Verse 29 of
chapter 9 of the Qur'an is notable as dealing with the imposition of tribute (
ǧizya) on non-Muslims who have
fallen under Muslim rule (the ''
ahl al-ḏimma''). Most Muslim commentators believe this verse was revealed at the time of the
expedition to Tabuk
The Expedition of Tabuk, also known as the Expedition of Usra, was a military expedition that was initiated by the Prophets and messengers in Islam, Islamic prophet Muhammad in October 630 CE (AH 9). He led a force of as many as 30,000 north to Ta ...
.
Asma Afsaruddin
Asma Afsaruddin (born 1958) is an American Islamic scholar and Professor in the Department of Near Eastern Languages and Cultures at Indiana University in Bloomington.
Biography
She was an associate professor in Arabic and Islamic studies at th ...
, ''Striving in the Path of God: Jihad and Martyrdom in Islamic Thought'', OUP USA (2013):239-240
Text
Verse as written in Arabic:
English translations of the verse:
Sahih International
The Saheeh International translation is an English-language translation of the Quran that has been used by Islam's most conservative adherents. Published by the Publishing House (dar), ''dar Abul Qasim'', Saudi Arabia, it is one of the world's mos ...
: 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 Scripture - ightuntil they give the jizyah
Jizya ( ar, جِزْيَة / ) is a per capita yearly taxation historically levied in the form of financial charge on dhimmis, that is, permanent Kafir, non-Muslim subjects of a state governed by Sharia, Islamic law. The jizya tax has been unde ...
willingly while they are humbled.
Muhsin Khan
Muhammad Muhsin Khan (Pashto/Dari/Arabic: ; 1927 – 14 July 2021) was an Islamic scholar and translator of Afghan origin, who lived in Madinah and served as the Chief of Department of Chest Diseases at the King Faisal Specialist Hospital and ...
: Fight against those who (1) believe not in Allah, (2) nor in the Last Day, (3) nor forbid that which has been forbidden by Allah and His Messenger (4) and those who acknowledge not the religion of truth (i.e. Islam) among the people of the Scripture (Jews and Christians), until they pay the Jizyah with willing submission, and feel themselves subdued.
Pickthall: Fight against such of those who have been given the Scripture as believe not in Allah nor the Last Day, and forbid not that which Allah hath forbidden by His messenger, and follow not the Religion of Truth, until they pay the tribute readily, being brought low.
Yusuf Ali: Fight those who believe not in Allah nor the Last Day, nor hold that forbidden which hath been forbidden by Allah and His Messenger, nor acknowledge the religion of Truth, (even if they are) of the People of the Book, until they pay the Jizya with willing submission, and feel themselves subdued.
Dr. Ghali: Fight the ones who do not believe in Allah nor in the Last Day, and do not prohibit whatever Allah and His Messenger have prohibited, and do not practice (Literally: to have as a religion) the religion of Truth-from among the ones to whom the Book was brought-until they give the tax out of hand (i.e., by a ready money payment, or in token of submission) and have been belittled..
Interpretations
The Muslim jurists and exegetes disagree primarily on two issues in regards to the exegesis and legal judgements on this verse. One issue is of the generality of the command to fight, which some from the early and classical jurists considered to be a universal command against disbelievers in general. The second issue is of how the jizya relates to the belittlement of the Disbelievers, whether that is by virtue of paying the jizya or expressed in the manner in which the Jizya is extracted from the dhimmi.
Al shafi’i the Imam of the Salaf from the 8th century notably made the judgement that this verse applies on the basis of Religion rather than External aggression, and that the payment of the Jizya is one of two modes by which a Disbelieving man from the religion of the People of the Book can save his blood from being spilled. After mentioning the verse 9:29,
Al shafi’i commented: So Allah protected the blood of those who follow the religion of the People of the Book either by their conversion into Islam(iman) or by their paying the Jizyah from their hands, while feeling themselves humiliated.
Somewhat anomalously, the modern 19th century Modern Islamic scholar
Maududi
Abul A'la al-Maududi ( ur, , translit=Abū al-Aʿlā al-Mawdūdī; – ) was an Islamic scholar, Islamist ideologue, Muslim philosopher, jurist, historian, journalist, activist and scholar active in British India and later, following the parti ...
also includes generally all disbelieving people in this group.
Ibn Kathir
Abū al-Fiḍā’ ‘Imād ad-Dīn Ismā‘īl ibn ‘Umar ibn Kathīr al-Qurashī al-Damishqī (Arabic: إسماعيل بن عمر بن كثير القرشي الدمشقي أبو الفداء عماد; – 1373), known as Ibn Kathīr (, was ...
writes, "Allah the Exalted encourages the believers to fight the polytheists, disbelieving Jews and Christians, who uttered this terrible statement
entioned in Q9:30and utter lies against Allah, the Exalted."
