ISLAM IS THE RELIGION OF SWORD NOT PACIFISM There is a slogan repeated continuously by apologetic “du’āt” when flirting with the West and that is their statement: “ISLAM IS THE RELIGION OF PEACE,” And they mean pacifism by the word peace. They have repeated this slogan so much to the extent that some of them alleged that Islam calls to permanent peace with kufr and the kāfirīn. How far is their claim from the truth, for Allah has revealed Islam to be the religion of the sword, and the evidence for this is so profuse that only a zindīq (heretic) would argue otherwise. Alī Ibn Abī Tālib (رضي الله عنه) said, “Allah’s Messenger (صلى الله عليه و سلم) was sent with four swords: a sword for the mushrikīn, {AND WHEN THE SACRED MONTHS HAVE PASSED, THEN KILL THE MUSHRIKĪN WHEREVER YOU FIND THEM} (Surah At Tawbah 9:5) A sword for Ahlul-Kitāb, {FIGHT THOSE WHO DO NOT BELIEVE IN ALLAH OR IN THE LAST DAY AND WHO DO NOT CONSIDER UNLAWFUL WHAT ALLAH AND HIS MESSENGER HAVE MADE UNLAWFUL AND WHO DO NOT ADOPT THE RELIGION OF TRUTH FROM THOSE WHO WERE GIVEN THE BOOK – [FIGHT THEM] UNTIL THEY GIVE THE JIZYAH WILLINGLY WHILE THEY ARE HUMBLED} (Surah At Tawbah 9:29) A sword for the munāfiqīn, {O PROPHET, FIGHT AGAINST THE KUFFĀR AND THE MUNĀFIQĪN} (Surah At Tawbah 9:73) And a sword for the bughāt (rebellious aggressors), {THEN FIGHT AGAINST THE GROUP THAT COMMITS BAGHY (AGGRESSION) UNTIL IT RETURNS TO THE ORDINANCE OF ALLAH} (Surah Al Hujurāt 49:9) [Tafsīr Ibn Kathīr] He also revealed the sword against the apostates, {O YOU WHO HAVE BELIEVED, WHOEVER OF YOU SHOULD REVERT FROM HIS RELIGION – ALLAH WILL BRING FORTH A PEOPLE HE WILL LOVE AND WHO WILL LOVE HIM [WHO ARE] HUMBLE TOWARD THE BELIEVERS, MIGHTY AGAINST THE DISBELIEVERS; THEY STRIVE IN THE CAUSE OF ALLAH AND DO NOT FEAR THE BLAME OF A CRITIC} (Surah Al Mā’idah 5:54) This verse is a fundamental basis for the obligation to fight against the apostate parties. At-Tabarī reported in his tafsīr that amongst the Salaf, ‘Alī Ibn Abī Tālib, Qatādah, al-Hasan al-Basrī, ad-Dahhāk, and Ibn Jurayj said this verse encompassed Abū Bakr (Allah’s sword against apostasy), his companions (رضي الله عنه), and their war against the apostates – the followers of Musaylamah al-Kadhdhāb and those who resisted the obligation of zakāh. Allah (سبحانه وتعالى) also sent down iron alongside the revelation to consolidate His religion by the sword forged with iron. Allah (سبحانه وتعالى) says: {WE HAVE SENT OUR MESSENGERS WITH CLEAR EVIDENCES AND SENT DOWN WITH THEM THE SCRIPTURE AND THE BALANCE THAT THE PEOPLE MAY MAINTAIN [THEIR AFFAIRS] IN JUSTICE. AND WE SENT DOWN IRON, WHEREIN IS GREAT MILITARY MIGHT AND BENEFITS FOR THE PEOPLE, AND SO THAT ALLAH MAY MAKE EVIDENT THOSE BELIEVING IN THE UNSEEN WHO SUPPORT HIM AND HIS MESSENGERS. INDEED, ALLAH IS POWERFUL AND EXALTED IN MIGHT} (Surah Al Hadīd 57:25) Ibn Taymiyyah (رحيم الله) said, “THE BASIS OF THE RELIGION IS A GUIDING BOOK AND SUPPORTING SWORD” [MAJMŪ’ AL-FATĀWĀ] Allah (سبحانه وتعالى) also described what should be struck with the sword, {REMEMBER WHEN YOUR LORD REVEALED TO THE ANGELS, “I AM WITH YOU, SO STRENGTHEN THOSE WHO HAVE BELIEVED. I WILL CAST TERROR INTO THE HEARTS OF THOSE WHO DISBELIEVED, SO STRIKE [THEM] UPON THE NECKS AND STRIKE FROM THEM EVERY FINGERTIP”} (Surah Al Anfāl 8:12) He (سبحانه وتعالى) also said, {SO WHEN YOU MEET THOSE WHO DISBELIEVE, STRIKE THEIR NECKS UNTIL, WHEN YOU HAVE INFLICTED SLAUGHTER UPON THEM, THEN SECURE THEIR BONDS, AND EITHER [CONFER] FAVOR AFTERWARDS OR RANSOM [THEM] UNTIL THE WAR LAYS DOWN ITS BURDENS} (Surah Muhammad 47:4) HIS MESSENGER (صلى الله عليه و سلم) ALSO DESCRIBED THE SWORD AS THE SALVATION FROM EVIL AND FITNAH. HE (صلى الله عليه و سلم) ALSO DESCRIBED THE SWORD AS BEING THE KEY TO JANNAH [Reported by Ibn Abī Shaybah on the authority of Abū Mūsā] He also declared that his worldly provision was placed for him in the shade of his spear and that the best livelihood for the Muslim in the future is what he takes with his sword from the kāfir enemy. So, how can the zanādiqah (heretics) or even those who blindly follow them – Trump, Bush, Obama, and Kerry – obstinately claim that “Islam is a religion of peace,” meaning pacifism? One of the biggest shubuhāt propagated by the heretics is the linguistic root for the word Islam. They claim it comes from the word Salam (peace), when in actuality it comes from words meaning submission and sincerity sharing the same consonant root.

