We thank you for your question, and others like these, but they should be directed to Reading Islam as this is their area of specialism. What can be said here is as was said in your communiqué that “It would seem…”

Like today, many things are done in terms of antagonistic behavior, teasing, taunting, and pretty much making life for certain Muslim communities pretty intolerable, but will be reported in the mainstream media, is the reaction/response to the drawn out process of victimization, without looking into the provocative factors underlying the situation at hand.

The verse referred to by your friend 9: 29 reads as follows:

{Fight those who do not believe in Allah, nor in the latter day, nor do they prohibit what Allah and His Apostle have prohibited, nor follow the religion of truth, out of those who have been given the Book, until they pay the tax in acknowledgement of superiority, and they are in a state of subjection} (Al Baraat 9: 29)

This verse speaks in general the process of which begins in verse 28, and it is verse 25 that refers to the Battle of Hunayn. It speaks of those who do not believe in or follow the Truth, and such a person in Islam is referred to as a kafir. The verse goes onto say “… out of those who have been given the Book…”, and it refers not to all Christians (The People of the Book), but of those who profess to be people of the Book yet do not follow the Truth “… out of those…”. It also refers to those who do not follow the truth in a particular context, and that context is that they live amongst Muslims, but contribute nothing towards the society in which they live in terms of taxation. This then implies that these people live in contempt of the society in which they live, even by making no monetary contribution. In Islam like anywhere else, monetary contributions go towards running that society, but in Islam, the poor are not excluded from those contributions in order to establish balance within the society. As we know, those who are excluded from any society, as the Jews of previous centuries in Europe have demonstrated, become a threat to the stability and harmony of that society.

The Battle of Hunayn

This battle is referred to in verse 25, because Allah highlights the arrogance and hypocrisy of some of those in the Battle of Hunayn as follows:

{CertainlyAllah helped you in many battlefields and on the day of Hunayn, when your great numbers made you vain, but they availed you nothing…} (Al Baraat 9: 25)

The backdrop to this battle as this previous battles was the systematic attempt to quash monotheism, which Prophet Muhammad (SAW) represented to the Quraysh of Makkah. The Jews of Medina, approached the Quraysh with the aim to strengthen the resolve to quash Prophet Muhammed (SAW) and followers of Islam. It was ‘Abu Sufyan of the Quraysh who accepted this proposal from the Jews, and the Jews went to other Arab tribes to do the same e.g. Bani Ghatfan.

‘Abu Sufyan led a 1000 strong army, and other tribes joined in the march on Medina in the Battle of Khandaq.

Preceding the Battle of Mu’ta, the Romans had killed Harith bin ‘Umayr, the emissary of Prophet Muhammed (SAW) without cause. With 100,000 soldiers, the Romans fought Prophet Muhammed’s followers of 3000 men.

In the Battle of Hunayn, the Quraysh were joined by the tribes of Hawazan, and Thaqif of Ta’if. With 4000 fighters they marched on the Muslims. In this battle however, the number of Muslims fighting outnumbered that of their enemy. However, the tribe of Hawazan attacked the Muslims as they passed through a narrow pass, which led to some of the Muslims fleeing. The tribal chiefs of the Quraysh, the Hawazan, and the Thaqif, ordered the families, and animals of their soldiers to be brought to the battlefield to give their soldiers a reason to fight with might. These families, and animals were captured by the Muslims, and returned to the tribes of Quraysh, the Hawazan, and the Thaqif along with the spoils of war, the booty.

Throughout history there have been battles between polytheism and theism, it is just today we call it secularism and religion. When we want something to look bad, we give it a bad name, so staunch believers of their faith are called ‘fundamentalists’, which actually began with the ‘battle’ between secularism and Christianity.

Again, for accuracy and more detail to answer all your questions, please write to Reading Islam.

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