Do the teachings of the Prophets differ with regard to the prescription of fighting?

Praise
be to Allah.

Firstly: 

It should be quite clear to you – as you
are interested in studying Islam – that the message of the Prophets is the
same with regard to basic beliefs and aims. 

But with regard to the rulings on minor
issues, each Prophet had his law [with the details of rulings that he
brought from his Lord], and each message had its own juristic rulings that
differed between the Messengers and Prophets, as Allah, may He be glorified
and exalted, tells us (interpretation of the meaning):
“To
each among you, We have prescribed a law and a clear way”
[al-Maa’idah 5:48]. 

It was narrated that Abu Hurayrah (may
Allah be pleased with him) said: The Messenger of Allah (blessings and peace
of Allah be upon him) said: “I am the closest of people to ‘Eesa ibn Maryam
(Jesus son of Mary – peace be upon him) in this world and the Hereafter. The
Prophets are like half-brothers; their mothers are different but their
religion is one.”

Narrated by Muslim in his Saheeh
(no. 3443). 

Al-Haafiz Ibn Hajar (may Allah have mercy
on him) said: 

What this hadith means is that the basis
of their religion is one, namely Tawheed or affirmation of the Oneness of
Allah, even though the minor details of their laws differed.

End quote from Fath al-Baari
(6/489) 

Hence it will also be quite clear to you
that very many of the details of acts of worship and practical matters in
Islam are not to be found in other religions. There were some acts of
worship that were prescribed for the followers of earlier Prophets but were
abrogated in the case of Islam, and Allah prescribed a law and a clear way
for each nation. Although there is common ground between these laws, the
differences between them are also great. 

Indeed, practical rulings varied through
the stages of Islamic sharia (law) itself. Fighting the enemy, for example,
was not prescribed in the Makkan stage of the mission of the Prophet
Muhammad (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him). Rather it was
prescribed after the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him)
migrated to Madinah, as we see in the verse in which Allah, may He be
glorified and exalted, says (interpretation of the meaning):

“Permission to fight is given to those
(i.e. believers against disbelievers), who are fighting them, (and) because
they (believers) have been wronged, and surely, Allah is Able to give them
(believers) victory.

Those who have been expelled from their
homes unjustly only because they said: “Our Lord is Allah.” – For had it not
been that Allah checks one set of people by means of another, monasteries,
churches, synagogues, and mosques, wherein the Name of Allah is mentioned
much would surely have been pulled down. Verily, Allah will help those who
help His (Cause). Truly, Allah is All-Strong, All-Mighty”

[al-Hajj 22:39-40]. 

It is more appropriate that the rulings on
fighting should vary between the laws of the Messengers and Prophets; that
is nothing odd or strange. 

Differences between their laws do not
indicate that there are differences between the Messengers and Prophets;
rather all of them came from the same source, which is the revelation from
Allah, may He be glorified and exalted; their beliefs are the same and do
not change. As for the laws which regulate their lives, acts of worship and
interactions with others, they have changed a great deal. 

Fighting the enemy is one of these legal
matters, and has nothing to do with beliefs or Islamic concepts of the
unseen, the Hereafter, the reckoning, or Paradise and Hell. Fighting is an
action and is something that is done by nations and states for purposes that
may be noble, such as fighting to defend one’s land and honour; nobler than
that is fighting to protect the faith and make the word of the Lord of the
worlds supreme. Or it may be for ignoble purposes, such as fighting to usurp
wealth or power in the land. 

If we assume, for argument’s sake, that
there is a difference in how fighting is regarded between Islamic sharia and
the law of the Messiah (peace be upon him) or the law of Moosaa (Moses –
peace be upon him), that is nothing to be surprised by or to wonder at. 

We accept that in the sharia of Muhammad
(blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) the view of fighting varied. In
some circumstances it was permitted and in other circumstances it was not
allowed. None of the scholars or wise men thought there was any
contradiction or confusion with regard to the source of the revelation that
was sent to the Prophet Muhammad (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him).
Why would you think that differences in the laws of the Prophets concerning
the matter of fighting is a sign of contradiction between them or indicates
that their message was not one and the same? 

Secondly: 

Moreover, the Torah clearly states that
Moses enjoined fighting, and that came about in fulfilment of a promise that
was mentioned in the Torah. The Torah speaks a great deal about the
Israelites fighting the Midianites in vengeance. The battle plan was drawn
up via divine revelations and the matter ended as described:

“The
Israelites captured the Midianite women and children and took all the
Midianite herds, flocks and goods as plunder.
¹⁰ They burned all the towns where the
Midianites had settled, as well as all their camps.
¹¹ They took all the plunder and spoils,
including the people and animals,
¹² and brought the captives, spoils and plunder to
Moses and Eleazar the priest”

Numbers 31:9-12, 17:25 [NIV –New
International Version] 

The Jews claim that God is with them in
their battles, and that He will fulfil His promise to them (Deuteronomy
6:10-12, 20:4) 

Hence they used to consult God (“inquire
of the LORD”) before every battle, through the priests (Judges 20:26-28, I
Samuel 23:2) 

All the battles that are attributed to
Moses were primarily aimed at enslaving others (Deuteronomy 20:14,
21:10-14) 