Allah has honored knowledge and its people, raising their worth and elevating their status. Allah (سبحانه وتعالى) said, “Allah testifies that there is nothing worthy of worship except Him, as do the angels and those with knowledge” (Surah Al ‘Imran 3:18) Al-Qurtubi (رحيم الله) said, “If anyone was more honored than the scholars, Allah would have mentioned them along with His name and that of the angels, just as He mentioned the scholars” (Al-Jami’ li-Ahkam al-Quran) Likewise, Allah negated any equality between the scholars and others. Allah (سبحانه وتعالى) said, “Say, ‘Are those who know and those who do not know equal?’ Only those with deep understanding will remember” (Surah Az-Zumar 39:9) Allah (سبحانه وتعالى) said, “Then ask the people of remembrance if you do not know” (Surah An Nahl 16:43) But is knowledge simply memorizing texts, studying long books, reviewing manuscripts, being acquainted with the various opinions, and composing commercial works? Certainly not! The scholars whom Allah (سبحانه وتعالى) praised and called “those with knowledge” are those who act upon their knowledge and convey it to others. Ash-Shatibi (رحيم الله) said, “Knowledge, as it is understood in the Shari’ah – I mean the knowledge whose people Allah and His Messenger absolutely praised – is knowledge that instigates action” (Al-Muwafaqat) Once a correlation is made between knowledge and action, it follows that there is no action without knowledge and no knowledge without action. As for knowledge accompanied by good deeds, then it is what yields fear of Allah, bearing a person to publicly declare the truth lest he earn Allah’s anger and punishment. Allah (سبحانه وتعالى) said, “Only those who fear Allah, of His slaves, are the knowledgeable ones” (Surah Fatir 35:28) Ibn ‘Abbas (رضي الله عنه) said, “Those who are knowledgeable of Allah are those who fear him” (Az-Zuhd – Abu Dawud) Ibn Mas’ud (رضي الله عنه) said, “Knowledge is not an abundance of reports, but knowledge is fear [of Allah]” (Hilyat Al Awliya) Likewise, one of the deeds directly correlated to knowledge is jihad for Allah’s cause, for jihad is the companion of knowledge. Narrated by Mu’awiyah (رضي الله عنه) that, The Prophet (صلى الله عليه و سلم) said, “For whomever Allah wants well, He gives him fiqh (comprehension) of the religion, and there will not cease to be a group of Muslims fighting upon the truth, defeating whoever opposes them, until the Day of Resurrection” (Saheeh Muslim) The mentioning of both knowledge and jihad in this hadith indicates the correlation between the two, and that the people thereof are the victorious group (at-Taifat al-Mansurah); so upholding the religion and manifesting the truth cannot come about except through knowledge and jihad. This was the situation of the Sahabah (رضي الله عنه), those who were the most knowledgeable of the Ummah, as they joined knowledge with jihad. Whoever looks into the biographies of the Sahabah, whether from the Muhajirin or the Ansar, will find that many of them were killed on the fronts of jihad, fully achieving knowledge and action. On the Day of Yamamah, for example, the memorizers of Allah’s Book began to be killed, as when the banner fell, Salim Mawla Abi Hudhayfah (رضي الله عنه) took hold of it. The Muslims said to him, “O Salim! We fear that we will be overtaken from your direction.” So he said, “What a wicked bearer of the Quran I would be if you were overtaken from my direction!” So he went forth and fought until he was killed (At-Tabaqat al-Kubra) On that path, the Tabi’in and the rest of the imams traveled, having for themselves many ventures in the fields of ribat and combat, despite jihad and ribat – in their days – being only fard kifayah (communally, not personally, obligatory). These were the imams among the people of hadith and zuhd (disregard for the worldly life). Just as they participated in narrating knowledge, they also participated in ribat, guarding outposts, and archery. These are the likes of al-Awza’i, ‘Abdullah Ibn al-Mubarak, Ibnul-Qasim, Abu Ishaq al-Fizari, Makhlad Ibn al-Husayn, Ibrahim Ibn Adham, Hudhayfah al-Mar’ishi, Yusuf Ibn Asbat, and many others. Indeed, they translated their knowledge into action with ribat and jihad. There were even some muhaddithin who would stay in towns bordering Dar al-Harb so they could always be in ribat, like the Imam ‘Isa Ibn Yunus. As such, the two imams Ibnul-Mubarak and Ahmad Ibn Hanbal, as well as others, would say, “If the people disagree about something, then examine what the people of the frontlines are upon, as the truth is with them. Allah (سبحانه وتعالى) says, ‘And those who perform jihad for Us, We shall surely guide them to Our paths’” (Surah Al Ankabut 29:69) Throughout the ages, scholars from the people of hadith were found upholding the duty of jihad and declaring the truth, like Shaykhul-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah, who openly declared the truth and waged jihad, fighting against the Tatar.