Re: Are Christians "Unbelievers" according to the Quran?
- From: Abdelkarim Benoit Evans <kevans@xxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Mon, 1 May 2006 16:42:47 -0500
In article <1146371449.197076.44510@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>,
kleinecke@xxxxxxxxxxx wrote:
(...)
... it seems very plausible to me that, in the(...)
Qur'an, KFR includes Christians.
Incidently, in the near east, in Muhammad's times, there were multiple
kinds of Christians (and, most likely, multiple kinds of Jews, but that
is a different story). As it is usually read, the Qur'an makes no
distinctions between different kinds of Christians.
First of all, kaafir means to willfully and knowingly reject or deny
Allah and his prophets. A person who has never heard of Islam or who
has never learned the truth about Islam (and understood that what he
learned was indeed the truth) cannot be called a kaafir. He may be
called a non-Muslim in the specific sense that he is not counted among
the community of Muhammad under the rules of fiqh.
When Abu Bakr (God be pleased with him) became the first Caliph, he
wrote a letter to certain apostate tribes, explaining how he became a
Muslim:
"I praise the true God, besides whom there is none to be worshipped. I
declare that Allah is One, without partner, and Muhammad is His servant
and messenger. We affirm the message of Allah which he brought us. He
who denies it, is a kafir." (Tarikh Tabari)
Kufur is denial. It is not the simple fact of un-belief, mis-belief or
non-belief. It is dis-belief. It is conscious, willful rejection.
The normative test of belief is the kalima shahada: I testify that
there is no divinity but Allah and I testify that Muhammad is Allah's
prophet.
A person who thus testifies is deemed to be a member of the community
and no one has the right to call him kaafir. Only Allah will judge him
(except in the case of outright denial or apostasy).
Shah Wali-ullah, a world-renowned Indian Muslim scholar, theologian and
philosopher, acknowledged by all Muslims of India and Pakistan today,
wrote:
"When the commandments were formalised by the Shari`ah, the word iman
(faith) came to be applied to the `two testimonies', and the word kufr
(unbelief) to the denial of these two. Bearing this terminology in
mind, we can say that iman is to acknowledge with the tongue, and kufr
is to deny these two with the tongue." (Al-Khair al-Kasir)
Without outright denial, there is no kufr.
Now this leads to another question: what is to be done with someone who
affirms only one of the two kalima statements but does not deny the
other. In the Qur'an, we do not find the two testimonies together,
although each is found separately in various places.
In Lisan al-Hukam, we read:
"It is written that if an atheist, or an idol worshipper, or one who
believes in gods besides the One God, were to merely say, There is no
god but Allah, he enters Islam. Or if he were to say, I believe
Muhammad to be the messenger of God, he enters Islam. This is because
the deniers of Islam refrain from saying either of these two formulas.
Hence if he were to declare even one of them, he would be taken out of
the category called non-Muslim, and would be considered to be a
Muslim." (Lisan al-Hukam)
How can this be so? Obviously, refusing to declare (or believe in the
heart) BOTH statements is the sign of a kaafir (if the person does so
willfully and knowingly). However, if a person sincerely declares that
Muhammad is God's prophet, he has implicitly acknowedged the other
testimony because he will be bound by what Muhammad brought, which in
its essence is the truth that there is no divinity but Allah. Thus he
cannot openly deny tawhid (God's oneness and uniqueness).
Similarly, a person who explicitly or in words of similar effect
declares (or believes in this heart) that there is no divinity but God
has not denied the essential truth and can hardly be called a kaafir.
He has not rejected God and unless he willfully and knowingly rejects
one or more of God's prophets, he cannot be accused denying or rejecting
their prophethood.
Muhammad Iqbal, the great poet-philosopher of Muslim India, and a
national hero of Pakistan, wrote:
"Once, ... the Holy Prophet Muhammad told one of his companions: 'Go
and tell people that whoever in his life even once says with his
tongue, there is no god but Allah, he should know that he shall enter
paradise.' The Holy Prophet purposely omitted the second constituent of
the Kalima, i.e. Muhammad is the messenger of Allah, without professing
which a person cannot be a Muslim, and he considered just the
confession of the Unity of God to be sufficient." (Khilafat Islamia)
In a broader sense, anyone who willingly submits to the will of God is
a Muslim. Thus, all the prophets preceding the prophet Muhammad are
considered Muslims. The Quran specifically mentions Abraham who lived
long before Moses and Christ that, "he was not a Jew or a Christian but
a Muslim," because, he had submitted to the will of God. Thus there are
Muslims who are not submitting at all to the will of God and there are
Muslims who are doing their best to live an Islamic life. One cannot
judge Islam by looking at those individuals who have a Muslim name but
in their actions, they are not living or behaving as Muslims. The
extent of being a Muslim can be according to the degree to which one is
submitting to the will of God, in his beliefs and his actions.
It is clearly held by the scholars of Islam that a non-Muslim may be
termed kaafir only if he rejects Islam after properly knowing it. Since
most non-Muslims simply do not have any clear idea about the teachings
of Islam, they cannot be termed kafir. Indeed, we Muslims are are the
guilty ones if, having the opportunity, we fail to convey the teachings
of Islam to others (by our words and deeds). No Muslim court or
authority has any power whatsoever to penalize a non-Muslim for not
accepting Islam.
Allah tells us explicitly and directly in the Qur'an that there are
just, righteous people among the People of the Book and that, unlike
the unbelievers (kafiroun) they will not fall into hellfire but instead
will be in the ranks of the righteous (alSSaaliHiin).
"Yet they [People of the Book] are not all alike. There are among the
People of the Book some upright men who all night long recite the Signs
of Allah and worship Him; who believe in Allah and the Last Day; who
enjoin justice and forbid evil and hasten to do good works. These men
are among the righteous; of the good that they do nothing will be
rejected, for Allah acknowledges the righteous. As for those who reject
faith [kafaruu], neither their possessions nor their children shall in
the least protect them from Allah. They are Companions of the Fire,
where the shall remain [forever]." (Qur'an 3:113)
As I understand the preceding passage, God clearly says:
(1) The People of the Book cannot be judged uniformly, without
distinction.
(2) Some of them believe in God and and worship Him
fervently.
(3) That portion of the People of the Book are righteous
(alSSaaliHiin).
(4) God will acknowledge their worship.
(5) On the
other hand, other men openly reject (kararuu) faith.
(6) They will go
to hell.
If they are "righteous", how can they be called deniers of faith
(kaafiruun)?
Let us consider another ayat, from Ali 'Imran (3:110):
walaw aamana ahlu -lkitaabi lakaana KHayrAN lahum minhumu almu'minuuna
wa'akTHuhumu alfaasiquuna
If only the People of the Book had faith (aamana), that would be best
for them. Among them [are some who are] true believers (mu'minuuna) but
most of them [are] rebellious transgressors (faasiquuna).
What is there about "minhumu almu'minuuna" -- among them [are some] true
believers -- that you do not understand?
--
Peace to all who seek God's face.
Abdelkarim Benoit Evans
.
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