"There is no compulsion in religion."
Apologists of Islam typically present this quote as a sentence fragment, as above. Although brief clips taken out of context can sometimes be consistent with the Koran's overall message, obviously this is not always the case. Now, for any skeptic who knows anything about Islam and the Koran, this statement fragment from 2:256 is clearly misleading. Often when a good verse is cited, the "good" part is in reference to Muslims. The bad part, in reference to non-Muslims, is chopped off. In each case involving such a statement, it is necessary to understand what the Koran's respective policies are for both believers and disbelievers. Here are the respective policies, in 2:256 and 2:257:
2:256: "There is no compulsion in religion. The right direction is henceforth distinct from error. And he who rejecteth false deities and believeth in Allah hath grasped a firm handhold which will never break. Allah is Hearer, Knower."
2:257: "Allah is the protecting guardian of those who believe. He bringeth them out of darkness into light. As for those who disbelieve, their patrons are false deities. They bring them out of light into darkness. Such are the rightful owners of the Fire. They will abide therein."
Regarding disbelievers, 2:257 comes as no surprise; there are over 250 such condemnations of disbelievers in the Koran. Clearly, there is compulsion in religion when we are dealing with Islam. The policy in Islam is 'Believe it or else!' Verse 2:256 has been annotated at this site www.skepticsannotatedbibl.../index.htm .
A skeptical assessment of whether 2:256 represents religious tolerance has been
carried out by M. Rafiqul-Haqq and P. Newton. This article can be found at this linkdebate.domini.org/newton/tolerance.html
I recommend readers go through that article before reading further.
One of the issues that has been debated among scholars is whether or not this verse, 2:256, has been abrogated. First of all, in one sense, it is irrelevant whether or not this verse is abrogated, because, taken together with verse 2:257, it is basically consistent with the entire Koran: Strict believers (who reject all religions except Islam) are safe, but disbelievers are going to receive the maximum penalty. All of the "compulsion" (persecution, subjugation, threats, etc.) directed against non-Muslims still applies. 2:256 doesn't get non-Muslims off the hook, because 2:257 keeps them there.
Nevertheless, if we do accept the doctrine of abrogation-and it is generally accepted, later revealed verses abrogate earlier ones where an otherwise unresolvable contradiction arises in the meanings of the respective verses. Some apologists claim that verse 2:256 is not abrogated, but this is a highly dubious claim. Sura 9 is generally regarded as the last revealed. Sura 9 contains verses compelling believers to wage holy war against the disbelievers. Specifically, the above-cited article cites the famous verse 9:5 as having abrogated 2:256. (Those authors also cite 3:85 as abrogating any notion of religious tolerance in the Koran).
Another verse, similar to 2:256-2:257, is 18:29.
18:29: "Say: (It is) the truth from the Lord of you (all). Then whosoever will, let him believe, and whosoever will, let him disbelieve. Lo! We have prepared for disbelievers Fire. Its tent encloseth them. If they ask for showers, they will be showered with water like molten lead which burneth the faces. Calamitous the drink and ill the resting-place!"
Again, this is consistent with the overall message of the Koran. Even if the initial sentence fragment was intended to convey religious freedom, this would be abrogated by Sura 9. (Sura 109, which I believe was intended to be understood as consistent with 2:256-257 and the full verse 18:29, if interpreted to be "good," is also abrogated by the later revealed Sura 9).
Here are a few of the verses from Sura 9 that I believe clearly abrogate the concept of no compulsion in religion.
9:29 "Fight against such of those who have been given the Scripture as believe not in Allah nor the Last Day, and forbid not that which Allah hath forbidden by His messenger, and follow not the Religion of Truth, until they pay the tribute [jizya tax] readily, being brought low."
This verse orders that People of the Book to be fought, killed, converted, or else subjugated (to dhimmi status--a humiliating, onerous, second-class citizen position. Dhimmis can convert to Islam, or else keep their religion and pay the jizya tax. Refusal to pay the jizya results in execution).
