6 Freedom Of Religion In Early Islam
Can Modern Islam Move Past Its Restrictive Laws?
by James M. Arlandson, Ph.D.
This series of articles about Islamic shariah law is written for educators, legislators, city council members, judges, lawyers, government bureaucrats, think tank fellows, TV and radio talk show hosts, and others who occupy various “check points” in society. They initiate the national dialogue and shape (not to say control) the flow of the conversation. They are the policy and decision makers.
They have been told that shariah has no problem, certainly not to the degree that its critics claim. Islam is a world religion, after all, and the critics exaggerate. They just must be “Islamophobic.”
Yet the decision makers may have a private, gnawing feeling that shariah does have problems. Can the critics be all wrong, all the time?
Defenders of shariah work hard at allaying those private fears.
This next quotation represents Muslim religious scholars who proclaim that Islam easily conforms to modern standards of religious freedom.
In October 2011, the Fiqh Council of North America (FCNA) issued a fatwa (religious ruling or opinion) on the compatibility of the Quran and authentic hadith (traditional reports and narrations about Muhammad and his closest companions outside of the Quran) with the US Constitution and the Bill of Rights, specifically about the freedom of religion.
The scholar writes:
The goal of being loyal Americans and religious is certainly promoted in the Constitution, which advocates religious freedom. So far, so good. That’s anyone’s political right, to connect his religion with patriotism.
However, before we accept that fatwa in its entirety, we must find out what original – “true and authentic” – teaching and hadith and shariah say about the freedom of religion.
Here is the Table of Contents, with links:
It is sometimes claimed that Islam was constantly helpless against the Meccan enemies.[3] This may have been true in Mecca and the first few months in Medina. However, Islam’s military grew rapidly in Medina, particularly near the end of Muhammad’s life. Eventually he conquers Mecca in early A.D. 630 and wages war on Christians and Jews later in that year. It is important to realize this historical context, for then the verses in this entire section on the Quran will make sense.
For more about the growth of Islam’s military, see The Mission of Muhammad and the Sword.
He departed northward to the city of Medina. This flight is called the Hijrah.
Chapter 2 of the Quran is the first chapter to be revealed in Medina, though some verses may have been written later (the Quran is a hodge-podge). When Muhammad arrived in that city in 622, he found a thriving community of Jews. At first he intends to be friendly with them, maybe reform them.
Quran 2:256 is a strong statement of tolerance. The key clause simply says:
Three examples of strong rhetoric against the Jews of Medina: Quran
2:47-61 says Allah performed miracles for the children of Israel when he
led them out of Egypt, but they worshipped the golden calf, while Moses
was on Mt. Sinai. They were also ungrateful when Allah did other
miracles, like sending manna and quail. Quran 2:87-92 says Allah sent
messengers, even Jesus, to the Jews, but they became arrogant,
disbelieved and killed prophets of old. Quran 2:246-251 recounts how
Israel wants their first king (Saul). But when they were commanded to
fight because they were chased out of their homeland, which was what
happened to Muhammad, they turn away. But eventually David defeats
Goliath.Can Modern Islam Move Past Its Restrictive Laws?
by James M. Arlandson, Ph.D.
This series of articles about Islamic shariah law is written for educators, legislators, city council members, judges, lawyers, government bureaucrats, think tank fellows, TV and radio talk show hosts, and others who occupy various “check points” in society. They initiate the national dialogue and shape (not to say control) the flow of the conversation. They are the policy and decision makers.
They have been told that shariah has no problem, certainly not to the degree that its critics claim. Islam is a world religion, after all, and the critics exaggerate. They just must be “Islamophobic.”
Yet the decision makers may have a private, gnawing feeling that shariah does have problems. Can the critics be all wrong, all the time?
Defenders of shariah work hard at allaying those private fears.
This next quotation represents Muslim religious scholars who proclaim that Islam easily conforms to modern standards of religious freedom.
In October 2011, the Fiqh Council of North America (FCNA) issued a fatwa (religious ruling or opinion) on the compatibility of the Quran and authentic hadith (traditional reports and narrations about Muhammad and his closest companions outside of the Quran) with the US Constitution and the Bill of Rights, specifically about the freedom of religion.
