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"Therefore, when ye meet the Unbelievers in fight, smite at their necks"
The Medinan sura 47 is alternatively known as Al-Qital, “The Fighting” – and indeed, it is much preoccupied with war against unbelievers. It affirms of those who oppose Islam that Allah will “render their deeds vain” (vv. 1, 8-9, 28, 32). Bulandshahri explains: “Even though the disbelievers may carry out many good deeds and render great services to mankind, these deeds will not be recognized on the Day of Judgment on account of their disbelief.” By contrast, Allah will improve the condition of the believers (vv. 2, 7, 35).
Teachings such as these lead to the common Islamic idea that Islamic purity will lead to worldly prosperity, and unbelief conversely to ruin in this life. For Allah protects the believers, while the unbelievers have no protector (v. 11). In a hadith in An-Nasai’s collection – one of the six collections Muslims consider most reliable – Muhammad prays, “O Allah, I seek refuge with you from unbelief and poverty.” Someone asked him, “Are they equal?” Muhammad answered, “Yes.” This connection is often clearly refuted by reality, but is tenaciously held nonetheless.
Then come instructions to behead the unbelievers when the believers meet them in battle (v. 4). The literal understanding of this verse is paramount among Islamic commentators. Ibn Kathir says that it means that when Muslims “fight against” unbelievers, they should “cut them down totally with your swords.” The Tafsir al-Jalalayn spells it out further: “in other words, slay them — reference is made to the ‘striking of the necks’ because the predominant cause of being slayed is to be struck in the neck.” Zamakhshari takes “strike at the necks” to mean that Muslims should strike non-Muslims specifically on the neck rather than elsewhere, so as to make sure they are dead and not just wounded.
The twentieth-century Qur’an translator Abdullah Yusuf Ali likewise takes the injunction literally, justifying it by saying, “You cannot wage war with kid gloves.” However, Muhammad Khatib, a modern Sunni commentator, says that this command applies only to Muhammad’s day, although Shi‘ites “think it is a universal precept.” Modern-day Sunni jihad groups such as Zarqawi’s Al-Tawhid wal-Jihad in Iraq a few years ago pointed to this and other Qur’anic verses as justifications for their beheadings.
The same verse goes on to call for the taking of prisoners and allowing for “either generosity or ransom” of prisoners of war. This has been enshrined in Islamic law: ‘Umdat al-Salik, a manual of Islamic jurisprudence certified by Al-Azhar University in Cairo (the most respected authority in Sunni Islam) as conforming “to the practice and faith of the orthodox Sunni community,” lays out four options for prisoners, in line with this verse: “When an adult male is taken captive, the caliph considers the interests ... (of Islam and the Muslims) and decides between the prisoner’s death, slavery, release without paying anything, or ransoming himself in exchange for money or for a Muslim captive held by the enemy” (o9.14).
Then comes an oft-repeated refrain: Don’t the unbelievers travel around the earth and see how Allah has destroyed earlier unbelieving peoples (vv. 10, 13)? Allah will admit the believers to the gardens of Paradise, while the unbelievers will eat as the cattle eat and drink boiling water that will cut their bowels to pieces (vv. 12, 14-15). Some listen to Muhammad but are insincere (v. 16), and some even ask that a chapter of the Qur’an be sent down for them – but when one is sent down that commands fighting, they draw back (v. 20). Ibn Kathir explains that “Allah mentions that the believers were hoping that Jihad would be legislated. But when Allah ordained it, many of the people turned back” – and he explains why they did so in a way that makes it clear that the jihad in question involves hot war: they drew back, says Ibn Kathir, because of “their fear, terror, and cowardice concerning meeting the enemies.”
Then come more excoriations of unbelievers, with familiar charges reissued: Allah has cursed the unbelievers and made them deaf and blind (v. 23); their hearts are locked so that they cannot understand the Qur’an (v. 24); and they apostatize from Islam because Satan beguiles them (v. 25). This life is mere “play and amusement,” but those who obey Allah will not have to give up their worldly goods (v. 36), but they should not hesitate to spend money in Allah’s cause (v. 38).
Sura 48 is also from Medina. The “victory” from Allah in v. 1 is for some the Muslim conquest of Mecca late in Muhammad’s life; for others it is the Treaty of Hudaybiyya, which Muhammad concluded on disadvantageous terms with the pagan Quraysh tribe of Mecca before he conquered that city. Umar, one of Muhammad’s closest followers, asked him about this three times, got no answer, and then went away in fear that a passage of the Qur’an would be revealed about him! But instead there came this sura, telling Muhammad that Allah would forgive his past and future sins (v. 2) and would admit the believers to Paradise (v. 5), while the hypocrites and polytheists will go to hell (v. 6).
