Mohammad Nejatullah Siddiqi

In essence, violence is an unethical act. In a civilized world that values ethical principles, violence is used only to deter and punish criminals and to defend oneself. One may use dialogue, persuasion, communication, and information to achieve an objective, but not violence. Violence cannot be used to achieve religious objectives, because it is an instrument of coercion. Islam, which is based on compassion, love, tolerance, gentleness, and forgiveness, prohibits coercion (2:256). Violence, destruction, and cruelty violate Islam’s very nature (7:199).

Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, commanded gentleness and forbade harshness and violence. Sahih Muslim records that Ayesha narrated that the Prophet, peace be upon him, said: “God is kind, and likes kindness. For kindness, God rewards what He never gives due to violence or through any other means” and that he said to Ayesha: “Be kind and avoid violence and indecency. Kindness makes a situation best and unkindness makes it worst. This is why the Qur’an prohibits offensive violence and discourages violence even as a defensive means” (41:34-35).

Muslims should avoid violence as much as possible and present the real picture of Islam: that of love, kindness, and forgiveness. The Qur’an has presented examples in which violence was justifiable but avoided, as in the story of Adam’s two sons (5:27-32).

Permission To Kill

The early Makkan Muslims were not permitted to use violence to kill, even though they were subjected to constant violence and some of them were tortured and martyred. One might think that they were very small in number and quite weak. But around the sixth year of Muhammad’s mission, peace be upon him, many influential and powerful persons (e.g., Umar ibn al-Khattab and Hamzah ibn `Abd al-Muttalib) embraced Islam and were proponents of using violence. The Prophet, peace be upon him, rejected their request and allowed those who wanted to emigrate to go to Ethiopia.1

God allowed the Muslims to use violence after they established themselves in Medinah, because the enemy targeted them, attacked their land, and some Muslims still in Makkah were tortured (22:39, 2:190).Thus, the resulting wars were self-defensive in nature. No lands were occupied, for the goals were to end aggression and enable people to hear the message of Islam (2:193, 4:75).

After creating humanity and giving them life and death, God tests them (67:2) through tyranny and aggression caused by people who try to prevent others from choosing their way of life. Thus, among the major objectives of jihad is to restore freedom and the right to choose, liberate oppressed people, and defend Muslims’ life and property. But if the resulting war engenders its own tyranny and aggression, it becomes forbidden. This is also true if it results in the loss of civilian or noncombatant lives (6:151, 17:33).

Although Qur’an 17:33 allows violence to repel violence, it neither projects violence as the only course, nor does it give people the right to take the law into their own hands. Instead, the state is responsible for ensuring that justice is done. Islam seeks to prevent violence and teaches forgiveness instead of revenge (42:40-43).

Islam also reminds people that God’s mission may be fulfilled through nonviolence, as emphasized in 2:28-32 and 42:40-43. Hence, the discussion should not be limited to whether Islam permits violence to quell violence; rather, it should be broadened to determine how God’s mission and humanity’s purpose can be better achieved.

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