9:33 "He it is Who hath sent His messenger with the guidance and the Religion of Truth, that He may cause it to prevail over all religion, however much the idolaters may be averse."
The ultimate, overriding goal of Islam. Note the "however much the idolaters may be averse." Clearly, that is compulsion in religion.
9:38 "O ye who believe! What aileth you that when it is said unto you: Go forth in the way of Allah, ye are bowed down to the ground with heaviness. Take ye pleasure in the life of the world rather than in the Hereafter ? The comfort of the life of the world is but little in the Hereafter."
9:39 "If ye go not forth He will afflict you with a painful doom, and will choose instead of you a folk other than you. Ye cannot harm Him at all. Allah is Able to do all things."
Some believers may be reluctant to fight in the name of religion, but if they don't, they'll receive a painful doom.
9:111 "Lo! Allah hath bought from the believers their lives and their wealth because the Garden will be theirs: they shall fight in the way of Allah and shall slay and be slain. It is a promise which is binding on Him in the Torah and the Gospel and the Qur'an. Who fulfilleth His covenant better than Allah ? Rejoice then in your bargain that ye have made, for that is the supreme triumph."
Believers must slay and be slain for Allah; they are bound by sacred contract to do so.
9:123 "O ye who believe! Fight those of the disbelievers who are near to you, and let them find harshness in you, and know that Allah is with those who keep their duty (unto Him)."
Compulsion Versus Religious Freedom
Religious freedom requires the ability to freely express criticism of a religion. Islam does not permit this. As everyone now knows, it is not possible to criticize Islam publicly and identifiably without risking being killed by an Islamist who wishes to obey the Koran and follow Mohammad's example. Here's Mohammad's/Allah's policy with regard to freedom of expression:
Those who malign the prophet and Allah will be cursed _in this world_ and in the hereafter (33:57), those who malign Muslims will be doomed, hypocrites and alarmists (or "agitators") will be slain wherever they are found (33:58-61).
33:57 Lo! those who malign Allah and His messenger, Allah hath cursed them in the world and the Hereafter, and hath prepared for them the doom of the disdained.
33:58 And those who malign believing men and believing women undeservedly, they bear the guilt of slander and manifest sin.
33:59 O Prophet! Tell thy wives and thy daughters and the women of the believers to draw their cloaks close round them (when they go abroad). That will be better, so that they may be recognised and not annoyed. Allah is ever Forgiving, Merciful.
33:60 If the hypocrites, and those in whose hearts is a disease, and the alarmists in the city do not cease, We verily shall urge thee on against them, then they will be your neighbours in it but a little while.
33:61 Accursed, they will be seized wherever found and slain with a (fierce) slaughter
Here's another passage along the same theme:
37:34 Lo! thus deal We with the guilty.
37:35 For when it was said unto them, There is no God save Allah, they were scornful
37:36 And said: Shall we forsake our gods for a mad poet?
37:37 Nay, but he brought the Truth, and he confirmed those sent (before him).
37:38 Lo! (now) verily ye taste the painful doom -
37:39 Ye are requited naught save what ye did -
37:40 Save single-minded slaves of Allah
In the above passages, we see that Mohammad condemned critics (e.g., who dismissed him as a "mad poet") to a painful doom. In order to clarify whether Mohammad simply meant they should be damned (i.e., by Allah) or, in addition, actually killed by believers, it is necessary to turn to the Hadith. We find that he actually had many of them assassinated, see http://www.answering-islam.org/Muhammad/Enemies/index.htmlhttp://answering-islam.org/Authors/Arlandson/free_speech.htmhttp://answering-islam.org/Authors/Arlandson/dead_poets.htm
Because the Koran states that Mohammad is an example that (male) believers should emulate (33:21), then the killing of critics and satirists of Islam is obligatory.
