Haqiqatul-Wahi (The Philosophy of Divine Revelation) — Page 194
194 HAQIQATUL-WAḤI—THE PHILOSOPHY OF DIVINE REVELATION Meaning: 'Verily the retribution of those who wage war against God and His Messenger and hasten to create disorder in the earth is noth- ing but that they be slain or crucified or their hands and feet be cut off on opposite sides, or they be exiled and kept incarcerated. This is the disgrace for them in this world, and in the Hereafter they shall suffer a great punishment. ' Therefore, if in the sight of God Almighty the disobedience and defiance of our Noble Prophet was an inconsequential matter, then why did the Book of Allah contain the commandment to harshly pun- ish the disbelievers who were monotheists (for example the Jews) with death, and that, too, in a variety of ways? And why were such grave punishments inflicted when there were monotheists on both sides and there was no polytheist in either group? Despite this, no mercy was shown to the Jews, and those monotheists were ruthlessly killed simply because of their rejecting and fighting the Messenger, so much so that once 10,000¹ Jews were killed in a single day although they had denied and defied only in defence of their own faith. They were staunch mon- otheists in their own estimation and believed God to be One. However, it ought to be borne in mind that, though thousands of Jews were slain, it was not to force them to accept Islam, but was only because they had fought against the Messenger of God. That is why, in the sight of God, they were worthy of punishment and their blood was spilled upon the earth like water. It is, therefore, obvious that if Tauḥīd was sufficient, the Jews were not guilty of any crime. They, too, 1. Historians have reported varying accounts of how many members of the Jewish tribe of Banū Quraizah were killed in one day. Some number them between 400-700, whereas others report 800 or 900; there may be some reports exceeding that. It seems that the intended number here may have been 1,000, but inaccurately written by the scribe as 10,000. The 'thousands' mentioned in the first sentence of next paragraph may refer to the large num- ber killed in different wars and other occasions. Allah knows best. [Publisher]