FITNA: Supporting Documentation

Fitna: Supporting Documentation 03/27/08

In  a recent address to the Dutch Parliament, Geert Wilders cited the following  ayat, some but not all of which are quoted in his movie, Fitna.

• 2:65
• 2:191
• 3:141
• 4:56
• 4:91
• 5:3
• 5:60
• 7:166
• 8:39
• 9:29 [mis-numbered as 9:30]
• 47:4
• 69:30-69:32

Each of the above listed ayat is linked to ten parallel translations.

The text of the violent ayat in the list above: [Links to Ibn Kathir’s Tafsir supplied when available.]

• 2:191 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. Such is the reward of those who suppress faith. [Abdullah Yusuf Ali]
  • Righteousness comes from Taqwa
  • Fighting in the Sacred Months
  • This is the Ayah of the Sword
• 3:139-141 So do not become weak (against your enemy), nor be sad, and you will be superior (in victory) if you are indeed (true) believers. 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 God may know those that believe, and that He may take to Himself from your ranks Martyr-witnesses (to Truth). And God loveth not those that do wrong.  And that Allah may test (or purify) the believers (from sins) and destroy the disbelievers. [Hilali &Khan]
  • The Encouragment to Do Good for which Paradise is the Result
  • The Muslim believes in all that Allah `revealed and all the Prophets
• 4:91 Ye will find others who seek to gain your confidence as well as that of their own people: So oft as they return to sedition, they shall be overthrown in it: But if they leave you not, nor propose terms or peace to you nor withhold their hands, then seize them, and slay them, wherever ye find them. Over these have we given you undoubted power.[Rodwell]
• 8:39  And fight them until there is no more Fitnah (disbelief and polytheism: i.e. worshipping others besides Allah) and the religion (worship) will all be for Allah Alone [in the whole of the world]. But if they cease (worshipping others besides Allah), then certainly, Allah is All-Seer of what they do.[Hilali & Khan]
  • The Order to fight to eradicate Shirk and Kufr
  • The Order to fight until there is no more Fitnah
  • Righteousness comes from Taqwa
• 9:29  Make war upon such of those to whom the Scriptures have been given as believe not in God, or in the last day, and who forbid not that which God and His Apostle have forbidden, and who profess not the profession of the truth, until they pay tribute out of hand, and they be humbled.[Rodwell]
  • The Order to fight People of the Scriptures until They give the Jizyah
• 47:4 When ye encounter the infidels, strike off their heads till ye have made a great slaughter among them, and of the rest make fast the fetters. And afterwards let there either be free dismissals or ransomings, till the war hath laid down its burdens. Thus do. Were such the pleasure of God, he could himself take vengeance upon them: but He would rather prove the one of you by the other. And whoso fight for the cause of God, their works he will not suffer to miscarry;[Rodwell]
  • Muslims invoke Allah for Help, Allah sends the Angels to help Them

Riyad us-Salaheen, Book 11, Ch. 234 cites  many ahadith in proving the obligation of Jihad. It does not mention the above cited ayat, but does cite several others.  Reliance of the Traveler specifically offers 9:29 as justification for declaring war on Jews and Christians.

The Reliance of the Traveller. Version 1.06 – By Ahmad Ibn Naqib Al-Misri
BOOK O: JUSTICE >> Chapter O-9.0: Jihad

O-9.8: The Objectives of Jihad
The caliph (o-25) makes war upon Jews, Christians, and Zoroastrians (N: provided he has first invited them to enter Islam in faith and practice, and if they will not, then invited them to enter the social order of Islam by paying the non-Muslim poll tax (jizya, def: o-11.4) -which is the significance of their paying it, not the money itself-while remaining in their ancestral religions) (O: and the war continues) until they become Muslim or else pay the non-Muslim poll tax (O: in accordance with the word of Allah Most High,
“Fight those who do not believe in Allah and the Last Day and who forbid not what Allah and His messenger have forbidden-who do not practice the religion of truth, being of those who have been given the Book-until they pay the poll tax out of hand and are humbled” (Koran 9.29)

Yoel Natan lists 164 violent ayat related to Jihad. Muslims Against Sharia  has a list of “outdated” ayat which they propose to remove from the Qur’an:

 Outdated verses The following verses promote divisiveness and religious hatred, bigotry and discrimination. They must be either removed from the Koran or declared outdated and invalid, and marked as such.”

Their expurgated edition is displayed here.

Note the use of fitna in 8:39 as casus belli. It is also mentioned in 5:33 Muslims love to cite 5:32, but never quote its successor to Kuffar. Why is that?

5:32  Because of that We ordained for the Children of Israel that if anyone killed a person not in retaliation of murder, or (and) to spread mischief in the land – it would be as if he killed all mankind, and if anyone saved a life, it would be as if he saved the life of all mankind. And indeed, there came to them Our Messengers with clear proofs, evidences, and signs, even then after that many of them continued to exceed the limits (e.g. by doing oppression unjustly and exceeding beyond the limits set by Allah by committing the major sins) in the land!
5:33 The recompense of those who wage war against Allah and His Messenger and do mischief in the land is only that they shall be killed or crucified or their hands and their feet be cut off on the opposite sides, or be exiled from the land. That is their disgrace in this world, and a great torment is theirs in the Hereafter.

Ibn Kathir’s tafsir of  5:33 has a blood curdling implication. Note the emphasized phrases.

`Wage war‘ mentioned here means, oppose and contradict, and it includes disbelief, blocking roads and spreading fear in the fairways. Mischief in the land refers to various types of evil.

Mere disbelief in Allah is sufficient to subject you to the hudud listed in the ayeh above cited! Now you rightly understand that Geert Wilders is not exaggerating in his video presentation.