Through Force or Faith? — Page 163
Chapter 2 — Islamic Teachings about Jihad 163 يِف ِةَرِخٰاْلا ٌباَذَع ٌمْيِظَعَعَّطَقُت ْمِهْيِدْيَا َو ْمُهُلُجْرَا ْنِّم ٍفاَلِخ ْوَا اْوَفْنُي َنِم ِضْرَاْلا١ؕ َكِلٰذ ْمُهَل ٌيْزِخ يِف اَيْنُّدلا َو ْمُهَل اَمَّنِا اُؤٰٓزَج َنْيِذَّلا َنْوُبِراَحُي َهّٰللا َو ٗهَلْوُسَر َو َنْوَعْسَي يِف ِضْرَاْلا اًداَسَف ْنَا اْۤوُلَّتَقُّي ْوَا اْۤوُبَّلَصُي ْوَا The reward of those who wage war against Allah and His Messenger and strive to create disorder in the land is only this that they be slain or crucified or their hands and their feet be cut off on alternate sides, or they be expelled from the land. That shall be a disgrace for them in this world, and in the Hereafter they shall have a great punishment ( S u rah al-M a ’idah, 5:34). The objection made on this verse is that Muslims have been enjoined to treat all their opponents extremely harshly and with cruel punishments. The first point that needs to be made clear is that here only those people are meant who are responsible for cre- ating unrest and chaos in society by violating rule of law. As far as the harsh penalties in this verse are concerned, one has to consider whether the only objective of the Holy Quran is to castigate the opposition. Did the Holy Prophet s as treat his opponents with such harshness? If he did, who were the subjects? Except for those who were guilty of such deeds, no one was treated in this manner. The hypocrites dwelled in Madinah all around. How many of them had their hands cut off on opposite sides? How many were crucified? Not even one. In fact, in this verse, the penalties for those who create disorder, chaos and turmoil are spelled out. It is affirmed in it that anyone who commits a crime and creates disorder in society will be punished accordingly. In the preceding verse, ‘for killing a person or for creating disorder,’ it has been mentioned that, in the estimation of God, killing is