Islam, an Ideology of Violence

Quran Verses on

War, Violence and Jihad

Compiled by: Maurice Saliba

Feb 1/2009

The following verses are taken from “The Holy Qur’an”. Translation by Abdullah Yusuf Ali

Published by: Wordsworth Editions Limited, Cumberland House, Crib Street, Ware, Hertfordshire, United Kingdom, SG12 9ET, 2000

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a) Duty of going to war

1 Then fight in the cause of Allah, and know that Allah hearth and knoweth all things (Surah 2:244)

2. Fighting is prescribed for you, and ye dislike it. But it is possible that ye dislike a thing which is good for you, and that ye love a thing which is bad for you. (Surah 2:2 16)

3. They ask thee concerning fighting in the Prohibited Month. Say: ‘Fighting therein is a grave (offence); but graver is it in the sight of Allah to prevent access to the path of Allah, to deny Him, to prevent access to the Sacred Mosque, and drive out its members.’ Tumult and oppression are worse than slaughter. Nor will they cease fighting you until, they turn you back from your faith if they can. And if any of you turn back from their faith and die in unbelief, their works will bear no fruit in this life and in the Hereafter; they will be companions of the Fire and will abide therein. (Surah 2:2 17)

4. We shah try you until We test those among you who strive their utmost and persevere; (Surah 47:3 1)

5. Go ye forth, (whether equipped) highly or heavily, and strive and struggle, with your goods and your persons, in the cause of Allah. That is best for you, if ye (but) knew. (Surah 9:4 1)

b) Relief from duty of going to war

b.1) The sick and the handicapped

6. No blame is there on the blind, nor is there blame on the lame, nor on one iii (if he joins not the war): (Surah 48:17)

7. There is no blame on those who are infirm, or ill, or who find no resources to spend (on the Cause), if they are sincere (in duty) to Allah and His messenger: no ground (for complaint) can there be against such as do right: (Surah 9:91)

8. Nor (is there blame) on those who came to thee to be provided with mounts, and when thou saidst, I can find no mounts for you, they turned back, their eyes streaming with tears of grief that they had no resources wherewith to provide the expenses. (Surah 9:92)

b.2) The Cowards

9. 0 Ye who believe! What is, the matter with you, that, when ye are asked to go forth in the Cause of Allah, ye ding heavily to the earth? Do ye prefer the life of this world to the Hereafter? (Surah 9:38)

10. Those who were left behind (in the Tabuk expedition) rejoiced in their inaction behind the back of the Messenger of Allah: they hated to strive and fight, with their goods and their persons, in the Cause of Allah: they said, ‘Go not forth in the heat.’ Say, ‘The fire of Hell is fiercer in heat.’ If only they could understand! (Surah 9:8 1)

11. If there had been immediate gain (in sight), and the journey easy, they would (all) without doubt have followed thee, but the distance was long, (and weighed) on them. They would indeed swear by Allah. If we only could, we should certainly have come out with you. They would destroy their own souls; for Allah doth know that they are certainly lying. (Surah 9:42-43)

12. Those who believe in Allah and the Last Day ask thee for no exemption from striving with their goods and persons. And Allah knoweth well those who do their duty. Only those ask thee for exemption who believe not in Allah and the Last Day, and whose hearts are in doubt, so that they are tossed in their doubts to and fro. If they had intended to come out, they would certainly have made some preparation therefore; but Allah was averse to their being sent forth; so He made them lag behind, and they were told, Sit ye among those who sit (inactive). (Surah 9:44-46)

13. Verily, Allah knows those among you who keep back (me and those who say to their brethren, ‘Come along to us’, become not to the light except for just a little while, Covetous over you. Then when fear comes, thou wilt see them looking at thee, their eyes revolving, like (those of) one over whom hovers death: but when fear is past, they will smite you with sharp tongues, covetous of goods. Such men have no faith, and so Allah has made their deeds of none effort: (Surah 33:18-19)

b.3) The evil and the hypocrite

14. The ground (of complaint) is against such as claim exemption while they are rich. They prefer to stay with the (women) who remain behind: Allah hath sealed their hearts; so they know not (what they miss).(Surah 9:93)

15. When a surah comes down, enjoining them to believe in Allah and to strive and struggle along with His Messenger, those with wealth and influence among them ask thee for exemption, and say: ‘Leave us (behind): we would be with those who sit (at home). (Surah 9:86)

