Mu` meneen Brothers and Sisters,

As Salaam Aleikum wa Rahmatullahi wa Barakatuh. (May Allah`s Peace, Mercy and Blessings be upon all of you)

One of our brothers/sisters has asked this question:

salamwalikum brother;

i am studying in france and i have a number of friends of different nationality and different study streams.i had ben to one of the get togthers one of the days with my friends and one of the friend who told me that she ha read the quaran and also the bible (she is a christan)and when we started disscussing about the two religions i was shocked when she told me that prophet(swas)had fought wars and killed people.is this true!!! ans also she told me that this is the only reason why she is not able to belive in islam even though she respects islam.

i am really disturbed about this,could you please clarify this to me. she also supports the jeseus christ on the issue that he never fought with any one and killed anyone that is why she prefers christanity. I hope that you have understood my pight.

thanking you.

yours brother,

kudhafiz

(There may be some grammatical and spelling errors in the above statement. The forum does not change anything from questions, comments and statements received from our readers for circulation in confidentiality.)

Answer:

Prophets and wars

In the name of Allah, We praise Him, seek His help and ask for His  forgiveness. Whoever Allah guides none can misguide, and whoever He allows to fall astray, none can guide them aright. We bear witness that there is no one (no idol, no person, no grave, no prophet, no imam, no dai, nobody!) worthy of worship but Allah Alone, and we bear witness that Muhammad(saws) is His slave-servant and the seal of His Messengers.

The Prophets of Allah do not come to the world to fight wars and kill people; but they are sent by the Merciful to declare the Message of the Creator to all of mankind, and save all those who care to listen to good caution from the punishment of the Hell Fire. They come to take mankind out of the ways of ignorance, to the light of knowledge; to remove man from the worship of stones and men, and guide them to the worship of their One Lord and Creator; to save man from the tyranny and oppression of man, and guide him to the path of mercy of the Merciful Lord; and to establish the laws and system of God in the world.

But whenever the Prophets of Allah invite mankind to this Divine Mission, the arrogant leaders and obstinate people always go against the Prophet and His Mission; and with all their might and means, try to stop these righteous slaves of Allah declaring their Mission for the upliftment of mankind.

The same was the case with the Last Messenger of Allah, Mohamed ar-Rasool Allah (saws) when he started to invite the people to the Divine Mission. He spent thirteen years in Makkah calling people to Allah and His Mercy, but the arrogant and obstinate people of the Quraysh ridiculed him and his followers, taunted them, called them names, hit them, threw stones at them, tortured them, and even killed a number of his followers! No crime did these righteous people commit, except that they believed in the One and Only True Lord, and believed in the Prophethood of the appointed Messenger of Allah (saws)!

Even after all this oppression and tyranny at the hands of the deniers of Truth, the Prophet (saws) never wished evil for the Quraysh and tried his level best to invite them to Islam in the best and most polite manner. After thirteen long years of oppression, torture and murder, the Prophet (saws) and his followers were forced to leave the land of their fore-fathers and migrate to a place called Medina. But the Quraysh would not leave them in peace even after migration, and tried with all sorts of might and means to annihilate the Divine Mission of the Messenger of Allah (saws), and the believers!

The pagans of Quraysh declared war on the believers and finally, Allah Subhanah allowed the Prophet (saws) and the believers to defend themselves against such unjust oppression. The wars fought by the Prophet (saws) and the believers was never to force anyone to believe in Islam; but were fought to defend themselves and their right to believe in the One True Lord, and follow the path they had chosen to follow. And even in the wars, the believers were strictly guided never to kill any woman, or child, or elderly, or any holy men of the enemies. They were to fight only with those who fought against them in the battlefields!

It is not as if Prophet Mohamed (saws) was the only Prophet of Allah who fought wars to defend the Mission of Allah; many a Prophet before him also fought similar wars for the Cause of Allah. If your friend claims to be a true Christian, surely she must believe in Prophet David, Prophet Solomon, Prophet Moses, etc.; for it is a condition of belief in Christianity that they believe in all the Prophets of Allah! All these noble Prophets of Allah also waged war to defend their noble Missions under the direct guidance and command of Allah Subhanah.

Prophet Jesus (a.s.) was saved by Allah Subhanah in the infancy of his Prophethood. His ministry was no more than a couple of years, and exactly what befell the other righteous and noble Prophets of Allah, befell the noble Prophet Jesus (a.s.) when he tried to call his people to Islam. The Jews and the pagan Romans saw the ministry of Truth of Prophet Jesus (a.s.) as a threat to their rule, and plotted to kill him and his followers. It is indeed true that Prophet Jesus (a.s.) did not fight any war, but his followers (the Christians) fought innumerable wars and the history of Christendom is proof of their countless wars!

All the Prophets of Allah who fought wars, did not fight because of passion; but they all fought under the direct guidance and command of Allah to defend themselves, the believers, and the Divine Mission of the Lord of the Worlds.

Whatever written of Truth and benefit is only due to Allah’s Assistance and Guidance, and whatever of error is of me. Allah Alone Knows Best and He is the Only Source of Strength.

Your Brother in Islam,

Burhan