| Answer: Answer: As far as the Bible is concerned,
while the Old Testament contains explicit directives on Jihād, the New
Testament is devoid of them. The reason is that while the Prophet Moses (sws)
was bestowed with political authority by the Almighty, the Prophet Jesus (sws)
was not.
However, since the Bible we have today has
been tampered with and is not available in its pure and un-interpolated
form, it is necessary to interpret the directives of Jihād given in the Old
Testament in the light of the Qur’ān. If interpreted thus one finds a marked
resemblance in these directives given by these two great scriptures.
We know from the Qur’ān that the Almighty
punished certain nations in history because they were guilty of deliberately
denying the truth. One form
of this punishment assumed the shape of waging Jihād against them by their
respective Messenger. This form of punishment was meted out by the Almighty
in case of the Prophet Moses (sws). He waged Jihād to punish people who were
guilty of deliberately denying the truth. A study of the Old Testament shows
that the Jihād he waged was of two forms. One form of Jihād was that nations
who subscribed to polytheism were to be put to death in all cases, while
another form was that some nations were spared in case they agreed to remain
subservient.
The following verses depict the first form of
Jihād:
When the Lord your God brings you into the
land you are entering to possess and drives out before you many nations –
the Hittites, Girgashites, Amorites, Canaanites, Perizzites, Hivites and
Jebusites, seven nations larger and stronger than you – and when the Lord
your God has delivered them over to you and you have defeated them, then you
must destroy them totally. Make no treaty with them, and show them no mercy.
Do not give your daughters to their sons or take their daughters for your
sons, for they will turn your sons away from following me to serve other
gods, and the Lord’s anger will burn against you and will quickly destroy
you. This is what you are to do to them: Break down their altars, smash
their sacred stones, cut down their Asherah poles and burn their idols in
the fire. (Deuteronomy 7:1-5)
The following verses depict the second form
of Jihād:
When you march up to attack a city, make its
people an offer of peace. If they accept and open their gates, all the
people in it shall be subject to forced labour and shall work for you. If
they refuse to make peace and they engage you in battle, lay siege to that
city. When the Lord your God delivers it into your hand, put to the sword
all the men in it. As for the women, and children, the livestock and
everything else in the city you may take these as plunder for yourselves.
And you may use the plunder the Lord your God gives you from your enemies.
This is how you are to treat all the cities that are at a distance from you
and do not belong to the nations nearby. (Deuteronomy, 20:10-15)
Quite similarly, we determine from the Qur’ān,
on the basis of the Jihād waged by the Prophet (sws), that while the
polytheists were put to death, the monotheists among them (ie the People of
the Book) were allowed to live if they submitted to Islamic rule. If the
second form of Jihād waged by Moses (rta) as stated in (Deuteronomy, 7:1-5)
is interpreted in the light of the Qur’ān, one can conclude that it must
have been against those nations which basically subscribed to monotheism.
Consequently, the two books are very similar
in this regard.
The comparison continues:
It is evident from the Qur’ān (2:143) that
just as the Companions of the Prophet Muhammad (sws) were conferred the
status of Shuhadā ‘alā al-Nās (witnesses to the truth before other peoples),
the Israelites after Moses (sws), in their collective capacity were
conferred this status. In the Old Testament, the areas of Canaan, on which
the Israelites were to wage war after the Prophet Moses (sws) were divinely
demarcated:
The Lord said to Moses, ‘Command the
Israelites and say to them: When you enter Canaan, the land that will be
allotted to you as an inheritance will have these boundaries: Your southern
side will include some of the Desert of Zinalong the border of Edom. On the
east, your southern boundary will start form the end of the Salt Sea, cross
south of Scorpion Pass, continue on to Zin and go south of Kadesh Barnea.
Then it will go to Hazar Addar and over to Azmon, where it will turn, join
the Wadi of Egypt and end at the Sea. Your western boundary will be the
coast of the Great Sea. This will be your boundary on the west. For your
northern boundary, run a line from the Great Sea to Mount Hor and from Mount
Hor to Lebo Hamath. Then the boundary will go to Zedad, continue to Ziphron
and end at Hazar Enan. This will be your boundary on the north. For your
eastern boundary, run a line from Hazar Enan to Shepham. The boundary will
go down from Shepham to Riblah on the east side of Ain and continue along
the slopes east of the Sea of Kinnereth. Then the boundary will go down
along the Jordan and end at the Salt Sea. This will be your land, with its
boundaries on every side.’ (Numbers, 34:1-12)
After Muhammad (sws), his immediate
Companions (rta) continued his mission and punished certain other nations
who were guilty of knowingly denying the truth. The area that came under
this punishment was demarcated by the Prophet (sws) when he wrote letters to
the heads of state of certain territories in this area.
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