16. They will swear to you by Allah, when ye return to them, that ye may leave them alone. So leave them alone: for they are an abomination, and Hell is their dwelling-place - a fitting recompense for the (evil) that they did. (Surah 9:95-96)

17. The desert Arabs who lagged behind will say to thee: ‘We were engaged in (looking after) our flocks and herds, and our families: do thou then ask forgiveness for us.’ They say with their tongues what is not in their hearts. Say: ‘Who then has any power at ail (to intervene) on your behalf with Allah. (Surah 48:11)

18. And yet they had already covenanted with Allah not to turn their backs, and a covenant with Allah must (surely) be answered for. Say: ‘Running away will not profit you, if ye are running away from death or slaughter; and even if (ye do escape), no more than a brief (respite) will ye be allowed to enjoy!’ (Surah 33:15-16)

19. (These are) the ones who wait and watch about you: if ye do gain a victory from Allah, they say: ‘Were we not with you? - but if the unbelievers gain a success, they say (to them): ‘Did we not gain an advantage over you, and did we not guard you from the believers?’ And never with Allah grant to the unbelievers a way (to triumph) over the believers. (Surah 4:141)

20. If good befalls thee, it grieves them; but if a misfortune befalls thee, they say, ‘We took indeed our precautions beforehand,’ and they turn away rejoicing. ‘Can you expect for us (any fate) other than one of two glorious things - (martyrdom or victory)? But we can expect for you either that Allah will send his punishment from Himself, or by our hands. (Surah 9: 50-52)

21. In that situation were the Believers tried: they were shaken as by a tremendous shaking. And behold, the Hypocrites and those in whose hearts is a disease (even) say: ‘Allah and His Messenger promised us nothing but delusions!’ Behold, a party among them said: ‘Ye men of Yathrib! Ye cannot stand (the attack)! Therefore go back!’ And a band of them ask for leave of the Prophet, saying, (Surah 33:11-12)

22. If they had come, out with you, they would not have added to your (strength) but only (made for) disorder, hurrying to and fro in your midst and sowing sedition among you, and there would have been some among you who would have listened to them among them is (many) a man who says: ‘Grant me exemption and draw me not into trial.’ Have they not fallen into trial already? And indeed Hell surrounds the Unbelievers (on all sides). (Surah 9:47-49)

23. And why should ye not fight in the cause of Allah and of those who, being weak, are ill-treated (and oppressed)? Men, women, and children, whose cry is: (Surah 4:7 5)

c) Allah fights with the believers

24. 0 ye who believe! If ye will aid (the cause of) Allah, He will aid you, and plant your feet firmly. (Surah 47:7)

25. Remember ye implored the assistance of your Lord, and 11e answered you: ‘I will assist you with a thousand of the angels, ranks on ranks.’ Allah made it but a message of hope, and an assurance to your hearts: (in any case) there is no help except from Allah. (Surah 8:9-10)

26. 0 ye who believe Remember the grace of Allah (bestowed) on you, when there came down on you hosts (to overwhelm you): but We sent against them hurricane and forces that ye saw not: but Allah sees (clearly) ail that ye do. Behold! They came on you from above you and from below you, and behold, the eyes became dim and the hearts gaped up to the throats, and ye imagined various (vain) thoughts about Allah! (Surah 33 :9-10)

27. And Allah turned back the Unbelievers for (ail) their fury: no advantage did they gain: and enough is Allah for the Believers in their light. And Allah is Full of Strength. (Surah 33:25)

28. Remember two of your parties meditated cowardice; but Allah was their protector. (Surah 3:122)

29. ‘Yea - if ye remain firm, and act aright, even if the enemy should rush here on you in hot haste, your Lord would help you with five thousand angels making a terrific onslaught.’ 11e might cut off a fringe of the Unbelievers or expose. (Surah 3:125- 127)

30. Be not weary and fainthearted, crying for peace, when ye should be uppermost: for Allah is with you, and will never put you in loss for your (good) deeds, (Surah 47:3 5)

31. Remember thy Lord inspired the angels (with the message): ‘I am with you: give firmness to the Believers: I will instil terror into the hearts of the Unbelievers: smite ye above their necks and spate ail their fingertips off them.’ This because they contended against Allah and His Messenger: if any content against Allah and His messenger, Allah is strict in punishment. (Surah 8: 12-13)

32. Allah had helped you at Badr, when ye were a contemptible little force; (Surah 3:123)

33. Allah did indeed fulfil his promise to you when ye with His permission were about to annihilate your enemy - until ye flinched and fell to disputing about the order, and disobeyed it after He brought you in sight (of the booty) which ye covet. (Surah 3:152)

