Boreal

JIHAD IN THE KORAN

War and Fantasies

A Winning Strategy

Before Muhammad could attempt to impose God’s perfect religion on an imperfect world, he first had to convince his fellows Arabs to submit to the Will of Allah and accept him as God’s anointed spokesperson. Most would not be swayed to abandon the gods and goddesses of their forefathers, and a vicious civil war ensued where the Muslims, except on the rare occasion, would give no quarter.

During this civil war, all the rules of chivalry and fair play that had guided the relationships between the tribes and clans of the Peninsula were abandoned by the Muslims. Only one thing mattered for the believers in this fratricidal war: it was convert or die!

Convert or die! This simple, easy-to-understand demand from God allowed Muhammad to embark on a cold-blooded, methodical approach to eliminating the Arab opposition and making Islam the religion of the Peninsula.

But even this straightforward strategy might not have worked if he had not been able to attract the young men who would be doing the killing and the converting to flock to his banner, as they do to this day. These men had to be convinced 1) that killing and dying on behalf of a god who murders by proxy is considered doing good, for which they will be amply rewarded, and 2) to show no mercy to anyone who would not submit, no matter their age or gender. In achieving that objective, the Koran was indispensable.

Finding a bride in pre-Islamic and post-Islamic Arabia, if you were not wealthy or powerful, was problematic. The fact that rich men could purchase as many women and slave-girls as they could afford, and powerful ones could keep as many as they could abscond with, meant that young, frustrated fighting men were plentiful.

God, in His Koran, not only promised these desperate-for-intimacy young men that they could take as slaves or spouses the wives and daughters of the men they killed or enslaved on His behalf, but should they die in the attempt, He would make it to up to them then and there. They would immediately be admitted into Paradise, no questions asked, and given a harem more impressive than any found on Earth, replete with voluptuous maidens and sexually-adept female-facsimiles, the infamous houris, all committed to satisfying a young warrior’s every sexual fantasies for an eternity. This promise from God, with terror and booty as defining components —which Muhammad had in writing—proved invaluable and nurtures the strategies of those who would complete his mission, as stated at the beginning of Announcing a Universal War, such as Al Qaeda, the Islamic State, the Taliban, and so on, to this day.

The following are the remaining revealed truths from the surah Repentance, meant to appeal to those God needs to slaughter those who will not submit to His Will.

When fighting for Allah you are never alone

9:16 Did you imagine that Allah would leave you alone before knowing who of you fight [in the Way of Allah] and do not seek supporters besides Allah and His Messenger? Allah is Fully Aware of what you do.

Unbelievers are not welcomed here!

9:17 The unbelievers should not enter Allah’s Mosques bearing witness thereby against themselves that they are unbelievers. The works of those are vain and in the Fire they will abide forever.

9:18 Only he who believes in Allah and the Hereafter, performs the prayers, gives the alms and fears no one but Allah, shall visit Allah’s Mosques. Those shall be reckoned among the rightly guided.

Doing wrong by doing right, and vice versa?

9:19 Do you consider those, who give the pilgrims water to drink and maintain the Sacred Mosque, like those who believe in Allah and the Hereafter and fight in Allah’s Way? They are not alike in Allah’s Sight, and Allah will not guide the wrongdoing people.

Stoking the flames of a fratricidal war.

9:23 O believers, do not take your fathers and brothers as friends, if they prefer disbelief to belief. Those who take them as friends are the wrongdoers.

9:24 Say: “If your fathers, your sons, your brothers, your spouses, your relatives, the wealth you have gained, a trade you fear might slacken, and dwellings you love are dearer to you than Allah and His Messenger or than fighting in His way, then wait until Allah fulfils His Decree. Allah does not guide the sinful people.

The untouchables!

9:28 O believers, the polytheists are truly unclean; so let them not come near the Sacred Mosque after this year of theirs; and if you fear poverty, Allah shall enrich you from His Bounty, if He pleases. Allah is Truly All-Knowing, Wise.

The right religion, the right months and the right time to fight.

9:36 The number of months, with Allah, is twelve months by Allah’s Ordinance from the day He created the heavens and the earth. Four of these are Sacred. This is the right religion, so do not wrong yourselves during them; but fight the polytheists all together just as they fight you all together; and know that Allah is on the side of the righteous.

Another reminder as to whom is deserving of God’s Mercy.

9:71 As to the believers, males and females, they are friends of one another. They enjoin what is good and forbid what is evil, perform the prayers, give the alms and obey Allah and His Messenger. It is those on whom Allah will have mercy. Allah is Mighty, Wise.

In case you’ve forgotten what is included with that Mercy.

9:72 Allah has promised the believers, males and females, Gardens beneath which rivers flow, abiding therein forever, and fair dwellings in the Gardens of Eden. However, Allah’s Good Pleasure is greater. That is the great triumph.

Killing and injuring as good deeds.

9:120 It is not given to the people of Medina and the desert Arabs around them to stay behind the Messenger of Allah, nor to prefer their own lives to his life for they are afflicted neither by thirst nor fatigue nor hunger in Allah’s Way, nor do they take a step that upsets the unbelievers, nor inflict a blow on the enemy but a good deed is recorded for them on account of it. Allah does not allow the beneficent to lose their reward.

9:121 Nor do they spend anything whether small or large, nor cross a valley but it is recorded for them, so that Allah may reward them for the best of their deeds.

Indoctrination and war both play a role.

9:122 The believers should not all go to war. Why doesn’t a company from each group go forth to instruct themselves in religion and admonish their people (those who go to war) when they return, that perchance, they may beware.

Mercy as an attribute of the Prophet.

9:128 There has come to you a Messenger from among yourselves. It grieves him to see you suffer, he cares much for you, and is kind and merciful towards the believers.

Whom do you trust?

The last revelation of this most ominous of surahs:

9:129 But if they turn away, say: “Sufficient for me is Allah; there is no God but He; in Him I put my trust. He is the Lord of the Glorious Throne.”