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.
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.
Sura 8 or ‘The Spoils of War’ is a chapter devoted to the Muslim Jihad, which is not a ‘spiritual’ struggle, but simply a campaign of endless war until the earth is subdued for the Al Lah idol of Mecca, and his only true spokesman, the illiterate Bedouin Arab Muhammad. Muslimophiles will studiously avoid this chapter (and most of Chapters 2, 5, and 9), given the obvious declarations of intolerance, timeless war, and depredations against the non-Muslim Infidel. This chapter dates from the second year of the ‘Medinan’ period (fleeing from Mecca) and the ‘second part’ of Muhammad’s career namely that as brigand, war-leader, exterminator. This Sura was ‘revealed’ to Muhammad after the Battle of Badr, a Muslim victory over the Meccan forces and Muhammad’s own tribe the Quraysh, in 624 A.D. If the Quraysh had defeated Muhammad’s small force (maybe some 300 men against 1000 or so of the Quraysh), then the cult of Muhammad would have died in its infancy.
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: Muhammad and Al-Lah need the spoils of war as an obligation
They ask you about the spoils of war. Say, The spoils of war belong to Allah and the messenger, so keep your duty to Allah, and settle your differences, and obey Allah and his messenger, if you are believers. Islamic tradition holds that there was great booty for the victors at Badr, so much that it became a bone of contention among the Muslims. According to the story, Muhammad was receiving questions about the disposal of the booty, and Allah responds by telling them that its distribution is up to the messenger.
Verse 5: Jihad is an obligation
Allah refers to various incidents that took place before and during the battle, emphasizing that he commands warfare and protects the believers in it. The true believers were willing to go out of their homes to wage jihad warfare, but some disliked doing so and complained. This echoes 2:216.
Verse 9: Angels help Muslims in battle
When you asked for help from your Lord and he answered you, I will help you with a thousand angels, rank on rank. The thousand angels that joined the Muslims to smite the Quraysh are an indication that Allah fights alongside the righteous, and thus righteousness is a prerequisite for victory.
Verse 12: Al Lah will use terror against the enemies of Muhammadanism
When your Lord inspired the angels, I am with you. So make those who believe stand firm. I will cast terror into the hearts of those who disbelieve. Then strike the necks and strike their fingertips. This verse became one of the chief justifications for the Islamic practice of beheading hostages and war captives. Ibn Kathir explains that the angels are instruments of Allah’s wrath who are to “support the believers, strengthen their (battle) front against their enemies, thus, implementing My command to you. I will cast fear, disgrace and humiliation over those who defied My command and denied My Messenger.”
Verse 13: Al Lah punishes any who don’t follow Muhammad
That is because they opposed Allah and his messenger. Whoever opposes Allah and his messenger; indeed, Allah is severe in punishment.
Verse 14, 15: Unbelievers go to Hell, why Green is the colour of the Muslim flag
So taste that, and that for unbelievers is the torment of the fire. O you who believe, when you meet those who disbelieve in battle, do not turn your backs on them. The Muslims must always advance, never turning their backs on the enemy, unless they do so as a stratagem of war. This is why the colour green is featured on the flags of so many Islamic nations: Islam is and must be ever expanding, always experiencing a springtime, never losing ground or withering and dying.
Verse 16: Jihad is an obligation, don’t turn back from conflict
Whoever turns his back on them on that day, unless he is manoeuvring for battle or intent on joining a company, he indeed has incurred wrath from Allah, and his dwelling place will be Gehenna, an evil destination. On Gehenna, see 2:206, as also for 8:36-7.
Verse 17: It is Al Lah who is really doing the fighting
You did not kill them, but Allah killed them. And you did not throw when you threw, but Allah threw, so that he might test the believers with a fair test from him. Indeed, Allah is the hearer, the knower. Allah tells the messenger that the Muslims were merely passive instruments at Badr. At one point, according to Ibn Hisham, Muhammad threw pebbles toward the Quraysh, exclaiming: “Foul be those faces!” But it was Allah who killed the Quraysh and even Allah who threw the pebbles.
