Chapter Seven
The Problem of Allegiance and Renunciation
The strange thing is that this great flaw in understanding the objectives of the jihad jurisprudence (Fiqh) is based, in its practice, on the jurisprudence of Allegiance and Renunciation.
A proclamation from God and His Messenger is made to all mankind on the day of the Greater Pilgrimage: God renounces polytheists, and so does His Messenger. If you repent, it shall be for your own good; and if you turn away, then know that you can never escape God’s judgment. Give unbelievers the news of grievous suffering (Al-Tawbah IX: 3).
I do not know of whom is the renunciation and to whom is this allegiance, according to these people.
It is true that every Muslim believes in this great verse and observes its content, ruling, and implications. The problem lies in the right understanding of its implications, in the careful demarcation of the boundaries of renouncing the other, and in the precise definition of the subject and content of such renunciation.
In this context, I find that the greater problem lies in the question of renunciation, in the disruptive interference by some with the boundaries of spheres of faith and of the Law. The message from God’s religion is that these spheres are complementary, inseparable, and centered around the sphere of faith, the foundation on which depends the soundness and security of what follows.
God does not forgive to have a partner associated with Him. He forgives any lesser sin to whomever He wills. (Al-Nisaa IV: 48).
Luqmaan said to his son, preaching him, “Son, worship no other deity along with God; polytheism is a terrible sin” (Luqmaan XXXI: 13).
But this complementarity and centering of the spheres of faith, the Law, and the message do not obliterate the operational, religious borders between them. Faith has its own boundaries, rulings, sources, and standards. Islamic Law also has its boundaries, rulings, regulations, principles, and controls. Likewise, the mission has its objectives, standards, and controls. These boundaries then have to be defined, which means the boundaries of functions and of specialization, at the same time that the spirit of their complementarity and inseparability is maintained within the framework of religious unity and the general system of Islam.
On the basis of definition and functional and specialized demarcation of these three major spheres of God’s religion, I can say the following.
The sphere of faith and belief is basically where the allegiance and renunciation question belongs, since the followers of every religion have their own belief and beliefs are the basis of differences and contradictions between one religion and another. The followers of every religion are convinced that their belief is the true one which they owe to their Lord and God, in Whom and in Whose attributes, names, and states they believe. On the basis of this, they develop within themselves the basis of renunciation of what is believed by others, people who do not share their belief, and of the concepts these others have of God’s attributes, names, and states whenever these concepts are different. In this, we, Muslims, are in the same situation as followers of other religions. We have our own belief and concept in regards to our Lord and God, whether this concerns His attributes, names, and states, or other issues of faith. Our faith and belief are the basis of renunciation of what others believe in, when it contradicts the components of our own belief. This is a fundamental issue in Islam and it allows no sweet talk, compromise, or flattery, and can be subject to no temptation or intimidation:
By God, uncle, if they place the sun to my right and the moon to my left provided that I leave this matter, I will not, until God allows it to triumph or I perish pursuing it.[1]
Say: “Unbelievers! ◘
I do not worship what you do, ◘
Nor do you worship what I do. ◘
I shall never worship what you do, ◘
Nor will you ever worship what I do. ◘
You have your own religion and I have mine.”
(Al-Kafiroon CIX, 1 - 6)
Say: “He is God, the One and only, ◘
God, the Eternal; ◘
He begets none, nor is He begotten, ◘
and there is nothing that could be compared to Him.”
(Al-Ikhlas CXII: 1 – 4)
Yes, for us, renunciation in regards to faith and belief is clear and firm, with no ambiguity, when it comes to people with different beliefs. Therefore, we, Muslims, believe that the sphere of faith is closed to any contact between us and the other. (“You have your own religion and I have mine.”) This is also true about the other’s attitude towards us, for he also does not admit flattery or compromise about what he believes in. As already mentioned, it is the question of belief that is the basis of difference, departure, and contradiction between religions.
Muslims are unanimously in agreement over this, praise be to God. Renunciation here, however, covers the religious belief entertained by the other, and it is not a renunciation of the other’s humanity and role in life. Or, if you will, it is a renunciation of allegiance rather than of performance and cooperation.
If they disobey you, say, “I renounce any responsibility for what you do.” (Al-Shu'araa XXVI: 216).
His eminence the great scholar Abdullah Ibn Bye says in his book Al-Irhab (Terrorism), “In fact, renunciation is a concept of faith related to allegiance in faith, religion, and creed, the type of allegiance that turns the person extending it into a disbeliever, while the one abandoning it wins.” In the same book, he also says, “Renunciation applies to actions, rather than persons.” As evidence, he cites the above-quoted verse:
If they disobey you, say, “I renounce any responsibility for what you do.” (Al-Shu'araa XXVI: 216).
