If the aim of Islam is to guide mankind towards Tauhid [the Unity of God], why in its early period did it wage Jihad against the Jews while their revealed books only teach the Unity of God; or why should it now be considered essential for the Jews and those who already believe in the Unity of God to become Muslims in order to attain salvation?

Answer:

Let it be clear that at the time of our Holy Prophet^(sa) the Jews had strayed far from the teachings of the Torah. Their scriptures taught the Unity of God, but they had ceased to derive any benefit from this teaching and had forgotten the ultimate cause for which man was created and for which the scriptures were revealed. True belief in the Unity of God means that, having believed in His existence and having acknowledged His Unity, one should submit to the Lord of Grace and Perfection, seek His pleasure and totally immerse one’s self in His love. In practice, the Jews had ceased to believe in the Unity of God and their hearts were no longer in awe of Divine glory and majesty. While their tongues uttered the name of God, in their hearts they worshipped Satan and transgressed all limits in their love of the world and in treachery and falsehood. They worshipped mendicants and rabbis and indulged in shameful acts. Hypocrisy had also become common and deception was widespread. Belief in the Unity of God does not mean merely to utter the words ¹ while one’s heart is full of idols. On the contrary, every person is an idolater in the sight of God who gives his own plans and actions the same importance as should be given to God, or relies upon a human being as he should rely on Him, or exalts his own self the way God should be exalted. In the sight of God, idols are not merely things made of gold, silver, bronze or stone in which people put their trust, rather every object and every word and deed that is given the same importance as should be given to Him is an idol. The Torah does not contain such a fine definition of idol-worship, but the Holy Quran defines it in great detail. One of the reasons why God revealed the Holy Quran was to rid people’s hearts of idol-worship that afflicted them like an infectious disease. This was the kind of idolatry the Jews were steeped in, but the Torah was unable to liberate them from it because it did not contain a comprehensive teaching. Moreover, the disease which had affected the entire Jewish people required a pure and living example of Tauhid that would be manifested through a perfect man.

Remember, the true Tauhid, which God wants us to profess and on which true salvation depends, is to believe that God has no associate — be it an idol, a man, the sun, the moon, our own selves, our devices or our cunning — and to consider Him alone as the Source of all power and sustenance, honour and humiliation, help and succour, and to make Him the object of all our love, worship, supplication, hope and fear. Hence, no concept of Tauhid is complete without the following three aspects:

1. Tauhid in the context of God’s Person: To consider everything beside Him to be as good as non-existent, mortal, and of no consequence.

2. Tauhid in the context of God’s Attributes: To believe that no one possesses the attributes of Lordship and Divinity except the Person of the Almighty, and that all those who appear to sustain and benefit creation are only a part of the Divine scheme of things.

3. Tauhid in the context of love, sincerity and devotion: Not to associate anyone with God in terms of love and devotion, and to immerse oneself completely in Him.

The Jews had lost the true concept of Tauhid, one that forms the basis of salvation and comprises these three aspects. Their misconduct clearly testified that their belief in God was merely verbal while, in their heart of hearts, they did not believe in Him. The Holy Quran holds both Jews and Christians guilty and says that, had they upheld the teachings of the Torah and the Gospel, they would have been blessed with heavenly and worldly bounties. They would have been granted the signs of true believers, such as miracles, acceptance of prayers, visions and revelations, all of which are heavenly bounties, and, in addition to this, they would also have been granted worldly bounties. But now they are completely devoid of heavenly blessings, and their worldly bounties are attained not by turning to God but by turning to the world. Thus they remain bereft of both.

It is evident from the Holy Quran that the wars fought against the Jews and the Christians were not initiated by the Muslims and were not waged to force people to enter Islam. Rather, the enemies of Islam created the conditions for these wars by persecuting the Muslims or aiding their persecutors. And when they had themselves created these conditions, God decided to punish them. But He, in His mercy, still gave them the choice that whoever embraced Islam or agreed to pay Jizyah² would be spared. This concession was in keeping with the Divine law of nature, for human conscience naturally turns towards prayer, repentance, supplication, almsgiving and charity in order to ward off calamities such as epidemics or famines which come down as God’s punishment. This indeed is the eternal law which shows that the Gracious God inspires hearts [towards prayer, etc.] in order to avert punishment. For instance, He accepted Moses’ prayers on a number of occasions and saved the Israelites from Divine chastisement. The Islamic wars were a kind of punishment for Islam’s hardened enemies, but the door of mercy was still left open for them. It is wrong to assume that Islam fought wars to spread Tauhid. These punitive wars were waged only after other nations had resorted to tyranny and oppression.