Verse 30: Al Lah’s ‘plan’ includes War against the Unbelievers
And when those who disbelieve plot against you, to wound you fatally, or to kill you or to drive you out, they scheme, but Allah schemes, and Allah is the best of schemers. Here again, the idea is reinforced that the battles of the Muslims are more than just earthly conflicts but elaborations of Allah’s plan. Allah is also depicted as a schemer or plotter at 3:54, 7:99, and 10:21.
Verse 39: Fight all Infidels until Muslims control the world
And fight them until persecution is no more, and religion is all for Allah. But if they stop, then indeed, Allah is the seer of what they do. According to numerous Islamic authorities, the statement that Muslims must fight until there is no more persecution (fitna) means that they must fight “so that there is no more Shirk.” For shirk, see 2:193, 4:31, and 6:21. The Tafsir al-Jalalayn explains that the fight must continue until “only He is worshipped.” The popular twentieth-century Saudi Tafsir as-Sadi states: “This is the goal of fighting and jihad against the enemies of the faith; it is to ward off their evil from the faith and to defend the religion of Allah, Who created people to follow this path, so that it will be supreme over all other religions.” This is thus an open-ended declaration of warfare against non-Muslims and assumes that non-Muslim religious observance in itself constitutes “persecution.” The idea that Islam will prevail over all other religions is additionally at 2:193, 9:33, and 61:9.
Verse 41: Spoils of war for Muhammad and the Al Lah
And know that whatever you take as spoils of war, indeed, a fifth of it is for Allah, and for the messenger and for the relatives and orphans and the needy and the traveller, if you believe in Allah and what we revealed to our slave on the day of furqan, the day when the two armies met. And Allah is able to do all things. An Islamic tradition amplifies this with an account of Muhammad’s generosity: After one battle, Muhammad prayed “facing a camel from the war booty,” and then, holding some of the camel’s hair between his fingers, said to his men: “This is also a part of the war booty you earned. Verily, I have no share in it, except my own share, the fifth designated to me. Even that fifth will be given to you.” Muhammad continued by exhorting the Muslims to turn over all the spoils of war to him for just distribution: “Therefore, surrender even the needle and the thread, and whatever is bigger or smaller than that (from the war spoils). Do not cheat with any of it, for stealing from the war booty before its distribution is Fire and a shame on its people in this life and the Hereafter. Perform Jihad against the people in Allah’s cause, whether they are near or far, and do not fear the blame of the blamers, as long as you are in Allah’s cause. Establish Allah’s rules while in your area and while traveling. Perform Jihad in Allah’s cause, for Jihad is a tremendous door….
Verse 50 and 51: Angels strike those who disbelieve
If you could see how the angels receive those who disbelieve, striking faces and their backs and, Taste the punishment of burning. 51 This is for what your own hands have sent before, and Allah is not a tyrant to his slaves,
Verse 55: Unbelievers are the worst of animals
Indeed, the worst of animals in Allah’s sight are the ungrateful who will not believe. This equation of unbelievers with animals is another indication that unbelievers are worthy of no respect or consideration. See also 98:6.
Verse 57 and 58: Unbelievers are treacherous
If you come upon them in the war, deal with them so as to strike fear in those who are behind them, so that perhaps they may remember. 58 And if you fear treachery from any people, then throw it back to them fairly. Indeed, Allah does not love the treacherous. If the Muslims “fear treachery” from unbelievers with whom they have a treaty, they should simply break the treaty. Ibn Kathir says this means that Muslims should tell the unbelievers “that you are severing the treaty. This way, you will be on equal terms, in that, you and they will be aware that a state of war exists between you and that the bilateral peace treaty is null and void.”
Verse 60: Strike terror into non-Muslims
Make ready for them all that you can of force and of warhorses, so that by them you may strike terror in the enemy of Allah and your enemy, and others beside them whom you do not know. Allah knows them. Whatever you spend in the way of Allah, it will be repaid to you in full, and you will not be wronged. This is the Qur’an’s third mention of the imperative to strike terror in the unbelievers. See 3:151 and 8:12.
