Stopping Corruption –
As the non-Muslims of Mecca made it clear that as long as Medina was an established Islamic state they would be nothing but war between the two cities, the Holy Prophet Muhammad, peace and blessings be upon him, attempted to weaken the resolve of the non-Muslims of Mecca by attacking their financial infrastructure. The non-Muslims of Mecca would pass by Medina when travelling for trade. Therefore, the Holy Prophet Muhammad, peace and blessings be upon him, would target these travelling caravans with the aim of disrupting the finances of the non-Muslims of Mecca and seeking compensation for the property and wealth the Holy Prophet Muhammad, peace and blessings be upon him, and his Companions, may Allah be pleased with them, were forced to leave behind in Mecca when they migrated to Medina.
On one occasion the Holy Prophet Muhammad, peace and blessings be upon him, dispatched a unit of Companions, may Allah be pleased with them, to Nakhlah in order to spy on the non-Muslims of Mecca and bring back information regarding their activities. He did not command them to engage in fighting. But during this expedition these Companions, may Allah be pleased with them, seized an opportunity and attacked one of their caravans and seized their wealth and in the process a non-Muslim was killed and two non-Muslims were taken back to Medina as prisoners. The Holy Prophet Muhammad, peace and blessings be upon him, criticized the Companions, may Allah be pleased with them, as he did not order them to fight and only dispatched them to gather intelligence. The Companions, may Allah be pleased with them, also did not realize that they had attacked the caravan during one of the four sacred months, during which fighting was unanimously prohibited for the Arabs even though the non-Muslims would not even adhere to this rule and often changed the order of the months in the calendar year in order to allow themselves to fight. Chapter 9 At Tawbah, verses 36-37:
“Indeed, the number of months with Allāh is twelve [lunar] months in the register of Allāh [from] the day He created the heavens and the earth; of these, four are sacred. That is the correct religion [i.e., way], so do not wrong yourselves during them. And fight against the disbelievers collectively as they fight against you collectively. And know that Allāh is with the righteous [who fear Him]. Indeed, the postponing [of restriction within sacred months] is an increase in disbelief by which those who have disbelieved are led [further] astray. They make it lawful one year and unlawful another year to correspond to the number made unlawful by Allāh and [thus] make lawful what Allāh has made unlawful. Made pleasing to them is the evil of their deeds; and Allāh does not guide the disbelieving people.”
Initially, the Holy Prophet Muhammad, peace and blessings be upon him, did not make a decision regarding the prisoners of war or the spoils of war but then Allah, the Exalted, revealed chapter 2 Al Baqarah, verse 217, thereby granting the Companions, may Allah be pleased with them, relief:
“They ask you about the sacred month – about fighting therein. Say, “Fighting therein is great [sin], but averting [people] from the way of Allāh and disbelief in Him and [preventing access to] al-Masjid al-Ḥarām and the expulsion of its people therefrom are greater [evil] in the sight of Allāh. And fitnah [corruption] is greater than killing.” And they will continue to fight you until they turn you back from your religion if they are able. And whoever of you reverts from his religion [to disbelief] and dies while he is a disbeliever – for those, their deeds have become worthless in this world and the Hereafter, and those are the companions of the Fire; they will abide therein eternally.”
The Holy Prophet Muhammad, peace and blessings be upon him, then accepted the prisoners and spoils of war. One of the prisoners of war accepted Islam and the other was ransomed by the non-Muslims of Mecca. This has been discussed in Imam Muhammad As Sallaabee’s, The Noble Life of the Prophet (PBUH), Volume 1, Pages 879-881 & 890.
Doing battle during the four Holy months in the year was forbidden even before the coming of Islam (Dhul Al Qa’dah, Dhul Al Hijjah, Muharram and Rajab). But Allah, the Exalted, made it clear that the widespread corruption caused by the non-Muslims of Mecca mentioned in this verse was worse than fighting during the sacred months. The non-Muslims of Mecca had continuously subjected their Muslim relatives to untold wrong for thirteen years, prior to the migration of the Holy Prophet Muhammad, peace and blessings be upon him, to Medina, merely because they believed in Allah, the Exalted. They therefore were not competent to object to fighting during the sacred months. Not only had the Holy Prophet Muhammad, peace and blessings be upon him, and his Companions, may Allah be pleased with them, been driven from their homes they also had the way to Masjid Al Haram closed to them, a bar which had not been imposed by anyone for thousands of years. With this record of corruption it was not for them or anyone else to raise an objection to fighting during the sacred months if the need arose.
The corruption in the quoted verse refers to the wide negative effects of the oppression caused by the enemies of Islam meaning, the non-Muslims of Mecca. The heart of this corruption was their misguided faith and loyalties to their tribes, love for wealth, culture and false gods. This verse further proves that fighting was commanded against a specific group of non-Muslims in Mecca and therefore these verses cannot be applied to others.
Therefore, the corruption in these verses refers to the persecution of innocent people. It refers to a situation whereby either a person or a group is subjected to harassment and intimidation for having accepted, as true, a set of ideas contrary to those currently held, and for striving to effect reforms in the existing order of society by preaching what is good and forbidding what is wrong. Therefore, the only way to prevent this specific harming of innocent people by this corruption was to fight the enemy until Islam was allowed to be practiced openly without opposition and the negative harms to society caused by the non-Muslims was stopped.
In addition, the widespread oppression caused by oppressive rulers, such as the Romans and Persians, during the time of the Holy Prophet Muhammad, peace and blessings be upon him, was widely known. They would constantly oppress the people of the land they had control over. Fighting these people might have led to the killing of soldiers, soldiers which signed up to fight and die, but in the long run it removed the oppression the innocent citizens were subjected to. And if Islamic rule was established correctly, like it was during the time of the Holy Prophet Muhammad, peace and blessings be upon him, and the rightly-guided Caliphs after him, then justice would prevail in the land. Therefore, from this one can understand that long-standing oppression to the people is worse than the killing of soldiers if it leads to justice being established.
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