Understanding Islam — Page 27
27 back to Makkah. 25 In the third case, as soon as the Muslims arrived in Mad ī nah, the pagan persecutors in Makkah sent messages to the Medinites, warning them that if they did not kill or expel the Muslims, the pagans would invade Mad ī nah to kill them all: The disbelievers of Quraish wrote to ‘Abdull ā h ibn Ubayy ibn Sal ū l and also to those members of the Aus and Khazraj tribes who were idolaters. This occurred while the Messenger of God resided in Mad ī nah but before the incident at Badr. The Quraish said, “You have given shelter to our tribes men, and you remain the more numerous of Mad ī nah’s inhabitants. We swear by God that you had better either kill him or expel him, or else we will rally the Arabs to help us and march against you in our full numbers, slaying your warriors and ravishing your women! 26 This is the context of why the Muslims were permitted to take up arms in self-defence. This is also why the Holy Quran speaks of “fighting disbelievers” because the two sides of the fight were Muslims (referred as, the believers) and non- Muslims (referred as, the disbelievers). Quite