The Project Gutenberg eBook of A Critical Exposition of the Popular 'Jihád'

This ebook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this ebook or online at www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you will have to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this eBook.

Title: A Critical Exposition of the Popular 'Jihád'

Author: Cherágh Ali

Release date: March 29, 2007 [eBook #20927]
Most recently updated: July 5, 2020

Language: English

Credits: Produced by Bryan Ness, Aaron Reed and the Online
Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net

*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK A CRITICAL EXPOSITION OF THE POPULAR 'JIHÁD' ***

A

CRITICAL EXPOSITION

OF THE

POPULAR "JIHÁD."

A

CRITICAL EXPOSITION

OF THE

POPULAR "JIHÁD."

SHOWING THAT

ALL THE WARS OF MOHAMMAD WERE DEFENSIVE; AND THAT
AGGRESSIVE WAR, OR COMPULSORY CONVERSION,
IS NOT ALLOWED IN THE KORAN.

WITH APPENDICES

PROVING THAT THE WORD "JIHAD" DOES NOT EXEGETICALLY MEAN
'WARFARE,' AND THAT SLAVERY IS NOT SANCTIONED
BY THE PROPHET OF ISLAM.

BY MOULAVI GHERÁGH ALI,
Author of
"REFORMS UNDER MOSLEM RULE,"
"HYDERABAD (DECCAN) UNDER SIR SALAR JUNG."

CALCUTTA:
THACKER, SPINK AND CO.

1885.

CALCUTTA:
PRINTED BY THACKER, SPINK AND CO.

NOTE.

I here take the opportunity of removing a wrong idea of the alleged injunction of the Prophet against our countrymen the Hindús. The Hon'ble Raja Sivá Prasad, in his speech at the Legislative Council, on the 9th March, 1883, while discussing the Ilbert Bill, quoted from Amir Khusro's Tarikh Alái that, "Ala-ud-dín Khiliji once sent for a Kází, and asked him what was written in the Code of Mehammadan law regarding the Hindús. The Kází answered that, the Hindús were Zimmis (condemned to pay the Jízya tax); if asked silver, they ought to pay gold with deep respect and humility; and if the collector of taxes were to fling dirt in their faces, they should gladly open their mouths wide. God's order is to keep them in subjection, and the Prophet enjoins on the faithful to kill, plunder and imprison them, to make Mussulmáns, or to put them to the sword, to enslave them, and confiscate their property....'" [Vide Supplement to the Gazette of India, April 21, 1883, page 807.]

These alleged injunctions, I need not say here, after what I have stated in various places of this book regarding intolerance, and compulsory conversion, are merely false imputations. There are no such injunctions of the Prophet against either Zimmis, (i.e., protected or guaranteed) or the Hindús.

TO
THE HONORABLE
SYED AHMED KHAN BAHADUR, C.S.I.,

THIS BOOK
IS, WITHOUT EVEN ASKING PERMISSION.
AND WHOLLY WITHOUT HIS KNOWLEDGE.

DEDICATED

AS A SLIGHT BUT SINCERE TESTIMONY OF ADMIRATION FOR HIS LONG
AND VARIOUS SERVICES IN THE CAUSE OF ISLAM
AND
IN RESPECT OF HIS RELIGIOUS AND SOCIAL REFORMS IN THE
MOSLIMS OF INDIA,
AND
OF GRATITUDE FOR MUCH PERSONAL KINDNESS AND FRIENDSHIP,
BY
THE AUTHOR.

Transcriber's Note:

All errata listed below have been corrected in the e-text. Mistakes not listed below have been left as they appeared in the printed book, although missing or misplaced punctuation marks have been corrected.

ERRATA.