Historical Example of Death Penalty for Criticizing Islam
Here is an Islamic ruling that POWs and captured non-combatants, including the elderly, handicapped, and women and children, could be put to death for verbal expressions against Islam. http://www.frontpagemag.com/Articles/ReadArticle.asp?ID=14964This example, though in a different context, is at least consistent with Mohammad's own divinely-ordained conduct in ordering the assassinations of critics, such as an elderly man (Abu Afak), and a mother of five children (Asma bint Marwan) who criticized Mohammad. (see above, answering-islam links). Therefore, it cannot be claimed that those scholars and jurists were misinterpreting the Koran and other Islamic texts.
Obviously, the claim that there is no compulsion in religion doesn't mean much to those who are the victims of Islamic intolerance and imperialism.
Compulsory Jihad.
Believers must not turn away from fighting the unbelievers, otherwise they'll go to hell (8:15-16). Believers must fight, or receive a painful doom from Allah (9:39). Believers must wage war for Allah, whether they like it or not (2:216).
Allah tests believers by compelling them to kill unbelievers (8:17); true believers will kill or be killed for Allah. Allah could punish the disbelievers directly, but instead he tests some people (believers) by using other people (disbelievers); those believers who are slain in battle will be rewarded (47:4). Allah uses the prospect of battle to find out what is in men's hearts; disbelievers stay away from the fight, but true believers go into the fight.
Islam's Mission to the World
From Dr. Andrew Bostom,
"[The] Islamic institution of jihad itself, [is] expressed eloquently by the contemporary scholar Bassam Tibi:
[Tibi states] "At its core, Islam is a religious mission to all humanity. Muslims are religiously obliged to disseminate the Islamic faith throughout the world. "We have sent you forth to all mankind" (Q. 34:2
. If non-Muslims submit to conversion or subjugation, this call (da'wa) can be pursued peacefully. If they do not, Muslims are obliged to wage war against them. In Islam, peace requires that non-Muslims submit to the call of Islam, either by converting or by accepting the status of a religious minority (dhimmi) and paying the imposed poll tax, jizya. World peace, the final stage of the da'wa, is reached only with the conversion or submission of all mankind to Islam...Muslims believe that expansion through war is not aggression but a fulfillment of the Qur'anic command to spread Islam as a way to peace. The resort to force to disseminate Islam is not war (harb), a word that is used only to describe the use of force by non-Muslims. Islamic wars are not hurub (the plural of harb) but rather futuhat, acts of "opening" the world to Islam and expressing Islamic jihad. Relations between dar al-Islam, the home of peace, and dar al-harb, the world of unbelievers, nevertheless take place in a state of war, according to the Qur'an and to the authoritative commentaries of Islamic jurists. Unbelievers who stand in the way, creating obstacles for the da'wa, are blamed for this state of war, for the da'wa can be pursued peacefully if others submit to it. In other words, those who resist Islam cause wars and are responsible for them. Only when Muslim power is weak is "temporary truce" (hudna) allowed (Islamic jurists differ on the definition of "temporary")."
Link. http://www.frontpagemag.com/Articles/ReadArticle.asp?ID=14578
This policy is again confirmed in an article by Robert Spencer, who cites that
"The Shafi'i manual Reliance of the Traveller, which bears the endorsement of Sunni Islam's most respected authority, Al-Azhar University in Cairo, stipulates that jihad is "a communal obligation" to "war against non-Muslims." It teaches that "the caliph makes war upon Jews, Christians, and Zoroastrians...until they become Muslim or else pay the non-Muslim poll tax . . . The caliph fights all other peoples until they become Muslim" (o9.0, o9.1, o9.8, and o9.9)."
http://www.frontpagemag.com/Articles/ReadArticle.asp?ID=18732
There are (at least) 164 verses of jihad.
http://answering-islam.org.uk/Quran/Themes/jihad_passages.html
Further references and discussion of Jihad in the Hadith and Sira can be found here.
http://www.faithfreedom.org/Articles/JenniferKing50710.htm
Apostacy
Apostates, those who reject their belief in Allah, will receive an awful doom "because they have chosen the life of the world rather than the Hereafter" (16:106-107). Apostates condemned, doomed (47:25, 47:32, 47:34). Apostates to be put to death (9:11-12). Those who turned back from the way of Allah (the hypocrites and apostates) should be slain wherever they are found (4:89-91).
