following Hadith is presented as evidence to support the view that a Muslim will not be killed if he is guilty of killing a non-Muslim whereas the reverse will be carried out:

No Muslim will be killed in Qisas of an Idolater. (Darmi: Kitabu’l-Diyat )
    Here again it is to be noted that after Muhammad’s migration to Madinah, the Idolaters had lost their right to live after having knowingly denied him. Consequently, this Hadith and other Ahadith of similar meaning are solely related to the Idolaters of the Prophet’s times.7 This directive has no bearing on the non-Muslims of today.
    Consequently, today if a Muslim is guilty of murdering a non-Muslim, he shall certainly be sent to the gallows if he is not forgiven by the family of the slain.

10. Prohibition of Non-Muslims from Entering the Baytullah
    On the basis of the following verse, some people opine that non-Muslims cannot enter Muslim places of worship, in particular the Baytullah:

Believers, verily these Idolaters are unclean [of faith]. So let them not after this year of theirs approach the Sacred Mosque. (9:28)
    It is evident from this verse that the real reason of this prohibition is polytheism which has been called impure and unclean. Consequently, in the opinion of  this writer, this prohibition stands analogously extended to people who have adopted polytheism as their religion, for example some sects of Hinduism. It cannot be extended to the adherents of such monotheistic religions as Judaism and Christianity. Though the followers of Christianity are involved in idolatrous practices yet they never condone to idolatry as the real religion. Obviously, there is a world of difference between getting involved in idolatrous practices while considering them to be non-idolatrous and becoming followers of idolatry itself.
    Moreover, as is evident from the verse quoted above, this prohibition for polytheists is just for the Holy Ka‘bah which is the ultimate centre of monotheism. They can visit other mosques if they like.

11. Assassination of Non-Muslims
    One of the arguments on the basis of which it is held that blasphemy is punishable by death is the assassination of certain non-Muslims of the Prophet’s times who had allegedly blasphemed against Allah and the Prophet (sws). If all these cases are analysed, it comes to light that this conclusion is incorrect.
    Once again we are faced with a situation in which the people assassinated are those who had already become worthy of punishment after the Prophet’s migration to Madinah. While most of them were given more time and respite to contemplate on the consequences of their denial, those among them who were spreading disorder and anarchy in the society were punished by death after they were repeatedly warned on their highly antagonising behaviour. In this regard, some scandal mongers and hypocrites from among the People of Madinah were also put to death. While addressing the Prophet (sws), the Qur’an says:

If the hypocrites and those in whose hearts is a disease and the scandal-mongers of Madinah do not desist, We shall certainly stir you up against them and their days in living in the city with you will be numbered. They shall have a curse on them and wherever found they shall be seized and slain mercilessly. (33:60-61)
    This law, as mentioned before, is specifically meant for the Rusul of Allah only and cannot be extended for general application.

12. The Political Supremacy of Islam
    It is held by some Muslim scholars of contemporary times that it is the religious obligation of every Muslim to strive for the supremacy of Islam in his country by all the means he can. They term it as an ‘Islamic Revolution’ and present the following verse in support of this view:

It is He Who has sent his Rasul with Guidance and the Religion of Truth that he may proclaim it over all religions, even though the Idolaters may detest [this]. (61:9)
    On the basis of the phrase ‘all religions’, it is understood that the followers of Islam must struggle for its dominance in their respective countries and territories.
    An analysis of the context of this verse shows that it also belongs to the class of directives that relate to the established practice of the Almighty regarding His Rusul. It is to be noted that al-Mushrikin (the Idolaters) is used in this verse. The Qur’an uses this word specifically for the Idolaters of Arabia of the Prophet’s times. As a result, ‘all the religions’ in the conjugate clause can only mean all the religions of Arabia at that time. Therefore, the verse has no bearing on Muslims after the times of the Prophet (sws).
    We have already quoted the following verse in the previous section and shown that Muslims were promised the sovereignty in the land of Arabia after the Idolaters of Arabia had knowingly denied the basic truth revealed to them by the Prophet Muhammad (sws).
God has promised, to those among you who professed belief and did righteous deeds that He will, of a surety grant them political authority in this land as He granted it to those before them; that he will establish their religion – the one which He has chosen for them. (24:55)
    This was part of the divine law according to which a Rasul always triumphs over his nation.
Those who show hostility to Allah and His Rasul are bound to be humiliated. The Almighty has ordained: ‘I and my Rusul will always prevail’. (58:20)
    Muhammad (sws) was also informed that he would triumph over his nation. He and his companions were told that they would have to fight the Idolaters of Arabia until the supremacy of Islam was achieved there and that these Idolaters should be informed that if they do not desist from their evil ways they too would meet a fate no different from those of the other nations of Rusul:
Say to the disbelievers that if now they desist [from unbelief], their past would be forgiven them; but if they persist, the punishment of those before them is already [a matter of warning for them]. And fight them on until there is no more persecution and there prevails the religion of God everywhere; but if they cease, verily God is seeing all that do. If they refuse, be sure that God is your Protector – the best to protect and the best to help. (8:38-40)
    Consequently, striving to achieve the political supremacy of Islam is no religious obligation of a Muslim. The verses from which this obligation has been construed specifically relate to the Rusul of the Almighty.8