34. They said: ‘What affairs is this of ours?’ Say thou: ‘Indeed, this affair is wholly Allah’s.’ They hide in their minds what they dare not reveal to thee. (Surah 3:154)

35. When the believers saw the confederate forces, they said: ‘This is what Allah and His messenger had promised us, and Allah and His messenger told us what was true.’ (Surah 33:22)

36. And those of the People of the Book who aided them -Allah did take them down from their strongholds and cast terror into their hearts. (So that) some ye slew, and some ye made prisoners. (Surah 33:26)

37. And it is He Who has restrained their hands from you and your hands from them in the midst of Makkah; after that le gave you the victory over there. (Surah 48:24)

38. Assuredly Allah did help you in many battlefields and on the day of Hunayn: behold, your great numbers elated you, but they availed you naught: the land, for ail that it is wide, did constrain you, and ye turned back in retreat. (Surah 9:25)

39. ‘There has already been for you a Sign in the two armies that met (in combat): one was fighting in the Cause of Allah, the other resisting Allah; these saw with their own eyes twice their number. But Allah doth support with His aid whom He pleaseth. In this is a warning for such as have eyes to see.’ (Surah 3:13)

40. 0 ye who believe! When ye meet a force, be firm, and cal) Allah in remembrance much (and often), (Surah 8:45)

41. And be not like those who started from their homes insolently and to be seen of men, and to hinder (men) from the path of Allah: for Allah compasseth round about ail that they do. (Surah 8:47)

42. For the present, Allah hath lightened your, (task), for He knoweth that there is a weak spot in you: but (even so), if there are a hundred of you, patient and persevering, they will vanquish two hundred, and if a thousand, they will vanquish two thousand, with the leave of Allah: (Surah 8:66)

43. Behold! Allah promised ye one of the two (enemy) parties, that it should be yours: ye wished that the one unarmed should be yours, but Allah willed to justify the Truth according to His words and to cut off the roots of the Unbelievers (Surah 8:7-8)

d) Treating the enemies of Allah

44. Therefore, when ye meet the Unbelievers (in fight), smite at their necks; at length, when ye have thoroughly subdued them, bind a bond firmly (on them): thereafter (is the time for) either generosity or ransom: until the war lays down its burdens. But (He lets you fight) in order to test you, some with others. But those who are slain in the Way of Allah - h will never let their deeds be lost. (Surah 47:4)

45. It is not fitting for a Prophet that he should have prisoners of war until he hath thoroughly subdued the land. (Surah 8:67)

46. 0 Prophet! Say to those who are captives in your hands: ‘If Allah finds any good in your hearts, He will give you something better than what has been taken from you, and He will forgive you: for Allah is oft forgiving, Most merciful.’ But if they have treacherous designs against thee, (O Messenger), they have already been in treason against Allah, and so hath He given (thee) power over them. (Surah 8:70-7 1)

e) Rewards to the fighters

47. Let those who fight in the cause of Allah who sell the life of this world for the Hereafter. To him who fighteth in the cause of Allah - whether he is slain or gets victory - soon shah We give him a reward of great (value). (Surah 4:74)

48. He will forgive you your sins, and admit you to gardens beneath which rivers flow, and to beautiful mansions in gardens of eternity: that is indeed the supreme achievement. And another (favour will He bestow), which ye do love — help from Allah and a speedy victory. (Surah 61:12-13)

49. Ail who obey Allah and the Messenger are in the company of those on whom is the Grace of Allah - Ah! What a beautiful fellowship! (Surah 4:69)

50. Not equal are those believers who sit (at home) and receive no hurt, and those who strive in the cause of Allah with their goods and their persons. Allah hath granted a grade higher to those who strive with their goods and persons than to those who sit (at home). Unto ail (in Faith) hath Allah promised good, but those who strive hath He distinguished above those who sit (at home) by a special reward. (Surah 4:95-96)

51. Allah hath purchased of the Believers their persons and their goods: for theirs (in return) is the Garden (of Paradise): they fight in His Cause, and slay and are slain: a promise binding on Him in truth, through the Law, the Gospel, and the Quran: (Surah 9.111)