The scholar writes:
Contrary to erroneous
perceptions and Islamophobic propaganda of political extremists from
various backgrounds, the true and authentic teachings of Islam... uphold
religious freedom and adherence to the same universal moral values
which are accepted by the majority of people of all backgrounds and upon
which the US Constitution was established and according to which the
Bill of Rights was enunciated.[1]
Then the fatwa adds that the Quran and authentic hadith are the
sources of the universally accepted supreme objectives of Islamic
shariah, which is to protect religious liberty”[2] . . . .The goal of being loyal Americans and religious is certainly promoted in the Constitution, which advocates religious freedom. So far, so good. That’s anyone’s political right, to connect his religion with patriotism.
However, before we accept that fatwa in its entirety, we must find out what original – “true and authentic” – teaching and hadith and shariah say about the freedom of religion.
Here is the Table of Contents, with links:
THE QURAN
Quran 2:256: No Compulsion in Religion
Quran 9:5, 11-15: War on Pagans
Quran 9:17-18, 28: Barring Pagans from Their Shrine
Quran 9:29-31: War on Christians and Jews
Quran 9:73-74, 123: War on Hypocrites
Summary
THE HADITH AND ONE OTHER SOURCE
Shedding Muslim Blood
The Right Way to Kill Atheists
From Judaism to Islam and Back Again
An Apostate Goes Free?
Heavenly Reward
War against False Prophets
Wars of Apostasy
Summary
CLASSICAL LAW
No Two Religions in the Arabian Peninsula
Striking the Neck of an Apostate
Non-MuslimsConverting to a Non-Islamic Religion
From Christianity to Islam and Back Again
Chance to Repent
Executing Female Apostates?
Which Is Worse?
Acts of Apostasy
More Wars of Apostasy
Summary
MODERN ISLAM
Moderate Views?
Traditional Views
CONCLUSION
THE QURAN
This article is about religious freedom generally. There are verses that eliminate freedom of religion or severely restrict it.It is sometimes claimed that Islam was constantly helpless against the Meccan enemies.[3] This may have been true in Mecca and the first few months in Medina. However, Islam’s military grew rapidly in Medina, particularly near the end of Muhammad’s life. Eventually he conquers Mecca in early A.D. 630 and wages war on Christians and Jews later in that year. It is important to realize this historical context, for then the verses in this entire section on the Quran will make sense.
For more about the growth of Islam’s military, see The Mission of Muhammad and the Sword.
Quran 2:256: No Compulsion in Religion
While Muhammad lived in Mecca, his hometown, he was nonviolent towards the pagans; they worshipped at the sacred Kabah shrine, and so did he. He told them, “You have your religion and I have mine” (Quran 109:6). But his preaching of monotheism (worship of one God) bothered them. They were polytheists (those who worship many gods). They became so angry, they chased him out of town in A.D. 622.He departed northward to the city of Medina. This flight is called the Hijrah.
Chapter 2 of the Quran is the first chapter to be revealed in Medina, though some verses may have been written later (the Quran is a hodge-podge). When Muhammad arrived in that city in 622, he found a thriving community of Jews. At first he intends to be friendly with them, maybe reform them.
Quran 2:256 is a strong statement of tolerance. The key clause simply says:
There is no compulsion in religion[4]….(Quran 2:256)
Perhaps that verse reflects his goal of peaceful coexistence and the
use of words alone to persuade the Jews. But the rest of the chapter is
filled with numerous verses that remind the Jews how they were
disobedient in the past. Muhammad’s rhetoric heats up.So Muhammad uses these Old Testament stories – garbled as they were because he heard them over the years from professional traveling poets and storytellers who plied their verbal craft along the trade routes – to his own advantage. But heated words do not have to lead to violence.
However, this nonviolence is untrue of Muhammad’s ten years in Medina. His military grew rapidly. By the time his life ends in 632, because, he believed, he was poisoned by Jews, he will have expelled them from Medina and massacred one tribe, the Qurayza, selling their women and children into slavery. He even conquered the Jewish settlement of Khaybar, to the north of Medina, in 628.
Quran 33:26-27 discuss the massacre and enslavement of the Qurayza tribe of Jews, the People of the Book (the Bible):
26 He brought those People of the Book who
supported them [the Meccans and their allies] down from their
strongholds and put panic into their hearts. Some of them you
[believers] killed and some you took captive. 27 He passed on to you
their land, their houses, their possessions, and a land where you had
not set foot: God has power over everything.[5]
Now, flush with a victory of sorts (at least not a defeat), Muhammad turns his attention to the Jews.
