This second passage of the sūrah provides the final rulings concerning the relations between the Muslim community and the people of earlier revelations, just like the first passage defined the final rulings on relations between the Muslim community and the idolaters in Arabia. However, the first passage addressed the situation that prevailed at the time in Arabia, speaking about the Arab idolaters and referring to their attitudes and events relating specifically to them. In this second passage we note that its statements are more general in phraseology and import, and are applicable to all people of earlier revelations, whether in Arabia or elsewhere.

These new rulings include a number of substantial amendments to the rules governing relations between the Muslim community and people of earlier revelations, particularly the Christians. By the time this sūrah was revealed, all encounters and military conflicts with the Jews had already taken place, but no such conflict took place with any Christian community.

The main amendment the new rulings include is the order given to fight those who deviate from the divine faith until they pay the jizyah, or submission tax, after they have been humbled. No peace agreement may be made with them except on this basis of submission evident by the payment of a special tax which gives them the right to live in peace with the Muslims. On the other hand, if they become convinced of the truth of Islam and accept it, they are considered part of the Muslim community.

Never will they be forced to accept the Islamic faith. A basic and definitive Islamic rule states: “There shall be no compulsion in religion.” (2: 256) But they are not given a peaceful status unless they are bound by covenant with the Muslim community on the basis of paying the submission tax.

This last amendment cannot be clearly understood unless we are fully aware of the nature of the inevitable relations between the divine system and other systems opposed to it. We must also understand the nature of the Islamic method of action, with its progressive stages and the different means it employs to face up to a changing situation in human life.

Inevitably, coexistence between the divine system and human systems opposed to it is possible only in certain situations and under specific conditions. These ensure that no material impediments are placed in the way of the implementation of the universal Islamic declaration of the liberation of man from submission to any authority other than God. The divine system wants to prevail so that people are liberated from submission to other human beings and can submit to God alone. By contrast, the other systems want to defend their own status by crushing the movement aiming to establish the divine system in human life.

By nature, the Islamic method of action will confront this human situation with similar and more powerful action, progressing from one stage to another and employing the proper methods that suit every stage. These methods and means are represented in the provisional and final rulings governing relations between the Muslim community and other communities. In order to define the nature of these relations the sūrah explains in this passage the beliefs and attitudes adopted by the people of earlier revelations, making it clear that these are `a form of idolatry, representing disbelief and are certainly false.’ The passage cites the basis of this judgement. We find that it relies on the actual beliefs of those people and the similarity between these beliefs and those of the unbelievers of old. It also relies on their actions and behaviour.

The present text states that those people of earlier revelations:

1. Do not truly believe in God and the Last Day; 2. Do not forbid what God and His Messenger have made forbidden; 3. Do not follow the religion of truth; 4. The Jews among them claim that Ezra was the son of God, while the Christians claim that Jesus Christ was the son of God. In making these false claims they are merely echoing the false claims of the unbelievers of old times, Greeks, Romans, Indians and Egyptians, or other idolaters. [We will show that the concept of the Trinity was borrowed by the Christians from old idolatrous beliefs, as were the Christian and Jewish claims that God has a son. None of these was part of the origin of Christianity or Judaism.] 5. They treated their rabbis and monks, as well as Jesus himself, as lords alongside God. Thus they transgressed the principles of God’s oneness they were bid to uphold. As such, they are idolaters; 6. They are hostile to God’s faith, trying to put out God’s light with their mouths.

As such, they are unbelievers; and 7. Many of their monks and rabbis devour people’s money and property against all right, and they turn people away from God’s path.

It is on the basis of such beliefs and practices that the truth of the people of earlier revelations is stated, and the final rulings governing their relations with the believers who implement God’s message are defined.

This definitive statement may come as a surprise and may be seen as contrary to what the Qur’ān had stated previously about the people of earlier revelations.

Certainly the Orientalists and the Christian missionaries, as well as their disciples make such claims, saying that the Prophet changed his attitude when he felt he was strong enough to confront them.

However, a thorough review of Qur’ānic statements, revealed both in Makkah and Madinah, concerning the people of earlier revelations will clearly show that nothing has changed in the Islamic view about their beliefs. The Qur’ān has always made it clear that they upheld deviant, false and polytheistic beliefs, while they disbelieved in the true divine religion, or even its portion given to them. The new amendments are confined to the way the Muslim community should deal with them. This is subject to the prevailing practical conditions, which change all the time.

We will look now at some of the Qur’ānic statements about the people of earlier revelations and the concepts and beliefs they uphold. We will then consider their practical attitude to Islam and its followers which led to the final rulings on how to deal with them.