The Jews knew religious warfare from
ancient times, and they were accustomed to killing idolaters, both
individuals and nations. That was clear in the war against the Amalekites at
the time of Moses (Exodus 17:14-16), and was repeated at the time of Saul
and David (I Samuel 14:48, 15:17-18, 30:17; 2 Samuel 8:12) 

This was mentioned by Dr. Bakr Zaki in his
book al-Qitaal Mashroo‘iyyatan wa Adaaban fi’l-Islam wa’l-Yahoodiyyah
wa’n-Nasraaniyyah (Fighting: Prescription and Code of Conduct in Islam,
Judaism and Christianity), p. 269-270 

Under the heading: “Is fighting prescribed
in Christianity or not?” the author says: 

In answer to this we say: self-defence by
all possible means is something natural except in those who have no
self-respect, just as defence of one’s faith, honour, family and property
are all natural instincts if the means are available. Defence may go so far
as uniting for that purpose, if the threat is to a community, or to an
individual who has some standing in that community, if means of such defence
are available. These means include the following: 

·       

Moral strength in the defenders; this is the strongest
factor in fighting

·       

Physical strength that enables use of different weaponry
and equipment for fighting

·       

Availability of a location to form a base for military
operations

·       

Ability to plan tactics and strategy, which is no less
important that the other means mentioned above. 

If we look for these elements in the
Gospels, we find the following:

[here the author explains at length that
none of these elements which facilitate fighting were available at the time
of the Messiah (peace be upon him)] 

Then he says: 

The factors mentioned above did not allow
for the prescription of fighting, and indeed such a prescription would have
been beyond the people’s means, and the (divine) laws are aimed at making
things easy and removing hardship. However, there are two views among the
Christian scholars with regard to fighting, as follows: 

-1-

The first view is that fighting is not
prescribed. These scholars quoted the following text as evidence:

³⁸ You
have heard that it was said, ‘Eye for eye, and tooth for tooth.’^[a]
39 But I tell you, do not resist an evil
person. If anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to them the other cheek
also. ⁴⁰ And if anyone wants to sue you
and take your shirt, hand over your coat as well.
⁴¹ If anyone forces you to go
one mile, go with them two miles.

Matthew 5:38-41 [NIV –New International
Version] 

(You can see a discussion of this passage
in the book al-Maseehiyyah wa’l-Mujtama‘ fi Daw’ Ta‘aaleem al-‘Ahd al-Jadeed
(Christianity and Society in the Light of New Testament teachings), pp.
23-26; al-Kanz al-Jaleel fi Tafseer al-Injeel (A Treasury of Gospel
Commentary), 1/74-76 

Blessed are the meek,
    for
they will inherit the earth….

Blessed are the peacemakers,
    for they will be
called children of God.
¹⁰ Blessed are those who are persecuted because
of righteousness,
    for
theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

¹¹ “Blessed
are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of
evil against you because of me

Matthew 5:5-12 [NIV –New International
Version] 

The Messiah rebuked one of his disciples
for using the sword when he was taken to be crucified [according to the
Gospel narrative], and he instructed him to sheath it:

⁵¹ With
that, one of Jesus’ companions reached for his sword, drew it out and struck
the servant of the high priest, cutting off his ear.

⁵² “Put
your sword back in its place,”
Jesus said to him,
“for all who draw the sword will die by
the sword.
⁵³ Do you think I cannot
call on my Father, and he will at once put at my disposal more than twelve
legions of angels?

Matthew 26:51-54 [NIV –New
International Version] 

-2-

The other view is that fighting is
prescribed. These scholars quoted the following texts as evidence for it
being prescribed in Christianity:

³⁴ Do
not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I did not come to
bring peace, but a sword.
³⁵ For I have come to
turn

a man against his father,
    a daughter
against her mother,
a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law—
³⁶     a
man’s enemies will be the members of his own household.’

³⁷ Anyone
who loves their father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; anyone
who loves their son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me.

Matthew 10:34-38 [NIV –New
International Version] 

In Luke it says:

But those enemies of
mine who did not want me to be king over them—bring them here and kill them
in front of me

Luke19:27 [NIV –New International
Version] 

⁴⁹ I
have come to bring fire on the earth, and how I wish it were already
kindled!
⁵⁰ But I have a baptism to undergo, and what
constraint I am under until it is completed!
⁵¹ Do you think I came to bring
peace on earth? No, I tell you, but division.

Luke 12:49-50 [NIV –New International
Version] 

In the Bible, fire refers to war and
resistance (Isaiah 43:2; I Peter 1:7)

There are a number of references to
destructive wars (Matthew 24:19), and war is also mentioned in general terms
(Matthew 24:6; Mark 13:7) 

As the Messiah did not fight, we cannot
know what his code of conduct would have been or what the outcome of
fighting would have been. 

Those who hold the first opinion
interpreted the texts above by saying that the sword in the texts is the
sword of truth, in standing up to falsehood (al-Kanz al-Jaleel,
2/265). 

End quote from al-Qitaal Mashroo‘iyyah
wa Adaabuhu fi’l-Islam, al-Yahoodiyyah wa’n-Nasraaniyyah, p. 283-292 

To sum up: it is correct to say “all the
messages are the same”, because they brought the same beliefs and aims. But
with regard to juristic rulings and minor details, they are not the same;
rather they vary. This is if we assume that fighting was not prescribed in
the law of the Messiah (peace be upon him). However there are texts in the
Gospels available in printed editions today which clearly mention fighting
and the sword. 

And Allah knows best.