Verse 65: Believers must fight even if the enemy is more numerous
O prophet, exhort the believers to fight. If there are just twenty of you who are steadfast, they will overcome two hundred, and if there are a hundred of you, they will overcome a thousand of those who disbelieve, because they are a people without intelligence. Allah will give pious Muslims more victories, even if they face odds even more prohibitive than those they had overcome at Badr, although this promise is almost immediately backtracked: originally a hundred would defeat a thousand unbelievers, but this is then reduced to a hundred believers vanquishing two hundred unbelievers (8:66). These became recurring themes of jihad literature throughout the centuries, up to the present day: piety will bring military victory, and the Muslims will conquer even against overwhelming odds.
Verse 67: Slaughter first, take captives and slaves later (in other words earn the right to own slaves)
It is not for any prophet to have captives until he has made slaughter in the land. You desire the lure of this world, and Allah desires the hereafter, and Allah is mighty, wise. According to the Tafsir al-Jalalayn, this verse was revealed “when ransom was accepted for the captives at Badr.” The Muslims had released some of the prisoners at Badr, but this was out of their base desire for material gain: the money they would receive in ransom. The tafsir continues: “You (believers) desire the goods of this world – the money you accepted as ransom – whereas Allah desires the reward of the Next World for you through fighting the unbelievers.” The Muslims should therefore have given up the prospect of gaining worldly goods and simply killed their captives, which would have brought the Muslims the rewards of paradise.
Verse 72: Waging Jihad will grant you a reward
Indeed, those who believed and left their homes and waged jihad with their wealth and their lives for the sake of Allah, and those who took them in and helped them, these people are protecting friends one of another. And those who believed but did not leave their homes, you have no duty to protect them until they leave their homes, but if they seek help from you in the matter of religion, then it is your duty to help, except against a people between whom and you there is a treaty. Allah is the seer of what you do. On “jihad,” see 2:218, as also for 8:74.
These are only some verses advocating war against the ‘worst of animals’ the Unbelieving Kufar or Infidel. Muhammad and his Al Lah want their share of the booty, after all it is the Al Lah and his angels which are guaranteeing victory for Muslims, with a thousand angels purportedly helping the Muslims at the Battle of Badr, allowing the small force of Muhammadans to defeat a larger enemy, and importantly, avail itself of much booty. This would have caused debate within the Muslim ranks as to what to do with the plunder. This chapter reveals the solution and distribution of goods and people, taken in battle. It is clearly stated in this text that Jihad is a mandatory obligation; that Jihad to end ‘Shirk’ or disbelief is a commandment from the Al Lah, and that the terms of warfare are open-ended until all non-Muslims submit or convert. Muslims who do not engage in Jihad, or at least support it, are impious and will be punished. No wonder Muslimophiles avoid this chapter.
7:166. When in their insolence they transgressed (all) prohibitions, We said to them: “Be ye apes, despised and rejected.”
167. Behold! Thy Lord did declare that He would send against them, to the Day of Judgment, those who would afflict them with grievous penalty. Thy Lord is quick in retribution, but He is also Oft-forgiving, Most Merciful.
Sura 7 or ‘The Heights’ is a chapter which rejects Christianity. It repeatedly assures the reader that the Christians are losers, will fill up hell, that Christ is not divine nor associated with Al Lah and that Al Lah will reward Muslims and lead others astray whom he will punish. Jews are described as Sabbath breaking apes and pigs.
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).
Sura excerpts from Robert Spencer’s book are below and explanations on key verses within this Sura provided by Spencer. This link can be used to read the translation of the verses which are not copied out in their entirety. Spencer’s commentary is against that specific verse (italics).
Spencer: “The Heights” is traditionally considered to be another Meccan sura, dating from around the same time as sura 6: Muhammad’s last year in Mecca before the Hijra to Medina. The Tafsir al-Jalalayn states that verses 163 to 170, which deal with the Sabbath-breaking Jews who were transformed into apes, are from Medina.