For more on apostacy, see Ali Sina at http://www.faithfreedom.org/Articles/sina/apostasy.htm
Slavery
Slavery is permitted (4:3, 4:36, 23:6, 24:58, 30:28, 33:28, 33:50).
Treatment of Women
Women are treated very badly/unfairly/as inferior (2:191, 2:216, 2:223, 4:3, 4:11, 4:14, 4:15, 4:19, 4:20, 4:24, *4:34, 4:176, 24:31, 63:9, 64:14-15, 70:10).
*4:34 does say "beat" her (or hit, or scourge). Some apologists have tried to weasel out of this by claiming that the Arabic word does not say "beat" or means a light symbolic hitting (Yusufali added the adjective "lightly," but this is his addition; it is not in the Koran). At least 10 available respectable translations of the Koran say "beat" (or scourge, or hit). In 4:34, beating is the last in a progression of increasing punishments named in 4:34. A discussion of 4:34 and the word "beat" can be found at http://answering-islam.org/Silas/wife-beating.htm
Women are unclean. If a man has touched a woman at all before prayer time, he must wash up before doing the prayer. If he can't find water, he should wash himself with dirt (5:6; 4:43).
Woman's testimony is worth half a man's (2:282).
Women (and children and the "feeble") are unable to devise a plan (4:9 .
Wives who are false (i.e., show the slightest sign of disbelief in Allah) to their husbands are to be killed by Allah (66:10). The wives of disbelievers will also be doomed with their husbands (37:22-31).
Allah (Mohammad) may replace wives who criticize their husband (66:5).
A Muslim woman cannot marry a non-Muslim man.
Women guilty of lewdness must be confined to the house until death (4:15).
Women must wear covering veils except when they are with their immediate family (24:31, 33:59).
Allows Muslim men to take girl-slaves for sex. (23:6, 33:50)
Marriageable age in some Islamic countries for females is nine years of age. Obviously, a child does not have the capacity to form a proper consent, and therefore this again must be regarded as a religiously-based compulsion. This follows Mohammad's pedophilic example, because the age at which he consumated his marriage with Ayesha was 9. (He married her when he was in his fifties and when she was 6).
Ayesha said "I have not seen anyone suffering as much as the believing women. Look! Her skin is greener than her clothes!" Bukhari. vol. 7, book 72, no. 715. The "green" adjective is in reference to the bruising from the beating.
"...He (Muhammad) struck me (Aisha) on the chest which caused me pain...." Muslim, book 4, no. 2127. Mohammad's child-wife Ayesha tells of how the prophet struck her hard enough to cause pain (and an enduring memory of it).
"I have seen that the majority of the dwellers of Hell-Fire were women....[because] they are ungrateful to their husbands and they are deficient in intelligence. " (The Prophet Muhammad) Sahih Bukhari vol. 2 book 24, no. 541
This latter report illustrates how severely women are compelled to follow the Islamic religious code in being subservient and obedient to their husbands (and of course shows Mohammad's misogyny).
Comments.
The various above examples show compulsion in religion; compulsion directly due to Islam. What could Mohammad (Allah) possibly have meant by "no compulsion"? Perhaps he simply meant that, as long as one willingly obeys the Koran to the letter, there is no compulsion in that. However, obedience by its very nature involves compulsion. In addition, being compelled to fight, and to be harsh against the disbelievers, is not something that most people would do willingly and easily, simply for the sake of religion (Unless they had received massive brainwashing--which involves another kind of compulsion). Perhaps we have to reject a straightforward familiar definition of compulsion, otherwise the 2:256 sentence fragment alone would contradict the entire message of the Koran. Either that, or Mohammad just happened to have contradicted himself or said something nonsensical or inconsistent.
Bottom line: If it really does say there's no compulsion in religion, on a familiar definition of compulsion, it's abrogated by many parts of Sura 9 anyway.
Conclusion: 2:256 is not a good verse if you're a non-Muslim, and may not even be very good if you're a Muslim.
