5:54
Allah will bring a people whom He loveth and who love Him, humble
toward believers, stern toward disbelievers, striving in the way of
Allah, and fearing not the blame of any blamer. Such is the grace of
Allah which He giveth unto whom He will. Allah is All-Embracing,
All-Knowing. 48:29 Mohammed is Allah's apostle. Those who follow him are
ruthless to the unbelievers but merciful to one another
Non-Muslims
think that this verse tells Muslims to be harsh and cruel to
non-Muslims. Let us first provide a better translation:
مُّحَمَّدٌ رَّسُولُ اللَّـهِ ۚ وَالَّذِينَ مَعَهُ أَشِدَّاءُ عَلَى الْكُفَّارِ رُحَمَاءُ بَيْنَهُمْ ۖ تَرَاهُمْ رُكَّعًا سُجَّدًا يَبْتَغُونَ فَضْلًا مِّنَ اللَّـهِ وَرِضْوَانًا ۖ سِيمَاهُمْ فِي وُجُوهِهِم مِّنْ أَثَرِ السُّجُودِ ۚ ذَٰلِكَ مَثَلُهُمْ فِي التَّوْرَاةِ ۚ
وَمَثَلُهُمْ فِي الْإِنجِيلِ كَزَرْعٍ أَخْرَجَ شَطْأَهُ فَآزَرَهُ
فَاسْتَغْلَظَ فَاسْتَوَىٰ عَلَىٰ سُوقِهِ يُعْجِبُ الزُّرَّاعَ لِيَغِيظَ
بِهِمُ الْكُفَّارَ ۗ وَعَدَ اللَّـهُ الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا وَعَمِلُوا الصَّالِحَاتِ مِنْهُم مَّغْفِرَةً وَأَجْرًا عَظِيمًا
﴿٢٩﴾
48:29 Muhammad
is the apostle of Allah. and those who are with him are strong against
disbelievers, (but) compassionate amongst each other. Thou wilt see them
bow and prostrate themselves (in prayer), seeking Grace from Allah and
(His) Good Pleasure. On their faces are their marks, (being) the traces
of their prostration. This is their similitude in the Taurat; and their
similitude in the Gospel is: like a seed which sends forth its blade,
then makes it strong; it then becomes thick, and it stands on its own
stem, (filling) the sowers with wonder and delight. As a result, it
fills the Unbelievers with rage at them. Allah has promised those among
them who believe and do righteous deeds forgiveness, and a great Reward.
The Arabic word "ashidda" does not mean ruthless, but strong and firm. Ruthless is an unacceptable translation. Translations of ashidda:
Pickthall:
hard; Yusuf Ali: strong; Daryabadi: stern; Khan-Hilali: severe; F.
Malik: strong; Shakir: firm of heart; Arberry: hard; Irving: strict
Also, the
disbelievers being referred to in these verses are the those who
persecuted and attacked the Muslims. Shaykh Fawzee Al-Atharee said the
following:
And
similarly the disbeliever, if he has good character with us and good
manners with us and good way and treatment with us, then we have good
manners with him, good behaviour with him, good way with him and good
treatment of him. And if his manners are bad and his behaviour is bad
[i.e. abusive and cruel], then we treat him with accordance to how he is
treating us. This is something permissible in the legislation. But the
Prophet s.a.w.s. has indicated very clearly in all the narrations that
have been brought and throughout his life, that there must be a matter
of balance and to be just. And that is in dealing with the people of
disbelief and also in dealing with those who have faith.
The Muslims
were commanded to stand up for their religion and defend themselves
against the persecution of the disbelievers. Again, if we examine the
historical context, we also find that this is referring to those who
attacked the Muslims continuously. So verses apply in a situation similar to the historical context.
Since this verse mentions the companions of the Prophet Muhammad (peace
be upon him) and praises their path, let us examine some narrations
about the companions. Musab bin Umair was a notable companion of the
Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him). He was sent to Madinah to share
the message of Islam with the people living there. One incident of his
related as follows:
Once
Musab and Sad were sitting near a well in an orchard of the Zafar clan.
