In answer to the video "Did Muhammad Respect Other People's Gods?"
Muhammad didn't punish any of the guilty in his 13 years at Mecca, almost 3 times the length of Jesus' total mission, because God had still not granted him the authority and power to do so. And before the critics raise their eyebrows thinking that he would have done it had he the power to do so, let me remind them of a pervasive pattern of the Semitic prophets, running through the Israelites and Ishmaelite.
When the prophets Moses and Muhammad emigrated from the lands where they were oppressed, their passive attitude had nothing to do with them being conscious of their weakness and therefore preferring to wait for a better time to fight back. Both the Israelites and the early Muslims were much weaker than their enemies when they were initially commanded to fight in Allah's way. What did Moses in the Torah order the Israelites to do, when they insisted on fighting after having regretted their disobedience the first time? He told them not to go to war because God wont be with them and they would all be killed
Deut9:23-24,Numbers14"Do not go up, because the LORD is not with you. You will be defeated by your enemies".The same happenned in the times of Joshua (Joshua7).
Similarly, the prophet Muhammad was told to "wait" in the face of persecution and keep transmitting the Revelation openly, until he was commanded to take up arms against the oppressors for God will be with him 2:190,9:14,8:17. When the people of Medina secretly met with the prophet, pledging their allegiance shortly after his migration, and suggested they should lead a surprise attack by night on the Meccans, the prophet refused arguing it did not concord with his message, ie the time was not right yet. Even prior to that, some were eager to engage their persecutors in battle
"There were some companions of the Prophet who were in a hurry to wage war while they were at Mecca before hijrah. They said to the Prophet "Allow us to take (our) pickaxes in order to fight these polytheists.' And we have been told that ‘Abdu Rahman ibn ‘Awf was among those who had said it. But the Prophet forbade them to do so and said, "I have not been ordered this".
The decision frustrated his close companions including his early followers that suffered torture at the hands of the Meccans. The "timing" of counter attack was not due to the Muslims becoming stronger and the prophet consequently ordering them to take up arms. Both the ahadith and the Quran show that they were inferior in numbers and might as compared to their oppressors during most of their battles especially the first ones, and the Quran relates in Sura Baqara how they went forth reluctantly. We also read in 4:77,47:20 how the believers eagerly awaited the divine command to allow military action and how many turned their backs in terror once it came. When the decreed timing of jihad had arrived, the prophet was commanded to march towards the opressor even if he had to do it by himself 4:84. Victory is only in God's hands. That is why we read in 9:25-6 that the Muslims' vast numbers was not a factor of victory. Just as the Israelites largely outnumbering their enemies could not bring them victory in their later wars, neither avert crushing defeats, since God had withdrawn His help 2Chr24:17-24.
The early Muslims eventually came to understand that principle. In the time of the caliphate, when the Persians had gathered their forces for war, Umar sought advice from Ali about whether or not he should engage. Ali said:
"Victory or defeat in this matter does not depend on abundance or scarcity of forces. It is God’s religion which He has supported, and it is His army which He has strengthened and aided, until it has reached the point that it has reached, and has risen as it has today. We hold a promise from God, where He says: "Allah has promised to those of you who believe and do good that He will most certainly make them successors in the land as He made successors those before them, and that He will most certainly establish for them their religion which He has approved for them, and that He will most certainly, after their fear, give them security in exchange(24:55)". God shall fulfill His promise and support His army...As to what you said about their [large] number, [you should know that] in the past we did not use to fight relying on number and abundance, but we used to fight relying on support and assistance from God.