There were no Jewish or Christian communities to reckon with in Makkah. There were only some individuals whom the Qur’ān states to have been overjoyed when they heard of the new message and they believed in Islam. They confirmed that the Prophet Muĥammad was God’s Messenger who confirmed what they had of God’s revelations. Those must have been among the minority of Jews and Christians who continued to believe in God’s oneness. It is in reference to these that Qur’ānic verses like the following ones were revealed: “Those to whom We vouchsafed revelation in former times believe in this; and whenever it is recited to them, they say: ‘We believe in it, for it is the truth from our Lord. Even before this have we surrendered ourselves to Him.’” (28:

However, the attitude of these individuals was not representative of the attitude of the majority of the people of earlier revelations in the Arabian Peninsula, particularly the Jews. Once they felt that Islam represented a threat to them, the Jews in Madinah launched a wicked campaign against it, using all the methods mentioned in several places in the Qur’ān. Needless to say, they refused to adopt Islam, and denied the references in their own Scriptures to the Prophet Muĥammad (peace be upon him), and the fact that the Qur’ān confirmed what remained with them of their true revelations. By contrast, those goodly and honest individuals acknowledged all that openly. The Qur’ān records all their denials and points out their deviation and corruption. However, the Qur’ān also includes clear statements of the beliefs of the people of earlier revelations, such as: “When Jesus came with all evidence of the truth, he said: I have now come to you with wisdom, and to make clear to you some of that on which you are at variance. Hence, fear God and pay heed to me. God is indeed my Lord and your Lord; so worship Him alone: this is a straight way!’ But factions from among them began to hold divergent views. Woe, then, to the evildoers for the suffering [they will endure] on a painful day!” (43: 63-65) “They broke up their unity, through their own wickedness, only after knowledge was given to them. And but for a word that had already gone forth from your Lord, [postponing a decision] until an appointed term, all would have been decided between them. Those who inherited the Scriptures after them are now in grave doubt.” (42: 14) “It was said to them: Dwell in this city and eat of its food whatever you may wish, and say: “Lord, relieve us of our burden,” and enter the gate in humility. We will forgive you your sins, and We will richly reward those who do good. ‘But the wrongdoers among them substituted other words for those which they had been given. Therefore We let loose against them a scourge from heaven in requital for their wrongdoing. Ask them about the town which stood by the sea: how its people profaned the Sabbath. Each Sabbath their fish appeared before them breaking the water’s surface, but they would not come near them on other than Sabbath days.

Thus did We try them because of their disobedience.” (7: 161-163) “Then your Lord declared that He would most certainly raise against them people who would cruelly oppress them till the Day of Resurrection. Your Lord is swift indeed in His retribution, yet He is certainly Much forgiving, Merciful.” (7: 167) “They were succeeded by generations who inherited the Book. Yet these are keen to enjoy the fleeting pleasures of this lower world and say, ‘We shall be forgiven.’ Should some similar pleasures come their way, they would certainly be keen to indulge them. Have they not solemnly pledged through their Scriptures to say nothing but the truth about God? And have they not studied well what is in [the Scriptures]? Surely the life in the hereafter is better for all who are God-fearing. Will you not use your reason?” ()

We will now discuss the nature of relations between the Muslim community and the followers of earlier religions, putting it in both its substantial and historical contexts. These were the major elements in defining the final rulings governing these relations.

In order to form a clear and accurate idea of the nature of such relations, it is important first to study what God states concerning these relations in His Book which is the absolutely true word that admits no error or falsehood. Such statements are free of errors resulting from human bias and faults of reasoning and deduction.

Then we have to look at the events and attitudes which confirm these statements.

The nature of the attitude of the people of the earlier revelations towards the Muslims is stated several times in the Qur’ān. On certain occasions, God speaks of them alone, while on others, He groups them with the unbelievers, since the two groups are united in their attitudes towards Islam and the Muslim community. At times, the Qur’ān speaks of certain positions they have taken which expose their alliance against Islam. The statements themselves are too clear and decisive to require any comment: ‘Neither the unbelievers among the people of earlier revelations nor the idolaters would like to see any blessing ever bestowed upon you by your Lord.” (2: 105)

“Many among the people of earlier revelations would love to lead you back to unbelief now that you have embraced the faith. This they do out of deep-seated envy, after the truth has become manifest to them.” (2: 109) “Never will the Jews nor yet the Christians be pleased with you unless you follow their faith.” (2: 120) “A party of the people of earlier revelations would love to lead you astray.” (3: 69) “A party of the people of earlier revelations say [to one another]: ‘Declare at the beginning of the day that you believe in what has been revealed to the believers, and then deny it at the end of the day, so that they may go back on their faith. But do not really trust anyone who does not follow your own faith.” (3: 72-73) “Believers, if you pay heed to some of those who have been given revelations, they will cause you to renounce the truth after you have accepted the faith.” (3: 100) “Are you not aware of those who, having been granted a share of divine revelations, now barter it away for error, and want you too to lose your way? But God knows best who are your enemies.” (4: 44-45) “Are you not aware of those who, having been granted a share of divine revelations, now believe in falsehood and arrogant deviation [from divine faith], and they say to the unbelievers that they are better guided than the believers.” ()

Several sūrahs in the Qur’ān refer to the Jews’ hostility towards Islam which manifested itself in wicked scheming and conspiracies aiming to undermine the Muslim community. Indeed this hostility has always been manifest, ever since their first confrontation with Islam in Madinah up to the present moment. It is beyond the scope of this commentary to provide a full account of such a hostile history, but we will make only a few brief references to episodes of the unabating war the Jews have launched against Islam.

