Haqiqatul-Wahi (The Philosophy of Divine Revelation) — Page 132
132 HAQIQATUL-WAḤI—THE PHILOSOPHY OF DIVINE REVELATION in the Prophethood of the Holy Prophet, may peace and blessings of Allah be upon him. Furthermore, he must believe in whatever is laid down and recorded in the Holy Quran. Indeed this is the point that has been brought home to the Muslims since the very beginning; it was on account of their firm belief in it that the Companions, may Allah be pleased with them, sacrificed their lives. Many sincere Muslims who had been captured by the disbelievers in the time of the Holy Prophets, were repeatedly told that they would be released if they renounced the Holy Prophet, may peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, but they did not renounce him and laid down their lives in this very path. These things are so well known in the chronicles of Islam that anyone who has even a minimum acquaintance with Islamic history would not disagree with this statement of mine. It should also be borne in mind that the wars of Islam were defen- sive in nature; that is, they were initiated by the disbelievers. The disbe- lievers of Arabia would not stop their attacks lest the religion of Islam should spread throughout the Arabian Peninsula. The Holy Prophet, may peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, was enjoined to fight them in order to deliver the persecuted from the clutches of those pharaohs. But, there is no doubt that, even then, so much bloodshed could have been averted if the disbelievers had been told that it was not incumbent upon them to believe in the prophethood of the Holy Prophet, may peace and blessings of Allah be upon him; that belief in the Holy Prophetsa was not really a prerequisite for salvation; they may believe, in their own way, in God to be One without a partner even if they remain opposed and adversarial and inimical to the Holy Prophet, may peace and blessings of Allah be upon him; and that there was no need to acknowledge him as their chief and leader. In particular, what is the reason that the Jews, who acknowledged God to be One with- out partner, were fought against, so much so, , that at times thousands of Jews were captured and killed in a single day? This clearly shows that if Tauḥīd alone was enough for salvation, then to needlessly fight against the Jews, and kill them in thousands, was an entirely unwarranted and