52. It was not fitting for the people of Madinah and the Bedouin Arabs of the neighbourhood, to refuse to follow Allah’s Messenger, nor to prefer their own lives to his: because nothing could they suffer or do, but was reckoned to their credit as a deed of righteousness -whether they suffered thirst, or fatigue, or hunger, in the Cause of Allah, or trod paths to raise the ire of the Unbelievers, or received any injury whatever from an enemy: (Surah 9:120- 121)

f) Rewards for the dead of war

53. There did Allah give you one distress after another by way of requital, to teach you not to grieve for (the booty) that had escaped you and for (the ill) that had befallen you, (Surah 3:153)

54. (They are) the ones that say, (of their brethren slain), while they themselves sit (at case): ‘If only they had listened to us, they would not have been slain.’ Avert death from your own selves, it ye speak the truth.’ (Surah 3:168)

55. Think not of those who are slain in Allah’s way as dead. Nay, they live, finding their sustenance in the presence of their Lord; They rejoice in the bounty provided by Allah: and with regard to those left behind, who have not yet joined them (in their bliss), the (martyrs) glory in the fact that on them is no fear, nor have they (cause to) grieve. The glory in the grace and the bounty from Allah, and in the fact that Allah suffereth not the reward of the faithful to be lost (in the least). (Surah 3:169-171)

56. And if you are slain, or die, in the way of Allah, forgiveness and mercy from Allah are far better than ail they could amass. (Surah 3:157)

57. But those who are slain in the Way of Allah - 11e will never let their deeds be lost. And admit them to the Garden which He has announced for them. (Surah 47:4-6)

58. (To them will be said:) ‘Eat and drink ye, with profit and health, because of your good deeds. (Surah 52:19)

59. They will recline on carpets, whose inner linings will be of rich brocade: the fruit of the gardens will be near (and easy of reach). (Surah 55:54)

60. In them will be maidens, chaste restraining their glances, whom no man or jin before them has touched. (Surah 55:56)

61. And (there will be) companions with beautiful, big, and lustrous eyes — (Surah 56:22)

62. And round about them will (serve) youths of perpetual (freshness): if thou seest them, thou wouldst think them scattered pearls. (Surah 76:19)

f) The booty (spoils of war)

63. They ask thee concerning (things taken as) spoils of war. Say: ‘(Such) spoils are at the disposal of Allah and the Prophet- (Surah 8:1)

64. And know that out of ail the booty that ye may acquire (in war), a fifth share is assigned to Ai ah — and to the messenger, and to near relatives, orphans, the needy, and the wayfarer. (Surah 8:4 1)

65. Allah has promised you many gains that ye shall acquire, and He has given you these beforehand; and he has restrained the hands of men from you; And other gains (there are), which are not within your power, but which Allah has compassed: (Surah 48:20-2 1)

66. And He made you heirs of their lands, their houses, and their goods, and of a land which ye had not frequented (before). (Surah 33:27)

67. But (now) enjoy what you took in war, lawful and good: but fear Allah. (Surah 8:69)

g) Jihad against the unbelievers

68. Say to the desert Arabs who lagged behind: ‘Ye shall be summoned (to light) against a people given to vehement war: then shall ye light, or they shah submit. Then if ye show obedience, Allah will grant you a goodly reward, but if ye turn back as ye did before, He will punish you with a grievous Penalty.’ (Surah 48:16)

69. He who forsakes his home in the cause of Allah, finds in the earth many a refuge, wide and spacious: should he die as a refugee from home for Allah and His Messenger, his reward becomes due and sure with Allah: (Surah 4:100)

70. Fight those who believe not in Allah nor the Last Day, nor hold that forbidden which hath been forbidden by Allah and His Prophet, nor acknowledge the religion of Truth, (even if they are of the People of the Book, until they pay the Jiziah with willing submission, and feel themselves subdued. (Surah 9:29)

71. They but wish that ye should reject Faith, as they do, and thus be on the same footing (as they): but take not friends from their ranks until they flee in the way of Allah (from what is forbidden). But if they turn renegades, seize them and slay them wherever ye find them; and (in any case) take no friends or helpers from their ranks; (Surah 4:89)

72. Those who believe fight in the cause of Allah, and those who reject faith fight in the cause of evil: so fight ye against the fiends of Satan: feeble indeed is the cunning of Satan. (Surah4:76)

73. Fight in the cause of Allah those who fight you, but do not transgress limits; And slay them wherever ye catch them, and turn them out from where they have turned you out; for tumult and oppression are worse than slaughter; but fight them not at the Sacred Mosque, unless they (first) fight you there; but if they fight you, slay them. (Surah 2:190-192)