Page	Line	For	Read

v	21	them	Omit
"	22	them	it
xvii	f.n.	Maaddite	Moaddite
xxxiv	21	Morra	Murra
"	22	Soleim	Suleim
xlii	9	Kauuka	Kainuka
xliii	22 f.n.	Mozeima	Mozeina
xlv	25	Khusain	Khushain
liv	1	Ban	Bani
"	10	Ghassianide	Ghassanide
lxxxviii	30	Khalips	Khalifs
xci	30	Caliphater	Caliphate
11	10	Kurzibn	Kurz-ibn
18	9	God[2]	God:
"	"	desist[3]	desist
"	16	persecution	persecution[2]
"	17	(fitnah	(fitnah[3])
27	5	liberty and	liberty, any of
"	6	brethern merely	brethren, merely
"	6-7	such a manner	such manner
"	8	Society or	Society, or
"	9	of it materially	of it, materially
"	12	deserve pity	deserve only pity
34	6	Ibu	Ibn
61	6	Rafi	Rafe
72	24	ibu	ibn
"	25	ibu	ibn
73	4	bil	bin
90	1	as stallions	for breeding purposes
135	28	Durar	Dinar
136	16	Sirni	Sirin
192	1	Jihad does not mean the waging of war	{Read this as a marginal gloss
"	3	Jahad	Jahd.
"	14	Katal and Kital	Read this as a marginal gloss.
"	20	Conclusion	Ditto, ditto.

SUMMARY OF CONTENTS.

		Page.
Introduction		i-civ
Note		cv
Genealogical Table of the Arabs		cvi-cvii

I.	The persecutions suffered by the early Moslems	1-11
II.	The Meccans or the Koreish	11-16
III.	The defensive character of the wars of Mohammad	16-34
IV.	The Jews	34-40
V.	The Christians or Romans	40-41
VI.	The intolerance	42-51
VII.	The ninth chapter of Sura Barát	51-55
VIII.	The alleged interception of the Koreish caravans by the Moslems	55-60
IX.	The alleged assassinations by the command or connivance of Mohammad	60-76
X.	The alleged cruelty in executing the prisoners of war	76-91
XI.	Some miscellaneous objections refuted	91-114
XII.	The popular Jihád or Crusade	114-161

	Appendix A. The word Jihad in the Koran does not mean warfare	163-192
	Appendix B. Slavery and concubinage not allowed by the Koran	193-223
	Appendix C. Koranic references	225-227
	Index	229-249