We now come to the question as to why the Jews should become Muslims when they already profess belief in the Oneness of God. I have stated before that Tauhid was not firmly established in their hearts; it was only found in their books and even then it was far from perfect. Hence, they needed the living spirit of Tauhid to be established in their hearts, without which salvation is not possible. They were like the dead and had lost the true spirit of Tauhid due to their hard-heartedness and disobedience of every kind. They had turned their backs on God and the Torah had ceased to provide perfect guidance because its teachings were not only inadequate but had also been corrupted in form and substance. Hence God sent down His Living Word [the Quran] like water that descends fresh from heaven and invited them to it so that they might attain true salvation by freeing themselves from all errors and misconceptions. The Holy Quran was revealed to teach living Tauhid to the Jews who were spiritually dead, to warn them of their errors and to impart detailed knowledge regarding some doctrines that had only been hinted at in the Torah, such as bodily resurrection, immortality of the soul, and the concept of heaven and hell.

The fact is that the seed of truth, which was sown by the Torah, sprouted in the form of the Gospel and gave a glad-tiding for the future. Just as the green and verdant vegetation of a field promises abundant fruit in the coming days, in the same manner the Gospel gave good news of the coming of the perfect Shariah and the perfect Guide. This seed finally attained perfection through the Holy Quran which brought with it the perfect bounty, distinguished right from wrong, and perfected all religious verities as foretold in the Torah:

‘The Lord came from Sinai, and dawned on them from Seir, he shone forth from mount Paran’.³

There is no doubt that the Holy Quran alone has brought every aspect of the Divine law to perfection. This law consists of two major parts: the rights of God, and the rights of man. The Holy Quran’s mission was to transform savages into men, men into moral beings and moral beings into Godly ones, and it has done this in such a wonderful way that, by comparison, the Torah seems completely silent.

One of the many objectives of the Holy Quran was to settle the dispute between the Jews and the Christians with regard to the Messiah^(as), and it has satisfactorily settled all such issues. An example of this is found in the Quranic verse ⁴ The Jews believed that since the Messiah, the Prophet of the Christians, was crucified, therefore, in the light of the teachings of the Torah, he was accursed, was never raised to heaven and was an impostor. The Christians, on the other hand, believed that he became accursed, but only for their sake, and that later his curse was removed and he was raised to heaven and sat on the right hand of God. But this verse establishes that Jesus was exalted towards God immediately after his death, and that he was neither cursed forever, as the Jews believed — for an everlasting curse is a barrier to attaining spiritual exaltation — nor for a few days, as the Christians would have us believe. In the same verse God also explains that Jesus’ spiritual exaltation [towards God] is not contrary to the teachings of the Torah, because, according to it, only he who actually dies on the cross is accursed and is denied exaltation. Being put on the cross and suffering pain, which does not result in death, brings no curse, nor does it preclude spiritual exaltation. According to the Torah, crucifixion is the Divine method of putting sinners to death, hence whoever dies on the cross dies the accursed death of a sinner. The Messiah^(as), however, did not die on the cross rather God saved him from such a death. He had foretold that his situation would be similar to that of Jonah, and so it happened. Just as Jonah did not die in the belly of the fish, so was Jesus saved from death on the cross, and his prayer ‘Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani’⁵ was heard. Had he died, Pilate, too, would have suffered chastisement, for an angel had warned his wife that they would suffer greatly if Jesus was killed. But Pilate was not visited with any punishment. Another proof that Jesus escaped death is that his bones were not broken on the cross, and blood gushed forth from his body when it was pierced after being taken down from the cross. Afterwards he also showed his disciples his wounds which he would not have had if he had been resurrected. All this proves that Jesus did not die on the cross and was, therefore, not accursed. He died a virtuous death and, like all Prophets of God, was exalted towards Him in keeping with the promise contained in the verse ⁶ Had he died on the cross, his own statement would have belied him for there would have been no resemblance between him and Jonah.

