Islam: A Guide for Jews and Christians - Electric Scotland

DEFINING AND DEFENDING BELIEVERS t 193
“There Is No Coercion in Religion”
This celebrated phrase is the Quran’s own (2:256), and as an apparent
charter of religious tolerance, it is often cited in modern
discourse on that subject. But as occasionally occurs in the Quran,
other statements on the subject suggest a different view, most famously
perhaps the command to “Fight against those who do not
believe in God or in the Last Day, who do not forbid what God
and His Prophet have forbidden or practice the true religion,
among those who have been given the Book, until they pay the
poll-tax from their hand and are humiliated.” The last phrase is
open to some interpretative doubt, but the general thrust of the
verse is clear: the People of the Book must be fought until they
capitulate and pay the tribute required of the conquered. The verse
does not say what is to occur if they do not capitulate, but that is
equally clear from the parallel case of the pagans. The Quran gives
no instruction on this subject, but there was a well-known Prophetic
report that addressed it rather precisely. It was passed down
on the authority of Ibn Abbas, a very much younger cousin of the
Prophet.
I asked [the Prophet]: “If the Arab polytheists refused to adopt Islam,
do you think they would be allowed to make peace with the
Muslims and become dhimmis?” He replied: “They would never be
allowed to do so. They would be invited to accept Islam. If they
became Muslims, that would be acceptable on their part; otherwise
they would be forced to surrender because it has been related to us
that such was the ruling and they should not be treated like other
unbelievers.” [I then asked:] “If [they refused to capitulate and] the
Muslims attacked them and took their women and children as captives
and their men as prisoners of war, what would be the ruling
concerning them?” He replied: “The women and children would
become booty and be divided up as spoil, out of which a one-fifth
share would be taken; but of the men, those who adopt Islam
would be free, but those who refuse to adopt Islam would have to
be executed.”