With them were a number of new Muslims and others who were interested
in Islam. A powerful notable of the city, Usayd ibn Khudayr, came up
brandishing a spear. He was livid with rage. Sad ibn Zararah saw him and
told Musab: "This is a chieftain of his people. May God place truth in
his heart." "If he sits down, I will speak to him," replied Musab,
displaying all the calm and tact of a great daiy. The angry Usayd
shouted abuse and threatened Musab and his host. "Why have you both come
to us to corrupt the weak among us? Keep away from us if you want to
stay alive." Musab smiled a warm and friendly smile and said to Usayd:
"Won't you sit down and listen? If you are pleased and satisfied with
our mission. accept it and if you dislike it we would stop telling you
what you dislike and leave." "That's reasonable," said Usayd and,
sticking his spear in the ground, sat down. Musab was not compelling him
to do anything. He was not denouncing him. He was merely inviting him
to listen. If he was satisfied, well and good. If not, then Musab would
leave his district and his clan without any fuss and go to another
district. Musab began telling him about Islam and recited the Quran to
him. Even before Usayd spoke, it was clear from his face, now radiant
and expectant, that faith had entered his heart. He said: "How beautiful
are these words and how true! What does a person do if he wants to
enter this religion?" "Have a bath, purify yourself and your clothes.
Then utter the testimony of Truth (Shahadah), and perform Salat. Usayd
left the gathering and was absent for only a short while. He returned
and testified that there is no god but Allah and that Muhammad is the
Messenger of Allah. (SOURCE)
Another example
is found in the treatment of Thumamah Ibn Uthal, who was a notorious
criminal who had killed many Muslim travelers. Because of this, the
Prophet Muhammad declared him a wanted criminal who was to be captured
or killed. Soon after, when he was traveling for pilgrimage, some
Muslims caught him and took him to the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon
him). The Prophet recognized him and had him kept in the Masjid (mosque)
with food and even ordered his own camel to be milked for him. They
treated him like a guest rather than a war criminal! The Prophet
Muhammad asked Thumamah what he had to say for himself, to which he
replied "If you want to kill in reprisal, you can have someone of noble
blood to kill. If, out of your bounty, you want to forgive, I shall be
grateful. If you want money in compensation, I shall give you whatever
amount you ask." The Prophet Muhammad freed him and allowed him to
leave. The very same day, Thumamah returned and declared his acceptance
of Islam to the Prophet Muhammad. So we find that the Prophet Muhammad
(peace be upon him) and his companions displayed the best character and
attitude towards all people and this is what drew so many people to
Islam. As the God says in the Qur'an:
3:159.
And by the Mercy of God, you dealt with them gently. And had you been
severe and harsh-hearted, they would have ran away from about you; so
pass over (their faults), and ask (God's) Forgiveness for them; and
consult them in the affairs. Then when you have taken a decision, put
your trust in All‚h, certainly, All‚h loves those who put their trust
(in Him).
فَبِمَا رَحْمَةٍ مِّنَ اللَّـهِ لِنتَ لَهُمْ ۖ وَلَوْ كُنتَ فَظًّا غَلِيظَ الْقَلْبِ لَانفَضُّوا مِنْ حَوْلِكَ ۖ فَاعْفُ عَنْهُمْ وَاسْتَغْفِرْ لَهُمْ وَشَاوِرْهُمْ فِي الْأَمْرِ ۖ فَإِذَا عَزَمْتَ فَتَوَكَّلْ عَلَى اللَّـهِ ۚ إِنَّ اللَّـهَ يُحِبُّ الْمُتَوَكِّلِينَ
﴿١٥٩﴾
The Prophet
Muhammad (peace be upon him) was commanded by God to bring people to the
teachings of Islam through the beautiful character that Muslims must
show. The Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) conveyed this message to
others by saying:
He who is not merciful to others, will not be treated mercifully. (Muslim, Volume 8, Book 73, Number 42)
And there are
numerous examples one could quote which illustrate the kind and loving
nature of the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him).
Narrated
Abu Huraira: A disbelieving Bedouin urinated in the mosque, and the
people rushed to beat him. Allah's Apostle ordered them to leave him,
let him finish and pour a bucket or a tumbler (full) of water over the
place where he has passed urine. The Prophet then explained to the
Bedouin calmly, "This is a place of worship, in it is the worship of God
and the reading of Qur'an." After the Bedouin had left, the Prophet
then said to his companions, " You have been sent to make things easy
(for the people) and you have not been sent to make things difficult for
them." (Muslim, Book 2, Number 559 and Bukhari, Volume 8, Book 73, Number 149)
This narration,
on its own, is sufficient to refute the claim that Islam is intolerant.
The Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) did not show any anger or
resentment to a non-Muslim who urinated in the Muslims place of worship!
So Islam teaches gentleness in all things. As the Prophet Muhammad
said:
Whoever is deprived of gentleness is deprived of all good. (Muslim, Book 32, Number 6270 & Abu Dawood, Book 41, Number 4791)
The Prophet
Muhammad (peace be upon him) always displayed tolerance and compassion
in his dealings with people, including Non-Muslims. Dr. M. Hamidullah
explains the following points:
When
the Prophet Mohammed settled down in Medina, he found there complete
anarchy, the region having never known before either a State or a king
to unite the tribes torn by internecine feuds. In just a few weeks, he
succeeded in rallying all the inhabitants of the region into order. He
constituted a city state, in which Muslims, Jews, pagan Arabs and also
probably a small number of Christians, all entered into a statal
organism by means of a social contract. The constitutional law of this
first 'Muslim' State - which was the confederacy as a sequence of the
multiplicity of the population groups - has come down to us in toto, and
we read therein not only in clause 25: "to Muslims their religion, and
to Jews their religion," or, "that there would be benevolence and
justice," but even the unexpected passage in the same clause 25: "the
Jews . . . are a community (in alliance) with - according Ibn Hisham and
in the version of Abu-'Ubaid, a community (forming part) of - the
believers (i.e., Muslims)." The very fact that, at the time of the
constitution of this city-state, the autonomous Jewish villages acceded
of their free will to the confederal State, and recognized Muhammad as
their supreme political head, implies in our opinion that the non-Muslim
subjects possessed the right of votes in the election of the head of
the Muslim State, at least in so far as the political life of the
country was concerned. (Hamidullah, Introduction to Islam, paragraphs 414-416)
During the life
of Prophet Muhammad, there was a Jewish synagogue in Madinah and an
educational institute known as Bait Al-Midras. The Prophet Muhammad
(peace be upon him) preserved and protected both of them. The Prophet
Muhammad (peace be upon him) also honored a group of Christians of
najran from Yemen, when they visited his mosques in Madinah. The Prophet
Muhammad (peace be upon him) held interfaith discussions with them and
they prayed in the Mosque in the Christian fashion while the Muslims
prayed in the Islamic tradition. The Prophet Muhammad's tolerance is
also illustrated in the following narration:
Once
the Prophet was seated at some place in Madinah, along with his
Companions. During this time a funeral procession passed by. On seeing
this, the Prophet stood up. One of his Companion remarked that the
funeral was that of a Jew. The Prophet replied, “Was he not a human
being?” (Bukhari, Muslim)
If every human
being in this world saw the various ethnicities and cultures with these
eyes, the world would flourish in peace and harmony. The Prophet
Muhammad (peace be upon him) set an example for his companions to follow
in the way he showed respect and kindness to Non-Muslims. Dr. Farida
Khanam also points out the following incidents:
In
the present world, everyone’s thinking, tastes, aptitude, likes and
dislikes can never exactly coincide. For many reasons, differences do
arise in this world. But then, what is the permanent solution to the
problem? The solution lies in tolerance, called i‘raz in Arabic. The
Prophet’s entire life served as a perfect example of this principle.
According to his wife, ‘A’isha, "He was a personification of the
Qur’an." That is to say, the Prophet molded his own life in accordance
with the ideal pattern of life which he presented to others in the form
of the Qur’an. He never beat a servant, or a woman, or anyone else. He
did, of course, fight for what was right. Yet, when he had to choose
between two alternatives, he would take the easier course, provided it
involved no sin.’ No one was more careful to avoid sin than he. He never
sought revenge—on his own behalf—for any wrong done to him personally.
