Volume 8 Surah 9 - Enjoy Islam

Al-Tawbah (The Repentance) | RELATIONS WITH OTHER RELIGIONSlords other than God when “they have been ordered to worship none but the One God,other than whom there is no deity. Exalted be He above those to whom they ascribe divinity.”(Verse 31)A True PromiseThe sūrah goes a step further in encouraging the believers to fight: “They want toextinguish God’s light with their mouths, but God will not allow anything but to bring Hislight to perfection, however hateful this may be to the unbelievers. It is He who has sent HisMessenger with guidance and the religion of truth, so that He may cause it to prevail over all[other] religions, however hateful this may be to the idolaters.” (Verses 32-33)The people of earlier revelations do not stop at mere deviation from the religion oftruth and worshipping lords and other beings instead of God, as well as refusing tobelieve in God and the Last Day in the true sense of such a belief. They go further bydeclaring war against the religion of truth and trying hard to extinguish God’s light,represented by this religion, the movement advocating it and the system it providesfor human life.“They want to extinguish God’s light with their mouths.” (Verse 32) So, they are hostileto God’s light, trying to prevent its spread. They fabricate lies and sew the seeds ofdiscord and division. They also mobilize their followers to stand in opposition to thisreligion and its followers, as was the case when these verses were revealed. This hascontinued to be the case ever since. Although this statement aimed primarily atenhancing the determination of the Muslims at the time, it also describes the truenature of the attitude the people of earlier revelations always adopt towards God’slight as reflected by His true faith providing guidance for mankind.“But God will not allow anything but to bring His light to perfection, however hateful thismay be to the unbelievers.” (Verse 32) This is a true promise by God reflecting Hispermanent law which ensures that His light will always be perfected and that Hisreligion will always prevail in spite of the unbelievers’ attempts to stifle it. Thispromise will reassure the believers and motivate them to continue along their way,full as it may be with hardships, and to stand up to all the unbelievers’ wickedscheming. In this instance, the term `unbelievers’ refers to those people who weregiven Scriptures in former times. The promise also implies a clear threat to thoseunbelievers and all who follow in their footsteps.The sūrah re-emphasizes the promise and the threat at the same time: “It is He whohas sent His Messenger with guidance and the religion of truth, so that He may cause it toprevail over all (other) religions, however hateful this may be to the idolaters.” (Verse 33)It is clear from this statement that the religion of Islam, preached by God’s last111