Thus the dispute that had long existed between the Christians and the Jews was finally settled by the Holy Quran. And yet the Christians continue to insist that there was no need for the Quran to be revealed! You who are ignorant and blind of heart! The Holy Quran brought perfect Tauhid. It harmonized reason with the Divine Word. It brought Tauhid to perfection. It established, through incontrovertible arguments, the Unity of God and His attributes, and proved His existence through arguments based on reason, tradition as well as revelation. It demonstrated, in rational terms, the truth of religion which earlier rested on mere stories, and provided a rational basis to each and every one of its doctrines. It perfected the chain of religious truths and verities, which was hitherto incomplete, and absolved Jesus of the curse of crucifixion and testified that he was an exalted and true Prophet. Are these blessings not enough to prove the need for the Holy Quran?

Bear in mind that the Holy Quran has itself clearly explained the reason for its revelation:

⁷

i.e., Know that the earth had become dead and that God is about to give it a new life.

History testifies that, by the time the Holy Quran was revealed, all nations had become corrupt. Mr. Pfander, a Christian clergyman and author of Mizan-ul-haq, despite his deep-rooted bias, has clearly written in his book that the Jews and the Christians had become corrupt and decadent by the time of the Holy Quran that served as a warning to them. But, despite admitting all this, he still argues that God warned them through a false Prophet. What blasphemy! Can we attribute such a thing to God, that finding mankind in error and corruption He led them into even greater misguidance and caused the doom of millions of innocent people with His own hand? Is this what Divine providence does for mankind in its hour of trial? Sadly, in their love of the world they have gone so far as to deny a truth which is as clear as the sun. On the one hand they ascribe divinity to a humble man whom they believe to be accursed, and, on the other, they reject the Greatest of Prophets^(sa) who came when mankind was spiritually dead. And they still have the temerity to question the need for the Holy Quran. You heedless and blind-hearted people! No Prophet appeared at a time of such complete darkness as had shrouded the world at the time of the Holy Quran. Finding the world blind the Quran bestowed it with sight, finding it astray it provided guidance, and finding it dead brought new life. What more do you require as evidence for the need of the Holy Quran? Your condition is all the more pitiable if you ask what new teaching did the Holy Quran bring when the teaching of Tauhid was already present in the world? I have already pointed out that the concept of Tauhid contained in the earlier scriptures was imperfect — no one can deny this — and that the hearts of the people had become entirely devoid of it. It was the Quran that revived it and brought it to perfection, this is why it has been called Zikr⁸ for it serves as a reminder for mankind. Open your eyes and reflect: was the Torah’s teaching about Tauhid so unique that the earlier Prophets had no knowledge of it? Was not the same teaching given to Adam, and then to Seth, and then to Noah, and then to Abraham and to all other Prophets who came before Moses? Hence the same objection could be raised against the Torah, i.e., what new teaching did it bring? Misguided people! God is immutable. He was the same in the time of Moses as in the time of Adam, Seth, Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and Joseph; and the Torah’s teaching about Tauhid was the same as that taught by the earlier Prophets.

If it is asked why the Torah repeated the same teaching about Tauhid, the answer is that belief in the existence of God and His Oneness did not originate with the Torah but had always existed, although in certain ages people disregarded it and viewed it with disdain due to their own failure to act according to it. It was the task of the Divine Books and the Prophets to appear whenever people became unmindful of this doctrine and fell victim to all kinds of polytheistic tendencies. It was revived thousands of times but it lost its lustre as many times and became hidden from people’s eyes. But whenever it was lost, God sent a servant of His to rediscover it in its pristine purity. In this manner, darkness and light have alternately held sway in the world. The best criterion for judging a Prophet is to see the time in which he makes his appearance and the reformation he brings about. In seeking the truth, one must think in these terms and pay no attention to the dishonest assertions of mischievous and biased people. One should consider the state in which a Prophet finds his people and honestly try to find out what transformation he brings about in their character and beliefs. This is how we can learn of the Prophets who appeared at the time of the greatest need and those who came when the need was not so dire. Sinners require a Prophet just as the sick require a healer, and just as the spread of sickness demands a doctor so does the spread of sinfulness call for a Reformer.