Those who pledge loyalty to Muhammad pledge loyalty to Allah (v. 10). Those who refused to go with Muhammad to meet the Quraysh, fearing that they would be massacred, make excuses, but Allah knows that they hoped Muhammad and the Muslims would not return (vv. 11-12). Allah tells Muhammad to tell them that they will be called upon to fight against a powerful people, unless they submit to Islam; if they fight then, they will be rewarded (v. 16). Islamic scholars differ as to which powerful people is meant – some suggested the Persians and Byzantines. The blind, lame, and ill need not fight in jihad warfare, but those who do will go to Paradise (v. 17). Allah is pleased with the believers who pledged fealty to Muhammad under the tree (v. 18) – Ibn Kathir says there were 1,400 Muslims who did so, under a tree near Hudaybiyya. Allah sent them as-sakinah (v. 18), which is the presence of God in the Old Testament but is understood simply as “tranquility” by Muslim commentators. He also promises the believers much booty (v. 19), which they soon collected in the raid on the Jewish settlement at the oasis of Khaybar.
The unbelievers, if they fight the Muslims, will flee (v. 22). Allah protected the believers from the unbelievers at Hudaybiyya, giving them “tranquility” (vv. 24-26) -- and the truce he concluded with the Meccans at Hudaybiyya will allow Muhammad and the Muslims to visit the Ka’aba (v. 27). Those who follow Muhammad are merciful to believers but harsh to unbelievers (v. 29) – a stark contrast to Jesus’ injunction in the Sermon on the Mount to “love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you” (Matthew 5:44).
Next week: Sura 49, “The Chambers”: “The (true) believers are those only who believe in Allah and His messenger and afterward doubt not, but strive with their wealth and their lives for the cause of Allah.”
(Here you can find links to all the earlier "Blogging the Qur'an" segments. Here is a good Arabic Qur’an, with English translations available; here are two popular Muslim translations, those of Abdullah Yusuf Ali and Mohammed Marmaduke Pickthall, along with a third by M. H. Shakir. Here is another popular translation, that of Muhammad Asad. And here is an omnibus of ten Qur’an translations.)
Posted by Robert at September 21, 2008 7:50 AM
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"“O Allah, I seek refuge with you from unbelief and poverty.” ...This connection is often clearly refuted by reality"
The "reality" of abject poverty of East Africa immediately came to mind. May God help those poor, suffering souls.
Posted by: Zorro![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://www.jihadwatch.org/nav-commenters.gif)
at September 21, 2008 8:51 AM
"For Allah protects the believers, while the unbelievers have no protector (v. 11)."
Oh, go screw yourself, Islam.
That photo above of poor Nick Berg about to be beheaded while alive makes me so sick and so angry I don't know what to do with the overflow of these emotions.
Posted by: darcy at September 21, 2008 8:53 AM
I will not describe in detail the shock and fury I felt as I scrolled down the page and came to this photo of Nick Berg with his ISLAMIC captors.
Too bad that, along with photos of the twin towers burning, this has disappeared from TV screens across the nation.
Never Forget.
Posted by: Vee at September 21, 2008 9:10 AM
Thank you once again, Mr. Spencer.
Posted by: dentalque at September 21, 2008 9:14 AM
If you read the Qur'an, you will notice that the majority of the book is concerned with Kuffirs and what will happen to them, (it's not good)
Why would you spend a large amount of time detailing how bad the unbelievers are and what sort of punishment awaits them in hell? How is the reading of these tortures a religious act? The aggregate message from the Qur'an to infidels is as frightening as a visit from an angry crime boss looking for protection money.
Posted by: tanstaafl at September 21, 2008 9:45 AM
"I will not describe in detail the shock and fury I felt as I scrolled down the page and came to this photo of Nick Berg with his ISLAMIC captors.
Too bad that, along with photos of the twin towers burning, this has disappeared from TV screens across the nation.
Never Forget.
Posted by: Vee [TypeKey Profile Page] at September 21, 2008 9:10 AM "
Unfortunately, like the 9/11 Truthers, there are many, many, people on the left who never believed that Nick Berg was killed by Muslims.
I posted a link to the video at the message board I frequented. I expected it to be deleted, but it wasn't and the thread went on to get over 100 replies. The typical response from the usual Lefties of the board was this:
1. Nick Berg was dead during the beheading, so that meant the CIA did it and the tape was a hoax.
2. Anyone who watched the video is sick, and since these Lefties held themselves above those of us who did watch it, they had no problem taking the word of second hand accounts from the most far left wacko websites on the internet.
3. They refused to believe anyone who refuted those descriptions, refused to watch the video themselves so that they could see the inaccuracies in the accounts they were linking to, and had absolutely no problem calling those of us who DID watch the video liars.
