İs There Coercion İn İslam

Is There Coercion In Islam
Hakkında Is There Coercion In Islam




Is There Coercion In Islam

The head of Turkish Press Council and the Chief Columnist of Hurriyet Paper Mr Oktay Eksi claimed on his column on Friday, the 15th of last December that there was compelling in the Deen-i ISLAM, by quoting the following reference

Source: Yeni Gundem Paper, Number 43, pages 16-17, written by Abdurrahman Dilipak; taken directly from “Can Islam Meet The Needs Of Our Age?”, Server Tanilli, page 210

Here is the text:

“We cannot interpret Islam through Democracy, Liberalism, Rationalism Islam is not democrat, neither is it rationalist Islam has its own values and measures There is no compelling in the Religion, but it is there in Islam If someone has signed this agreement (accepted Islam), he will be punished when he does not obey it For instance, a Muslim woman cannot walk out with her head open; you arrest and punish her! A person who says he or she is a Muslim, cannot eat during the hours of fasting Children are permitted to discontinue on their religion at the age of eighteen (when they have reached adolescence) But if someone discontinues with his religion after his legitimate term to do so is expired, he is killed”

We think that the most important mistake that either Mr Eksi, who criticizes the Deen-i ISLAM, or other similar writers keep making, is that they are not aware of the “Deen-i ISLAM” through its original values and rules, and that they label Islam according to the words they pick up in passing from around and hearsay to suit their own understanding!

Based on the decisive rule (hukm) in the original Book of Islam, “THERE IS NO COMPELLING IN THE PRACTICE OF THE DEEN!” The statement “laa iqraha” (no compelling) in the related sign of the Koran associates with the statement “FIYDDEEN” (in the Deen) and emphasizes that it is related to the PRACTICE OF THE DEEN To distort this fact and say that someone is not compelled to accept the Deen but after his acceptance force may be exerted upon him, is a result of inability to understand the “SYSTEM within the Deen”

According to the Koran's statement (hukm), nobody can be compelled within the Deen, that is, no one may be forced into religious practices!

Why not?

Based on the “Deen-i ISLAM,” the very first requirement from humans is their sincerity, their ikhlas, their inner honesty, cordiality, so that whatever they perform should be as they wished from inside; and that they must never act for show-off and hypocrisy The very first thing that “Islam” disapproves is hypocrisy (the state of a munaafiq), that is, acting outward in dishonesty for a purpose, while the inner beliefs contradict with outward actions For example, performing Salaat or fasting or wearing head-cover because of being forced to, without an inner warm reception, never make someone a believer On the contrary, it turns a person into a munafiq, ie, hypocrite

If someone had at least some faith (iman) in spite of not being able to fulfill some practices, he is at least not an unbeliever

But if we force someone to take some unwilled actions, and if he performs those actions under our pressuring, then we will be pushing that person into hypocrisy and have undergone the responsibility of his misbehavior

In this way we would convert a believer of a certain level into a hypocrite (munafiq) by means of pulling one out of his belief, of which we could never be able to bear the responsibility

Thus, THERE IS NO COMPELLING IN RELIGIOUS PRACTICES, according to the authority of the Koran He who understands the SYSTEM of the “Deen-i ISLAM” will never pressure others

Those who criticize or comment on the Deen-i ISLAM must perceive the following point before all

According to the fundamental principals of the “Deen-i ISLAM,” –NOT according to the rules invented later by the presumptions of others–, none of the recommendations in the Koran are coercive and they have been left to one's own choice Each person practices them as he wished and earns their rewards; or undergoes the results of those in the life after death, for which he did not practice but ignored This world is a place for practice and afterlife realm is the place of finding the returns of what someone has achieved during his lifetime

See how the excellent interpreter Hamdi Yazir of Elmali explained in his famous Koran Interpretation written in Turkish entitled “Hak Dini Kur'an Dili,” that there is no compelling (iqrah) in the Deen-i ISLAM and that compelling or using force on people in this respect is not compatible with the Deen:

“The Deen is not about actions done by force, but rather with someone's own intentional (willful) deeds Therefore, compelling (iqrah) as a form of actions done by force, is disallowed and forbidden

There may be compelling in the universe, but in the Deen, in the authority of the Deen, in the comprehension of Religion, it does not subsist, nor should it be The dignity of the Deen does not permit compelling, it might rather restrain from compelling

Consequently, there is no compelling present in where the Deen-i ISLAM is truly maintained, and neither should there be! Thus, the Deen does not ask for compelling Compelling is unlawful and unrespectful

There cannot be the thawab (positive gain) promised by the Deen within a deed practiced as a result of force; and no deed is regarded as ibadat (prayer) if it lacks total acceptance (ridha) and sincere intention!

Deeds are tied with their intentions! All the requirements of the Deen should be followed with a consent, sincere intention (warm reception) and with total compliance

To impose faith by force is an impossibility; Salaat performed by use of force is not Salaat; neither is fasting, neither is Hajj (Pilgrimage) and etc

Besides, it is not permissible for someone to violate the rights of others and force them into practicing something In short, under the authority of Islam, everybody must perform his duty intentionally without any COMPELLING (Vol:1, page: 860-861)

This is why nobody has an authority or a duty to make someone practice a religious requirement by force! Contrary actions are completely related with persons' using Deen as a tool in service of their personal desires, who desire to overrule people, and such a point of view is incompatible with the “Deen-i ISLAM”

In order to understand this fact better, let us have a look at the root of the matter

The “Deen-i ISLAM” announces the life beyond death

What if there is? What if there is not? Tomorrow, inshAllah!

© Ahmed Hulusi's