Apologists of Islam typically present this quote as a sentence fragment, as above. Although brief clips taken out of context can sometimes be consistent with the Koran's overall message, obviously this is not always the case. Now, for any skeptic who knows anything about Islam and the Koran, this statement fragment from 2:256 is clearly misleading. Often when a good verse is cited, the "good" part is in reference to Muslims. The bad part, in reference to non-Muslims, is chopped off. In each case involving such a statement, it is necessary to understand what the Koran's respective policies are for both believers and disbelievers. Here are the respective policies, in 2:256 and 2:257:
2:256: "There is no compulsion in religion. The right direction is henceforth distinct from error. And he who rejecteth false deities and believeth in Allah hath grasped a firm handhold which will never break. Allah is Hearer, Knower."
2:257: "Allah is the protecting guardian of those who believe. He bringeth them out of darkness into light. As for those who disbelieve, their patrons are false deities. They bring them out of light into darkness. Such are the rightful owners of the Fire. They will abide therein."
Regarding disbelievers, 2:257 comes as no surprise; there are over 250 such condemnations of disbelievers in the Koran. Clearly, there is compulsion in religion when we are dealing with Islam. The policy in Islam is 'Believe it or else!' Verse 2:256 has been annotated at this site www.skepticsannotatedbibl.../index.htm .
A skeptical assessment of whether 2:256 represents religious tolerance has been
carried out by M. Rafiqul-Haqq and P. Newton. This article can be found at this linkdebate.domini.org/newton/tolerance.html
I recommend readers go through that article before reading further.
One of the issues that has been debated among scholars is whether or not this verse, 2:256, has been abrogated. First of all, in one sense, it is irrelevant whether or not this verse is abrogated, because, taken together with verse 2:257, it is basically consistent with the entire Koran: Strict believers (who reject all religions except Islam) are safe, but disbelievers are going to receive the maximum penalty. All of the "compulsion" (persecution, subjugation, threats, etc.) directed against non-Muslims still applies. 2:256 doesn't get non-Muslims off the hook, because 2:257 keeps them there.
Nevertheless, if we do accept the doctrine of abrogation-and it is generally accepted, later revealed verses abrogate earlier ones where an otherwise unresolvable contradiction arises in the meanings of the respective verses. Some apologists claim that verse 2:256 is not abrogated, but this is a highly dubious claim. Sura 9 is generally regarded as the last revealed. Sura 9 contains verses compelling believers to wage holy war against the disbelievers. Specifically, the above-cited article cites the famous verse 9:5 as having abrogated 2:256. (Those authors also cite 3:85 as abrogating any notion of religious tolerance in the Koran).
Another verse, similar to 2:256-2:257, is 18:29.
18:29: "Say: (It is) the truth from the Lord of you (all). Then whosoever will, let him believe, and whosoever will, let him disbelieve. Lo! We have prepared for disbelievers Fire. Its tent encloseth them. If they ask for showers, they will be showered with water like molten lead which burneth the faces. Calamitous the drink and ill the resting-place!"
Again, this is consistent with the overall message of the Koran. Even if the initial sentence fragment was intended to convey religious freedom, this would be abrogated by Sura 9. (Sura 109, which I believe was intended to be understood as consistent with 2:256-257 and the full verse 18:29, if interpreted to be "good," is also abrogated by the later revealed Sura 9).
Here are a few of the verses from Sura 9 that I believe clearly abrogate the concept of no compulsion in religion.
9:29 "Fight against such of those who have been given the Scripture as believe not in Allah nor the Last Day, and forbid not that which Allah hath forbidden by His messenger, and follow not the Religion of Truth, until they pay the tribute [jizya tax] readily, being brought low."
This verse orders that People of the Book to be fought, killed, converted, or else subjugated (to dhimmi status--a humiliating, onerous, second-class citizen position. Dhimmis can convert to Islam, or else keep their religion and pay the jizya tax. Refusal to pay the jizya results in execution).