When the Prophet migrated to Madinah, the Jews there gave him the worst reception that could have been given by the followers of a divine message to a Messenger of God whom they knew to be honest and conveying a true message.

They invented lies and raised doubts among the followers of the new faith, resorting to the most devious means to spread these fabrications. They expressed doubts about the Prophet himself when they were certain of his honesty and true position. They allied themselves with the hypocrite Arabs and taught them how to make false accusations and spread them around. They manipulated every possible event, such as the change in direction when Muslims offer their prayers and the false accusations levelled against the Prophet’s wife, as well as numerous other instances. Several comments in the Qur’ān, in Sūrahs 2, 3, 4, 5, 9, 33 and 59, refer directly to such incidents. Here are some examples:

And now that a Book confirming their own has come to them from God, and they had repeatedly forecast its coming to the unbelievers, they have denied what they know to be the truth. God’s curse be upon the unbelievers! Vile is that for which they have bartered their souls, because they have denied what God has revealed, grudging that He should, by His grace, send down His revelations to whom He chooses from among His servants. Thus they have incurred God’s wrath over and over again. Ignominious suffering is in store for the unbelievers. (2: 89-90)

Now that a Messenger from God has come to them, confirming what is already in their possession, some of those who had been given the Scriptures cast God’s Book behind their backs as though they know nothing. (2: 101)

The weak-minded among people will say, ‘What has turned them away from the direction of prayer which they have so far observed?’ Say, ‘To God belong the east and the west. He guides whomever He wills to a straight path.’ (2: 142) People of earlier revelations! Why do you disbelieve in God’s revelations when you yourselves bear witness [to their truth’? People of earlier revelations! Why do you cloak the truth with falsehood, and knowingly conceal the truth? A party of the people of earlier revelations say [to one another]: ‘Declare at the beginning of the day, that you believe in what has been revealed to the believers, and then deny it at the end of the day, so that they might go back on their faith.’ ()

The other people of earlier revelations, the Christians, have been no less hostile.

Enmity between the Byzantines and the Persians went back for centuries.

Nevertheless, as soon as the Church felt that Islam, the new faith, represented a threat to its concocted version of Christianity, which was no more than a collection of ancient pagan legends, misguided inventions and a handful of statements from the Prophet Jesus, both camps buried all their past enmity and age-old hatred to confront the new faith together.

The Byzantines, and their puppet Arab regime of Ghassān, started to raise forces to fight the new faith. They killed the Prophet’s messenger, when messengers were traditionally given full protection. When the Prophet sent a force of 3,000 men to stop the provocation, they were confronted by an army that included, according to historical reports, 100,000 of the Byzantines and a similar force of Christian Arabs under their rule. This was the Battle of Mu’tah, which took place in year 8 H, corresponding to 630 CE, and in which three Muslim commanders, Zayd ibn Ĥārithah, Ja`far ibn Abī Ţālib and `Abdullāh ibn Rawāĥah, fell as martyrs.

Then the expedition to Tabūk, which is the major subject of discussion in this sūrah, took place, followed by the march of the army commanded by Usāmah ibn Zayd. This was prepared by the Prophet and dispatched by his successor, Abū Bakr, in a demonstration of power to confront the Byzantine forces being mobilized to suppress the voice of Islam. Then the Muslims achieved a great victory in the Battle of Yarmūk against the Byzantines. This ushered in the liberation of wide areas of Syria, Egypt, North Africa and the Mediterranean from Byzantine colonialism, and the consolidation of an Islamic base in Andalusia. From then on the hostility of the Crusaders to Islam was in full swing.

Everybody has heard of the campaigns known as the Crusades, but these were not the only ones launched by the Church against Islam. Indeed there were much earlier campaigns, which started when the Byzantines patched up their long hostility with the Persians to lend them a helping hand against Islam in the southern areas of Arabia. The Battle of Mu’tah was another early confrontation, but there were more battles to come after the great victory achieved by the Muslims in Yarmūk. This hostility was at its most brutal when Europe, motivated by Crusader zeal, swept over the Islamic base in Spain and committed atrocities without parallel in history. The same sort of hatred and unscrupulous brutality were demonstrated during the Crusades that showed no respect for any value or pledge of honour.