Paras.		Page.
Introduction—
1.	Object of the book	i
2.	Early wrongs of the Moslem; justification in taking up arms, if taken	ii
3.	Commencement of the war; the Koreish being public enemy were liable to be treated as such	ib.
4.	But the Moslems could not take up arms to redress their wrongs under certain circumstances	iii
5.	Moslems otherwise engaged at Medina had no intention of suffering the horrors of war by taking the initiative, but were in imminent danger from the enemy	iv
6.	The Koreish first attacked the Moslems at Medina. They could not forbear the escape of the Moslems	v
7.	Three battles waged by the Koreish against Mohammad—Badr, Ohad, and Ahzáb: these wars on the Moslem side were purely in defence, not waged even to redress their wrongs or re-establish their rights	vii
8.	The battle of Badr was defensive on the part of Mohammad. Reasons for the same	viii
9.	Mohammad at Medina, owing to the attacks, inroads, and threatening gatherings of the Koreish and other tribes, had hardly time to think of offensive measures	xi
10.	Armed opposition of the Koreish to the Moslem pilgrims from Medina in the vicinity of Mecca. The truce of Hodeibia	xv
11.	The Koreish again commit hostilities and violate their pledge. War declared against those who had violated the truce. War not carried out	xvi
12.	War with foes other than Koreish	xviii
13.	Expedition to Tabúk to check the advancing enemy. No war took place	xix
14.	Number of the wars of Mohammad much exaggerated: Ghazava defined; number of actual wars	xx
15.	The Revd. Mr. Green's remarks on the wars of Mohammad criticised	xxiii
16.	Another view of the wars of Mohammad	xxviii
17.	Caravans if waylaid were waylaid by way of reprisal	xxx
18.	Intolerance; no compulsory conversion enjoined or took place during Mohammad's lifetime: Sir W. Muir quoted and refuted	xxxi
19.	A brief sketch of the propagation of Islam at Mecca: Islam at Mecca; Islam at Abyssinia; Conversions at Nakhla	xxxii
20.	Rapid stride of Islam at Medina	xxxvii
21.	The increasing number of Moslem converts at Mecca after the Hegira	xxxix
22.	Disturbed state of the public peace among the tribes surrounding Medina. Internicine wars, an obstacle to the propagation of Islam	xl
23.	Sketch of the intertribal wars in Arabia during the lifetime of Mohammad	xli
24.	Spread of Islam in the surrounding tribes at Medina after the Hegira I—VI	xliii
25.	Mecca a barrier against the conversion of the Southern tribes	xliv
26.	Tribal conversions in the sixth year. Conversion among several other tribes of the North and North-east in A.H. VIII	xlv
27.	Surrender of Mecca, A.H. VIII	xlvii
28.	Mecca not compelled to believe	ib.
29.	The wholesale conversion of the remaining tribes, A.H. IX and X	xlviii
30.	The various deputations in the 9th and 10th year of the Hegira	li
31.	A list of the deputations of conversion received by Mohammad at Medina during A.H. IX and X	li—lviii
32.	All conversions, individual and tribal, were without any compulsion	lix
33.	Mohammad was not favoured with circumstances round him. The difficulty Mohammad encountered in his work. Marcus Dods quoted: Dr. Mohseim's causes of the spread of Islam and Hallam quoted	lx—lxv
34.	Mohammad's unwavering belief in his own mission and his success show him to be a true prophet. Mohammad's efforts established monotheism in Arabia. His manly exertions, and his single handed perseverance. The business and office of a prophet described. Sir W. Muir and Stobart quoted	lxv—lxix
35.	The reforms of Mohammad, his iconoclastic policy. The redemption of Arabia from venal debauchery and infatuated superstition. Muir, Marcus Dods, Stephens quoted	lxix—lxxvii
36.	Indictment against Mohammad. His alleged cruelty and sensuality. Muir, Rev. Hughes, Marcus Dods, and Stanley Poole refuted	lxxviii—lxxxvii
37.	Objections to the (1) Finality of the social reforms of Mohammad, (2) positive precepts, (3) ceremonial law, (4) morality, (5) want of adaptability to the varying circumstances	lxxxvii—lxxxix
38.	All these objections apply rather to the teaching of the Mohammadan Common Law than to the Koran	xc
39.	(1) Finality of social reforms of Mohammad discussed. Intermediary not to be considered final	xc—xcii
40.	(2) Positive precepts and (3) ceremonial law, pilgrimage, Kibla, amount of alms, fasts, forms and attitude of prayer, &c.: pretentious prayers and ostentatious almsgiving	xcii—xcvii
41.	(4) The Koran, both abstract and concrete in morals	xcvii—cii
42.	(5) Adaptability of the Koran to surrounding circumstances	cii—ciii
43.	Suitability of the Koran to all classes of humanity	ciii—civ
	Note	cv
	Genealogical tables of the tribes mentioned in para. 31 of the Introduction	cvi—cvii