Verse 3: There are no protectors (as in Christian theology)
Follow what has been sent down to you from your Lord, and follow no protecting friends besides him. Little do you remember. Yet another warning of the dreadful judgment; here “you” is plural, while in 7:2 it was singular. Bell suggests that there may be a textual break between verses 2 and 3, as “appears from the change of address.”
Sura 4: Destruction for the unbelievers
How many a town have we destroyed? As a raid by night, or while they slept at noon, our terror came to them. See 3:137 and 6:6. Such verses about divine judgment do not necessarily refer solely to thunderbolts from heaven: see 9:14. Jihad terrorists consider themselves to be the instruments of Allah’s judgment, destroying cities and punishing unbelievers in accord with the Qur’an.
Sura 16: Adam was a Muslim
He said, Now, because you have led me astray, indeed I will lurk in ambush for them on your right path. Satan, banished, says he will spend his time tempting the Muslims away from the straight path. A hadith details how he would confront “the Son of Adam” and chide him for considering converting to Islam, abandoning his ancestral religion. “However,” the story goes, “the Son of Adam disobeyed Shaytan and embraced Islam.”
…the Son of Adam once again disobeyed Satan and went on jihad. The hadith continues: “Therefore, whoever among them (Children of Adam) does this and dies, it will be a promise from Allah that He admits him into Paradise. If he is killed, it will be a promise from Allah that He admits him into Paradise.”
Verse 18: Non-Muslims will fill up Hell
He said, Go forth from here, degraded, banished. As for those who follow you, surely I will fill Gehenna with all of you.
Sura 41: Repeats verse 18
Theirs will be a bed of Gehenna, and over them coverings. In this way we repay wrongdoers. On Gehenna, see 2:206.
Verse 54: Allah creates everything in 6 days or is it 8 days?
Indeed, your Lord is Allah, who created the heavens and the earth in six days, and then mounted the throne. He covers the night with the day, which is in haste to follow it, and has made the sun and the moon and the stars submissive by his command. All creation and command is indeed his. Blessed be Allah, the Lord of the worlds. Allah here creates the universe in six days, as he does at 10:3, 11:7, 25:59, 32:4, and 50:38. However, at 41:9-12, he does it in eight days.
Verse 81: Homosexuality is punished by death
Indeed, you come with lust to men instead of to women. No, but you are wanton people. Lot’s story bears traces of the Sodom and Gomorrah incident in the Bible, as this verse recalls Genesis 19:5. The punishment for homosexual activity in Islamic law is death, based on a statement attributed to Muhammad: “If you find anyone doing as Lot’s people did, kill the one who does it, and the one to whom it is done.”
Verse 99: Al Lah is a great schemer
Are they then secure from Allah’s scheme? No one thinks of himself as secure from Allah’s scheme except people that perish. Allah is also depicted as a schemer or plotter at 3:54, 8:30, and 10:21.
Verse 124: Transgressors will have their hands and feet cut off and crucified
Surely I will have your hands and feet cut off upon alternate sides. Then I will crucify every one of you. This is the same punishment Allah prescribes for those who wage war against Allah and Muhammad (5:33).
Verse 145: Moses receives the Commandments from Al Lah but none are listed
And we wrote for him upon the tablets the lesson to be drawn from all things and the explanation of all things, then, Hold it fast, and command your people, Take what is better in it. I will show you the abode of transgressors. Moses goes up on Mount Tur (28:46) to converse with Allah and receive laws, which the Qur’an does not enumerate, on stone tablets. The Ten Commandments never appear in the Qur’an and are a notable omission from its multiple retellings of the Exodus.
Verse 156: Al Lah chooses who will disobey and punishes them….
And ordain for us what is good in this world, and in the hereafter. Indeed, we have turned to you. He said, I strike those whom I will with my punishment, and my mercy embraces all things, therefore I will ordain it for those who fear Allah and give alms, and those who believe our signs. “Give alms” is zakat, and “signs” once again is the word used of the verses of the Qur’an, so this passage strongly suggests that Allah shows mercy only to those who are Muslims.
