(saas), and love and respect them all equally. Similarly,they also
harbor a profound love and respectfor those people who were genuinely
devoted to these true Prophets and who defended the truth with them.
Verses from the Qur'an referring to the peoples of the Prophets read
as follows:
You who believe! Be helpers of Allah as Jesus son of Maryam said to
the Disciples, 'Who will be my helpers to Allah?' The Disciples said,
'We will be the helpers of Allah.' One faction of thetribe of Israel
believed and the other disbelieved. So We supported those who believed
against their enemy and they becamevictorious. (Surat as-Saff,14)
... There is a community among the People of the Book who are upright.
They recite Allah's signs throughoutthe night, and they prostrate.
They believe in Allah and the Last Day, and enjoin the right and
forbid the wrong, and compete in doing good. They are among the
righteous. You will not be denied the reward for any goodthing you do.
Allah knows those who have taqwa [fear of Allah]. (Surah Al 'Imran,
113-115)
Because Muslims behave according to the Qur'an and the Sunna of our
Prophet (saas), they also love the People of the Book. They feel
affection for those who remained loyal to Allah's Prophets and the
mission imparted to them. It is for these reasons that there can be no
question of a Muslim who has faith in Allah andHis Book ever adopting
ananti-Semitic line. That is because it is wrong to be anti-Semitic,
in other words to harbor enmity toward devout Jews who obeyed the
Prophet Moses (as) and his mission. It is unlawful, according to the
Qur'an, to feel anger toward the People of Israel because they live by
the Torah sent down by Allah to them through the Prophet Moses (as).
Such amoral conception is unbecoming of Muslims.
What matters for us is theattitude of our Prophet (saas), who always
treated Jews believing in Allah in his own day with great
understanding and justice. The People of the Book were treated with
great compassion in the time of our Prophet (saas)and the four Caliphs
who followed. These people were watched over and protected, and their
rightspreserved with justice. Our Prophet (saas) both called on them
to convert to Islam but also treated them well and allowed them to
live by their own faith.
If according to the Qur'an, the attitude to be adopted toward the
People of the Book were one of hostility, then the first person to do
that would obviously have been our Prophet (saas) himself. The fact
is, however, that historic documents make it clear that in the time of
our Prophet (saas) and the Caliphs who came after him, devout Jews and
other People of the Book who sought shelter with Muslims, asked for
protection and did not fight against them were always treated in a
lovingand protective manner. (You can read more details from here. )
Allah clarifies this in these verses:
Allah does not forbid you from being good to those who have not fought
you in the religion or driven you from your homes, or from being just
towardsthem. Allah loves those who are just. (Surat al-Mumtahana, 8)
Those who believe and those who are Jews and the Sabaeans and the
Christians, all who believe in Allah and the Last Day and act rightly
will feel no fear and will know no sorrow. (Surat al-Ma'ida, 69)
It is for these reasons that, according to the verses of the Qur'an,
it is atheists, associaters that Muslims need to wage an intellectual
struggle against, both in the time of our Prophet (saas) and in the
present day, and not devout believers. Our Prophet (saas) never fought
devout Jews or Christians who believed inthe Oneness of Allah. The
Prophet (saas) and his companions only fought against atheists and
thosepagans and hypocrites who did all they could, physically and
psychologically, to harm Muslims and prevent the spread of the
religion and stop Muslims preaching.
Looking at the battles fought by our Prophet (saas), these were always
fought for defensive purposes. In other words, the Prophet (saas)
never embarked on war against those who did not declarewar on him, and
never continued fighting againstthose who wished to put a stop to it
or asked for terms. Our Prophet (saas) remained completely loyal to
the conditions regarding war revealed by Allah in the Qur'an. Allah
reveals this in the Qur'an on the subject:
Permission to fight is given to those who are fought against because
they have been wronged – truly Allah has the power to come to their
support – (Surat al-Hajj, 69)
But if they cease, Allah isEver-Forgiving, Most Merciful. (Surat al-Baqara, 192)
... Do not fight them in the Masjid al-Haram until they fight you
there. But if they do fight you, then kill them... (Surat al-Baqara,
191)
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