ALL THE WARS OF MOHAMMAD WERE DEFENSIVE.
I.—The Persecution.
1.	The early persecution of Moslems by the people of Mecca	2
2.	Notices of the persecutions in the Koran	4
3.	Insults suffered by Mohammad	5
4.	Historical summary of the persecutions	8
5.	The Hegira, or the expulsion of the Moslems from Mecca	9
6.	The persecution of the Moslems by the Koreish after their flight from Mecca	11
II.—The Meccans or the Koreish.
7.	A Koreish chieftain commits a raid near Medina, A.H. 1	ib.
8.	The Koreish march to attack Medina. Battle of Badr	ib.
9.	Attack by Abu Sofian upon Medina, A.H. 2	12
10.	Battle of Ohad	12
11.	Mohammad's prestige affected by the defeat	ib.
12.	Abu Sofian threatened the Moslems with another attack next year	13
13.	The Koreish again attack Medina with a large army. Mohammad defends the city. The enemy retire. A.H. 5	14
14.	Mohammad with his followers advanced to perform the lesser pilgrimage of Mecca. The Koreish oppose Mohammad, who return disappointed. The treaty of Hodeibia	15
15.	Violation of the treaty by the Koreish and their submission	16
16.	Two other tribes assume the offensive	ib.
III.—The Defensive Character of the Wars.
17.	Verses from the Koran in support of the defensive character of the wars	25
18.	What the above quoted verses show	26
19.	Justification of the Moslems in taking up arms against their aggressors	27
20.	The first aggression after the Hegira was not on the part of Mohammad	28
21.	The alleged instances examined	29
22.	Hamza and Obeida's expeditions	ib.
23.	Abwa, Bowat, and Osheira expeditions	30
24.	The affair at Nakhla	31
25.	At Badr Mohammad came only in his defence	33
26.	The first aggression after the Hegira if from Mohammad, might fairly be looked upon as retaliation	34
IV.—The Jews.
27.	The Jews broke treaties	ib.
28.	Bani Kainukaa, Bani Nazeer, Khyber, and Ghatafán	35
29.	Notice of them in Koran	37
30.	The judgment of Sád	38
31.	Defensive character of the expedition against the Jews of Khyber	40
V.—The Christians or Romans.
32.	Tabúk, the last expedition	ib.
33.	Description of the wars concluded	41
VI.—The Intolerance.
34.	Mohammad never taught intolerance	43
35.	In what sense the wars were religious wars	44
36.	The alleged verses of intolerance explained	45
37.	Sir William Muir quoted	47
38.	Comment on the above quotation	50
39.	Object of Mohammad's wars	51
VII.—The Ninth Chapter or Sura Barát.
40.	The opening portion of the IX Sura of the Koran only relates to the Koreish who had violated the truce	55
VIII.—The alleged Interceptions of the Koreish Caravans.
41.	The nine alleged interceptions of the Koreish caravans	57
42.	The interceptions were impossible under the circumstances in which Mohammad was placed	59
43.	The interceptions, if occurred, were justified by way of reprisal	60
IX.—The alleged Assassinations.
44.	Instances of the alleged assassinations cited	61
45.	Mr. Stanley Poole quoted	62
46.	Asma-bint Marwan	63
47.	The story deserves not our belief	64
48.	Abu Afak	65
49.	Kab, son of Ashraf	66
50.	Mohammad could never have had any share in Kab's murder	68
51.	Sofian bin Khalid	69
52.	Justification of Sofian's alleged murder	70
53.	Abu Rafe	72
54.	Oseir bin Zarim	73
55.	The intended assassination of Abu Sofian	74
56.	Irving and Muir quoted; concluding remarks	76
X.—The alleged Cruelties in executing Prisoners of War and others.
57.	Treatment of the prisoners of war	ib.
58.	Law of nations regarding the prisoners of war	77
59.	The execution of Nadher Ibn Harith	79
60.	The execution of Okba	80
61.	Free liberty granted to Ozza, a prisoner of war	81
62.	Abul Ozza proved a traitor and was executed	ib.
63.	The execution of Moavia Ibn Mughira	ib.
64.	Justification of Mughira's execution	82
65.	The intended execution of the prisoners of Badr and the wrong version of Sir W. Muir	83
66.	Mohammad was never blamed in the Koran for releasing prisoners	84
67.	The Koran enjoins the prisoners of war to be either freely liberated or ransomed, but neither executed nor enslaved	87
68.	High treason of the Bani Koreiza against Medina and their execution	88
69.	The whole of the Bani Koreiza were never executed	ib.
70.	The women and children of Bani Koreiza were never sold	89
71.	The exaggerated number of persons executed	91
XI.—Some Miscellaneous Objections refuted.
72.	The execution of Omm Kirfa for brigandage	92
73.	The alleged mutilation of the Urnee robbers	93
74.	Amputation or banishment substituted temporarily in place of imprisonment for want of a well organized system of jails	95
75.	Torture of Kinana	96
76.	The alleged execution of a singing girl	97
77.	The charitable spirit of Mohammad towards his enemies	98
78.	Abu Basir not countenanced by the Prophet in contravention to the spirit of the treaty of Hodeibia	101
79.	Nueim not employed by the Prophet to circulate false reports in the enemy's camp	102
80.	Deception in war allowed by the International Law	ib.
81.	Lecky's standard of morality	104
82.	The alleged permission to kill the Jews	106
83.	Sir W. Muir quoted	108
84.	The expulsion of the Bani Nazeer	ib.
85.	Their fruit-trees were not cut down	109
86.	Females and the treaty of Hodeibia	110
87.	Stanley defended	111
88.	Marriage a strict bond of union	113
The Popular Jihád.
89.	The Koran enjoins only defensive wars	114
90.	The Mohammadan Common Law and the Jihád	116
91.	When is Jihád a positive injunction	ib.
92.	The Hedáya quoted and refuted	117
93.	Rule of interpretation	118
94.	The Common Law and its commentators	119
95.	Kifáya quoted	120
96.	Further quotations	121
97.	The Kifáya refuted	122
98.	S. IX, 5, discussed	123
99.	S. II, 189, discussed	ib.
100.	S. II, 189, and VIII, 40, are defensive	124
101.	All injunctions were local and for the time being	125
102.	Ainee quoted and refuted	ib.
103.	Sarakhsee quoted and refuted	126
104.	Ibn Hajar quoted	128
105.	Ibn Hajar refuted	129
106.	Halabi quoted	ib.
107.	Halabi refuted	132
108.	Ainee again quoted and refuted	ib.
109.	Continuation of the above	133
110.	Traditions quoted and refuted	ib.
111.	Early Moslem legists against the Jihád	134
112.	Biographical sketches of the legists	135
113.	European writers' mistakes	137
114.	Sir W. Muir quoted and refuted	138
115.	Islam not aggressive	139
116.	Mr. Freeman quoted and refuted	140
117.	The Revd. Mr. Stephens quoted and refuted	141
118.	Mr. Bosworth Smith quoted and refuted	143
119.	Mr. George Sale quoted and refuted	ib.
120.	Major Osborn quoted	146
121.	Major Osborn refuted	149
122.	The IX Sura of the Koran	ib.
123.	The Revd. Mr. Wherry quoted	150
124.	Example cited from Jewish history explained	152
125.	Mosaic injunctions	153
126.	The Revd. Mr. Hughes quoted and refuted	154
127.	Meaning of the word Jihád	155
128.	Sura XLVIII, 5, explained	156
129.	The Revd. Malcolm MacColl quoted	157
130.	The untenable theories of the Mohammadan Common Law	158-161

