Answer
Salam (Peace) Dear Questioner,
Thank you for for contacting About Islam with your question.
Please find part one of the answer to your question at the link here, and part two at the link here. Please find part three below. Look for the fourth part tomorrow.
Whenever a passage is quoted from the Quran the context should be determined. Then, it should be determined if the verse is specific or general? Does it refer to a specific time or is it timeless, etc.?
The setting for this passage (Quran 9:1-4) is that a year earlier the Prophet (PBUH) conquered Makkah. Only some 3 people were killed due to long-standing blood feuds and, Muhammad was most upset that any blood had been spilled at all.
Then, he marched to Tabuk to secure the northern border. After that, Allah revealed these verses to ensure there would be no sedition within the Muslim heartland.
This verse was revealed towards the end of the period of revelation and relates to a limited context.
Hostilities were frozen for a three-month period during which the Arabs pledged not to wage war. Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) was inspired to use this period to encourage the combatants to join the Muslim ranks or, if they chose, to leave the area that was under Muslim rule.
However, if they were to resume hostilities, then the Muslims would fight back until victorious.
We should note: even in this context of war, the verse concludes by emphasizing the divine attributes of Forgiveness and Mercy.
To minimize hostilities, the Quran ordered the Muslims to grant asylum to anyone, even an enemy seeking refuge. Asylum would be granted according to the custom of chivalry: the person would be told the message of the Quran, but not coerced into accepting that message.
Thereafter, he or she would be escorted to a place of safety regardless of his or her religion (Quran 9:6) Please watch Yvonne Ridley: In the hands of the Taliban to see how this plays out even today.
It wasn’t a question of killing everyone as in the modern understanding of warfare: search and destroy, take no prisoners, carpet bombing and the deployment of mines; or what happened in Fallujah, etc.
Just reading the verse 9:5 one gets completely the wrong picture. Also:
{O Prophet, strive against the disbelievers and the hypocrites and be firm with them, and their ultimate abode is Hell, and what a miserable end.} (Quran 9:73)
This verse refers to the rebel tribes around Makkah who were rejecting any central authority and attacked the Muslims using guerrilla war tactics.
NOTE: Quoting parts of any scripture without being aware of what is general and what is specific, or what is permanent versus what is pertinent to a certain historical situation is doing injustice to an intelligent understanding of the text.
This is not only done by those who have their own agenda and aren’t Muslims, but also by some Muslims, particularly those who view Islam from an angle of anger and wish to justify their ideologies and extremism by blurring the lines spelled out in the Quran.
It is a mistake to judge Islam by the actions of such people.
Have you heard of, or read: A Century of War: Anglo-American Oil Politics and the New World Order by F. William Engdahl?
This came out in Germany, one year before Huntington’s thesis. Six months later the English version appeared. Now, a new edition updated for the invasions of Iraq and Afghanistan is available from Amazon.
Was Islam spread by the sword?
The historian De Lacy O’Leary wrote:
History makes it clear, however, that the legend of fanatical Muslims sweeping through the world and forcing Islam at the point of the sword upon conquered races is one of the most fantastically absurd myths that historians have ever accepted.
[Islam at the Crossroads, London, 1923, p.8]
Was Islam spread by the sword?
Mark Glenn a Christian Activist says:
Christians and Jews were not converted by the sword as is commonly taught and believed. Christians and Jews were allowed to keep and practice their religion within those areas where the Muslims had gained hegemony.
Was Islam spread by the sword?
- Muslims ruled Spain for 800 years – non-Muslims forced them out
- Christian and Jewish minorities in: Egypt, Iran, Morocco, Palestine, Lebanon, Syria, Yemen, etc. – How did they survive for so long in the middle of the Islamic Empire?
- Islam spread East and West by how many Muslims? Obviously far too few to force people to become converts to a religion against their will.
- Which Muslim General invaded Indonesia for example? None.
Are you still thinking “Islam advocates killing infidels as a sacred duty”?
The rest of your question will be answered over the next few days.
Salam (Peace).
Please continue feeding your curiosity, and find more info in the following links:
Is It A Muslim’s Duty to Kill Infidels? (Part 1)
Is It A Muslim’s Duty to Kill Infidels? (Part 2)
Did Islam Grow by Killing Non-Believers?
Defining the Kafirs (Infidels)?
Can Muslims Befriend People of Other Faiths?
Does Islam Promote Killing Innocent People?
Confusion Over The Fighting Verses