How Is Surah 9 Interpreted

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Question:

How is Surah 9 of the Quran interpreted by Muslims? - An examination of the interpretations of Surah 9 of the Quran and how scholars explain its verses on warfare and peace. :::

Answer:

Quran is the word of Allah & Prophet Muhammad saws was sent to explain the revelation and present a model for muslims to follow. which means to understand the revelation we need the explanation of the prophet as understood by his companions. So muslims are BOUND by this interpretation and explanation of the prophet and his companions and we have Also, to discuss such issues one should go back to its root according to usul al-din, usul al-fiqh, usul al-tafsir and usul al-hadith. There are many islamophobes who try to interpret and make their own conclusion of the divine scriptures to malign islam. However we are not bound by their interpretation and explanation - so all their effort is a waste of time with which they can fool themselves. The most popular opinion is that the sword verse is the fifth of verse of surat at-taubah (and CLAIM is that it abrogates the peaceful verses of the Quran):

[Serious] Were all the previous peaceful passages in the Qur’an abrogated by the Verse of the Sword? • /r/islam

“Then, when the sacred months are drawn away, slay the idolaters wherever you find them, and take them, and confine them, and lie in wait for them at every place of ambush. But if they repent, and perform the prayer, and pay the alms, then let them go their way; God is All-forgiving, All-compassionate.” (9:5)

And it is - clearly - ordering to kill the polytheists (or idolaters) wherever they are, and to take them, confine them … But, who are the polytheists who are meant by this verse? And when should they be killed?

The verses before it say:

“An acquittal, from God and His Messenger, unto the idolaters with whom you made covenant: ‘Journey freely in the land for four months; and know that you cannot frustrate the will of God, and that God degrades the unbelievers.’ A proclamation, from God and His Messenger, unto mankind on the day of the Greater Pilgrimage: ‘God is quit, and His Messenger, of the idolaters. So if you repent, that will be better for you; but if you turn your backs; know that you cannot frustrate the will of God. And give thou good tidings to the unbelievers of a painful chastisement; excepting those of the idolaters with whom you made covenant, then they failed. you naught neither lent support to any man against you. With them fulfil your covenant till their term; surely God loves the godfearing.” (9:1-4)

And look at how the covenant of those polytheists who didn’t violate the treaty with the Prophet and the Muslims was respected, and God ordered them to fulfill their covenant to its term.

And just after the verse that they called “The Sword Verse” we find a verse saying:

“And if any of the idolaters seeks of thee protection, grant him protection till he hears the words of God; then do thou convey him to his place of security — that, because they are a people who do not know.” (9:6)

And then after this verse there comes many verses which give indications as to why they were ordered to fight them, e.g. “Will you not fight a people who broke their oaths and purposed to expel the Messenger, beginning the first time against you? Are you afraid of them? You would do better to be afraid of God, if you are believers.” (9:13)

“The polytheists who are meant by the Sword Verse, are therefore a special group of the polytheists: Who had a treaty with the Prophet , and they violated it, and they become his ennemies … And these polytheists are the ennemies of Islam and his Prophet, and they aren’t all the polytheists, the evidence for that is the verse before the sword verse: “excepting those of the idolaters with whom you made covenant, then they failed. you naught neither lent support to any man against you. With them fulfil your covenant till their term; surely God loves the godfearing.” …

and the verse after the Sword verse: “How should the idolaters have a covenant with God and His Messenger? — excepting those with whom you made covenant at the Holy Mosque; so long as they go straight with you, do you go straight with them; surely God loves the godfearing.” (9:7)”

And Imam Al-Tabari says in his tafsir of this verse:

God says to his Prophet: And if any of the polytheists - whom I have ordered you to fight and kill after the sacred months are drawn away - seeks your protection, O Muhammad, so that he hears the words of God from you, which is the Qur’an … then “…fa’ajirhu…”, i.e. grant him protection. “…till he hears the words of God; then do thou convey him to his place of security…” [that is] Then bring him after he heard the words of God if he refused to become a Muslim … to his place of safety… so that he returns to his home and his town with the polytheists… And this is the same thing that was said by other mufassirun.

Ibn Zayd said commenting on “…then do thou convey him to his place of security…”: If he isn’t convinced by what you said and discussed to him, then bring him to his place of safety.

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Ibn Taymiyya says while responding to those who claim that 2:256 [“Let there be no compulsion in religion: …” (2:256)] was abrogated in his book (السياسة الشرعية) : (quoted from here)

جمهور السلف أنها ليست منسوخة ولا مخصوصة وإنا النص عام , فلا نكره أحداً على الدين , والقتال لمن حاربنا فإن أسلم عصم ماله ودينه , وإذا لم يكن من أهل القتال لا نقتله و ولا يقدر أحد قط أن ينقل أن رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم أكره أحداً على الإسلام لا ممتنعاً ولا مقدوراً عليه و ولا فائدة في إسلام مثل هذا لكن من أسلم قبل إسلامه

The majority of the pious predecessors said that it wasn’t abrogated nor specified but the text is general, so we don’t force anyone into this religion, and fighting is for those who fight us, …, and if he isn’t amongst the people of fighting then we don’t fight him and no one can narrate that the Prophet Peace Be Upon Him forced anyone to Islam …

Further explanation on the claims of Abrogation

The next issue with this verse concerns abrogation. It has been claimed by some that this verse 9:5 has abrogated all the peaceful verses in the Qur’an. However, this claim results from a misunderstanding of some Qur’anic concepts. In the Qur’an there is naskh and there is also takhsees. Naskh is the abrogation of a ruling by a ruling that was revealed after it. Naskh occurs in matters of Islamic law. Takhsees on the other hand refers to specification, where one verse restricts the application of another verse, or specifies the limits not mentioned in the other verse. As Shaykh Abu Ammaar Yasir Qadhi writes:

Specification involves one verse limiting or restricting a general ruling found in another verse, whereas naskh involves abrogating the first verse in toto (i.e., it is not applied in any circumstances or conditions). (Qadhi, An Introduction to the Sciences of the Qur’aan;UK Al-Hidaayah Publishing and Distribution, 1999, p. 233) Shaykh Qadhi also explains that one of the conditions for naskh is that the two conflicting rulings apply to the same situation under the same circumstances, and hence there is no alternative understanding of the application of the verses. As he states:

Therefore, if one of the rulings can apply to a specific case, and the other ruling to a different case, this cannot be considered an example of naskh. (Qadhi, An Introduction to the Sciences of the Qur’aan;UK Al-Hidaayah Publishing and Distribution, 1999, p. 237)

The American Muslim (TAM)

Therefore, verse 9:5 can in no way be considered an example of naskh since it is only a ruling applied to a very specific situation and circumstances.

What I don’t understand is that why many islamophobes try to cherry pick verses and then make their own conclusions and interpretations to which no Muslim believe in ? Why do they make so much effort to spread their web of lies ?

In any case they dont believe in Islam or Quran, and the muslims are not going to take their explanation or interpretation as they are bound by the explanations of the Quran as per the usul al-din, usul al-fiqh, usul al-tafsir and usul al-hadith.