13. Status of Muslims as the Best Community
    It is generally held that Muslims are superior to the people of other religions. The following verse is contended to be the basis of this ‘self-righteousness’:

You are the best of peoples, evolved for mankind, enjoining what is right, forbidding what is wrong, and truly believe in God. (3:110)
    It is to be appreciated that this verse specifically pertains to the Companions of Muhammad (sws) who bore witness to the religion of truth before the non-Muslim nations of their times. It has already been explained before that the Almighty had chosen them for this task:
He has chosen you, and has imposed no difficulties on you in religion; it is the religion of your father Abraham. It is He Who has named you Muslims, both before and in this [Qur’an]: [He chose you so that] the Rasul may be a witness [to this religion] before you, and you be witnesses to this religion before non-Muslims. (22:78)
The following verse also mentions their obligation:
Thus have We made you an intermediate group so that you be witnesses [to this religion] before the nations, and the Rasul be such a witness before you. (2:143)
The context of 3:110 must be understood in the light of 2:143 and 22:78. The reason why the companions have been called the Best Community in 3:110 is that after Muhammad (sws) himself had borne witness to the religion of truth before them, the truth had manifested itself in their collectivity. Since this testimony by Muhammad (sws) was confined to them and not later Muslims, the title ‘Best Community’ is specifically meant for the Companions of Muhammad (sws) and does not relate to other Muslims.

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1. It is to be noted that the word Kafir (disbeliever) is used for a person about who it can be ascertained that he has deliberately denied the truth.
2. In this case the last Rasul, Muhammad (sws).
3. It is also to be noted that according to the Qur’an, the death sentence can only to be given to a person who has killed someone or to someone who is guilty of spreading disorder in a society. No other person can be punished by death. The Qur’an says:
He who killed a human being without the latter being guilty of killing another or of spreading disorder in the land should be looked upon as if he had killed mankind altogether, and he who saved a human being should be regarded as though he saved all mankind. (5:32)
    This is the verdict of the Qur’an. Hence, except for these two offences, an Islamic government has no right to administer the death sentence to a person. Apostasy, it is evident, does not come under these offences.
4. An obvious corollary of this premise is that the stance adopted by some scholars that all of Islam’s wars were in self-defence is incorrect. It is against this premise and belies established history. The following excerpts typically depict this stance:
There are no passages to be found in the Qur’an that in any way enjoin forcible conversion, and many that on the contrary limit propagandist efforts to preaching and persuasion. It has further been maintained that no passage in the Qur’an authorises unprovoked attacks on unbelievers, and that, in accordance with such teaching, all the wars of Muhammad were defensive.
Thomas Arnold, The Preaching of Islam, 4th ed., (Lahore: Ashraf  Publications, 1979), p. 451
Islam seized the sword in self-defence, and held it in self-defence, as it will ever do.
Ameer Ali, The Spirit of Islam, (Lahore: Sang-e-Meel Publications), p. 218
5. Today, apart from self-defence (which is an entirely different matter), the only legitimate reason for an Islamic State to launch Jihad is to curb oppression and persecution in any other country -- whether Muslim or non-Muslim. The Qur’an says:
And why is it that you not fight in the cause of God and of those who, being weak, are ill-treated and oppressed -- men, women, and children, whose cry is: ‘Our Lord! Rescue us from this town, whose people are oppressors; and raise for us from Yourself one who will protect; and raise for us from Yourself one who will help!’ (4:75)
6. For verses of similar meaning, see 3:10, 63, 131; 4:56, 115; 7:41; 8:50; 9:63, etc.
7. Since the word Mushrik is used in this Hadith, the directive it mentions does not even pertain to the People of the Book of the Prophet’s times.
8. This of course does not mean that Muslims should not strive for this cause. It only means that this is not their religious responsibility.