What really amazed me at the time was that these liberal idiots had no idea what they were really arguing for. When the Berg video hit the internet, somebody on the Left decided that if Berg was dead when he was beheaded, then that was proof that the CIA, meaning the Evil Bush Administration, was behind it. That was their argument.
After I read all the replies, and followed the links and read all the articles and blogs about the video, I picked the biggest liberal idiot on the board to reply to and I asked her this question:
"So, by your reasoning, the fact that Nick Berg was dead before he was beheaded, means the CIA must have done it because only a true Muslim would behead a live man?"
None of them had thought it through to that logical conclusion. Of course they all denied that's what they were getting at.
The Nick Berg tape was the first of three beheading videos I've seen. There were two versions of it that I saw and both were very poor quality. I thought I was prepared to watch the other two, but I wasn't. The other two were better quality and were absolutely horrific. I'll never watch another one again.
at September 21, 2008 10:17 AM
This vile sura, among others, is the reason why it is critical that whenever and whereever Muslims attack, we must make sure they suffer a catastrophic and humiliating defeat, and we must rub defeat in their noses loudly and publicly. We must never permit them to enjoy the Koran-promised booty from their Koran-directed pirate behavior.
Their Koran, the Islamic Manifesto, must be discredited at every turn. Such an aggressive policy of overtly defeating the Koranic doctrines and publicly humiliating the Muslim demagogues who endlessly spout them, is the only way to make the Muslim masses understand that their cult is based on egregious lies.
And that forced epiphany is the only chance the Muslims will ever have to get free of the curse of Mohammed. That forced epiphany is the only way we can help the Ummah to someday rejoin humanity as constructive, peaceful citizens. Good works, friendship, and economic assistance on our part will only delay the arrival of that critical knowledge.
Our current foolishness in sustaining our self-declared perpetual enemies is only perpetuating both the suffering of the free world from Islamic piracy and also perpetuating the totalitarian, inhuman subjugation of the Ummah and of captive minorities within Islamic lands.
Quarantine the Islamic world now.
Stop Islamic immigration and visitation to the West now.
Cut all foreign aid, military assistance, and trade to dar al-Islam now.
Start up Radio Free Kafiristan now.
Give the Israelis an ultimatum that if they ever give up another inch of territory, we're going to cut them loose, too.
Make military preparations to obliterate the Iranian reich, and when the proper time comes, pull the trigger. And don't stop until the rubble is piled higher than the Twin Towers.
Make the Ummah live in the empty and impoverished world that is their proper due, the followers of the bloodthirsty Pirate Mohammed, unthinking, fatalistic slaves of Mohammed's vicious and genocidal little sock puppet Allah.
Posted by: Stendec at September 21, 2008 10:27 AM
"Quarantine the Islamic world now." --posted above
I've never seen it expressed in this way, but, I have to say, it sounds promising. As a dread disease would be.
Posted by: darcy at September 21, 2008 10:31 AM
Terrific post, Mr. Spencer. Thanks.
That explains the macabre fascination with beheadings.
Posted by: Spirit of 1776 at September 21, 2008 11:02 AM
"Quarantine the Islamic world now." --posted above
Who will?
http://www.usdoj.gov/crt/legalinfo/bushremarks.html
Who will be held accountable?
http://jihadwatch.org/archives/015296.php
Posted by: Alert at September 21, 2008 11:04 AM
I saw the Nick Berg video. It was sickening and there aren't words to describe how dispicable the action was.
If you can't bear to watch, it will sicken you enough to close your eyes and listen to the frenzied "Allahu Akbar" chant become a post-orgasmic croon in the aftermath of the beheading.
This is the spirituality of Islam. Outnumbering a helpless man, and cutting his head off on video, is what makes Muslims feel righteous, clean, at one with their illah, and holy.
Posted by: Abscedere at September 21, 2008 11:10 AM
Aaah, the literal interpretation of "smite their necks" acted upon by Muslims, taken directly from Allah's supposed divine words, words that Islamic apologists try to obfuscate and label the pious who obey them as misunderstanders of Islam.
Sure.
Thank you Robert.
Posted by: awake at September 21, 2008 11:18 AM
Jaynie, I made myself watch the Nick Berg video because I feel it's important to witness the horror perpetrated by Islamic thought. There's a huge difference between abstractly thinking about it, and vicerally understanding it. In a way, I was also thinking that one must know what soldiers, those who take on the "dirty work" of protecting us, must face for us. (Both seeing it, and perhaps being a victim of it.) That said, I couldn't watch it again.