Gustav Le Bon, a French Christian author who wrote a book speaking favourably of the Arab Civilization refers to the compassionate treatment Muslims extended to their enemies. He states that during the Crusades, the first thing Richardo did was that he killed at the Muslim camp 3,000 prisoners who had surrendered to him after he had given them his pledges of honour to spare them. He then ran riot with his soldiers killing and looting. This angered Saladin who had extended noble and compassionate treatment to the Christians in Jerusalem, and went as far as sending medicines, drinks and provisions to Philip and Richard, the Lion-Heart when they were ill.

Fight against those who — despite having been given Scriptures — do not truly believe in God and the Last Day, and do not treat as forbidden that which God and His Messenger have forbidden, and do not follow the religion of truth, till they [agree to] pay the submission tax with a willing hand, after they have been humbled. (Verse 29)

This verse and the ones that follow were meant to prepare the Muslims for their expedition to Tabūk and the confrontation with the Byzantines and their puppet regime of Christian Arabs, known as the Ghassānīd. This suggests that the descriptions we have here were true of the people on the other side of the confrontation. They simply show the reality of those people. These descriptions are not mentioned here as conditions for fighting the people of earlier revelations, but as qualities inherent in their distorted beliefs and the actual reality of those people.

Hence they provide the justification for fighting them. The ruling also applies to all those who share the same beliefs and characteristics.

This verse specifies three such characteristics. (1) They do not believe in God and the Last Day; (2) they do not treat as forbidden what God has forbidden; and (3) they do not believe in the religion of truth. The verses that follow show how these characteristics apply to them.

Firstly, the Jews claim that Ezra is the son of God, and the Christians assert that Christ is His son. These claims echo similar ones made by the pagans of former times. Hence, they are to be treated on the same basis as people who do not believe in God and the Last Day.

Secondly, they treat their rabbis and their monks, as well as Jesus Christ, as their Lords, in place of God. This is in total conflict with the principles of the faith of truth which is based on total submission to God alone, who has no partners. As they make such claims they demonstrate that they are idolaters who do not follow the true faith.

Thirdly, they try to put out the light of God’s guidance with their mouths. In other words, they are at war with the divine faith. No one is ever at war with the divine faith if he truly believes in God.

Fourthly, many of their monks and rabbis devour people’s property without any justification. They do so knowing that their claims to such property are false. Hence they do not treat as forbidden what God and His Messenger have made forbidden, whether we take this statement as referring to the Messenger sent to them or to the Prophet Muĥammad.

All these characteristics were true of the Christians in Syria and the Byzantines, as well as other Christians ever since Church Synods distorted the faith preached by Jesus Christ and claimed that he was the son of God and invented the concept of the Trinity, the conflict between the different sects and churches over the concept of Trinity notwithstanding.

What we have here then is a general order stating a universal rule that applies to all those among the people of earlier revelations who share the same characteristics as the Christians of Syria and Byzantium. This general application is not restricted by the exceptions the Prophet made with regard to how Muslims behave in war towards women, children, the elderly, or monks who stay in places of worship, on account of the fact that these are not fighters. Islam indeed does not allow attacks against such non-fighters whatever their religion may be.

The condition which the Qur’ānic verse lays down for not fighting them is not that they should accept Islam. No. There is simply no compulsion in matters of faith, and no one is forced to accept Islam at any time. The condition is simply that they should pay the tribute, or the submission tax, with a willing hand and that they be utterly subdued. What is the purpose of this condition, and why is it the end at which all fighting must stop?

The answer is found in the fact that with such characteristics, the people of earlier revelations place themselves at war with the divine faith, both in belief and in practical terms. They are also at war with Islamic society because of the inherent conflict between the codes of living derived from the divine faith on the one hand and ignorance, or jāhiliyyah, on the other. As described in these verses, the people of earlier revelations belong to jāhiliyyah in both beliefs and practices. History also proves the nature of conflict, and the impossibility of coexistence between the two codes. The people of earlier revelations were determined in their opposition to the Islamic faith in the period preceding the revelation of this verse, and in the period following it, up to the present day.

As the only religion of truth that exists on earth today, Islam takes appropriate action to remove all physical and material obstacles that try to impede its efforts to liberate mankind from submission to anyone other than God. That submission is translated in following the religion of truth, provided that every human being is given free choice. There must be no pressure either from the religion itself or from those forces putting up the physical obstacles.

The practical way to ensure the removal of those physical obstacles while not forcing anyone to adopt Islam is to smash the power of those authorities based on false beliefs until they declare their submission and demonstrate this by paying the submission tax. When this happens, the process of liberating mankind is completed by giving every individual the freedom of choice based on conviction. Anyone who is not convinced may continue to follow his faith. However, he has to pay the submission tax to fulfil a number of objectives:

Firstly, by paying this tax, known as jizyah, he declares that he will not stand in physical opposition to the efforts advocating the true Divine faith. Secondly, he contributes to the defence expenses for himself, his property, honour and family.

