Volume 8 Surah 9 - Enjoy Islam

Al-Tawbah (The Repentance) | RELATIONS WITH OTHER RELIGIONStruth. Their only motive is selfishness. They define their final and irrevocable attitudetowards the believers in terms of insistence that they must become Jews orChristians. They will not enter into true peace with them unless the believers do soand thus abandon their faith altogether. They go further than this and testify to theidolaters that their idolatry is better guided than Islam.To determine the ultimate objectives of their attitudes towards Islam and theMuslims, we may recall the following statements God has revealed in the Qur’ān:“They shall not cease to fight you until they force you to renounce your faith, if they can.” (2:217) “The unbelievers would love to see you oblivious of your weapons and your equipment,so that they might swoop on you with one assault.” (4: 102) “If they could overcome you, theywould surely remain your enemies, and would stretch forth their hands and their tonguesagainst you with evil intent. They dearly desire that you should disbelieve.” (60: 2) “Shouldthey prevail over you, they will respect neither agreement made with you, nor obligation ofhonour towards you.” (Verse 8) “They respect neither agreement nor obligation of honourwith regard to any believer” (Verse 10)When we review God’s statements, we find that the unbelievers’ ultimateobjectives towards the believers are identical to the objectives of those who aredescribed as the people of earlier revelations. Indeed both sets of statements areexpressed in more or less the same words. This shows that the nature of the attitudesof both groups is exactly the same.The Qur’ānic statements concerning both groups are expressed as if they arestating established facts. God says about the unbelievers: “They shall not cease to fightyou until they force you to renounce your faith, if they can.” (2: 217) He also says aboutthe people of earlier revelations: “Never will the Jews nor yet the Christians be pleasedwith you unless you follow their faith.” (2: 120) This method of expression suggests thatthese are definitive statements describing permanent attitudes not individual ortemporary cases.When we cast a quick glance at the history of these relations, on the basis of theattitudes adopted by the Jews and the Christians towards Islam and the Muslims inall periods of history, we will appreciate the full import of these true statements byGod Himself. We also realize that such hostile attitudes are the rule, not theexception.There have certainly been some exceptions. Indeed the Qur’ān reports, andhistorical facts speak of, the cases of certain individuals or small communities whohave been friendly to the Muslims, and who made it clear that they believed in thetruth preached by the Prophet Muĥammad, and in his message. They eventuallyadopted Islam. However, beyond these instances, we find nothing but a long historyof determined hostility to, and wicked scheming against, this faith of Islam which89