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Western Civilisation

Until the advent of materialism and 19th c. dogma, Western Civilisation was  superior to anything Islam had developed.  Islam has not aided in the development of the modern world; in fact civilisation has only been created in spite of Islam.  Proof of this resides in the 'modern' world and the unending political-economic and spiritual poverty of Muslim states and regions.  Squatting on richer civilisations is not 'progress'.  Islam is pagan, totalitarian, and irrational.   

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Monday, August 1, 2022

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Sura 9 and 'Repentance', an excerpt from 'The Critical Quran' by Robert Spencer.

The Koran is the problem.

by Ferdinand III


 

 

 

Sura 9 or ‘Repentance’ is the ‘last revelation’ to Muhammad (pace Bukhari), after a failed attack at a Christian Byzantine fort at Tabuk in northern Arabia, in 631 AD, one year before he was murdered by his men who had grown weary of revelations, his gluttony, his special decrees benefitting himself and his hypocrisy in securing for his own needs and wants, that which was denied others, through the invocation of divine approval.  Sura 9 is a violent denunciation, anchored in anger and frustration in not overcoming the hated Christians at Tabuk, to Jews, Christians, pagans and insufficiently pious and Jihadic Muslims, that they must ‘repent’ the error of their ways and accept the totality of the Muhammad-Al Lah project and cult.  No room for shirking (disbelief), questioning, inquiry, or doubt.  Follow, obey, convert or dominate the Unbelievers and receive paradise in this life and the next as your reward.  This Sura intimates that though there may be setbacks and even defeat for the followers of Muhammad, a final global victory, is assured and this chapter supersedes all other chapters in the Koran.

Spencer:  Given the doctrine of abrogation (see 2:106), this gives it precedence over other doctrinal pronouncements in the Qur’an and codifies its bellicosity as normative for believers for all time.

The Muslim Jihad is thus permanent and universal.

This Sura is translated into English here (Translated by Yusuf Ali, a fanatical Muslim apologist, so there is no ‘mistranslations’ which so bemuse Muslimophiles when discussing problematic texts).  The excerpts below are from Robert Spencer’s book with explanations on key verses provided by Spencer in italics.  The verses listed are not obviously comprehensive but selected for importance.  This link can be used to read the translation of all the verses in this chapter which are not copied out in their entirety. 

Verse 1:  Break Treaties with the Infidels

Freedom from obligation from Allah and his messenger toward those of the idolaters with whom you made a treaty.  According to the Tafsir al-Jalalayn, the treaty between the Muslims and the pagans of Mecca “is canceled by this statement.” Muslims may break treaties with non-Muslims unilaterally; see 8:58.

Verse 2:  Infidels will burn

Travel freely in the land for four months, and know that you cannot escape Allah, and that Allah will humiliate the unbelievers. Allah will humiliate the unbelievers “in this world by killing and in the Next by the Fire,” says the Tafsir al-Jalalayn. For how the unbelievers are to be punished in this world, see 9:14.

Verse 3:  Infidels will face doom

Give news of a painful doom to those who disbelieve.  This refers only to those pagans who have violated the terms of their treaties with the Muslims; the other treaties will be honoured to the end of their term. (However) no treaty with unbelievers is envisaged that does not have a termination date; i.e., no treaty of indefinite peaceful coexistence can be acceptable.

Verse 5: Kill the pagans

Then, when the sacred months have passed, kill the idolaters wherever you find them, and take them, and besiege them, and prepare for them every ambush. But if they repent and establish prayer and give alms, then leave their way free. Indeed, Allah is forgiving, merciful. This is the notorious Verse of the Sword. In a 2003 sermon, Osama bin Laden rejoiced over this verse: “Praise be to Allah who revealed the verse of the Sword to his servant and messenger, in order to establish truth and abolish falsehood.” That is ultimately the goal of jihad warfare: the establishment of Islamic law, which brings about a just society…..Ibn Kathir asserts, on the contrary, that the unbelievers must be killed “on the earth in general, except for the Sacred Area”—that is, the sacred mosque, which is traditionally identified as being in Mecca.  This implies an endless conflict…(and)

