Clearing some misconception about Islam: Part II

 Written by Zed

This article will mainly focus on  explaining the surah 9 of the holy Quran, Surah At-Tawbah, the  repentance. This Surah is by far one of the most misunderstood and the  most misquoted surah of the Quran. 

 I am going to explain this Surah as a whole because it is necessary in  order to correctly understand and interpret the verses within such as: 

 Quran (9:29) says: “Fight those who do not believe in Allah  or in the Last Day and who do not consider unlawful what Allah and His  Messenger have made unlawful and who do not adopt the religion of truth  from those who were given the Scripture - [fight] until they give the  jizyah willingly while they are humbled.” 

 Quran (9:123) says: “O you who have believed, fight those  adjacent to you of the disbelievers and let them find in you harshness.  And know that Allah is with the righteous.” 

 Quran (9:5) says: “And when the sacred months have passed,  then kill the polytheists wherever you find them and capture them and  besiege them and sit in wait for them at every place of ambush. But if  they should repent, establish prayer, and give zakah, let them [go] on  their way. Indeed, Allah is Forgiving and Merciful.” 

 To start off, let's look at the verse that comes before the verse 5, and the one that comes after it: 

 Quran(9:1-4) says:

[This is a  declaration of] disassociation, from Allah and His Messenger, to those  with whom you had made a treaty among the polytheists.(9:1)  

So travel freely, [O disbelievers], throughout the land [during] four  months but know that you cannot cause failure to Allah and that Allah  will disgrace the disbelievers.(9:2)

And [it is] an  announcement from Allah and His Messenger to the people on the day of  the greater pilgrimage that Allah is disassociated from the  disbelievers, and [so is] His Messenger. So if you repent, that is best  for you; but if you turn away - then know that you will not cause  failure to Allah. And give tidings to those who disbelieve of a painful  punishment.(9:3)

Excepted are those with whom you made  a treaty among the polytheists and then they have not been deficient  toward you in anything or supported anyone against you; so complete for  them their treaty until their term [has ended]. Indeed, Allah loves the  righteous [who fear Him](9:4)

 Quran (9:6) says:

"And if any one of  the polytheists seeks your protection, then grant him protection so  that he may hear the words of Allah. Then deliver him to his place of  safety. That is because they are a people who do not know."

 Historical context:

The first verse explain that the  treaty of peace that was established between the Muslims and the  polytheists was broken by the polytheists. In the second verse of Surah  At-Tawbah, Allah told the polytheists that they may travel freely for 4  months and either leave the city and never come back or accept Islam and  live as normal citizens.  

 Then, in the third verse, Allah tells them that it will be best for them  to believe and live in the city rather than to turn away. However the  forth verse explain that for those polytheists that did not break the  treaty, keep the treaty between you and them until the treaty ends.  Indeed, Allah loves the righteous.  

 After these 4 months pass, kill those polytheists that broke the treaty  wherever you find them, but, if they seek your protection then grant  them protection so they may hear the words of Allah then deliver them to  a place of safety.  

 It is, thus, clear that this verse does not command Muslims to kill the  disbelievers wherever they are. It clearly commanded the Muslims to give  those who broke the peace treaty 4 months to either: leave the city and  never come back, or to accept Islam and live as normal citizens. It is  also clear that the Muslims are commanded to protect and continue the  treaty with those that have not broken it from among the polytheists.  

 Quran verse 29 of Surah At-Tawbah: Now, let’s come to the most controversial verse in the Quran that is commonly, intentionally, misinterpreted. 

 Firstly, the last part of the verse "- [fight] until they give the jizyah willingly while they are humbled.”  is often taken out. But, what does Jizyah mean? Well, Jizyah is state  tax, tax that all citizens pay to their government. So, here, Allah says  to fight those who do not pay Jizyah. Now, you need to understand that  there is no Islamic state in the world today, thus, there is no country,  as of today, that Jizyah is enforced in. The USA is not an Islamic  state, nor is the UK, nor is France, thus, no one should take this verse  as an excuse to kill innocent people there.  

 This verse clearly does not tell Muslims to kill those who disbelieve.  Firstly, this verse only applies in an Islamic state. Secondly, this  verse commands Muslims to fight only those who do not pay Jizyah.  Thirdly, fight does not mean kill. Thus, this verse does not permit  terrorism or the killing of innocent people.  

 Quran, verse 123 of Surah At-Tawbah: This verse can be easily understood if it’s read within its context. 

 The verse is in a section of the Surah which was revealed talking about  the hypocrites who show as if they’re Muslim but, in reality, they hate  Islam and work against it. 

 This verse came down to Muslims when the tribes around the Muslim  Community allied with the pagan Arabs of Makkah in order to exterminate  the Muslim Community. This took place at the time when there were a lot  of hypocrites within the Muslim Community that were working with the  pagan Arabs and their allies.  

 So, when this verse says ‘fight those adjacent to you of the disbelievers’  it tells the Muslims to fight the tribes adjacent to them as they were  working with the pagan Arabs to exterminate the Muslim Community.  This teaches us to fight those who fight us and does, indeed, promote self-defense.  

 In conclusion, it is clear that these verses are all put out of context  in order to intentionally misinterpret them and change their meaning to  make Islam look like it’s an aggressive, terrorism-promoting religion. 

 I urge you to read the verses themselves within their context and decide  for yourself. Don’t let hate preachers convince you lies, and strive  towards finding out the truth before judging the religion of ¼ of the  World’s population. 

 This article was written as part of Operation Islam, if you wish to help you can post in this forum thread, or join us on  United Against Injustice server.