They were supposed to remain neutral in the Battle, but they seem to have intrigued with the Meccans and to have been on the verge of attacking Muhammad from the rear – though they did not. Tradition says that while he was bathing, the archangel Gabriel appeared to him and told him to attack the large tribe.[6] He besieged them and forced them to surrender. For their alleged betrayal, they must be put on trial.
The sentence: Death by decapitation for around 600 men (one source says as high as 900),[7] and enslavement for the women and children. The executions lasted throughout the night, as the heads and bodies were dragged into trenches.
So, those verses in Quran 33:26-27, while not necessarily canceling or abrogating Quran 2:256, balances out the positive claim in the verse that there is no compulsion in religion. And the verses that follow in the next sections clarify 2:256, as well.
See The Sword and the Jews and Muhammad and the Qurayza Jews, for more detail about Muhammad’s tense and violent relations with the Jews.
Quran 9:5, 11-15: War on Pagans
Chapter 9 of the Quran is the last chapter, in its entirety, to be revealed in the Quran. In early A.D. 630, Muhammad and 10,000 jihadist conquered Mecca. This was done with little bloodshed – though there was some. He conquered the Kabah shrine there, where pagans for centuries had worshiped the black stone.He needs to hunt down specific polytheists or idolaters who defied him and, he believed, broke an oath. If they convert to Islam and pay an alms tax, they can go free. If not, they will be killed.
5 When the [four] forbidden months
are over, wherever you encounter the idolaters, kill [q-t-l] them, seize them,
besiege them, wait for them at every lookout post; but if they repent, maintain
the prayer, and pay the prescribed alms, let them go on their way, for God is
most forgiving and merciful.[8](Quran 9:5)
This Quran passage goes on to say that if the idolaters (polytheists) seek protection, they may find it (v. 6).However, that treaty (of sorts) to let them go their way is rescinded. Quran 9:11-15 says:
11 If they repent, keep up the prayer, and pay the
prescribed alms, then they are your brothers in faith: We make the
messages clear for people who understand. 12 But if they break their
oath after having made an agreement with you and revile your religion,
then fight these leaders of disbelief – oaths mean nothing to them – so
that they may stop. 13 How could you not fight a people who have broken
their oaths, who tried to drive the Messenger out, who attacked you
first? Do you fear them? It is God you should fear if you are true
believers. 14 Fight [q-t-l] them: God will punish them at your hands, He
will disgrace them, He will help you to conquer them, He will heal the
believers' feelings 15 and remove the rage from their hearts. God turns
to whoever He will in His mercy; God is all knowing and wise. (Quran
9:11-15)
Thus, these pagans do not have freedom of religion, because they
broke their oath (so says Muhammad) (v. 12). They have to convert and
pay the alms tax (v. 11). Muhammad connects pagan oath breaking with
conversion to his religion; that is, pagans do not have to pay a fine
and keep their religion or say they are sorry and keep their religion.
But they have to convert to Islam and pay an alms tax (v. 11). If not,
Muhammad will fight, disgrace, and conquer them (v. 14). This will heal
the rage in the believers’ and Muhammad’s hearts (v. 15; see 5:2).Forcing conversion by the sword is a perfect description of a holy war.
Quran 9:17-18, 28: Barring Pagans from Their Shrine
As noted, while in Mecca, Muhammad was nonviolent, but he preached against polytheism. But after years of his preaching, they were so angry, they chased him out of Mecca and barred him from the Kabah shrine (sacred Mosque). He went north to Medina (this flight is called the Hijrah).While in Medina, he looked back on what just happened to him and concluded that his fellow Meccans had committed an injustice in persecuting him and barring him from the shrine (sacred Mosque). These verses, read in this chronological order, reflect his sense of injustice.
Quran 22:25 predicts that Allah shall punish the Meccans for barring him and others.
25 As for those who disbelieve
and bar others from God’s path and from the Sacred Mosque – which We
[Allah] made for all people, residents and visitors alike – and who try
to violate it with wrongdoing, We shall make them taste a painful
punishment.[9] (Quran 22:25)
Quran 2:217 says Muhammad has permission to fight:
217 They ask you [Prophet]
about fighting [q-t-l] in the prohibited month. Say, “Fighting [q-t-l]
in that month is a serious offence, but to bar others from God’s path,
to disbelieve in Him, prevent access to the Sacred Mosque [Kabah], and
expel people, are still greater offences in God’s eyes: persecution is
worse than killing.[10](Quran 2:217)
Quran 8:34 says Allah will punish the Meccans for barring people
from the sacred Mosque; the Meccans are not the rightful guardians of
it:
34 Yet why should God not
punish them when they debar people from the Sacred Mosque, although they
are not its [rightful] guardians?[11] (Quran 8:34).
