The Holy War — Page 258
258 will be able to see the statements of both and come to a just evalu- ation themselves. To execute a commandment of Divine wrath is different from explaining a suggested policy. Moses was Divinely commanded to completely destroy those seven nations just like when a storm is ordained or an epidemic ordered, in which the sinful are destroyed and the trial of the innocent comes to an end, they are not deemed sinners. However, your commandments are a matter of policy in which it is written that women and children should be kept safe and whoever joins Islam will be protected. And this is precisely protection afforded based on faith, on which these allegations are raised, and no allegation can be raised on the pestilences ordained by God, no matter by what means they are wrought. The meaning of مأمنہ [ ma’manah ] is not that only the land or house of that very person should be considered to be the abode of peace, in fact, in S u rah al-Anf a l there is a verse, the exact reference of which I shall right now provide, after finding it, which states that whoever does not leave his home to come and stay in our midst is not safe from our war. From this, it is proven that by ma’minah is meant that very place where strangers cannot give them any trouble and where they cannot be afforded an opportunity to deviate from the Faith. I have accepted your many different types of jihad; my allega- tion is regarding the jihad of faith by compulsion. Whatever else you have stated is totally irrelevant. You have not given a proper answer to the verses that I have presented by way of argument. And regarding what you said that Moses kept, from among the women who remained after the looting, those good and nice for him, what becomes clear from the Torah is that he entered into marriage once with the daughter of Reuel or Jethro. Apart from this he married no one else, nor did he keep a slave girl. However, he did permit to be left free some of the women who were brought by way of loot by the Children of Israel since there were no guardians left for them