Islam guarantees such protection for those who pay the jizyah to place themselves under Islamic protection. To ensure this, Islam defends those under its protection against all internal and external enemies with its own soldiers. Thirdly, he contributes to the treasury of the Muslim state which guarantees a decent standard of living for all those who are unable to work, including those who pay the submission tax, without any distinction between them and those Muslims who pay zakāt. We do not here want to enter into polemics on who should pay the submission tax and who are exempt from it, and how much each one or each category should pay, and the methods of imposing this tax and its collection. The whole question is not under discussion today as it was at the time when Muslim scholars gave their different rulings on these matters on the basis of scholarly discretion, or ijtihād. So today this question is considered historic rather than practical. Nowadays Muslims do not engage in jihād, because there is practically no Muslim community in the real sense of the term. Indeed the issue to be discussed is that of the existence of Islam and Muslims.

As we have seen, God issued His order to the Muslims to fight the people of earlier revelations, i.e. the Jews and the Christians, “till they pay the submission tax with a willing hand, after they have been humbled.” (Verse 29) When this order was given certain circumstances, discussed in the Prologue to this sūrah, affected the Muslim community in Madinah at that time. These circumstances required that this order should be reiterated and emphasized. Its reasons needed to be clarified. The uneasiness felt by some Muslims about its purpose required reassurance. To obey this order meant opposing the Byzantines in southern Syria. Before the advent of Islam, the Arabs held the Byzantines in awe, particularly because they held control over the north of Arabia for a long time. Some Arab tribes collaborated with them, and they had a puppet state where the Ghassān tribe assumed power.

This was not the first encounter the Muslims had with the Byzantines. With Islam, God gave the Arabs a sense of dignity which enabled them to stand up to both the Persians and the Byzantines. Formerly, all the bravery they demonstrated was in internal conflict and the looting raids they launched against one another, tribe against tribe. Yet there was still a lingering fear of the Byzantines, particularly among those who had not yet acquired the true Islamic attitude. Moreover, the last major encounter with the Byzantines had not gone in favour of the Muslims. In that battle, the Byzantines and their Arab stooges marshalled large forces which some reports put at no less than 200,000 men.

All these circumstances, whether relating to the structure of the Muslim community at the time, or to the old fear of the Byzantines, or to the expedition itself which was termed ‘the expedition of hardship,’ and also the feeling that the Byzantines and the Christian Arabs allied with them followed earlier Scriptures required further clarification and more categorical statements to show that the fight against them was inevitable. All doubts had to be removed and unease needed to be countered with reassurance by explaining the reasons for that inescapable eventuality.

In this verse, the Qur’ān makes it clear why those people of earlier revelations were following deviant beliefs which echoed those of the Arab idolaters, Roman idolaters of old as also other nations and communities. They had not maintained the right faith which was outlined in their Scriptures. Hence they could not be considered as followers of any divine message, since they held beliefs contrary to all messages revealed by God. What is worth noting is the mention of the Jews and their assertion that Ezra was the son of God when these verses are meant to prepare the Muslims for a confrontation with the Byzantines and their Arab Christian allies. Most probably there are two reasons for this:

The first relates to the fact that these verses are given as a general statement, and the order to fight the people of earlier revelations until they pay the submission tax with a willing hand and are subdued is also of general import. In view of this it is necessary to outline the ideological basis of this general order that applies to both Christians and Jews.

Commenting on the assertions by the Jews and the Christians that Ezra or Jesus is the son of God, the Qur’ān emphasizes that they echo the assertions and concepts of unbelievers in former times: “Such are the assertions they utter with their mouths, echoing assertions made by the unbelievers of old.” (Verse 30) First of all this comment emphasizes that these assertions were made by them and not reported by others.

This is the reason for mentioning `their mouths’ to add a physical image, following the Qur’ānic method of expression. It is evident that whatever they say or assert must be said by word of mouth. The deliberate mention of their mouths is neither redundant — far be it from God to unnecessarily add what is redundant — nor does it make the statement verbose. The Qur’ānic style pictures how they make their assertions and gives us a very real image that we can see as we listen to the statement. There is also an additional connotation stressing that the words do not describe any thing that exists in reality. These are merely words uttered and have no real significance.

Then we have another aspect of the uniqueness of the Qur’ān which points to its origin and that it is God’s revelation. This we find in the statement: “echoing assertions made by the unbelievers of old.” (Verse 30) Commentators on the Qur’ān used to say that this means that their assertions about God having a son are similar to what the Arab idolaters used to say that the angels were God’s daughters. The similarity between the two assertions is true, but this statement has a wider implication which has transpired only recently when the faiths of idolaters in India, ancient Egypt and Greece were studied. The study has brought to light the origins of the distorted beliefs of the people of earlier revelations, particularly the Christians. They were simply derived from those forms of pagan faiths which found their way firstly into Paul’s teachings and finally into those of the Church Synods.