Keeping this principle in mind, if we were to look at the history of the Arabian Peninsula and compare the condition of the Arabs before and after the advent of the Holy Prophet^(sa), we would find that this Final Prophet^(sa) excelled all others in terms of his holy influence, spiritual power and bestowal of heavenly blessings. We would also realize that the need for the Holy Prophet^(sa) and the Holy Quran was far greater than that of all the other books and Prophets put together. Take Jesus, for instance. Which of the world’s needs were fulfilled by his coming and what proof is there that he fulfilled any need at all? Did he bring any fundamental change in the morals, character and beliefs of the Jews? Did he cause his disciples to attain true self-purification? There is no evidence for any of this. All we know is that a handful of greedy and avaricious people chose to follow him and ended up committing disgraceful acts of betrayal and infidelity. To me, the supposed suicide of Jesus is no more than an absurdity that casts a shadow upon his reason and sanity. Can any sensible person commit such an act which, even under human laws, is a crime. We, therefore, ask: what did Jesus teach and what did he bring [to the world]? Did he only come for ‘the accursed sacrifice’ which cannot stand the test of reason or justice?

Remember, the Gospel contains no new teaching. All its teachings were already in the Torah, and a large portion are found in the Jewish book of the Talmud even today. Jewish scholars have always protested that particular verses of the Gospel have been plagiarized from their scriptures. Only recently I received a book written by one such scholar who has gone to great lengths to prove this point. He has even quoted the sources from which the verses were taken. I sent for these books so that I could show them to Mr. Sirajuddin but, unfortunately, he left without seeing them. Christian researchers admit that the Gospel is no more than a summary of the Jewish teachings that were preferred by the Messiah^(as). But they also add that the purpose of his coming was not to impart any new teaching; his real objective was to sacrifice himself, i.e., to offer the accursed sacrifice which I have no desire of mentioning again and again in this book. In short, Christians labour under the illusion that Jesus did not bring any new law, for the law had already been completed in the Torah, and that he only came to redeem the world. They also think that the Holy Quran unnecessarily brought a teaching that had already been perfected. This is no more than a delusion that has completely eroded their faith. The truth is that since man is prone to error and forgetfulness and is unable to show steadfastness in his practice of Divine injunctions, he is always in need of someone to remind him and revive his faith. But the Holy Quran was not revealed only for these two reasons; it also came to perfect and complete the earlier teachings. The Torah, for instance, laid great emphasis on revenge and retribution because this was the need of the time, while the Gospel stressed forgiveness and forbearance. The Holy Quran, on the other hand, teaches us to consider the circumstances before choosing one or the other. In all other aspects too the Torah inclines to one extreme and the Gospel to the other, while the Holy Quran teaches appropriateness and enjoins actions according to the needs of time and place. Although the essential teaching of all three books is the same, one places greater emphasis on one aspect, while the other stresses another, and the third — the Holy Quran — teaches a balanced course of action which conforms to human nature. The Holy Quran teaches us the wisdom of acting in accordance with the situation. The Torah stresses undue harshness⁹, the Gospel emphasizes unjustifiable forgiveness, but the Holy Quran enjoins appropriateness. Just as milk is formed when blood enters a mother’s breast, so do the injunctions of the Torah and the Gospel turn into wisdom when they find expression in the Holy Quran. Had the Holy Quran not been revealed, the Torah and the Gospel would be like arrows shot by a blind person, finding their mark once in a while but missing most of the time. The Torah taught the Shariah through tales and the Gospel through parables, but the Holy Quran taught it through wisdom for those who seek the truth. How can the Torah and the Gospel be compared to the Holy Quran! Even if we were to spend all our lives comparing the Book of Moses or Jesus’ Gospels with only the first Chapter of the Holy Quran — Surah Al- Fatihah, which comprises only seven verses — we would not find in those scriptures the same religious truths, verities, and spiritual treasures, in the same perfect sequence, composition and inherent order as we do in Surah Fatihah. This is no idle claim because the Torah and the Gospel cannot equal the wisdom contained in Surah Al- Fatihah alone. But how can we bring this matter to a conclusion if Christian clergymen do not agree to any of our suggestions? If they really believe that the Torah or the Gospels contain wisdom and truth, and manifest the excellences of the Divine Word in the most perfect way, I am ready to offer them a reward of five hundred rupees in cash if they can produce from their voluminous books, which are about seventy in number, the same truths and verities of the Law, the well-organized and well-arranged pearls of wisdom and knowledge, and excellences of the Divine Word, which we present from Surah Al-Fatihah. And if this reward is not enough, I am willing to increase it as much as possible on their request. In order to come to a decision, I will prepare and publish a commentary of Surah Al-Fatihah, in which I will present a detailed exegesis of the verities, truths, and characteristics of the Divine Word contained in it. Then the Christian clergymen will be required to show that the Torah, the Gospel and their other books contain the same truths and verities found in Surah Al-Fatihah and possess all the features that distinguish the Word of God, i.e., those miraculous qualities that cannot be found in the work of man. If they compete with me, and three judges belonging to different faiths give the verdict that the subtle and fine points of wisdom and knowledge and characteristics of the Divine Word contained in Surah Al-Fatihah are also found in their scriptures, they will receive a reward of five hundred rupees that will have been deposited in advance at a place of their choice.

