Volume 8 Surah 9 - Enjoy Islam

Al-Tawbah (The Repentance) | THE BASIS OF INTER-COMMUNAL RELATIONSlength in Chapter 2 of this volume. We need to reflect now on the history of theidolaters with the Muslims.If we consider that Islam, which is the faith based on the principle of submissionto God alone, concluded, rather than started, with the message of the ProphetMuĥammad, we are bound to recognize that the attitude of idolaters towards everyone of God’s Messengers and to divine messages reflects the attitude of idolatrytowards faith. This should place matters in the right perspective. We see this attitudefor what it is in reality, as truthfully described in these Qur’ānic verses. It is anattitude that we recognize in all periods of history.What did the idolaters do to those noble prophets and messengers: Noah, Hūd,Şāliĥ, Abraham, Shu`ayb, Moses, Jesus, (peace be upon them all), each in his owntime? And what did they do to the Prophet Muĥammad and his followers? Theycertainly respected no agreement or obligation of honour, until they had beenovercome. Again, what did the idolaters do to the Muslims in the second greatcampaign mounted against Islam, when the banner of idolatry was this time hoistedby the Tartars? Even today, fourteen centuries after the revelation of these verses,what is being done to the Muslims by the idolaters and the atheists everywhere?They simply do what the Qur’ān states: “They respect neither agreement nor obligation ofhonour with regard to any believer” (Verse 10)When the Tartars won victory over the Muslims in Baghdad, an unprecedentedmassacre took place. We will mention here only a brief account of what is recordedby the historian Ibn Kathīr in his book, al-Bidāyah wa’l-Nihāyah, as he describes theevents of the year 656 H. (1258 CE):When the Tartars descended on the city of Baghdad, they killed whomeverthey met of men, women and children, young and old. Many people tried tohide in wells, rubbish dumps and sewers, where they stayed for several days.Some people locked themselves in inns and guesthouses, but the Tartarsbroke into every such house, and chased the people they found there to theroofs where they killed them. Gutters and alleys were overflowing withblood, and so were mosques and other places of worship. The only survivorswere the Jews and the Christians in the city and those who sought refugewith them, and those who were given shelter in the house of Ibn al-`Alqamī,the Shi`ite minister. A group of businessmen were also spared and givensafety after they had paid large sums of money for the purpose. Baghdad,which used to be the most friendly and peaceful of cities, was totally in ruin,inhabited only by a small portion of its original population, and even thesewere living in fear, hunger and humiliation.Reports on the number of the Muslims killed in Baghdad in this battle vary,63