Through Force or Faith? — Page 10
?— A Reply to Pope Benedict XVI 10 That is, now it is God’s prerogative. He will decide who is to be apprehended, who is to be punished, who is to be treated how. As such, these are the injunctions. The last verse that I recited belongs to the period after the conquest of Makkah when [Muslims held] power was there; so instead of frivolous objections they should employ reason and fairness. Not even a single example of coercion is to be found in Islam. They criticize the Holy Prophet s as that he used coercion, but the Holy Prophet s as could not bear someone accepting Islam even for expediency. Thus, one narration reports that an infidel pris- oner was presented and he questioned [the Holy Prophet s as ] ‘Why am I imprisoned? I am now a Muslim’. He s as said, ‘Not just now, but if you had accepted Islam before this then that would have been alright. Now you are a prisoner of war, and so are becoming a Muslim to gain your freedom’. He did not want to coerce him into becoming a Muslim. What he desired was that sincere hearts should be presented before Allah, the Exalted,. Thus, this prisoner was later released in exchange for the freedom of two Muslims. In Islam, the ordinance of war is in effect only for such time as when the enemy is engaged in fighting or is creating conditions of unrest. When conditions become normal and sedition comes to an end, it is admonished that you have no right to fight. Thus, in the Holy Quran, Allah, the Exalted, says: َو ْمُهْوُلِتٰق ىّٰتَح اَل َنْوُكَت ٌةَنْتِف َّو َنْوُكَي ُنْيِّدلا ِهّٰلِل١ؕ ِنِاَف اْوَهَتْنا اَلَف َناَوْدُع اَّلِا ىَلَع َنْيِمِلّٰظلا And fight them until there is no persecution, and religion is freely professed only for Allah. But if they desist, then remember that no hostility is allowed except against the aggressors. ( S u rah al-Baqarah, 2:194)