Verse 157: Muhammad is illiterate
Those who follow the messenger, the unlettered prophet, whom they will find described in the Torah and the Gospel with them. He will command for them what is right and forbid them what is wrong.
The fact that Muhammad is not actually described in the Jewish or Christian scriptures has helped give rise to the Islamic claim that the Jews and Christians have corrupted their scriptures to remove references to him; see 61:6. The declaration that the messenger commands what is right and forbids what is wrong is one of the foundations for the belief in the hadiths, despite the fact that they date from two to three centuries after Muhammad is supposed to have lived, and thus have dubious historical value at best. Muslims are told to follow what Muhammad commands, and only in the hadith can those commands be discovered.
Verse 165: Non-Muslims, or impious Muslims face a dreadful punishment
And when they forgot that about which they had been reminded, we rescued those who forbade wrong, and visited those who did wrong with dreadful punishment, because they were transgressors.
Verse 172: All humans are born Muslim
Everyone on earth is born Muslim, as a hadith has Muhammad saying: “No child is born but has the Islamic Faith, but its parents turn it into a Jew or a Christian.” In another hadith, Allah produces all of the multitudes of the children of Adam from his back and asks them, “Am I not your Lord?” All affirm that he is. Therefore, says the Tafsir Anwarul Bayan, “None will be able to claim that he had no knowledge of the fact that Allah is his Lord.”
Verse 177: Al Lah leads the losers astray to be punished
The people who denied our signs are an evil example, and were inclined to wrong themselves. He whom Allah leads, he is indeed led rightly, while he whom Allah leads astray, they indeed are losers.
Verse 179: Al Lah creates humans and Jinns to torture
Allah has created a large number of human beings and jinns solely in order to torture them in hellfire. Those who suffer this fate are entirely bestial. However, Ibn Kathir does not see anything arbitrary about Allah’s judgment here: “We prepared them for it by their performance of the deeds of its people. When Allah intended to create the creation, He knew what their work will be before they existed. He wrote all this in a Book, kept with Him, fifty thousand years before He created the heavens and earth.” The difficulty remains, however, in that he nonetheless created those who were to reject him. On Gehenna, see 2:206.
Verse 181: Muslims will guide the world
And among those whom we created, there is a nation that guides with the truth and establishes justice with it. The believers, on the other hand, shall guide mankind with Allah’s truth and establish justice by means of it. This is a foundation of Islam’s moral critique of the non-Muslim world.
Verse 190: Jesus is not a partner with God
But when he gave them a good child, they ascribed partners to him in regard to what he had given them. He is highly exalted above all that they associate.
Verse 191: There are no partners with Al Lah
Do they attribute as partners to Allah those who created nothing, but are themselves created, And cannot give them help, and cannot help themselves?
Verse 195: Al Lah or Muhammad dares the Christians to use their partners against him
Do they have feet with which they walk, or do they have hands with which they hold, or do they have eyes with which they see, or do they have ears with which they hear? Say, Call upon your partners, and then plot against me, do not spare me.
This chapter conveys a rather clear and unambiguous set of doctrines and paints a rather lurid picture of Al Lah for the reader. Christian and Jews are going to fill up hell and can be tortured in this lifetime and crucified. Impious Muslims who blasphemy will suffer a similar fate. Al Lah is a schemer who leads humans astray to torture them. All humans including the first human Adam, are born Muslim, but for some reason Al Lah through Satan, leads them from the true path of worship to Shirk or unbelief and due to this are to be condemned, punished, and destroyed. This is obviously not the God of the Old or New Testaments. There is no relationship, spiritual awakening, free-will declaration of faith on the part of the human. This Al Lah is impersonal, a trickster, a deity that is uninterested in you as a distinct human and one which does not allow questions or inquiry. Blind obedience and a rejection of free-will is what is demanded.