Quran 3:96-97 says that the Old Testament figure Abraham himself stood at the Mosque in Mecca:
96 The first House [of
worship] to be established for people was the one at [Mecca]. It is a
blessed place; a source of guidance for all people; 97 there are clear
signs in it; it is the place where Abraham stood to pray; who ever
enters it is safe.[12](Quran 3:96-97)
Muhammad implies that he is the rightful owner of the Mosque,
because he accepts (or invents) the legend that Abraham traveled a
thousand miles and sanctified the shrine. Abraham was the first
monotheist, and Muhammad is one too (Quran 2:122-129; 8:34-36).Quran 5:2 says Muhammad hates the people who barred him from the Mosque:
2...“Do not let your hatred
for the people who barred you from the Sacred Mosque induce you to
break the law: help one another to do what is right and good; do not
help one another towards sin and hostility.”[13]… (Quran 5:2, emphasis added)
Then he reveals a monetary motive to fight to get it back. Quran 5:97 says:
97 God has made the Ka‘ba [Kabah] – the Sacred House – a means of support for people.”[14]…(Quran 5:97)
People from all over Arabia went to Mecca during seasons of pilgrimage, and this generated a lot of money.Quran 48:25 says Muhammad’s sacrifice at the Mosque in Mecca was somehow prevented:
25 They were the ones who
disbelieved, who barred you from the Sacred Mosque, and who prevented
the offering from reaching its place of sacrifice.” (Quran 48:25)
A Reversal of Fortunes
However, Muhammad military grows. He was successful in his raids, so
many men joined his religion. His raiders turned into a jihad army. He
conquers the Meccans and their city in early A.D. 630. Some verses in
Chapter 9 of the Quran incorporate this conquest. Specifically, now that he has the military power, he is not about to let the pagans or idolaters guard houses of worship, particularly the Kabah shrine. Only Muslims may maintain these places.
Quran 9:17-18 says:
17 It is not right for the idolaters to tend God's
places of worship while testifying to their own disbelief: the deeds of
such people will come to nothing and they will abide in Hell. 18 The
only ones who should tend God's places of worship are those who believe
in God and the Last Day, who keep up the prayer, who pay the prescribed
alms, and who fear no one but God: such people may hope to be among the
rightly guided…. (Quran 9:17-18)
And finally Quran 9:28 shuts the door completely:
28 Believers, those who ascribe partners to God
[polytheists] are truly unclean: do not let them come near the Sacred
Mosque after this year…. (Quran 9:28)
Muhammad’s ability to deny the pagans (polytheists) access to their
shrine coincides with his growing military, by the time Chapter 9 is
given.This is a 180-degree reversal of fortunes. And it does not promote religious freedom.
See The Mission of Muhammad and the Sword for more detail about the historical context of that lineup of verses.
At that link, we speculate, since nothing in history is inevitable, about what might have been, if Muhammad had let go of his need for the shrine back in Mecca and had said: “Polytheists! You have controlled the shrine for centuries. It is yours. I have set up my own Mosque, here in Medina. It’s extra-holy. Come to it of your own freewill. You don’t have to bow in the direction of a black stone. You don’t have to kiss my sacred Mosque (as you kiss the black stone). But if you don’t come to Islam, you are free to go on your way. ‘You have your religion and I have mine.’ ‘There is no compulsion in religion.’”
That was a genuine option for him. Quran 109:6 and 2:256 say so.
But that hypothetical is contrary to fact, unfortunately for world peace.
Quran 9:29-31: War on Christians and Jews
Now that the pagans were subdued, and Muhammad has control over the sacred shrine, he turns his attention to Jews and Christians.Muhammad heard a rumor that the Byzantines had amassed a huge number of troops in Tabuk (in northern Saudi Arabia today). So in late A.D. 630, he marched northward with 20,000 to 30,000 soldiers to confront them. However, the Byzantines never materialized. But on his way up there and back again, he encountered small tribes of Jews and Christians. Rather than waste his military campaign without rewarding his soldiers and filling the growing treasury in Medina, he extracted a tax, called the jizyah, from these tribes.
