The Holy War — Page 235
Proceedings—Debate 2 June 1893 235 who are practically involved with indecent and filthy actions—nor hold as unlawful what is unlawful, and do not follow the ways of truth, and are from among the People of the Book, until they pay the Jizyah [tax] with their own hand and acknowledge their subjection. Now look, what does this prove? Verily, this merely proves that we should fight those who, through their rebellious behaviour, obstruct people from the right path and attack the true religion unjustly, and safeguard those who seek the Faith. How does this prove that the fight started without any attack from their side? It is absolutely vital to examine the chronology of the battles, and so long as you refrain from studying the chronology, you will— intentionally or inadvertently—immerse yourselves into grave errors. The sequence is that first the disbelievers decided to kill our Holy Prophet s as and expelled him from Mecca due to these attacks. They then pursued him. When the persecution intensified to the extreme, the first verse regarding fighting was revealed, which was: َنْيِذَّل۟ا اْوُجِرْخُا ْنِم ْمِهِراَيِد َنِذُا َنْيِذَّلِل َنْوُلَتٰقُي ْمُهَّنَاِب اْوُمِلُظ َو َّنِا َهّٰللا ىٰلَع ْمِهِرْصَن ُرْيِدَقَل۰۰ 1 (Pt. 17, R. 13)— ِرْيَغِب ٍّقَح ۤاَّلِا ْنَا اْوُلْوُقَّي اَنُّبَر ُهّٰللا Meaning that: Permission to fight is given to those against whom war is made by their opponents. They have been given this permission because they have been wronged—and Allah indeed has the power to help those wronged—These are the people who have been driven out from their homes unjustly, and their sin was nothing other than that they say, ‘Our Lord is Allah. ’ Note that this was the first verse from which the sequence of battles began. Subsequent to this, under the circumstances when the enemy did not desist from fighting, God Almighty revealed the sec- ond verse: 1. S u rah al- H ajj, 22:40–41 [Publisher]