The prophet's decision to fight back had thus nothing to do with a position of physical and logistical power. The "timing" was solely decreed by God, and not by his whims, nor the whims of the prophets before him. Another biblical example is when the Israelites were commanded to fight in God's way, although they were much weaker than the Amalekites and other pagan tribes
Judges6:16"And the Lord said to him...I shall be with you, and you shall strike Midian as one man".It is in fact reported that under Gideon's leadership, God did not want the Israelites to be too numerous in their confrontation with the oppressive Midianites and so, in order not to compromise the credibility of a strictly divine victory, ordered their ranks to be trimmed down from 30.000 fighters to 300. The most fearful were the first to be sent back and then those that drank from a river by kneeling to it. This was done to expose the ISraelites influenced by pagan rituals (Judges7). Strangely enough, God did not find them too numerous and a threat to the credibility of the divine nature of their victory in their initial invasion of Canaan under Joshua where they numbered 40.000 warriors. In the times of David and as described throughout the book of Samuel, David always inquired to the Lord if the timing and strategy were right for him to engage the enemies in battle. David knew that any victory could only come with God's help, especially considering how outnumbered he and his followers were
"Shall I go up to the Philistines? will you deliver them into my hand?' And the Lord said unto David: 'Go up; for I will surely deliver the Philistines into your hand" Ps33:16-17,Ps20:8"These trust in chariots and these in horses, but we-we mention the name of the Lord our God".David would recall the events in his latter days
Ps18:18"He delivered me from my mighty enemy, and from those that hated me, for they were too powerful for me".On the other hand, King Saul before him decided at one point to seek military guidance using occultism instead of relying on God. This was one of the main reasons God caused him to die in battle in a violent and humiliating way, as well as caused his sons to be slain 1Sam13,28,1Chr10.
Similar biblical examples of divine orders to fight according to divine "timing", regardless of human logistical and military situation is when the weak and outnumbered Jacob was commanded to rise and confront his enemies, aided by his small army composed of his sons and servants. God promised He would make him prevail over the kings of Canaan that had united to destroy them. The divine victory, detailed in Jewish oral tradition, instilled terror in the heart of Jacob's enemies which prevented their pursuit Gen34:30,35:1-5. When the Assyrian empire of Sennacherib had completely subdued and reduced to slavery the kingdom of Israel, and was threatening to pursue its advance into the kingdom of Judea, the king Hezekiah had full trust in God's judgement, timing and promised victory despite his army's inferiority however some of his counselors who lacked faith preferred trusting their own judgement and strategy, and were thus doomed for severe chastisement 2Kings19,Isa22.
What is further important noting is that under the prophet of Islam, contrary to the Jewish prophets' genocidal warfares, Islam did not resort to wiping out and oppressing comunities and populations so as to assert its dominance following victory. Yet, contrary to Judaism, Islam supplanted all surrounding ignorant communities in terms of spiritual, moral and social aspects. And this despite Islam's enemies always outnumbering the Muslims, better equipped, enjoying greater material resources, whether in the Arabian peninsula or beyond. The unique Islamic system is what made it prevail over and crush ignorance, first in Arabia and then in the two adjacent superpowers of Byzantium and Persia.
God did not command Jesus to fight just as He did not command Noah and other prophets to fight in His way, because God intended to bring down His punishment on the rejectors differently, and He did so quite severely after Jesus' departure. If God had willed to punish the transgressors through his prophet Jesus as He did through the Israelite prophets before him, Jesus would have taken up arms and fought in Allah's way, like his predecessors did, and like the Ishmaelite prophet did after him
47:4"and if Allah had pleased He would certainly have exacted what is due from them, but that He may try some of you by means of others".This method of punishement upon the rejectors of a prophet is therefore a trial for the sake of men and does not mean Allah needs men to accomplish a task He is unable to do by Himself. Had He willed, He would have destroyed them Himself by sending a disaster from the heavens or from within the earth. Before them, many nations have been destroyed by His torment in the blink of any eye. He could have similarly routed them as well. The Quran draws an interesting parallel in sura hadid, between the sending of prophets and Iron. This metal is a symbol of the forceful establishement of the natural balance of justice if needs be, and the verse 57:25, after speaking of both the prophets and iron, ends with God's attributes of might and strength. See also 22:40-41.
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