9:33 "He it is Who hath sent His messenger with the guidance and the Religion of Truth, that He may cause it to prevail over all religion, however much the idolaters may be averse."
The ultimate, overriding goal of Islam. Note the "however much the idolaters may be averse." Clearly, that is compulsion in religion.
9:38 "O ye who believe! What aileth you that when it is said unto you: Go forth in the way of Allah, ye are bowed down to the ground with heaviness. Take ye pleasure in the life of the world rather than in the Hereafter ? The comfort of the life of the world is but little in the Hereafter."
9:39 "If ye go not forth He will afflict you with a painful doom, and will choose instead of you a folk other than you. Ye cannot harm Him at all. Allah is Able to do all things."
Some believers may be reluctant to fight in the name of religion, but if they don't, they'll receive a painful doom.
9:111 "Lo! Allah hath bought from the believers their lives and their wealth because the Garden will be theirs: they shall fight in the way of Allah and shall slay and be slain. It is a promise which is binding on Him in the Torah and the Gospel and the Qur'an. Who fulfilleth His covenant better than Allah ? Rejoice then in your bargain that ye have made, for that is the supreme triumph."
Believers must slay and be slain for Allah; they are bound by sacred contract to do so.
9:123 "O ye who believe! Fight those of the disbelievers who are near to you, and let them find harshness in you, and know that Allah is with those who keep their duty (unto Him)."
Compulsion Versus Religious Freedom
Religious freedom requires the ability to freely express criticism of a religion. Islam does not permit this. As everyone now knows, it is not possible to criticize Islam publicly and identifiably without risking being killed by an Islamist who wishes to obey the Koran and follow Mohammad's example. Here's Mohammad's/Allah's policy with regard to freedom of expression:
Those who malign the prophet and Allah will be cursed _in this world_ and in the hereafter (33:57), those who malign Muslims will be doomed, hypocrites and alarmists (or "agitators") will be slain wherever they are found (33:58-61).
33:57 Lo! those who malign Allah and His messenger, Allah hath cursed them in the world and the Hereafter, and hath prepared for them the doom of the disdained.
33:58 And those who malign believing men and believing women undeservedly, they bear the guilt of slander and manifest sin.
33:59 O Prophet! Tell thy wives and thy daughters and the women of the believers to draw their cloaks close round them (when they go abroad). That will be better, so that they may be recognised and not annoyed. Allah is ever Forgiving, Merciful.
33:60 If the hypocrites, and those in whose hearts is a disease, and the alarmists in the city do not cease, We verily shall urge thee on against them, then they will be your neighbours in it but a little while.
33:61 Accursed, they will be seized wherever found and slain with a (fierce) slaughter
Here's another passage along the same theme:
37:34 Lo! thus deal We with the guilty.
37:35 For when it was said unto them, There is no God save Allah, they were scornful
37:36 And said: Shall we forsake our gods for a mad poet?
37:37 Nay, but he brought the Truth, and he confirmed those sent (before him).
37:38 Lo! (now) verily ye taste the painful doom -
37:39 Ye are requited naught save what ye did -
37:40 Save single-minded slaves of Allah
In the above passages, we see that Mohammad condemned critics (e.g., who dismissed him as a "mad poet") to a painful doom. In order to clarify whether Mohammad simply meant they should be damned (i.e., by Allah) or, in addition, actually killed by believers, it is necessary to turn to the Hadith. We find that he actually had many of them assassinated, see http://www.answering-islam.org/Muhammad/Enemies/index.htmlhttp://answering-islam.org/Authors/Arlandson/free_speech.htmhttp://answering-islam.org/Authors/Arlandson/dead_poets.htm
Because the Koran states that Mohammad is an example that (male) believers should emulate (33:21), then the killing of critics and satirists of Islam is obligatory.