God’s Messenger, peace and blessings be upon him, says:
God, I renounce any responsibility for what Khalid has done.
Renunciation then is an affective, faith-related renunciation of what the other believes and does, rather than of his human affiliation or of his performance in life and in civilization. In such performance, the other and we are partners. We are also partners in undertaking the mission entrusted by God to all human beings, namely the settlement of the earth and maintenance of life. Therefore, I believe the sphere shared with the other opens up after passing the sphere of faith and belief; there is a large common ground for coexistence, cooperation, mutual understanding, and competition within the bounds of the sphere of the Law.
As it is well known. Islamic Law consists of two major parts:
1. rulings and regulations relevant to religious, personal affairs and conditions, and
2. Rulings, regulations, principles, and values relevant to society’s common interests.
As for the first part, Islam has given non-Muslims residing in a Muslim society the right to refer in religious and personal matters to their own religious laws.
When it comes to the second part of the Law, the one related to the common interests of society, Islam rules that citizens are equal in these matters, whether in their rights or in their obligations. Accordingly, the everyday common ground share by Muslims and others in an Islamic society is large and extensive, and it expands further and further. It even turns, in fields of the Law, into cooperation and open competition in performing good deeds between an Islamic society and other, non-Islamic ones.
“For each of you We have prescribed a law and a course. Had God so willed, He would have made you all one nation, but His Will is to test you by means of that which He has bestowed on you. Vie, then, with one another in doing good deeds. To God you shall all return. He will explain to you that about which you differ” (Al-Maidah V: 48).
The openness and freedom expands even further, reaching its climax, in the sphere of the mission. The objectives of the message of Islam are set by God, the most sublime, for all people without any discrimination. These objectives include
1. the administration of justice among people,
2. the establishment of peace with non-aggressors and peaceful people,
3. protection of human life,
4. the maintenance of human dignity,
5. the preservation of the safety of the earth and environment and abstention from spoiling them,
6. respect for individual freedom,
7. respect for individual and community property and privacy,
8. enforcement of public ethics and rules of behavior,
9. protection of the freedom of thought and belief,
10. settlement of the earth and encouragement of the exploitation of its elements and resources,
11. mutual acquaintance of followers of various cultures and civilizations,
12. cooperation and competition in philanthropic endeavors,
13. the mobilization of communities to ward off corruption and frustrate corrupters,
14. mutual human compassion,
15. the exchange of assistance and services between individuals and communities, and
16. Solidarity with the poor, invalid, and weak.
A person who reflects upon the above in regards to the demarcation of functional and religious boundaries of each of the spheres of the faith, the Law, and the mission, will easily, clearly, and objectively discover the dimension of the sphere of renunciation of the other as well as the common grounds shared with him.
The great pitfall for a small minority of Muslims is that they have expanded the sphere of faith, to which the question of allegiance and renunciation belong, at the expense of the spheres of the Law and the mission, so much so that the latter are obliterated. The window of faith, and its consequent rulings, is the only one out of which they look at the world around them. It has become for them the absolute criterion in dealing with the other. It is that pitfall that is responsible for the inflation of and extremism in the concepts of allegiance and renunciation, and what has followed of exaggeration and fanaticism among the advocated of that interpretation. That interpretation has become for them the ideological basis for the rulings and fabrications they come up with, the idiotic actions they carry out, the deviations they get involved in, and the crimes and violations they commit against Muslims and others. Regrettably, all this is done, falsely and deceitfully in the name of Islam and of jihad for God’s cause.
One of the most dangerous predicaments of this morbid interpretation of the allegiance and renunciation question is that Muslims of this group follow a very dangerous approach in this regard. They consider that every relationship established between Muslims – whether individuals, groups, or countries – and non-Muslims to whom the principle of renunciation applies, according to their belief, is a relationship of allegiance and submission to someone other than God. Therefore, the same rule of renunciation, as well as an attitude of enmity, applies to the Muslims who do that. Therefore, the same rulings apply to them as to unbelievers, unjust people, and combatants fighting against God and His Messenger. So these Muslims, according to that interpretation, should be treated as enemies and kept away from, their lives and property become legitimate targets, and they should be fought against. That is because, as that interpretation goes, their home has become a war ground, since they have allied themselves to God’s enemies.
Believers do not take Jews and Christians as allies. They are allies of each other. Any of you that take them as allies belongs with them. God gives no guidance to unjust people (Al-Maidah V: 51-52).
On the basis of this idiotic interpretation, this group of Muslims considers the lives and property of brother Muslims are legitimate targets.
From His Book (Partners ... not Guardians) Part Four / Chapter Seven
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All Rights Reserved For The Author Prof. Dr. Hamid Al-Rifaie