More specifically, he gave the People of the Book (Jews and Christians; the Book is the Bible) three options:
29
Fight [q-t-l] against those who (1) believe not in Allah, (2) nor in
the Last Day, (3) nor forbid that which has been forbidden by Allah and
His Messenger (Muhammad), (4) and those who acknowledge not the religion
of truth (i.e. Islam) among the people of the Scripture (Jews and
Christians), until they pay the Jizyah with willing submission, and feel themselves subdued.[15]
The three options for the People of the Book are (1) fight and die; (2) convert; or (3) keep their religion and pay the jizyah
or submission tax. What is so interesting about that verse is that
Muhammad’s motive to fight is his belief that Jews and Christians do not
believe in the Last Day and do not forbid what he has forbidden.Quran 9:30-31 confirms the religious motive to attack:
30 The Jews said, “Ezra is the son of God.” and.
the Christians said, “The Messiah is the son of God”: they said this
with their own mouths, repeating what earlier disbelievers had said. May
God thwart them! How far astray they have been led! 31 They take their
rabbis and their monks as lords beside God, as well as Christ, the son
of Mary. But they were commanded to serve only one God: there is no god
but Him; He is far above whatever they set up as His partners
Scholars have been hard pressed to find independent confirmation that
says a sect of Jews called Ezra the son of God. But what if such a sect
existed? Why couldn’t they have religious freedom to follow their
theology? Why do they have to pay a second-class submission tax?However, it is true that Christians call Jesus Lord and the Son of God (taking rabbis and monks as lords besides Allah is another matter). Muhammad considers this heretical and shirk (associating anything or anyone with Allah). Christians of course do not see things that way and conclude Muhammad was misinformed about their doctrine. But in any case, why can’t these seventh-century Arab Christians have their religion without paying a second-class submission tax?
In Islamic history, vanquished Jews and Christians became known as dhimmis. This word appears in Quran 9:8 and 10, meaning a “treaty” or “oath,” but it can also mean those who are “condemned” “reviled” or “reproved” (Quran 17:18, 22; 68:49).[17]
The word “willing submission” in v. 29 can also be translated as “humiliation,” “utterly humbled,” “contemptible” or “vile.” It can mean “small” as opposed to “great.”[18]
It seems then that the Quran, backed by the Islamic military, defines what proper doctrine is. Military might makes right. Military might makes doctrine.
That is a perfect description of a holy war.
For more information about jihad, qital and the jizyah tax, see Part Four in this series; and also see A Brief Explanation of the Trinity.
Quran 9:73-74, 123: War on Hypocrites
Automatic death for apostasy is not as prominent a theme in the Quran as one would first expect from today’s news reports. Some verses condemn apostasy, but its punishment is reserved for divine judgment in the Last Day, or its punishment is not clear down here on earth.[19] However, there are a few verses (Quran 9:73-74 and 9:123) that may advocate execution for apostasy, but other interpreters disagree.By the time Chapter 9 of the Quran is being written, Muhammad has a strong military, so three verses in this chapter command striving (jihad) and then fighting (qital) against hypocrites and unbelievers.
In the following two verses, the hypocrites – Muslims who follow Islam and the commands of Muhammad from a distance – do not seem to be full apostates yet. The Quran says:
73 Prophet, strive [j-h-d]
against unbelievers and the hypocrites and be tough on them. Hell is
their final home – an evil destination. 74 ...They would be better off
turning back [to God]: if they turn away, God will inflict terrible
punishment on them in this world and the Hereafter, and there will be no
one on earth to protect or help them. (Quran 9:73-74)
Hypocrites refused to go on Muhammad’s Tabuk campaign against the
Byzantine Christians in late A.D. 630. He could not tolerate this
wishy-washy behavior. In v. 73, the slightly more ambiguous word “jihad” is used, which is translated as “strive against.”[20] This implies that the ultimate command to kill the hypocrites and unbelievers has not yet been given clearly. The Muslim community had other methods of "striving" with them instead of killing them, such as ostracism, denial of their oaths in a court of law, closed doors of offices and positions, and contempt in social meetings.[21]
The hypocrites are still given the opportunity to repent. “They would be better off turning back [to God]”.... This means they are apostates and are given the chance to turn back or repent. But this chance for repentance is short lived, as the next verse in our study reveals (v. 123).
God will punish them in this world. How?
To read more, click here
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