Babarti al Hanafi of the fourteenth century also mentioned this verse and lengthily exposited its contrast to older Quranic verses enjoining peace, forbearance and the prohibition on offensive warfare, then invoked the doctrine of abrogation and emphasised the generality of the targets of war identified by the verse.
Babarti said: ‘If they fight you then fight them’(2:191) indicates that you may only fight the kuffar if they fight you, but it has been abrogated and the explanation is that Allah’s Messenger was initially commanded to forbear and turn away from the polytheists, with His saying, “forbear with a beautiful forbearance, and turn away from the polytheists.” Then He commanded him to call to the religion with admonishment and disputation with goodness, with His saying, “call unto the path of your Lord with wisdom.” Then he was permitted to fight when the initiation was from them, with His saying, “it is permitted for those who fight” and with His saying, “thus, if they fight you, then you fight them.” Then He commanded initiating fighting in some periods of time with His saying, “thus, when the sacred months have passed, fight the polytheists (9:5)”, then He commanded initiating fighting absolutely; in all time periods and places, He said, “and fight them until there be no fitnah(8.39) and ‘fight those who do not believe in Allah and the Last Day’ (9:29)
A second interpretation limits the application of this verse to the context of the
Tabuk expedition which was a self-defence mobilisation by the Prophet Muhammad in response to rumours of a potential attack by the
Byzantine Empire
The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantinopl ...
; therefore, only the belligerent Byzantines or others who act in similar aggression against the Muslims are the targets of this verse. Another interpretation, forwarded by
Ghamidi in line with his general
views on Islamic Jihad and
Itmam al-Hujjah
Itmam al-Hujjah ( ar, إِتْمَام ٱلْحُجَّة, '), meaning "Completion of Proof", is an Islamic concept denoting that religious truth has been completely clarified by a Messenger of Allah and made available to a people, who are con ...
, limits the application of this verse to only the
Muslim Prophet's non-Muslim addresses who lived in his time and region.
After mentioning the diverse array of interpretations, the influential scholar
Al-Rāzī (d. 606/1210) quotes an early exegetical authority, Abū Rawq (d. 140/757), who said that this verse was not a unilateral condemnation of all Jews and Christians, but those "who do not heed the prescriptions contained in the Torah and the Gospel, respectively", while the famous Andalusian scholar
al-Qurṭubī (d. 671/1273) "did not read into Qur'ān 9:29 a wholesale denunciation of the People of the Book as an undifferentiated collectivity."
:278-279
The modern
Salafi
The Salafi movement or Salafism () is a reform branch movement within Sunni Islam that originated during the nineteenth century. The name refers to advocacy of a return to the traditions of the "pious predecessors" (), the first three generat ...
reformist scholar,
Muḥammad 'Abduh (d. 1323/1905), "notes that most commentators are agreed that it was revealed on the occasion of the military campaign in Tabuk, and this verse specifically deals with the People of the Book", and also that "the only kind of legitimate war on which there is unanimity among Muslim scholars is the defensive war when proclaimed by the Imām in the event of an attack upon Muslim territory".
:239-240 One of his disciples, the
Grand Imam of al-Azhar The Grand Imam of al-Azhar ( ar, الإمام الأكبر), also known as Grand Sheikh of al-Azhar ( ar, links=no, شيخ الأزهر الشريف), currently Ahmed el-Tayeb, is a prestigious and a prominent official title in Egypt. He is consid ...
from 1935 to 1945,
Mustafa Al-Maraghi
Muhammad Mustafa al-Maraghi ( ar, محمد مصطفى المراغي; 5 March 1881 – 22 August 1945) was an Egyptian reformer and rector of Al-Azhar from El Maragha, Sohag Governorate.
Al-Maraghi was active in encouraging reforms within lega ...
, explains that 9:29 means: "fight those mentioned when the conditions which necessitate fighting are present, namely, aggression against you or your country, oppression and persecution against you on account of your faith, or threatening your safety and security, as was committed against you by the Byzantines, which was what led to Tabuk."
Abrogation
Allameh Tabatabaei
Muhammad Husayn Tabataba'i or Sayyid Mohammad Hossein Tabataba'i (16 March 1903 – 15 November 1981) was an Iranian scholar, theorist, philosopher and one of the most prominent thinkers of modern Shia Islam. He is perhaps best known for his '' ...
, a Shia scholar, commenting on a
hadith
Ḥadīth ( or ; ar, حديث, , , , , , , literally "talk" or "discourse") or Athar ( ar, أثر, , literally "remnant"/"effect") refers to what the majority of Muslims believe to be a record of the words, actions, and the silent approval ...
that claims that the above verse has "abrogated" other verses asking for good behaviour toward dhimmis, states that "abrogation" could be understood either in its terminological sense or its literal sense. If "abrogation" is understood in its terminological sense, Muslims should deal with dhimmis strictly in a good and decent manner.
Tafsir al-Mizan
on verses 2:83-88, Allameh Tabatabaei
Notes
References
{{Reflist
Sharia
Quranic verses
Jihad
Offensive jihad
At-Tawba