“I am convinced about the veracity of my opinions, but I do consider it likely that they may turn out to be incorrect. Likewise, I am convinced about the incorrectness of the views different from mine, but I do concede the possibility that they may turn out to be correct.” — Imam Shafa’i

 I was intrigued  by the words “who are near you” in the ayah. In other words the ayah wants the Muslins to fight those who are in their proximity. What does this mean? I am not alone here to be curious . Sure enough, this is a controversial phrase among the commentators also who have attached numerous  meanings to this phrase.

Another reason that makes this ayah worth discussing is because it is urging the Muslims to “fight”. This is one of the issues, if not the main issue to malign and denigrated Islam and Muslims by the non-Muslims. Islam is a natural religion. It certainly justifies and defends the use of arms to protect churches, synagogue and mosques. This is needed to uphold the right and freedom to worship and generally to uphold the human rights. The humanity as a whole subscribes to this view. Recently we have gone through five years of continuous and systematic death and destruction all over the world killing forty two million souls, more than half non-combatants remembered as the World War 2. No remorse over it at all. It was hailed as a victory of right over wrong. Eisenhower who led this horrible struggle was awarded the Presidentship of USA. Here is the hypocrisy of human beings. They leave no stone unturned to disparage Islam for clearly and boldly supporting such an armed conflict in defense of religious freedom . I will not discuss this further as I have done this in two earlier articles: “The Confusion and Pitfalls in the Elucidation of the Quran and Shari’ah. The Principles and Practice of Qitaal For Muslims”; Part Two

The reference to “those deniers of the truth who are near you” may hint that only “those who are near” can be dangerous in a physical sense. Or it could mean, according to Dr. Mohammed Asad in his popular tafseer “The message of Islam”  “that – having come from afar – they have already approached the Muslim country with an aggressive intent”.

Once a conflict is insight, the natural first step is to clear the surroundings of all opposition, as we are permitted to fight our enemies who are bent on destroying us, points out the Muslim scholar Yusuf Ali in his popular and voluminous tafseer. He further adds “we must put up a stout and stiff resistance. Mealy-mouthed compromises are not right for soldiers of truth and righteousness. They are often a compound of cowardice, weariness, greed, and corruptibility.”

Maulana Maudoodi, in his well recognised tafseer “Tafheemul Quran” emphasises a different approach. He refutes the interpretations I have referred to earlier. He maintains that those “who are near you” points to “those hypocrites who were doing great harm to the Islamic society by mixing up with the sincere Muslims.” He continues in his usual strong and forceful language and tone “ in order to impress on the Muslims the importance of the matter and to urge them to do Jihad and crush these internal enemies, without paying the least regard to the racial, family and social relations that had been proving a binding force with them.” He further adds that “that they should crush the hypocrites thoroughly and completely”. He quotes an earlier ayah in the same surah to base his views. This ayah declares:[3]

“ O Prophet! strive hard against the unbelievers and the Hypocrites, and be firm against them. Their abode is Hell,- an evil refuge indeed.”

The great research scholar and mentor Javed Ahmed Ghamdi endorses the same opinion in his tafseer “Al Bayaan”. He mentions that the address is common but “the address is towards the hypocrites who, in view of their friendships, relationships and business dealings, were not prepared to take any action against those with whom war was ordered in this Surah.”

Mufti Mohammed Shafi in his forceful tafseer “Ma’aariful Quran” defines thus the meaning of “those near you. This phrase could refer to the place and distance of the Muslims from the enemy, he states. As these live closer to home base and therefore should be fought against first. On the other hand, it may very well be alluding to the kinship, parentage and other social bonds of Muslims with their adversary. This is the real test of faith and sincerity. It may be recalled that the Quran, in the earlier phase of Prophetic missions had recommended the the Holy Prophet to address the members of his kith and kin saying

“And warn your near relatives against the punishment of Allah”[4]

He therefore invited members of his family twice for a meal at his home and tried to convey to them the Message and Word of Allah as revealed to him. Acting on this principle of dealing with the near ones, the disbelievers who lived in the vicinity of Madinah such as Bani Qurayzah, Bano Nadir and the people of Khaibar were initially tackled. Next, those in the rest of the Arabian peninsula were targeted. Lastly, the expedition to Tabuk was launched to expand the movement to outside Arabia and fight the disbelievers of the Byzantine empire.

Yet another viewpoint on the meaning of the phrase in the index ayah “who are near you” is offered by  Nasr et al in the their modern tafseer “The Study Quran”. While it could mean the  general principle that a near enemy should be dealt with first, they maintain that it could also pertain to the Arabs before the command was given to fight the Byzantines. This is to emphasize that “the enemy among the Arabs should be fought before turning to the Byzantines”. They quote other commentators who designate the reference to “near enemy” as indicating a general strategy of gradual expansion of conquest beyond the “near enemy”.

The index ayah states “and let them find in you sternness”. The Muslims are urged to be tough and confront the disbelievers in a manner that they may not be regarded as weak. This is a warning to the Muslims that they should not, in future, show the lenient treatment they had been meting out to them up to that time. The Muslims are warned if they  show any kind of leniency towards them because of their personal or family or economic connections with them, such a thing shall be against the fear of God. For the fear of God and friendly relations with the enemies of Allah do not go hand in hand. There is another angle to this command, points the eminent scholar Maulana Maudoodi. The Muslims should diligently observe the moral and humane limitations of war. Muslims are generally required to maintain a balance between the two extremes. A God fearing Muslim will never transgress the limits in any way. If he does that, he is sure his Creator will forsake him. There is yet another interpretation offered for this part of the ayah. One should scrupulously observe the moral and humane limits in doing Jihad and fighting against the enemy. As a general rule, Muslims are required always to keep within the prescribed limits in everything. If you transgress these in any way, you should know that Allah will forsake you for He helps only those who are God fearing.

Nasr et al offer a specific reading of this part of the ayah: “The Command to be harsh with the disbelievers is understood as serving as a deterrence from evil deeds”. Considering this as a spiritual allegory, they think the command in this verse “mean that one should attack one’s own faults—the “disbeliever” in the soul—first, and only then may God place on one’s shoulders the responsibility to rectify the faults within others”.

……..and Allah knows best.

May Allah Ta’aala bless us with true understanding–“fahm”–of our Deen, Aameen.

Dr. Khalid Mitha