APPENDIX A.
1.	Jihád or Jihd in the Koran does not mean war or crusade	163
2.	Classical meaning of Jihád, &c.	164
3.	Post-classical or technical meaning of Jihád	165
4.	The classical logic and Arabian poets	ib.
5.	The conjugation and declination of Jahd or Jihád in the Koran	166
6.	The number of instances in which they occur in the Koran	167
7.	In what sense they are used in the Koran	168
8.	Conventional significations of Jihád	169
9.	Mohammadan commentators, &c., quoted	170
10.	When the word Jihád was diverted from its original signification to its figurative meaning of waging religious wars	171
11.	All verses of the Koran containing the word Jihád and its derivations quoted and explained	176
12.	The above verses quoted with remarks	177
The Meccan Suras.
13.	Lokman, XXXI, 14	ib.
14.	Furkan, XXV, 53, 521	178
15.	The Pilgrimage, XXII, 76, 78	ib.
16.	The Bee, XVI, 108, 111	179
17.	The Spider, XXIX, 5	180
18.	Ibid, 7	ib.
19.	Ibid, 69	ib.
20.	The Bee, XVI, 40	181
21.	Creator, XXXV, 40	ib.
The Medinite Suras.
22.	The Cow or Heifer, II, 215	182
23.	Al Amran, III, 136	ib.
24.	The Spoils, VIII, 73	183
25.	Ibid. 75	ib.
26.	Ibid. 76	ib.
27.	The Cattle, VI, 109	ib.
28.	Mohammad, XLVII, 33	184
29.	Battle Array, LXI, 11	ib.
30.	Woman. IV. 97	185
31.	Light. XXIV, 52	ib.
32.	The Forbidding. LXVI, 9	ib.
33.	The Immunity. IX, 74	186
36.	The Tried, LX, 1	187
35.	Hatib's Story	188
36.	The Apartment, XLIX, 15	ib.
37.	The Immunity, IX, 16	ib.
38.	Ibid. 19	ib.
39.	Ibid, 20	189
40.	Ibid, 24	ib.
41.	Ibid, 41	ib.
42.	Ibid, 44	190
43.	Ibid, 82	ib.
44.	Ibid, 87	ib.
45.	Ibid, 89	191
46.	The Table, V, 39	ib.
47.	Ibid, 58	ib.
48.	Ibid, 59	ib.
49.	Jihád does not mean the waging of war	192
50.	Katal and Kitál	ib.
51.	Conclusion	ib.

