According to Islam, Muslims Should Not Be at War With Jews
Latest update: December 13th, 2012
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Turkish political and religious commentator Sinem Tezyapar.
As a Muslim, I have to clarify regarding some false ideas that have been taken for granted as “Islamic.” What goes between Israel and Palestine is an artificial conflict and, what’s more, it is against Islam from several points:
Relations with Jews: Muslims are not at war with Jews. According to the Qur’an, Jews have a special status as “People of the Book” and Muslims can establish good relations with them through marriage and the sharing of food. Kosher food is also lawful for Muslims to eat and permission has been given for Muslim men to marry Jewish women. So from an Islamic perspective, this shows that there can be no obstacle to living together and in harmony, and this is clear evidence that enable the formation of warm human relationships and tranquil togetherness between Jews and Muslims.
War only for self-defense: From an Islamic point of view, there can be only defensive war and war is only an unwanted obligation when one’s life, security and honor is under attack. Muslims do not attack, they can only defend themselves. War has to be inevitable at the point that one has to defend oneself. Even if it is considered obligatory for self-defense, it has to be carried out with strict observance of humane and moral values. To put it in another way, God granted permission for war only for defensive purposes, and Muslims are warned against the use of unnecessary violence. “Fight in the Way of God against those who fight you, but do not go beyond the limits. God does not love those who go beyond the limits.” (Qur’an, 2:190)
In another verse, God commands justice and warns Muslims against feeling rage toward enemies, so that their judgments are not impaired: “You who believe! Show integrity for the sake of God, bearing witness with justice. Do not let hatred for a people incite you into not being just. Be just. That is closer to heedfulness…” (Qur’an, 5:8) I don’t accept any kind of hatred between people, but even at those times when they are not strong enough to overcome their anger, they still are responsible to be just.
Protecting peace: When there is a peace treaty, both sides should adhere to the peace agreement meticulously, and commit not to attack to each other. Especially for Muslims, after making a peace agreement, according to the Qur’an one has to watch out to protect it and abide by it. This the way according to the Qu’ran. God says: “If they incline to peace, you too incline to it…” (Qur’an, 8:61) In the case of the Palestine-Israel conflict, when one side fires rockets at the other side, the other side is fully entitled (and obligated) to protect its citizens. If there is a peace agreement, in times of peace launching rockets from Gaza is a violation of the Qur’an. When Hamas fires rockets, it’s not firing rockets only at Israel, but at its own people as well; Israel retaliates and it becomes inevitable that civilians, including innocent children, are severely effected by this. The same goes for Israel.
Protection of civilians: There is no justification in the Qur’an for killing innocent people. God says that this is like killing all mankind (Qur’an, 5:32). It is a sin to target civilians or be reckless of their security during an attack. When Hamas launches rockets over Israel, there is no aim, no precise target, and thus these rockets fall sometimes on empty land but sometimes onto the homes of innocent Israeli civilians. It is a sin to take an innocent life, and it is also a sin to cause disorder, to cause people to panic. Another important matter is that Islam absolutely forbids suicide attacks. God says: “Do not kill yourselves.” (Qur’an, 4:29) Consequently, killing oneself and killing other people are both prohibited in Islam.
The right to live in the Holy Land: It is against any conscience and above all against the Qur’an to tell Jews to go somewhere else. Jews have been expelled from Spain, they have been slaughtered in Europe and there has been enormous intimidation against them in many places all over the world. So where do they have to go? These lands are places where their forefathers lived. The graves of their grandfathers are on these lands. And it is confirmed by the Qur’an that Bnei Israel will be living in the Holy Land till the end of the world. God says: “And thereafter We said to the Children of Israel: ‘Dwell securely in the Promised Land.’” (Qur’an, 17:104) and the Prophet Moses (pbuh) says “O my people! Enter the holy land which Allah hath assigned unto you, and turn not back ignominiously…” (Qur’an 5: 21) Thus, it is against the Qur’an to tell Jews to leave these lands; any Muslim who does so is in contradiction of the very Word of God Himself.
Let us not forget the sons of Ishmael and the sons of Jacob, the descendants of the prophets, are fighting one another. Both sides are Abraham’s children and surely the land is spacious enough for all. There is no real reason that we can’t coexist together. Let’s live together as brothers; dine together, have conversations together; let us pray side by side, Jews in synagogues, and Muslims in mosques. Let us adopt a language of peace, a language of love. This is easy! And there is no other way.
tell a friendAbout the Author: Sinem Tezyapar is an executive producer on Turkish Television. She is a political and religious commentator and a peace activist. She can be reached on Facebook, and Twitter.
