Quran's view on war
-
Peace and greetings,
Free minds has not provided any comprehensive analysis of Wars waged by muslims on non muslims throughout the history. I do not understand how could islam have spread if prophet muhammad was to live peacefully in his home at medina like modern muslim states and not take conquest of arabia seriously. Prophet muhammad could have just sat idle at medina and sent delegations to different places with invitation for Islam and if it was rejected, he could have simply accepted peaceful coexistance with everyone since every state is supposed to be sovereign and if they do not allow a newer system like islam to be introduced or preached to their societies so you just sit quiet since they are not waging any war with you. Say for example the media of that nation is opressive and corrupt and does not give a genuine chance to its people to freely understand what Islam is so in that case your message of Islam would be impossible to get across. Such an example is given in the story of prophet Suleiman and a non muslim queen Sheba. Prophet suleyman sends a letter to her which invites her to islam but she instead sends him a gift. In reply prophet suleyman responds in verse 2737 ?Return to them. For we shall come to them with soldiers the like of which they have never seen, and we will drive them out humiliated, while they are feeble.?
It simply shows that prophet Suleiman is willing to launch a war by invading her country so he could freely introduce the message of islam to sheba's people without any interruption caused by sheba's government. However Sheba was a wise ruler so she decides to meet prophet Suleiman personally.
What I do not understand is that how could the spread of awareness about a disliked system(islam for non muslims) or idea be possible in the presence of an oppressive regime. My personal opinion is that Islam would not have spread as explosively and as fast as it did within a generation after prophet muhammad from the indian sub continent to spain in europe if muslims would have just peacefully gone away if they had been refused entry in foreign societies.If a state is so corrupt and oppressive that it persecutes people on the account of their democratic ideas, religion or race then what are muslim governments supposed to do. Quran tells us in verse 475 "And why do you not fight in the cause of God, when the weak amongst the men and women and children say ?Our Lord, bring us out of this town whose people are wicked, and grant us from Yourself a Supporter, and grant us from Yourself a Victor!? So this example could be applied in the case of muslim massacres by serbs. Current Israeli-palestinian conflict, and in Indian occupied Kashmir and in chechen province of russia, and of course the american occupation of Iraq and Afghanistan falls under this category. Most of the mainstream media keeps on producing propaganda in favor of the innocence of oppressors and portrays primitive muslims living in these areas as if they are thermonuclear armed terrorists. If you have read the story of the conquests of Mongolians, they slaughtered every single human being in Baghdad. The only difference is that the modern mongolians (americans and Israelis) are slowly killing many people. For example Afghanistan's Pashtuns that comprise 40 percent of their population have not been given adequate representation so they are being massacred in the name of killing taliban and al qaeda which were surprisingly defeated within weeks of the american invasion. Afghanistan's president karzai is friends with criminal drug mafias. I feel very sad for this country. Anyway my point is that Does Quran allows us to watch all mayhem, killing and oppression as silent spectators ? If for example there is a powerful Quranic state so it would just sit and chant slogans of peace! while the rest of the oppressive regimes continue their oppression ?
Why has God chosen Islam as the right system ? I think because it is likely to be the least oppressive if its followers adhere strictly to Quran. So every religion should have freedom but if a regime is violating basic human values so should it be allowed full freedom in its crimes or there should be some rules?
Most of the world knows that wars are mostly waged for gaining access to resources and wealth of the victim countries. But could'nt the war be waged for liberating people from oppressors and providing free access to spread of Islam by unbiased media ?
I think people who say Quran only allows us to fight in self defense only would be silent spectators for all destruction around them as long as they are alive and well would never ever rise to the position of superpowers and would never get their influence across the world as the currupt media would never give them an honest coverage in oppressed countries. The key here is how information is presented to the people which impacts their perceptions. That is why I think that prophet muhammad did not just sit idle and wait as if the world around him would somehow peacefully accept Islam without the political power of the muslims. 2193 And fight them so there is no more persecution, and so that the system is God?s. If they cease, then there will be no aggression except against the wicked.
Why did the americans elect bush again in 2004 even though he had invaded iraq in 2003 which was illegal? It is because American media feeds false propaganda to them. -
Peace Wakas,
You provided the link to an excellent article on the quran's view on war. It sets out a very just criteria for the conduct of war. Do you think that a global Islamic caliphate based on Quran as its constitution a good idea for the present problems of muslims. nationalism is against the spirit of Quran as it considers muslims as a single ummah. In nationalist states some countries are too rich and others are too poor so if there is a unified global state then there could be better coordination, development, unity and policies for the muslims. For example united states of America is spread across the continent of north America. It was rich in hydrocarbons, agriculture and other resources so this was a reason for it becoming superpower. Imagine if american states were all independent countries then it would have been a loser with no coordination in development policies.
-
Why did the americans elect bush again in 2004 even though he had invaded iraq in 2003 which was illegal? It is because American media feeds false propaganda to them.
No, I'm pretty sure it was because the other guy was seen as being pro-gay.
Do you think that a global Islamic caliphate based on Quran as its constitution a good idea for the present problems of muslims. nationalism is against the spirit of Quran as it considers muslims as a single ummah.
I don't think this follows. In Islam we call call each other 'brothers' and 'sisters', but that does not mean the biological family is against the spirit of the Quran. It just means we need to endeavor to treat each other with the respect we give to our own family. Likewise, just because the whole muslim faith are one family, it does not mean the nation-state is against the Quran. Nation states provide security and stability in the same way as the family unit. Just as it is very difficult to live as an orphan without parents or guardians, so it is very difficult to live without a nation state to provide you with security.