Is there a Christian clergyman courageous enough to take up this challenge? The Word of God is manifested by His miraculous powers just as the wonders of nature are evidence of His creativity. For example, there are thousands of stars in the sky, but only a fool would point at certain stars and say that they are not from God for they do not seem to serve any purpose, or argue that since certain herbs, rocks or animals are apparently superfluous, they could not have been created by God.

It is worth remembering that the Holy Quran comprehends all the excellences that the human soul requires for its perfection. The relationship between the Torah and the Holy Quran is illustrated by the following parable. There was once an inn which was reduced to a pile of rubble by devastating storms and earthquakes. The debris of the toilet was mixed with that of the kitchen and vice versa, and nothing remained in its place. However, the owner of the inn took pity on the wayfarers and built another well-furnished and comfortable inn in its place. This new inn was much better than the previous one and had very comfortable and well-furnished rooms with all the essential amenities. When building the new inn, the owner not only reused some of the bricks from the old inn but also brought in more bricks, timber and other materials for the new structure. The Holy Quran is the second inn. Let those who have eyes see!

Here, another objection needs to be addressed. Once it is understood that the best and most perfect teaching is one which teaches appropriate action in keeping with the demands of time and place, and expounds in detail all the points of wisdom, why is it that only the Holy Quran has brought these two points to perfection and why do the Torah and the Gospel not possess this distinction? The answer is that the fault does not lie either with the Torah or the Gospel but with the limited capabilities of their people. The Jewish people, with whom Moses^(as) was concerned, had lived as slaves under the Pharaohs for four hundred years and experienced such severe persecution that they had become ignorant of the essence of equity and justice. It is obvious that if a ruler — who is also a teacher and mentor — is just, his justice will be reflected in the hearts of his subjects and they will naturally incline towards justice, civility and decency. But if he happens to be a tyrant, his subjects will also become cruel and oppressive and most of them will lose their sense of justice. This is what happened to the Israelites. Having lived for so long under the despotic rule of the Pharaohs and suffered all kinds of persecution, they lost the true spirit of justice. The primary obligation of Moses^(as) was to teach them justice. This is why the Torah contained verses that laid so much stress on ensuring justice and equity. Of course, there are verses in the Torah which teach compassion but on closer analysis they only serve to protect the boundaries of justice and to curb unreasonable passions and vindictiveness. But the purpose behind the teaching of compassion contained in the Gospel, which lays overwhelming stress on forgiveness and avoiding retribution, is very different. A close look at the Gospel shows that it addressed people who lacked the virtue of forbearance and forgiveness and it desired that their hearts should not be eager to take revenge but that they should exercise patience, forbearance, forgiveness and clemency. This was because, by the time of Jesus^(as), the moral condition of the Jews had greatly deteriorated. Litigation and vendetta had exceeded all limits and, under the pretext of upholding the rules of justice, they had completely lost the virtue of mercy and forgiveness. The teachings brought by the Gospel were thus specific to a particular time and people. But they did not present the true picture of the Divine law; the Holy Quran, therefore, came to rectify them.