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3 Responses to “According to Islam, Muslims Should Not Be at War With Jews”
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This argument is rooted in the traditional concept of the “dhimma” (“writ of protection”), which was extended by Muslim conquerors to Christians and Jews in exchange for their subordination to the Muslims. Yet, as French authority Jacques Ellul has observed: “One must ask:‘protected against whom?’ When this ‘stranger’ lives in Islamic countries, the answer can only be: against the Muslims themselves.”27
Peoples subjected to Muslim rule usually had a choice between death and conversion, but Jews and Christians, who adhered to the Scriptures, were usually allowed, as dhimmis, to practice their faith. This “protection” did little, however, to insure that Jews and Christians were treated well by the Muslims. On the contrary, an integral aspect of the dhimma was that, being an infidel, he had to acknowledge openly the superiority of the true believer — the Muslim.
In the early years of the Islamic conquest, the “tribute” (or jizya), paid as a yearly poll tax, symbolized the subordination of the dhimmi.28
Later, the inferior status of Jews and Christians was reinforced through a series of regulations that governed the behavior of the dhimmi. Dhimmis, on pain of death, were forbidden to mock or criticize the Koran, Islam or Muhammad, to proselytize among Muslims, or to touch a Muslim woman (though a Muslim man could take a non-Muslim as a wife).
Dhimmis were excluded from public office and armed service, and were forbidden to bear arms. They were not allowed to ride horses or camels, to build synagogues or churches taller than mosques, to construct houses higher than those of Muslims or to drink wine in public. They were forced to wear distinctive clothing and were not allowed to pray or mourn in loud voices — as that might offend Muslims. The dhimmi also had to show public deference toward Muslims; for example, always yielding them the center of the road. The dhimmi was not allowed to give evidence in court against a Muslim, and his oath was unacceptable in an Islamic court. To defend himself, the dhimmi would have to purchase Muslim witnesses at great expense. This left the dhimmi with little legal recourse when harmed by a Muslim.29
By the twentieth century, the status of the dhimmi in Muslim lands had not significantly improved. H.E.W. Young, British Vice Consul in Mosul, wrote in 1909:
The attitude of the Muslims toward the Christians and the Jews is that of a master towards slaves, whom he treats with a certain lordly tolerance so long as they keep their place. Any sign of pretension to equality is promptly repressed.
The following are statements from the Hamas Covenant:
“Israel will exist and will continue to exist until Islam will obliterate it, just as it obliterated others before it.”
“Our struggle against the Jews is very great and very series. It needs all sincere efforts.”
“The Islamist Resistance Movement is a distinguished Palestinian movement, whose allegiance is to Allah, and whose way of life is Islam. It strives to raise the banner of Allah over every inch of Palestine.”
“The Day of Judgement will not come about until Muslims fight the Jews [killing the Jews], when the Jew will hide behind stones and trees. The stones and trees will say O Musims, O Abdulla, there is a Jew behind me, come and kill him. Only the Gharkad tree would not do that because it is one of the trees of the Jews.”
“Allah is its target, the Prophet is its model, the Koran its constitution: Jihad is its path and death for the sake of Allah is the loftiest of its wishes.”
“The Islamic Resistance Movement believes that the land of Palestine is an Islamic Waqf consecrated for future Muslim generations until Judgement Day. It, or any part of it, should not be squandered: it, or any part of it, should not be given up. Neither a single Arab country nor all Arab countries, neither any king of president, nor all the kings and presidents, neither any organization nor all of them, be they Palestinian or Arab, possess the right to do that. Palestine is an Islamic Waqf land consecrated for Muslim generations until Judgement Day.”
“This is the law government the land of Palestine in the Islamic Sharia (law) and the same goes for any land the Muslims have conquered by force.”
“Initiatives and so-called peaceful solutions and international conferences are in contradiction to the principles of the Islamic Resistance Movement.”
“When did the infidels do justice to the believers?”
“There is no solution for the Palestinian question except through Jihad. Initiatives, proposals and international conferences are all a waste of time and vain endeavors.”
“It is necessary to instill in the minds of the Muslim generations that the Palestinian problem is a religious problem and should be dealt with on this basis.”