Thus, even Muslims who do not fulfil Islamic obligations fall into the category of those who must be fought. This is a principle that latter-day Salafist movements apply broadly and use frequently in branding governments that do not rule according to strict Islamic law

Verse 14:  Al Lah will help Muslims fight the Infidels

Fight them, and Allah will punish them by your hands, and he will lay them low and give you victory over them, and he will heal the hearts of people who are believers. According to Ibn Juzayy, “Allah will punish them by your hands” means “killing and capture. That is a promise of victory for the Muslims.” The Tafsir al-Jalalayn concurs: “Allah will punish them by killing them at your hands, and disgrace them by capture and defeat.”

Verse 17:  Polytheists will end up in the fire

It is not for the idolaters to take care of Allah’s sanctuaries, bearing witness against themselves of disbelief. As for such people, their works are useless and in the fire they will remain.  Then Allah declares that the idolaters or polytheists (mushrikeena, from mushrik, polytheist) are not worthy to take care of the sacred mosque. They control it, but as comments Ibn Juzayy, “They do not have either the right or the duty to do so. They inhabit them through forceful occupation and injustice.” They have no right to the mosque because, according to Islamic tradition, Abraham himself built it as a shrine to Allah.

Verse 20: Jihad means fighting

Those who believe, and have left their homes and waged jihad with their wealth and their lives in Allah’s way are of much greater worth in Allah’s sight. These are the ones who are triumphant.

Verse 23:  Don’t take Infidels as friends

O you who believe, do not choose your fathers or your brothers for friends if they take pleasure in disbelief rather than faith. Whoever among you takes them for friends, such people are wrongdoers. Says Ibn Kathir: “Allah commands shunning the disbelievers, even if they are one’s parents or children, and prohibits taking them as supporters if they choose disbelief instead of faith.”  See also 9:113, 29:8, 31:15, and 60:4.

Verse 29:  Fight, subjugate and kill Christians

Fight against those do not believe in Allah or the last day, and do not forbid what Allah and his messenger have forbidden, and do not follow the religion of truth, even if they are among the people of the book, until they pay the jizya with willing submission and feel themselves subdued. Here is the one place where Muslims are explicitly directed to make war against and subjugate Jews and Christians, the “People of the Book,” and A hadith depicts Muhammad saying: “I have been commanded to fight against people so long as they do not declare that there is no god but Allah, and he who professed it was guaranteed the protection of his property and life on my behalf.”

Verse 30:  Christians are perverse

…the Christians say, The Messiah is the son of Allah. That is their saying with their mouths. They imitate the statements of those who disbelieved before. May Allah curse them. How perverse they are.

Verse 34: Rabbis and Priests are greedy, corrupt

O you who believe, indeed, many of the rabbis and monks devour the wealth of mankind wantonly and bar people from the way of Allah. They who hoard up gold and silver and do not spend it in the way of Allah, give news to them of a painful doom.  Says Ibn Kathir: “This Ayah warns against corrupt scholars and misguided worshippers. Sufyan bin Uyaynah said, ‘Those among our scholars who become corrupt are similar to the Jews, while those among our worshippers who become misguided are like Christians….

Verse 35: The greedy end up in Gehenna

On the day when it will be heated in the fire of Gehenna, and their foreheads and their flanks and their backs will be branded with it, Here is what you hoarded for yourselves. Now taste of what you used to hoard. On Gehenna, see 2:206, as also at 9:49, 9:63, 9:68, 9:73, 9:81, 9:95, and 9:109.

