The Holy War — Page 196
196 the People of the Book, until they pay the Jizyah [tax] with their hand and acknowledge their subjection. ’ Our allegation here is that this verse teaches compulsion in faith. The jihads of Moses were of a different type; no person can prove that in them, safety and security were dependent on faith. While in this verse the jihad referred to is not a defensive jihad, nor is it a jihad of revenge, nor is it a governmental affairs related jihad; in fact, it is a jihad that whosoever does not believe in these Quranic principles will be killed. This is what is called compulsion in faith. Our Respected Sir Syed Ahmad Khan Bahadur does not concede jihad of compulsion; he states that you either accept or die or live by paying the Jizyah. But regarding the third condition concerning the Jizyah, our question to him is why have the words من الذین [from among] been used for the People of the Book. The word من or ‘from’ is excessive and ‘People of the Book’ have an exception to this rule. Then, is this not wishful thinking that this third condition should also be declared as commonly applicable? And then this gentleman also states that the verse 1 ۤاَل َهاَرْكِا يِف ِنْيِّدلا refutes all objections relating to compulsion in religion. But if we can show that the Quran also contains the following command that O Muslims! When some well off person approaches you and greets you with the greeting of peace, you should not say to him that you are deceitful and not really a Muslim, so that you can rob him. God will give you much wealth in other ways. So, is it not then use of force to rob a person by way of deceptive slander? And is this not against the policy which hinders the pro- gress of religion? On this very note, there are a few other sides to this matter that can be presented from the opposing party, and we shall deal with them when they are raised. Thirdly: A glimpse of the teachings of the Quran that has been presented above, shows that there is not even slight obscu- rity that could give us any deception concerning the miracles. Thus 1. S u rah al-Baqarah, 2:257 [Publisher]