APPENDIX B.
1.	Slavery and concubinage not allowed by the Koran	193
2.	Measures taken by the Koran to abolish future slavery	194
3.	None of the prisoners of war was enslaved	196
4.	Bani Koreiza not enslaved	198
5.	Rihana	201
6.	Omar, the second Khalif, liberated all the Arab slaves	202
7.	Concubinage	203
8.	Maria the Coptic	204
9.	Despatch of Mokowkas	205
10&11.	Maria neither a slave nor a concubine	207
12.	Maria had no son	209
13.	The story of Maria and Haphsa a spurious one	211
14.	The affair not noticed in the early biographies	212
15.	Sir W. Muir's authority not valid	ib.
16.	The best commentators and traditionalists refute the story	214
17.	The story not accredited by the Koran	ib.
18.	The story when fabricated	ib.
19.	Zeinab's case	215
20.	The story a spurious one	216
21.	Sir W. Muir's conjectures not justified	217
22.	A wrong translation of Sir W. Muir	219
23.	In Zeinab's case no exceptional privilege was secured	220
24.	The false story traced to Mukatil	ib.
25.	Katádas conjectural interpretation not warranted	222
26.	Other conjectures	223

APPENDIX C.
I.—	The verses of the Koran referring to the persecution of the Koreish at Mecca	225
II.—	The verses of the Koran referring to the aggressions of the Koreish at Medina as well as those of the inhabitants thereof	ib.
III.—	The verses of the Koran alluding to the wars of defence against the Koreish and Arabs, &c., with several references to their aggressions	ib.
IV.—	The verses of the Koran alluding to the various battles	226

A Critical Exposition of the Popular 'Jihád' / Showing that all the Wars of Mohammad Were Defensive; and / that Aggressive War, or Compulsory Conversion, is not / Allowed in The Koran - 1885

About This Book

The Project Gutenberg eBook of A Critical Exposition of the Popular 'Jihád'

A

CRITICAL EXPOSITION

OF THE

POPULAR "JIHÁD."

NOTE.

ERRATA.

SUMMARY OF CONTENTS.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

A Critical Exposition of the Popular 'Jihád' / Showing that all the Wars of Mohammad Were Defensive; and / that Aggressive War, or Compulsory Conversion, is not / Allowed in The Koran - 1885

About This Book

The Project Gutenberg eBook of A Critical Exposition of the Popular 'Jihád'

A CRITICAL EXPOSITION OF THE POPULAR "JIHÁD."

NOTE.

ERRATA.

SUMMARY OF CONTENTS.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

A

CRITICAL EXPOSITION

OF THE

POPULAR "JIHÁD."