Only if God’s commandments had been broken would he mete out retribution
for the sake of God. It was such conduct which gained the Prophet
universal respect. In the early Meccan period when the antagonists far
exceeded the Prophet’s companions in number, it often happened that when
the Prophet would stand to pray, his detractors would come near him and
whistle and clap in order to disturb him, but the Prophet did not even
once show his anger at such acts. He always opted for the policy of
tolerance and avoidance of confrontation... When the opposition became
very strong the Prophet left Mecca for Medina. But his antagonists did
not leave him in peace. They began to attack Medina. In this way a state
of war prevailed between the Muslims and non-Muslims. Since the Prophet
avoided war at all costs, he strove to bring about a peace agreement
between him and the Meccans. After great efforts on his part, the
non-Muslims agreed to the finalizing of a 10-year peace treaty, which
was drafted and signed at the al-Hudaybiyyah. While the al-Hudaybiyyah
treaty was being drafted, the Meccans indulged in a number of extremely
provocative acts. For instance, the agreement mentioned the Prophet’s
name as ‘Muhammad the Messenger of God.’ They insisted that the phrase
‘the messenger of God’ should be taken out, and be replaced simply by
‘Muhammad, son of Abdullah’. The Prophet accepted their unreasonable
condition and deleted the appellation with his own hands. Similarly,
they made the condition that if they could lay their hands on any Muslim
they would make him a hostage, but if the Muslims succeeded in
detaining any non-Muslim, they would have to set him free. The Prophet
even relented on this point. For the restoration of peace in the region,
the Prophet accepted a number of such unjustifiable clauses as were
added by the enemy. In this way he set the example of peace and
tolerance being linked with one another. If we desire peace, we must
tolerate many unpleasant things from others. There is no other way to
establish peace in society. (SOURCE)
The Prophet
Muhammad (peace be upon him) also extended the hand of friendship to
Christians as well. He maintained good ties with the Christian Negus of
Abyssinia throughout his life. The Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him)
even selected Non-Muslims as ambassadors. One such example was Amr ibn
Umaiyah Ad-Damri. The Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) sent a
message to the Monks of Saint Catherine in Mount Sinai, saying the
following: "
This
is a message written by Muhammad ibn Abdullah, as a covenant to those
who adopt Christianity, far and near, we are behind them. Verily, I
defend them by myself, the servants, the helpers, and my followers,
because Christians are my citizens; and by Allah! I hold out against
anything that displeases them. No compulsion is to be on them. Neither
are their judges to be changed from their jobs, nor their monks from
their monasteries. No one is to destroy a house of their religion, to
damage it, or to carry anything from it to the Muslims' houses. Should
anyone take any of these, he would spoil God's covenant and disobey His
Prophet. Verily, they (Christians) are my allies and have my secure
charter against all that they hate. No one is to force them to travel or
to oblige them to fight. The Muslims are to fight for them. If a female
Christian is married to a Muslim, this is not to take place without her
own wish. She is not to be prevented from going to her church to pray.
Their churches are to be respected. They are neither to be prevented
from repairing them nor the sacredness of their covenants. No one of the
nation is to disobey this covenant till the Day of Judgment and the end
of the world."
The Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) also advised his companion Mu'adh ibn Jabal by saying:
No Jew is to be annoyed because of their Judaic faith.
We must also examine the Prophet Muhammad's teachings towards neighbors:
Abu
Huraira (May Allah be pleased with him) reported: The Prophet (peace be
upon him) said, "By Allah, he is not a believer! By Allah, he is not a
believer! By Allah, he is not a believer.'' It was asked, "Who is that, O
Messenger of Allah?'' He said, "One whose neighbor does not feel safe
from his evil". (Al-Bukhari and Muslim)
"He
who believes in God and the Last Day should honour his guest, should
not harm his neighbor, should speak good or keep quiet." (Bukhari, Muslim)
The Prophet
Muhammad (peace be upon him) also clearly specified that a Non-Muslim
neighbor should receive this excellent treatment:
"Whoever hurts a Non-Muslim citizen of a Muslim state hurts me, and he who hurts me annoys God." (Bukhari)
"He
who hurts a Non-Muslim citizen of a Muslim state, I am his adversary,
and I shall be his adversary on the Day of a Judgment." (Bukhari)
It is
fascinating to note that the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) was so
vocal in his support of good treatment towards humanity that he would
even be prepared to stand on the side of the Non-Muslims against the
Muslims who did not follow his teachings. This is true justice and this
is what lead to the peace and prosperity that Islam brought into the
world. The excellent character of Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him)
has been noted by many Non-Muslim historians as well, and in fact anyone
who has studied his life carefully has been amazed at the golden
character of this human being. Washington Irving notes in his book
'Mahomet and His Successors':
In
his private dealings he was just. He treated friends and strangers, the
rich and poor, the powerful and weak, with equity, and was beloved by
the common people for the affability with which he received them, and
listened to their complaints. (Irving, Mahomet and His Successors)
