Volume 8 Surah 9 - Enjoy Islam

Al-Tawbah (The Repentance) | THE BASIS OF INTER-COMMUNAL RELATIONSThey respect neither agreement nor obligation of honour with regard to any believer. Thoseindeed are the aggressors.” (Verses 8-10)How is it conceivable that the idolaters should have a covenant with God and HisMessenger when they do not make any agreement with you unless they are unable toovercome you? Should they prevail over you, they would subject you to their wrath,observing no agreement, honouring no commitment and heeding no moral or ethicalvalue. They would respect no pledge and allow no limit in the punishment theywould inflict on you if only they could prevail against you in war. They would noteven respect the values of their own society, risking any criticism they might incurfor not abiding by these limits. No matter what agreements they may have with you,their blind hatred of you causes them to trespass all limits and violate allcommitments, if only they can prevail over you. What prevents them from doing thatnow is not the sort of agreements they have with you. They are only prevented bythe fact that they cannot achieve victory over you in battle. Now that you are toostrong for them, they try to please you with what they say and by showing that theyare true to their commitments. But in truth, their hearts are full of grudges againstyou. With such heart-burning animosity, they will always wish you ill. They have nodesire to be in a relation of friendship with you and they harbour no good intentiontowards you.No Obligation Honoured“Most of them are transgressors. They barter away God’s revelations for a paltry price anddebar others from His path. Evil indeed is what they do.” (Verses 8-9) There is a basicreason for their treacherous attitude: that they are transgressors who have deviatedwidely from God’s guidance. They have bartered away God’s revelations for a paltryprice in the shape of fleeting pleasures and temporary comforts. They fear thatadopting Islam will deny them some or all of these interests or that it may involvesome financial cost. Hence they do not merely refuse to accept Islam, but they alsotry to debar others from its path. This is, then, the result of the deal they made whenthey exchanged God’s message for a paltry price. Hence, they turn away from God’spath and debar others from following it. What they do is evil indeed, as God Himselfstates: “Evil indeed is what they do.” (Verse 9)The grudge they harbour is not directed against you personally, nor are their evilactions levelled at you as individuals or a particular group. Their grudge is againstevery believer, and their evil deeds shall always be levelled against every Muslim. Itis an animosity directed at the very Duality of faith, or indeed against faith itself.This has always been the case with the enemies of faith, in all periods of history.Thus said the sorcerers to Pharaoh when he threatened them with torture, vengeance60