The Egyptian trinity of Osiris, Isis and Horus forms the basis of Pharaonic idolatry, with Osiris representing the ‘father’ while Horus represents the ‘son’. In the Alexandrian divinity, which was taught many years before Christ, the assertion is made that “the word is the second deity,” and it is also called “the first son of God”.

The Indians believed that God might take three different states: Brahma which signified creation, Vishnu which signified lordship and the provision of sustenance, and Siva which signified destruction. In this faith Vishnu is considered the son of Brahma.

The Assyrians believed in the ‘Word’ which they called Mardookh whom they described as the first son of God.

The Greeks also believed in three states of God. When their priests slaughtered for sacrifice, they sprinkled the alter with holy water three times, and they handled incense from the censer with three fingers, and they splashed those around the alter with the holy water three times. All these rituals are symbols of the trinity. Together with the pagan beliefs they represented, these rituals were introduced by the Church into Christianity, to echo the beliefs of the unbelievers of old times.

Before we explain how they took their monks and rabbis for lords, we wish to mention some authentic reports which include the Prophet’s own interpretation. His is undoubtedly the correct and final interpretation.

Al-Tirmidhī and several major scholars of Ĥadīth report on the authority of `Adiy ibn Ĥātim, who was a Christian before he met the Prophet and adopted Islam:

“When I first came to see the Prophet, he was reciting this verse of the sūrah entitled Repentance: ‘They make of their rabbis and their monks, and of the Christ, son of Mary, lords besides God.’ He explained: “They certainly did not worship these (rabbis and monks). But when they permitted them something they treated it as permissible, and when they prohibited something they treated it as forbidden.” A second authentic report is transmitted by Imām Aĥmad, al- Tirmidhī and alŢabarī on the authority of `Adiy ibn Ĥātim:

When `Adiy, who in pre-Islamic days was a Christian, heard of the Islamic message, he fled to Syria. His sister was taken prisoner together with a group of his tribesmen. The Prophet treated his sister kindly, granted her freedom and gave her some gifts. She went to her brother and urged him to adopt Islam and to meet the Prophet. `Adiy took his sister’s advice and travelled to Madinah. He used to be the chief of his tribe, Ţayyi’, and his father was widely renowned for his unparalleled generosity. People were speaking about his arrival in Madinah. When he went to see the Prophet he was wearing a silver crucifix which he hung around his neck. The Prophet was reading this verse: ‘They make of their rabbis and their monks...lords besides God.’ ‘Adiy said: `They have not worshipped them.’ The Prophet said: `Yes, indeed they did. They followed them when they forbade them what was lawful and permitted them what was forbidden. That is how they worshipped them.’ Al-Suddī, a learned commentator on the Qur’ān says: “They have sought the advice of human beings and abandoned God’s Book. Hence He says: ‘Yet they have been ordered to worship none but the One God,’ which means the One who may forbid something and it is treated by all as forbidden and may permit another and it is treated as lawful. His law is to be obeyed and His verdict is final.” In his commentary on the Qur’ān, al-Ālūsī, a scholar of the modern period says:

“That they made them lords does not mean that they treated them as if they were gods in control of the universe. What is meant is that they obeyed them in what they have bidden and forbidden.” From the very clear Qur’ānic statement and its interpretation by the Prophet, which provides the ultimate judgement, and also from the observations of scholars, old and new, we may deduce a number of very important conclusions concerning religion and beliefs which we will state here very briefly:

• According to the Qur’ān and the Prophet’s interpretation, worship means the following of the law. The Jews and the Christians did not make their rabbis and monks as lords in the sense that they treated them as gods or that they offered their worship rituals to them. Yet God describes them in this verse as `associating partners with Him’ and, in a later verse in the sūrah, as `unbelievers’ only because they followed the laws they devised for them. This alone, regardless of beliefs and rituals, is sufficient to make anyone who does it a person who associates partners with God, which takes him out of faith altogether and puts him in the category of unbelievers.

The sūrah goes a step further in encouraging the believers to fight: “They want to extinguish God’s light with their mouths, but God will not allow anything but to bring His light to perfection, however hateful this may be to the unbelievers. It is He who has sent His Messenger with guidance and the religion of truth, so that He may cause it to prevail over all [other] religions, however hateful this may be to the idolaters.” (Verses 32-33)

The people of earlier revelations do not stop at mere deviation from the religion of truth and worshipping lords and other beings instead of God, as well as refusing to believe in God and the Last Day in the true sense of such a belief. They go further by declaring war against the religion of truth and trying hard to extinguish God’s light, represented by this religion, the movement advocating it and the system it provides for human life.

