Countering Islamic Propaganda: 61:4

"Discover the Truth's" Game

61:4
"Surely Allah Loves Those Who Fight in His Way"

From Discover the Truth:

These verses show the beauty of what ‘Fight in His (God’s) way’ means.
(October 29, 2014)

What the Quran Says

61:3. Most hateful to Allah are those who say that which you do not do.
61:4. Surely Allah loves those who fight in his way.

What the Apologists Want You to Believe

DTT concedes that verse 61:4 does pertain to real fighting, but...

As I have explained many times before, to fight in God’s way, does not involve killing of the innocent. These passages always exhort people to fight tyranny, oppression and persecution.

How They Do It: 'Adding' to the Quran

With verses pulled from other suras, DTT has Allah saying something like "Allah loves those who fight to end the persecution of oppressed people." Why Allah chose not to say that himself in Sura 61 is not made clear.

How They Do It: Citing Contemporary Apologists and Weak Hadith

Three 20th century apologists affirm DTT's interpretation. The fighting in 61:4 was a "moral necessity."

Why They are Wrong

The historical context of the verse is the aftermath of the defeat at Uhud, in which the Quraish routed the Muslims to avenge an earlier battle for which they had been unprepared. They showed no interest in attacking the city of Medina, but wanted to bring an end to Muhammad's relentless attacks on their trading routes. In other words, if anyone was fighting oppression, it was the Quraish.

According to Ibn Kathir, Verse 61:3-4 chastises those Muslims who broke ranks and ran away, yet were claiming instead that they had stayed and fought. Muhammad never took the blame for setbacks, such as the Uhud loss, but always blamed others (see Sura 3).

What this all means is that there was no "moral necessity" to fight. Muhammad had just been defeated by an army which had then voluntarily withdrawn in the hope that hostilities would end. Instead of accepting peace, the prophet of Islam said that "Allah loves those who fight in his cause," thus encouraging the perpetuation of war.

Neither is there any mention of self-defense in the actual textual context. While DTT cherry-picks verses from other suras, there is plenty of context right in Sura 61 which sheds light on the motivation for Jihad:

61:8. They intend to put out the Light of Allah (i.e. the religion of Islam, this Qur'an, and Prophet Muhammad) with their mouths. But Allah will complete His Light even though the disbelievers hate (it).
61:9-11. He it is Who has sent His Messenger with guidance and the religion of truth (Islamic Monotheism) to make it victorious over all (other) religions even though the disbelievers hate (it).... strive hard and fight in the Cause of Allah with your wealth and your lives, that will be better for you, if you but know!

So, the verse that says Allah loves those who fight in his cause and goes on to define the "cause" in religious terms (ie. to make Islam victorious over all other religions).

61:4 "Surely Allah Loves Those Who Fight in His Way"