Verse 36: Arabian Astrology and calendar creation was primitive

The pre-Islamic Arabic calendar, like the Islamic calendar, was lunar, consisting of 354 days rather than the 365 days of the solar calendar. To make up this difference, Arabians added leap months—one every three solar years. This verse, which was supposed to have been revealed in the year 629, forbids adding leap months. In connection with this, the contemporary Islamic scholar Johannes Jansen points out that in the eighth/ninth century biography of Muhammad by Ibn Ishaq via Ibn Hisham, “For every event which took place in the life of Muhammad, Ibn Ishaq meticulously recorded in his Sira in which month it took place,” and that this is “one of the main reasons why Western historians classified his book as historiography in the normal sense of that word.”

Verse 39: Jihad is an obligation

If you do not go forth, he will afflict you with a painful doom, and will choose a people other than you instead of you. You cannot harm him at all. Allah is able to do all things.  Those who “incline away from jihad,” says the Tafsir al-Jalalayn—will face divine punishment and be replaced by another people.

Verse 41:  Jihad is an obligation unless ill or weak (old)

Go forth, light-armed and heavy-armed, and wage jihad with your wealth and your lives in the way of Allah. That is best for you, if you only knew. Ibn Kathir, Ibn Juzayy, and the Tafsir al-Jalalayn all agree that that command was abrogated by 9:91, which exempts the weak or ill from the obligation to fight. This once again demonstrates that the Qur’anic concept of fighting involves warfare against non-Muslims, not a struggle within the soul of the individual believer. This fight is of the highest priority, to the extent that a hadith depicts Muhammad as being asked, “Guide me to such a deed as equals Jihad (in reward),” and answering: “I do not find such a deed.”

Verse 44:  Don’t question the obligation of Jihad

Those who believe in Allah and the last day do not ask permission of you that they not wage jihad with their wealth and their lives. Allah is aware of those who keep their duty. True Muslims did not hesitate to wage jihad, even to the point of risking their property and their very lives. The ones who refused to do this weren’t believers.

Verse 52: Conquer the Infidel or die in the attempt

Say, Are you waiting for anything to happen to us except one of two good things, while we await for you that Allah will afflict you with a doom from him or at our hands. Wait, then. Indeed, we are waiting with you.  The two best things are martyrdom or victory. The Muslims will either defeat the enemy or be killed by them, in which case they will enter paradise, a win/win situation (see 3:124).

Verse 60: Charity for Muslims alone to make the cult stronger

The alms are only for the poor and the needy, and those who collect them, and those whose hearts are to be reconciled, and to free the captives and the debtors, and for the sake of Allah, and the wayfarer, a duty imposed by Allah. Allah is the knower, the wise one. Allah specifies those to whom the obligatory alms, zakat, can be distributed; it can be spent “for the sake of Allah.” That means, explains the Tafsir al-Jalalayn, it can be spent to “enable those who do not have booty to undertake jihad, even if they are rich.” Ibn Kathir states that zakat for the sake of Allah “is exclusive for the benefit of the fighters in Jihad, who do not receive compensation from the Muslim Treasury.” As-Suyuti adds: “Some say that it is spent on all that is connected to jihad: treaties with the enemy, building fortresses, digging ditches, providing weapons and provision, and paying spies, even if they are Christians.”

Verse 65: Mocking Muhammad is a blasphemy (punished by death)

And if you ask them, they will say, We were only talking and joking. Say, Was it Allah and his signs and his messenger that you mocked?  “Mocking the signs of Allah,” says as-Suyuti, “is tantamount to kufr,” that is, unbelief. This is one reason why cartoons of Muhammad are such a hot-button issue among many Muslims today.

Verse 68: Unbelievers go to Hell

Allah promises the hypocrites, both men and women, and the unbelievers, the fire of Gehenna for their dwelling. It will be sufficient for them. Allah curses them, and theirs is lasting torment.

Verse 73: Muslims must wage war

O prophet, wage jihad against the unbelievers and the hypocrites. Be harsh with them. Their ultimate dwelling place is Gehenna, an evil destination. “Wage jihad” is jahidi, strive hard (see 2:218). Attributed to Ibn Abbas is this explanation: “Allah commanded the Prophet to fight the disbelievers with the sword, to strive against the hypocrites with the tongue and annulled lenient treatment of them.”