“They want to extinguish God’s light with their mouths.” (Verse 32) So, they are hostile to God’s light, trying to prevent its spread. They fabricate lies and sew the seeds of discord and division. They also mobilize their followers to stand in opposition to this religion and its followers, as was the case when these verses were revealed. This has continued to be the case ever since. Although this statement aimed primarily at enhancing the determination of the Muslims at the time, it also describes the true nature of the attitude the people of earlier revelations always adopt towards God’s light as reflected by His true faith providing guidance for mankind.

“But God will not allow anything but to bring His light to perfection, however hateful this may be to the unbelievers.” (Verse 32) This is a true promise by God reflecting His permanent law which ensures that His light will always be perfected and that His religion will always prevail in spite of the unbelievers’ attempts to stifle it. This promise will reassure the believers and motivate them to continue along their way, full as it may be with hardships, and to stand up to all the unbelievers’ wicked scheming. In this instance, the term `unbelievers’ refers to those people who were given Scriptures in former times. The promise also implies a clear threat to those unbelievers and all who follow in their footsteps.

The sūrah re-emphasizes the promise and the threat at the same time: “It is He who has sent His Messenger with guidance and the religion of truth, so that He may cause it to prevail over all (other) religions, however hateful this may be to the idolaters.” (Verse 33)

It is clear from this statement that the religion of Islam, preached by God’s last Messenger, is the one to which reference is made in the previous Qur’ānic statement:

“Fight against those who — despite having been given Scriptures — do not truly believe in God and the Last Day, and do not treat as forbidden that which God and His Messenger have forbidden, and do not follow the religion of truth, till they [agree to] pay the submission tax with a willing hand, after they have been humbled.” (Verse 29) It is also clear that this order to fight is targeted against those who do not believe in this religion.

This last step in exposing the reality of those people of earlier revelations who have distorted God’s message is given in two verses addressed to the believers:

“Believers, some of the rabbis and monks wrongfully devour people’s property and turn people away from God’s path. To those who hoard up gold and silver and do not spend them in God’s cause, give the news of a painful suffering, on the day when it will all be heated in the fire of hell, and their foreheads, sides and backs will be branded with them. [They will be told]: ‘This is what you have hoarded up for yourselves. Taste, then, what you have been hoarding.’” (Verses 34-35)

The first verse elaborates on the roles of the rabbis and monks whom those people of earlier revelations have made as lords, following their bidding in their day-to-day transactions, and also in their worship.

Indeed the rabbis and monks enjoy being treated as lords whose orders are always obeyed. In what they legislate for their followers, they devour people’s property on the basis of false claims and they also turn people away from God’s path.

Devouring people’s property always takes various forms. One of these is the money they receive in return for issuing rulings that make lawful what is really forbidden and prohibiting what is permissible. Such rulings are always meant to serve the interests of those who possess wealth or power or both. Another way is what a priest might receive for listening to people’s confessions and his forgiveness of their sins, using the authority allegedly given to the Church. The worst and most common way of devouring people’s property without lawful basis is usury. There are, however, many other methods.

Another method of such wrongful devouring of people’s wealth is the raising of funds which they use to fight the religion of truth. Many were the priests, bishops, cardinals and popes who raised millions and millions to finance the successive Crusades. They continue to do so in order to finance missionary work and Orientalist research, all of which aim at turning people away from God’s path.

It is important to note here the care exercised in giving an accurate and honest statement which is characteristic of divine justice. In this verse, God says: “Many of the rabbis and monks...” This is to guard against making a generalization that would be unfair to the few who do not indulge in such wrongful practices. In any community there will always be good individuals who maintain virtuous and honest practices.

God will never do any injustice to anyone.

Many of those rabbis and monks hoard up the wealth they acquire by wrongful means. The history of those communities has seen great wealth amassed by rabbis, clerics and churches. In certain periods of history they were wealthier than despotic kings and emperors. The Qur’ān describes in detail how they will be punished in the hereafter and the suffering of all those who hoard up gold and silver and do not spend them to serve God’s cause. This is portrayed in a very vivid way that produces an awesome effect: “To those who hoard up gold and silver and do not spend them in God’s cause, give the news of a painful suffering, on the day when it will all be heated in the fire of hell, and their foreheads, sides and backs will be branded with them. [They will be told]: ‘This is what you have hoarded up for yourselves. Taste, then, what you have been hoarding.’” (Verses 34-35)

Although the reality of the idolaters was very clear, confronting them on the battlefield required a carefully prepared campaign by the Muslim community. By contrast, the confrontation with the people of earlier revelations required an even stronger and more profound campaign which aimed, at the outset, to expose the reality of those people. It also required the removal of their nameplate which no longer reflected their reality. They needed to appear as they truly were: unbelievers, associating partners with God, and at war with God and His message. Moreover, they were too far astray, devouring people’s wealth and property without justification and turning people away from God’s path. This exposure comes in statements like the following:

