Playing God

"All rights of this book are reserved for the publisher and the author. This copy is for reading purpose only. This copy cannot be uploaded on any website except those of the publisher and the author." Playing God: Misreading a Divine Practice 46 times should also be understood in this perspective. Since, according to Islam, a person who refuses to pay zak ā h does not legally remain a Muslim, those who had evaded zak ā h from among the Idolaters had actually reverted to their state of disbelief. About them, the directive was either to accept faith or face death. So, the caliph Ab ū Bak r (rta) was merely administering the punishment of death upon them. Consequently, apart from the Idolaters of Arabia of the Prophet’s times, it has no bearing upon any other person or nation. 28 ii. Waging War against Non-Muslims Authorities are of the opinion that Muslims must fight the polytheist nations as well as the Jews and Christians of today until they subdue them. It is further held that while the polytheist nations must be put to death if they do not accept faith, the Jews and Christians can be allowed to live on with their religions if they submit to Muslim authority by paying jizyah. 29 28. The original research that forms the basis of this inference has been conducted by Javed Ahmad Gh ā mid ī . For details, see: Javed Ahmad Gh ā mid ī , Burh ā n , 6 th ed. (Lahore: Al- Mawrid, 2009), 139-143. 29. This is the view of Ahmad, Sh ā fi‘ ī and Ibn Hazm. For details see: Muwaffaq al - Din ‘Abdull ā h ibn Ahmad ibn Qud ā mah al-Maqdis ī al-Hanbal ī , Al-Mughn ī , vol. 8 (Riy ā d: Maktabah al-riy ā d al-had ī thah, 1981), 500-501; Ab ū ‘Abdull ā h Muhammad ibn Idr ī s al-Sh ā fi‘ ī , Kit ā b al-umm , 2 nd ed., vol. 4 (Beirut: D ā r al-ma‘rifah, 1393 AH), 174-175; Ab ū Muhammad ‘Al ī ibn Ahmad ibn Sa‘ ī d ibn Hazm, Al-Muhall ā bi al- ā th ā r , 1 st www.javedahmadghamidi.com www.al-mawrid.org