74. And fight them on until there is no more tumult or oppression, and there prevail justice and faith in Allah; but if they cease, let there be no hostility except to those who practice oppression. (Surah 2:193)

75. 0 Prophet! Rouse the Believers to the fight. If there are twenty amongst you, patient and persevering, they will vanquish two hundred: if a hundred, they will vanquish a thousand of the Unbelievers: for these are a people without understanding. (Surah 8:65)

76. 0 ye who believe! When ye meet the unbelievers in hostile array, never turn your backs to them. If any do turn his back to them on such a day - unless it be in a stratagem of war, or to retreat to a troop (of his own) - he draws on himself the wrath of Allah, and his abode is Hell - an evil refuge (indeed)! (Surah 8:15-16)

77. It is not ye who slew them; it was Allah: when thou threwest (a handful of dust), it was not thy act, but Allah’s: in order that He might test the Believers by a gracious trial from Himself. Allah is He Who makes feeble the plans and stratagem of the unbelievers. (Surah 8:17-18)

78. (0 Unbelievers!) if ye prayed for victory and judgment, now bath the judgment come to you: if ye desist (from wrong), it will be best for you: if ye return (to the attack), so shll We. Not the least good will your forces be to you even if they were multiplied: (Surah 8:19)

79. If ye gain the mastery over them in war, disperse, with them, those who follow them that they may remember. If thou fearest treachery from any group, throw back (their Covenant) to their, (so as to be) on equal terms: for Allah loveth not the treacherous. (Surah 8:57-58)

80. Against them make ready your strength to the utmost of your power, including steeds of war, to strike terror into (the hearts of) the enemies, of Allah and your enemies, and others besides, whom ye may not know, but whom Allah doth know. Whatever ye shah spend in the Cause of Allah, shah be repaid unto you, and ye shah not be treated unjustly. (Surah 8:60-6 1)

81. If a wound hath touched you, be sure a similar wound hath touched the others. Such days (of varying fortunes) we give to men and men by turns: that Allah may know those that believe, and that He may take to Himself from your ranks martyr-witnesses (to Truth). Surah 3:140-141)

82. Did ye think that ye would enter Heaven without Allah testing those of you who fought hard (in His Cause) and remained steadfast? (Surah 3:142)

83. Truly, if the Hypocrites, and those in whose hearts is a disease, and those who stir up sedition in the City, desist not, We shall certainly stir thee tip against them: They shall have a curse on them: wherever they are found, they shah be seized and slain (without mercy). (Such was) the practice (approved) of Allah among those who lived aforetime: no change wilt thou find in the practice (approved) of Allah. (Surah 33:60-62)

84. And an announcement from Allah and His messenger, to the people (assembled) on the day of the Great Pilgrimage - that Allah and His messenger dissolve (treaty) obligations with the pagans. (Surah 9:3-4)

85. So lose not heart, nor fall into despair: for ye must gain mastery if ye are true in Faith. (Surah 3:139)

86. They are the ones who denied Revelation and hindered you froth the Sacred Mosque and the sacrificial animals, detained from reaching their place of sacrifice. If they had been apart We should certainly have punished the Unbelievers among them with a grievous Punishment. (Surah 48:25)

87. 0 Prophet! Strive hard against the Unbelievers and the Hypocrites, and be firm against them. Their abode is Hell — an evil refuge (indeed). (Surah 66:9)

88. Allah will cover with shame those who reject Him. Allah and His messenger dissolve (treaty) obligations with the pagans. But when the forbidden months are past, then light and slay the Pagans wherever ye find them, and seize their, beleaguer them, and lie in wait for them in every stratagem (of war). But if they repent, and establish regular prayers and practise regular charity, then open the way for them. (Surah 9:2-5)

89. But if they violate their oaths after their covenant, and taunt you for your Faith - fight ye the chiefs of Unfaith: for their oaths axe nothing to them: that thus they may be restrained. Do ye fear them? Nay, it is Allah Whom ye should more justly fear (Surah 9:12-13)

90. Fight them, and Allah will punish them by your hands, cover them with shame, help you (to victory) over them, heal the breasts of Believers, And still the indignation of their hearts. And take none for friends and protectors except Allah, His Messenger, and the (community of Believers? (Surah 9:14-16)

91. Others you will find that wish to gain your confidence as well as that of their people: every time they are sent back to temptation, they succumb thereto: if they withdraw not from you nor give you (guarantees) of peace besides restraining their hands, seize them and slay them wherever ye get them: in their case we have provided you with a clear argument against them. (Surah 4:91)

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