Murder in the Name of Allah — Page 42
Murder in the Name of Allah reform mankind should realise that he cannot do so by mere sermonising and counselling. It is useless. '. Let us compare this Maududian dictum with the unbroken tradition of God's messengers. When Noah's as people accused him of spreading 'manifest error', he replied:. O my people, there is no error in me, but I am a Messenger from the Lord of the world. I deliver to you the message of my Lord and give you sincere advice, and I know from Allah what you do not know. (7. 62-3). This is God's account of Noah's as ministry. According to the Maududian dictum, Noahs should have said: 'I am the Messenger of God and I shall impose upon you, whether you like it or not, a body of righteous men who will take away your power. '. When the people of Ad told Hudas he was lost in foolishness, he did not say: ‘Do not be deceived and consider me a fool because of the harmlessness of the advice; you are not seeing the real me. In fact, I am an oppressor and one day I will seize power from the hands of those who have rebelled against God and give it to my own, righteous, people. '. Indeed, he did not. Instead, he followed the tradition of the prophets and said:. O my people, there is no foolishness in me, but I am a Messenger from the Lord of the worlds. I deliver to you the messages of my Lord and I am to you a sincere and faithful counsellor. (7. 68-9). The people of Thamud, like those of Ad, rejected Salehas and accused him of all sorts of things. But, following Noahs and Hudas, he told them: 'O my people, I did deliver the message of my Lord unto you and offered you sincere counsel, but you love not sincere counsellors. ' (7. 80). And then God sent Lotas, whose followers also made no attempt to seize power from the misguided, and continued to reason with them till they were punished. Before the appointed punishment came, Lots and his followers left their homes with God's permission. And then came that morning about which tyrants have always been admonished: 'Hopeless will that morning be for those who have been warned. ' (37. 178). The seventh chapter of the Quran continues with the story of the misguided people and the messengers* of God who tried to reform them. . After telling the story of Lotas, the Quran tells us how Shuaibas reasoned with his arrogant people and pleaded with his cruel tormentors. When all his advice was rejected, he turned away and said: 'O my people. indeed, I deliver to you the messages of my Lord and give you sincere counsel. How, then, should I sorrow for a disbelieving people?' (7. 94) 42