Verse 86:  Wage Jihad

And when a sura is revealed, Believe in Allah and wage jihad along with his messenger, the men of wealth among them still ask permission from you and say, Permit us to be with those who sit.

Verse 88: Your personal Jihad brings rewards

But the messenger and those who believe with him wage jihad with their wealth and their lives. Such people are the ones for whom the good things are. Such people are the ones who are the successful.

Verse 90: If you lie to avoid participating in Jihad, you are not a Muslim

And those among the nomadic Arabs who had an excuse came in order that permission might be granted to them. And those who lied to Allah and his messenger sat at home. A painful doom will fall upon those among them who disbelieve. Ibn Juzayy says that the refusal of the Bedouin Arabs to wage jihad invalidated their claim to be Muslim: “They were the people who did not go on jihad nor ask excuses to stay behind them, so they lied when they claimed to believe.”

Verse 100: Emigrate to spread the cult

And the first to lead the way, of the emigrants (muhajiroun) and the helpers (ansar), and those who followed them in goodness, Allah is well pleased with them and they are well pleased with him, and he has made ready for them gardens under which rivers flow, in which they will remain forever. That is the supreme triumph.  In Islamic tradition, the muhajiroun, “emigrants,” are those who left their land to go to another and bring Islam to it. The first muhajiroun were Muhammad and the original Muslims of Mecca when they moved to Medina. The later converts in Medina were known as the ansar, “helpers.” The emigrants have the priority among Muslims, which is an indication of the importance placed upon emigration for the sake of Allah. See 4:100.

Verse 111: Al Lah owns your wealth, so Jihad, including suicide bombing is your duty

Indeed, Allah has bought from the believers their lives and their wealth, because the garden will be theirs, they will fight in the way of Allah and will kill and be killed. It is a promise that is binding on him in the Torah and the Gospel and the Qur’an. Who fulfills his covenant better than Allah? Rejoice then in your bargain that you have made, for that is the supreme triumph. This verse has become in the modern age the rationale for suicide bombing. Ibn Kathir explains: “Allah states that He has compensated His believing servants for their lives and wealth—if they give them up in His cause—with Paradise.” Ibn Juzayy adds significantly that this verse’s “judgment is general to every believer doing jihad in the way of Allah until the Day of Rising.”

Verse 122:  Not everyone in the community must fight unless attacked

And the believers should not all go out to fight. Of every troop of them, only a party should go forth, so that they may gain sound knowledge in religion, and that they may warn their people when they return to them, so that they may beware.  All the Muslims need not go forth to wage jihad warfare. This is a foundation for the Islamic legal principle that jihad is fard kifaya—that is, a community obligation from which some are freed if others take it up. Jihad becomes fard ayn, or obligatory on every believer, when a Muslim land is attacked.

Verse 123:  Contradicting verse 122 all Muslims should fight all Infidels near them

O you who believe, fight those of the unbelievers who are near to you, and let them find harshness in you, and know that Allah is with those who keep their duty.  Says Ibn Kathir: “Allah commands the believers to fight the disbelievers, the closest in area to the Islamic state, then the farthest.”

 

 

 

As evidenced by the sample above, Sura 9 has nothing nice to say about non-Muslims.  Jews, Christians, pagans, impious Muslims are targeted for Jihad, conversion or death.  The obligation for all Muslims to wage Jihad in some manner is restated and emphasised many times.  Everyone in the Muslim community has a divine duty to help the cult achieve its main objective which is world-wide domination.  This must be an active, not a passive duty.  The Sura demands that every Muslim use their person, their goods, their wealth, and any means available including lies, deceit, breaking of treaties, or emigration to non-Muslim lands, to advance the cause of Muhammad’s cult.  Sura 9 is the final ‘revelation’ by the Al Lah to Muhammad and is the clearest statement imaginable, on Muslim intolerance toward all Unbelievers and the never-ending, open-ended demand for war, Jihad, and global domination.  No wonder Muslimophiles studiously ignore this chapter.  


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