Fight against those who — despite having been given Scriptures — do not truly believe in God and the Last Day, and do not treat as forbidden that which God and His Messenger have forbidden, and do not follow the religion of truth, till they [agree to] pay the submission tax with a willing hand, after they have been humbled. The Jews say: Ezra is the son of God,’ while the Christians say: ‘The Christ is the son of God.’ Such are the assertions they utter with their mouths, echoing assertions made by the unbelievers of old. May God destroy them! How perverse they are! They make of their rabbis and their monks, and of the Christ, son of Mary, lords besides God. Yet they have been ordered to worship none but the One God, other than whom there is no deity. Exalted be He above those to whom they ascribe divinity. They want to extinguish God’s light with their mouths, but God will not allow anything but to bring His light to perfection, however hateful this may be to the unbelievers. It is He who has sent His Messenger with guidance and the religion of truth, so that He may cause it to prevail over all [other] religions, however hateful this may be to the idolaters. Believers, some of the rabbis and monks wrongfully devour people’s property and turn people away from God’s path... (Verses 29-34)

To this should be added all the decisive statements in several sūrahs, some of which are of the Makkah period while others were revealed in Madinah. These explain the ultimate reality of the people of earlier revelations and that they no longer belong to the divine faith preached by their prophets. Added to this must be their attitude to God’s final message. It is on the basis of this attitude that it may be determined whether they are believers or not.

Earlier sūrahs confronted them with the fact that they no longer had any solid foundation of divine faith to support their claims to be believers: “Say: ‘People of earlier revelations, you have no ground to stand upon unless you observe the Torah and the Gospel and that which has been revealed to you by your Lord’ That which is revealed to you by your Lord is bound to make many of them even more stubborn in their arrogance and disbelief But do not grieve for unbelieving folk.” (5: 68)

What does this exposure by God of the beliefs of the people of earlier revelations signify?

The deceptive front they present acts as a check on the advocates of the Islamic message in their confrontation with the jāhiliyyah. Hence, it must be removed, so that they can no longer present a false image. We must not overlook the importance of the prevailing circumstances of the Muslim community at the time, including the organic structure of that community and the fact that the Tabūk Expedition took place at a time of economic hardship which was not made any easier by the extreme heat of the Arabian summer. Moreover, the Muslims were reluctant to confront the Byzantines in open warfare, because the Arabs had always held them in awe. They were even more uneasy about the general order given to them to fight the people of earlier revelations, when they were following divine Scriptures revealed by God.

The enemies of this faith who are watching carefully the Islamic revivalist movements of today are fully aware of what may influence human nature, and of the history of Islam as well. Therefore, they are keen to give an outward `Islamic’ appearance to the regimes, movements, values, traditions and philosophies they nurture and support in order to crush the Islamic revivalist movements the world over. They do so, because this outward `Islamic’ appearance may prevent the true advocates of Islam from confronting the jāhiliyyah reality that lies behind this false appearance.

They were forced, in certain instances, to reveal the reality of such regimes and movements and their hostility to Islam. The clearest example of these was in the case of Ataturk and his movement in Turkey which was uncompromising in its enmity to everything Islamic. They needed to reveal its reality because of the urgency they felt to bury the Caliphate system which was the last aspect of Muslim unity. Although it was merely a formal aspect, they needed to do away with it before they could attack more fundamental aspects such as worship and prayer. This reminds us of the Prophet’s statement: “This religion will be undermined, one aspect after another. The first aspect to be undermined is government and the last is prayer.” Once the need for open hostility was over, those atheists and self- proclaimed followers of earlier religions, who revive their alliance only when they fight Islam, reverted to their secret ways. They were now even keener to give an Islamic appearance to other regimes which were in reality of the same orientation in opposing Islam as Ataturk’s. They have become so inventive in hiding the reality of these regimes which they support politically, economically and culturally. Their intelligence services, wide-reaching media and other resources are all used to protect such regimes. Atheists and religious enemies of Islam alike cooperate in supporting such regimes which try to achieve for them the task left unfulfilled by the Crusades, old and new.

Some Muslims, including many of those who advocate the need for an Islamic revival, are deceived by this `Islamic’ appearance which is portrayed by present-day jāhiliyyah. Hence they are reluctant to unmask these hostile regimes and show them as they truly are. All this impedes an open confrontation with jāhiliyyah. Thus the false `Islamic’ appearance exercises a sedative influence on the Islamic revivalist movements. It creates a barrier that prevents the launching of a determined effort to stand up to contemporary jāhiliyyah which tries to pull out the last remaining roots of this faith.