“Their lackeys who are infiltrated through Zionist organizations under various names and shapes, such as Freemasons, Rotary Clubs, espionage groups and others, which are all nothing more than cells of subversion and saboteurs. These organizations have ample resources that enable them to play their role in societies for the purpose of achieving the Zionist targets and to deepen the concepts that would serve the enemy.”
“Secularism completely contradicts religious ideology. Attitudes, conduct and decisions stem from ideologies.”
“We are unable to exchange the present or future Islamic Palestine with the secular idea. The Islamic nature of Palestine is part of our religion and whoever takes his religion lightly is a loser.”
“Peace and quite would not be possible except under the wing of Islam. Past and present history are the best witness to that. It is the duty of the followers of other religions to stop disputing the sovereignty of Islam in this region because the day these followers should take over, there will be nothing but carnage, displacement and terror.”
“The Zionist plan is limitless. After Palestine, the Zionists aspire to expand from the Nile to the Euphrates. When they will have digested the region they overtook, they will aspire to further expansion, and so on. Their plan is embodied in the “Protocols of the Elders of Zion,” and their present conduct is the best proof of what we are saying.”
You can sugar coat ISLAM all you want but the facts remain; Islam is a genocidal death cult and the Koran is three most inaccurate, contradicting, unauthentic piece of literature ever
Sinem Tezyapar is an associate of Adnan Oktar (AKA Harun Yahya) a prolific Muslim writer and broadcaster. It seems that he may once have been a Holocaust denier (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harun_Yahya#Holocaust_Denial_and_Affirmation) but has since adopted a well documented policy of tolerance to Jews and support for our rights in Eretz Yisroel. He proclaims these views in Turkish and Arabic to his fellow Muslims. I see no reason to doubt his sincerity or that of his associate.
If "this is so easy!", then Ms. Tezyapar, with all due respect, I suggest you move to Sderot, and see how you like rockets falling around your ears. Move to Itamar, and see how you like being mistaken for a Jew, when you wake up to find that your children have been stabbed to death in their beds. Take your message to Hevron, to Jenin, to the Temple Mount, and see how your fellow "people of peace" receive your message. Take your message to the Taliban, and receive a bucket of acid in your beautiful face for your troubles.
If you survive, please do tell us all about it.
G-d forbid, I would not wish it on anybody, but you cannot ignore the fact that history does not lie.
Erm, I'm sorry to be so blunt but when Israel invades Palestine, burns her crops, steals her water, & kills her people Palestine will fight back. The trick is not to mount armed invasions & colonise.
And Islam is DEFINITELY not a violent faith. Nor is Judaism. It's extremists that bring in the violence. Not moderates like this lady.
May God Bless you Sinem Tezyapar. May He protect you from the Muslims who may seek to harm you. May He help you to spread your message of peace amongst those who need most to hear it.
Thank you for your heartfelt comments.
When we discover some basic facts about Islam, our first impulse is to think, “But surely it’s only a small minority of extremists!” If you’ve looked into it, and especially if you’ve read the Quran, you realize the “extremists” are following standard, mainstream Islamic doctrine.
Out of a dozen Islamic Leaders quotes reported in the article (see below link), I chose Erdogan since Sinem is Turkish. Readers are also invited to look at the say to deter “freedom of expression.” by OIC General Secretary Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu who is also Turkish.
Recep Tayyip Erdogan: “The mosques are our barracks, the domes our helmets, the minarets our bayonets and Muslims our soldiers…”.
Prime Minister Erdogan also commented on the term “moderate Islam,” often used in the West. He said, “These descriptions are very ugly, it is offensive and an insult to our religion. There is no moderate or immoderate Islam. Islam is Islam and that’s it.”.
Read the whole article at.
What Muslim Leaders Say About Islam Dispels the Myth that Jihadists are a “Fringe” Element.
http://nocompulsion.com/what-muslim-leaders-say-about-islam-dispels-the-myth-that-jihadists-are-a-fringe-element/
Dear Sinem, you are completely right, all this is in the Holy Koran, Islam is not and will not be against the Jewish people but the world should be against the Zionist, that is a completely different story. The problem here is that some Jews consider themselves first Zionist, then Jew.
God's precept is so simple to recite, is a bonanza for sloganeering, but impossible to emplement in a heart of man so saturated w/ hate and hypocrisy.