Historical Example of Death Penalty for Criticizing Islam
Here is an Islamic ruling that POWs and captured non-combatants, including the elderly, handicapped, and women and children, could be put to death for verbal expressions against Islam. http://www.frontpagemag.com/Articles/ReadArticle.asp?ID=14964This example, though in a different context, is at least consistent with Mohammad's own divinely-ordained conduct in ordering the assassinations of critics, such as an elderly man (Abu Afak), and a mother of five children (Asma bint Marwan) who criticized Mohammad. (see above, answering-islam links). Therefore, it cannot be claimed that those scholars and jurists were misinterpreting the Koran and other Islamic texts.
Obviously, the claim that there is no compulsion in religion doesn't mean much to those who are the victims of Islamic intolerance and imperialism.
Compulsory Jihad.
Believers must not turn away from fighting the unbelievers, otherwise they'll go to hell (8:15-16). Believers must fight, or receive a painful doom from Allah (9:39). Believers must wage war for Allah, whether they like it or not (2:216).
Allah tests believers by compelling them to kill unbelievers (8:17); true believers will kill or be killed for Allah. Allah could punish the disbelievers directly, but instead he tests some people (believers) by using other people (disbelievers); those believers who are slain in battle will be rewarded (47:4). Allah uses the prospect of battle to find out what is in men's hearts; disbelievers stay away from the fight, but true believers go into the fight.
Islam's Mission to the World
From Dr. Andrew Bostom,
"[The] Islamic institution of jihad itself, [is] expressed eloquently by the contemporary scholar Bassam Tibi:
[Tibi states] "At its core, Islam is a religious mission to all humanity. Muslims are religiously obliged to disseminate the Islamic faith throughout the world. "We have sent you forth to all mankind" (Q. 34:2
. If non-Muslims submit to conversion or subjugation, this call (da'wa) can be pursued peacefully. If they do not, Muslims are obliged to wage war against them. In Islam, peace requires that non-Muslims submit to the call of Islam, either by converting or by accepting the status of a religious minority (dhimmi) and paying the imposed poll tax, jizya. World peace, the final stage of the da'wa, is reached only with the conversion or submission of all mankind to Islam...Muslims believe that expansion through war is not aggression but a fulfillment of the Qur'anic command to spread Islam as a way to peace. The resort to force to disseminate Islam is not war (harb), a word that is used only to describe the use of force by non-Muslims. Islamic wars are not hurub (the plural of harb) but rather futuhat, acts of "opening" the world to Islam and expressing Islamic jihad. Relations between dar al-Islam, the home of peace, and dar al-harb, the world of unbelievers, nevertheless take place in a state of war, according to the Qur'an and to the authoritative commentaries of Islamic jurists. Unbelievers who stand in the way, creating obstacles for the da'wa, are blamed for this state of war, for the da'wa can be pursued peacefully if others submit to it. In other words, those who resist Islam cause wars and are responsible for them. Only when Muslim power is weak is "temporary truce" (hudna) allowed (Islamic jurists differ on the definition of "temporary")."Link. http://www.frontpagemag.com/Articles/ReadArticle.asp?ID=14578
This policy is again confirmed in an article by Robert Spencer, who cites that
"The Shafi'i manual Reliance of the Traveller, which bears the endorsement of Sunni Islam's most respected authority, Al-Azhar University in Cairo, stipulates that jihad is "a communal obligation" to "war against non-Muslims." It teaches that "the caliph makes war upon Jews, Christians, and Zoroastrians...until they become Muslim or else pay the non-Muslim poll tax . . . The caliph fights all other peoples until they become Muslim" (o9.0, o9.1, o9.8, and o9.9)."
http://www.frontpagemag.com/Articles/ReadArticle.asp?ID=18732
There are (at least) 164 verses of jihad.
http://answering-islam.org.uk/Quran/Themes/jihad_passages.html
Further references and discussion of Jihad in the Hadith and Sira can be found here.
http://www.faithfreedom.org/Articles/JenniferKing50710.htm
Apostacy
Apostates, those who reject their belief in Allah, will receive an awful doom "because they have chosen the life of the world rather than the Hereafter" (16:106-107). Apostates condemned, doomed (47:25, 47:32, 47:34). Apostates to be put to death (9:11-12). Those who turned back from the way of Allah (the hypocrites and apostates) should be slain wherever they are found (4:89-91).