When we carefully study the Holy Quran and look closely at its contents with an unbiased mind, we realize that it does not lay as much stress on retribution and revenge, as is evident from the account of battles and rules of retribution mentioned in the Torah, nor does it place complete emphasis on forgiveness, non-violence and clemency as taught by the Gospel. On the contrary, it repeatedly enjoins Ma‘ruf and forbids Munkar¹⁰. In other words, it commands us to do what is appropriate and best in keeping with the requirements of reason and the law, and to shun what is forbidden and inappropriate. A study of the Holy Quran shows that it requires us to believe in its laws, injunctions and prohibitions on the basis of knowledge and understanding, and desires to liberate us from the shackles of self-imposed prohibitions and injunctions, and spells out its holy Shariah in the form of universal laws. For instance, it enjoins the universal law that one should do what is Ma‘ruf and avoid Munkar. These two terms are very comprehensive and give a rational complexion to the Shariah. Thus we are taught to consider what constitutes true piety on any given occasion. If someone has wronged us, should we punish or forgive them? If someone wants to borrow a thousand rupees from us to squander on his son’s wedding, and celebrate it with pomp and ceremony, arranging fireworks and singers and fulfilling other family customs, then, even though we can afford to lend him the money, we ought to take into account the principle of Ma‘ruf and Munkar and consider whom we are trying to help. The Holy Quran has similarly prescribed the condition of appropriateness in everything good that we do, so that we may progress spiritually as well as materially.

With this I have fully answered Mian Sirajuddin Sahib’s second question. I have made it clear that Islam did not wage wars against the Jews to force them to accept Tauhid, rather the opponents of Islam instigated these wars through their own mischief. Some of them were guilty of raising the sword against the Muslims, some of helping the aggressors, and some of forcefully obstructing the propagation of Islam. It was to punish and subdue such aggressors that God Almighty permitted war. It is extremely unfair and outrageous to allege that the Holy Prophet^(sa) did not fight his opponents for thirteen long years because he had not gained a position of strength. These objections would only be justified if his adversaries had not been responsible for the atrocities and bloodshed which had been committed in Mecca for thirteen years, or had not conspired to murder the Holy Prophet^(sa), nor to exile him from his homeland, or if he had left for Madina of his own free will without being persecuted. But even our opponents know that the Holy Prophet^(sa) exercised great patience in the face of every atrocity committed by his enemies and strictly forbade his Companions from retaliating. The unbelievers were guilty of shedding the blood of many innocent Muslims and torturing many others. Ultimately they attempted to assassinate the Holy Prophet^(sa), but God Almighty saved him from being harmed by his enemies and helped him reach Medina in safety. He also gave him the tiding that those who killed with the sword would themselves be its victims. One must be fair. Does all this mean that as soon as the Holy Prophet^(sa) had gathered enough followers around him he revealed his aggressive intent which had been long concealed? The extent to which the Christians have fallen prey to their religious bias is extremely pitiable. Do they not know that the Holy Prophet^(sa) had only 313 Companions with him when they were forced to fight the battle of Badr, the first battle of Islam, and that most of them were either too young or totally inexperienced in warfare. Could anyone rely on such a small number of people to confront and overcome the entire might of the Arabian warriors and thousands of others including the Jews and the Christians? It is obvious that the Muslims came out only in self defence and not with the intention of destroying their enemy and attaining victory. In order to take on such formidable armies it would have been necessary to mobilize at least thirty or forty thousand men. It is quite evident that these battles were thrust upon them and that they fought under Divine commandment and not on the basis of material strength.

Another objection that needs to be resolved is that if salvation depends on faith in Tauhid and on good deeds done out of love and fear of God, why were the Jews invited to enter Islam? Was there no one among the Jews who lived by the norms of Tauhid and submitted unconditionally to God? In answer to this, I have already shown that by the time of the Holy Prophet’s^(sa) advent most Jews and Christians had deviated from the right path, as is testified by the Holy Quran:

¹¹

Since most of them were transgressors who had to all intents and purposes stopped practising piety and observing the norms of Tauhid, God, in His mercy and in keeping with His eternal practice, desired that a Prophet be sent for their reformation. Those among them who happened to be pious and true believers in Tauhid ceased to be so once they opposed the Prophet of God. Even a minor sin is enough to corrupt a man’s heart, how is it possible that one should disobey a Prophet and harbour enmity against him and yet remain pious?