Does The Quran Really Say To Kill Kafirs(disbelievers) or Is It a Rumor?

No need to mention that the Quran is the holiest scripture of Islam which is a religion of Abrahamic faith. The Holy Quran was revealed to Prophet Muhammad by the angel Gabriel(Jibreel). The Quran is believed to be the word of true and one God(Allah) which was revealed to this world within the course of around 22 years. The Quran contains 114 chapters and 6,666 verses.

The 6000+ verses of the Quran talk about different subjects like culture, food, marriage, divorce, heaven, hell, polytheists, and many more. It also commands Muslims to perform various actions out of which many commands and verses have led to the controversy on Quran.

Today, we would study verse no. 5 of chapter 9 of the Quran which commands to kill polytheists.

"But, once the sacred months have passed, kill the polytheists wherever you find them, capture them, besiege them, and lie in wait for them on every way. But if they repent, perform prayers, and pay alms-tax, then sent them free. Indeed, Allah(God) is all-forgiving, most merciful."

Any non-muslim who read this verse get mistaken and think that Quran is asking Muslims to kill polytheists or non-muslim. But, this is not true at all. Anti-social elements roaming on the internet would never tell you the truth of this verse and also they did not recite the after and following verses due to their dirty propaganda against the Holy Quran and Muslims. I am giving you a link below. Click on the link and read at least the first eight verses of chapter-9 Surah Al-Tauba. After reading those verses return back to this article so that I could make you understand what these verse is actually about.

If you read them, then, you must have read about a treaty which was signed near the holy Makkah between Muslims and non-Muslims of Medinah and Makkah respectively. The verse of killing polytheists is the result of this treaty only. I would explain you this treaty in detail. Read the article in full.

We will first understand the political condition of both the city of Makkah and Medina. Makkah is a city that was full of non-muslims(pagans, Christians, Jews, etc), and there lies a holy place of worship called Kaaba. Makkah is ruled by the Quraish community. Now, Medina is another city where Muslims are in abundance and there also lived all famous Prophet Muhammad. A question might come to your mind the prophet was born in Makkah then, how he is in Medina. So, let me tell you please that due to the cruelty faced in Makkah, the prophet along with the followers had to migrate to Medina.

The story starts from the planning of Umrah in Makkah by Muslims of Medina. Umrah is a holy ritual of Islam that can only be performed in the holy city of Makkah. Muslims moved towards Makkah on camels with no weapon. They were wearing Ihram. Ihram is a single piece of white clothing with no stitches. Non-Muslims got this news and they gather on the ground of Hudaybiyyah to stop them. Muslims and the prophet were stopped by them. They asked them why they had stopped them. They replied that they are in thousands and they might attack them to take revenge. Muslims replied that they are not with any weapons. Non-muslims did not agree and there occurred a heated debate and negotiations. After the debate, the two parties decided to resolve the matter with a treaty in a diplomatic way. This famous treaty is known as the Treaty of Hudaybiyyah which is also mentioned in Quaran in those verses. We would only tell you the major terms of the treaty and the rest in detail you can read on Wikipedia. Terms were:-

• Muslims would return back to Medina and would not perform any pilgrimage. But, they can perform in the upcoming years.
• Muslims wouldn't do war against non-muslims and their helping or war partners community and non-muslims would also not do wars against Muslims and their helping or war-partners community. And this would remain for the next 10 years.

Now, the real story begins after the two years of the treaty. Banu Bakar, a community or war partner of non-muslims attacked Banu Khuzaa, the war partner of Muslims. Till then, it was okay, but Quraish too joined the war and fought with the Muslim war partner. 13 men were killed in the Holy Kabbah. Yes, in Kabbah which was respected by non-muslims also. This happening was against the treaty terms.

Banu Khizaa complained to the prophet. Prophet consoled them and with Muslims moved towards the Makkah. They presented the three options for their crime. Options were as follows:-

Pay the compensation of the blood of the peoples of Banu Khiza.

Allow them to fight with Banu Bakar to punish them for their actions.

Cancel the signed treaty.

One man of the Quraish stood up and said that they ended the treaty. And, then only the first some verses of Surah Al-Tauba was revealed which you read earlier on Quran.com. Those verses which are commanding to kill polytheist wherever they are found was revealed to punish polytheist for their misbehave and sins.

Haters recite only verse no.5, they would not ever recite verse no. 6 because it can affect their business of hatred.

Let's read verse no.6

"And if anyone from the polytheists asks for your protection, grant it to them so they may hear the Word of God, then escort them to a place of safety, for they are a people who have no knowledge."

This verse is signifying the mother and caring nature of God in which He says to leave the people who seek protection so that they can hear the Quran and could get a chance to turn towards real God.

Thanks for reading!

Disclaimer: This story was originally published at https://medium.com/indian-thoughts/does-quran-really-say-to-kill-kafirs-or-is-it-a-rumor-156572c84989