For more on apostacy, see Ali Sina at http://www.faithfreedom.org/Articles/sina/apostasy.htm
Slavery
Slavery is permitted (4:3, 4:36, 23:6, 24:58, 30:28, 33:28, 33:50).
Treatment of Women
Women are treated very badly/unfairly/as inferior (2:191, 2:216, 2:223, 4:3, 4:11, 4:14, 4:15, 4:19, 4:20, 4:24, *4:34, 4:176, 24:31, 63:9, 64:14-15, 70:10).
*4:34 does say "beat" her (or hit, or scourge). Some apologists have tried to weasel out of this by claiming that the Arabic word does not say "beat" or means a light symbolic hitting (Yusufali added the adjective "lightly," but this is his addition; it is not in the Koran). At least 10 available respectable translations of the Koran say "beat" (or scourge, or hit). In 4:34, beating is the last in a progression of increasing punishments named in 4:34. A discussion of 4:34 and the word "beat" can be found at http://answering-islam.org/Silas/wife-beating.htm
Women are unclean. If a man has touched a woman at all before prayer time, he must wash up before doing the prayer. If he can't find water, he should wash himself with dirt (5:6; 4:43).
Woman's testimony is worth half a man's (2:282).
Women (and children and the "feeble") are unable to devise a plan (4:9
.Wives who are false (i.e., show the slightest sign of disbelief in Allah) to their husbands are to be killed by Allah (66:10). The wives of disbelievers will also be doomed with their husbands (37:22-31).
Allah (Mohammad) may replace wives who criticize their husband (66:5).
A Muslim woman cannot marry a non-Muslim man.
Women guilty of lewdness must be confined to the house until death (4:15).
Women must wear covering veils except when they are with their immediate family (24:31, 33:59).
Allows Muslim men to take girl-slaves for sex. (23:6, 33:50)
Marriageable age in some Islamic countries for females is nine years of age. Obviously, a child does not have the capacity to form a proper consent, and therefore this again must be regarded as a religiously-based compulsion. This follows Mohammad's pedophilic example, because the age at which he consumated his marriage with Ayesha was 9. (He married her when he was in his fifties and when she was 6).
Ayesha said "I have not seen anyone suffering as much as the believing women. Look! Her skin is greener than her clothes!" Bukhari. vol. 7, book 72, no. 715. The "green" adjective is in reference to the bruising from the beating.
"...He (Muhammad) struck me (Aisha) on the chest which caused me pain...." Muslim, book 4, no. 2127. Mohammad's child-wife Ayesha tells of how the prophet struck her hard enough to cause pain (and an enduring memory of it).
"I have seen that the majority of the dwellers of Hell-Fire were women....[because] they are ungrateful to their husbands and they are deficient in intelligence. " (The Prophet Muhammad) Sahih Bukhari vol. 2 book 24, no. 541
This latter report illustrates how severely women are compelled to follow the Islamic religious code in being subservient and obedient to their husbands (and of course shows Mohammad's misogyny).
Comments.
The various above examples show compulsion in religion; compulsion directly due to Islam. What could Mohammad (Allah) possibly have meant by "no compulsion"? Perhaps he simply meant that, as long as one willingly obeys the Koran to the letter, there is no compulsion in that. However, obedience by its very nature involves compulsion. In addition, being compelled to fight, and to be harsh against the disbelievers, is not something that most people would do willingly and easily, simply for the sake of religion (Unless they had received massive brainwashing--which involves another kind of compulsion). Perhaps we have to reject a straightforward familiar definition of compulsion, otherwise the 2:256 sentence fragment alone would contradict the entire message of the Koran. Either that, or Mohammad just happened to have contradicted himself or said something nonsensical or inconsistent.
Bottom line: If it really does say there's no compulsion in religion, on a familiar definition of compulsion, it's abrogated by many parts of Sura 9 anyway.
Conclusion: 2:256 is not a good verse if you're a non-Muslim, and may not even be very good if you're a Muslim.