Though friends of mine who lived across from Ground Zero bemoaned the "tourists" clogging "their space", I disagreed. I felt that everyone who possibly could should see, with their own eyes, the destruction Islamic beliefs lead to.
Never Forget.
Posted by: Vee at September 21, 2008 11:21 AM
Teachings such as these lead to the common Islamic idea that Islamic purity will lead to worldly prosperity, and unbelief conversely to ruin in this life. For Allah protects the believers, while the unbelievers have no protector (v. 11).
Allah doesn't do didly squat. Muslims suffer in this world more than most, and the closer they follow Mohammet's Allah diktats the more they suffer. It's a lost cause, and a hopeless spiral downwards for Islam. Their only other choice is to war on the rest of us because we are not fallen to Allah's disastrous policies, so they can aspire to get booty from us. We on the other hand have learned to live in this world with intelligent reason and good works, while Muslims do not do productive work nor improve anything, but only dream of their perverted sexual rewards in their Allah's heaven after death. If Allah lets them down in this life, contrary to promise, they should not pin their hopes on the next. Allah's 'protection racquet' is a joke.
What you see from Muslims is what Allah begets, death, killings, torture, kidnappings, women enslavement, cult behaviors, rape, loot, etc. Ah yes, it is all Allah's will, the sick malevolent will of a small evil moon god of 7th century Arabia residing in a black stone. Sick!!
Posted by: Battle_of_Tours at September 21, 2008 12:12 PM
"Unfortunately, like the 9/11 Truthers, there are many, many, people on the left who never believed that Nick Berg was killed by Muslims."
Nick Berg's own father said he did not want to be angry at Zarqawi but rather at Bush. I saw a photo of Nick Berg's father sitting on his suburban lawn wearing fashionable shorts and Birkenstock sandals, weeping like a blubbering baby and hugging a family member. Leftists like Nick Berg's father won't need to be beheaded by the Muslims -- they've already lost their heads.
Posted by: DenverRodeo at September 21, 2008 1:31 PM
Allah has cursed the unbelievers and made them deaf and blind (v. 23); their hearts are locked so that they cannot understand the Qur’an (v. 24); and they apostatize from Islam because Satan beguiles them (v. 25).
But, since Allah has already determined who will believe and who won't, he's made Satan's job easy for him. In other words, Allah is doing Satan's work.
I'm amazed that such a logical house of cards as Islam hasn't fallen apart long ago.
Posted by: Anthony (Los Angeles) at September 21, 2008 2:07 PM
It's interesting that the Quranic sanction for beheading comes from none other than the surah entitled 'Mohammed'. If one is ever arguing with a Mohammedan and he claims that beheadings are un-Islamic, even if you don't remember that it's 47:4, point out that it appears in the surah with Mohammed's own name on it.
Easy to recall.
Posted by: Infidel Pride at September 21, 2008 2:45 PM
There are plenty of beheading videos on Liveleak if you have the stumoch to watch it. No matter how tasteless they are I do believe all the dhimmis of the world needs to seem. Preferably like in Clockwork Orange with no option to close their eyes.
Posted by: Robin_Shadowes at September 21, 2008 4:34 PM
As always, a great read. Most of this I understand, but there's this: "Those who pledge loyalty to Muhammad pledge loyalty to Allah (v. 10)."
Is Muhammed really on the same level as Allah? Meaning, is Muhammed...in what he says and does...related as say, Jesus would be related to God in Christianity?
Posted by: JetBoy at September 21, 2008 8:14 PM
In Christianity, Jesus IS God.
Mohamet was just a 100% mortal - mortal - man. Nothing inherently divine about him.
As for: "Those who pledge loyalty to Muhammad pledge loyalty to Allah (v. 10)."
That's just one of Warlord Mohamet's many con's. He was a con man. He also has allah saying in the K that everybody also had to worship "Allah's Apostle," i.e. Mo. How's that for a con?!
And the Brainwashed Billion are still buying the flim-flam today. Pitiful.
at September 21, 2008 9:12 PM
one of the six collections Muslims consider most reliable – Muhammad prays, “O Allah, I seek refuge with you from unbelief and poverty.” Someone asked him, “Are they equal?” Muhammad answered, “Yes.”
As the world can see, despite its petrodollars the Islamic world is povertystriken: given that poverty=unbelief it suggests that the Islamic world is full of infidels as overall, very few have wealth.
As the West has allowed text adherent Islam to thrive because of our freedom, we too are becoming poorer and poorer having to accommodate the rising cost of surveillance, policing and intelligence and provision for their religion.
It is clear to me Islam practiced as Mohammed practiced it, brings poverty in morals, poverty in investigation and discovery and material poverty.
Posted by: snufkin at September 23, 2008 11:36 AM
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