Whilst he lived in Mecca, Mohammed was surrounded by
enemies. Although he made threats at that time, he was never violent. Now he
was a political force and set about making good on those threats.
The Koran
clearly reflects this change. It is therefore divided by scholars into the
Koran of Mecca and the Koran of Medina. Because it is not arranged
chronologically, this distinction is hard for a layman to recognize. Once you
arrange the Koran in its correct chronological order however it becomes very
clear.
From the Koran of Mecca:
88:21 Warn them, because you [Mohammed] are merely a
warner. You have no authority over them, but whoever turns back and
disbelieves, Allah will punish them terribly.
Compare this with the
later Koran of Medina:
8:12 Then your Lord spoke to His angels and said, “I will
be with you. Give strength to the believers. I will send terror into the
Kaffir’s hearts, cut off their heads and even the tips of their fingers!” This
was because they opposed Allah and His messenger. Ones who oppose Allah and His
messenger will be severely punished by Allah. We said, “This is for you! Taste
it and know that the Kaffirs will receive the torment of the Fire.”
Mohammed made it clear that wherever there was a
contradiction in the Koran; the earlier verse would be abrogated (cancelled
out) by the later verse. Since the Koran is not written in chronological order,
it is impossible to understand it without knowing which verses have been
abrogated. Muslims often point to non-violent quotes from the Meccan Koran, but
fail to point out that these verses have been abrogated by later ones.
I want you to put on your thinking cap at this point,
because I am about to explain a very important facet of Islam which is a little
challenging. This is however very important for understanding Islam itself.
As we have just seen, later verses of the Koran
abrogate earlier ones. We already know however, that the Koran is considered to
be the perfect word of Allah. In Western logic, when two things contradict each
other, one of them must be wrong. In Islamic logic however, two things can
contradict each other and yet both be right.
The Koran tells Muslims to follow the example of
Mohammed but which example? In Mecca, Mohammed never used violence against
Kaffirs and in the very early days even showed some tolerance of other
religions. Once in Medina, Mohammed used violence almost all the time to
achieve his aims. He never showed any tolerance to Kaffirs at all.
The Medina Koran is the later one and so abrogates the
Meccan Koran and yet the Meccan Koran is still valid because the Koran (and
Mohammed) is perfect. So a Muslim can follow either example, though the Medina
example is better because it is later. So how does a Muslim know which one to
choose?
As usual we have to look at Mohammed’s example to know the answer. In
Mecca, Mohammed was not powerful and was surrounded by enemies. During that
time he preached some tolerance and non-violence. When he went to Medina, he
became powerful and used violence frequently to achieve his goals.
Mohammed’s example of how to behave is not consistent
but varies according to circumstance. When you are not in a position of power,
be quiet and do not draw attention to yourself. Use the time to build up
strength and numbers until you become powerful enough to begin Jihad. This is
Mohammed’s example or “Sunnah”, which comes from the hadith (traditions of
Mohammed) and The Sira (his biography).
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