Bismillahi Rahmani Raheem.

All might and power belong to Allah,(SWT), the only superpower. Everything is in His control. If He wills, He will destroy the king and the mighty with a little ant. We have seen copious examples of how the mighty have fallen in this world with different narratives from the scriptures. Therefore, one should never be overawed by the paraphenelia of power. It is Allah who gives power and exalts.

If Allah (SWT) exalts anyone, nobody can humiliate; if He protects one, nobody can harm one at all despite their might and power. Allah sends His divine help to those who wholeheartedly submit to Him through whoever and whatever He wishes as means. He is not dependant on our efforts to safeguard Islam. If you worship Him, it will not add anything to His Majesty and if you refused to serve Him, it will not diminish His Glory.

Serving Allah is for individual benefit in this world and in the hereafter. That is why the Qur’an says: There is no compulsion in religion. Even when you serve Him, you should avoid what displeases Him. For those whose warped perception of jihad is by compelling people with violence to accept Islam, it is laughable; not only that they are displeasing Allah, they are incuring His wrath. Allah has a way of dealing with people who are anti-Islam.

Come to think of it, He has been safeguarding the deen far more than the way we think we are doing. If any body thinks he can raise a sword in defence of Allah, he is not only underestimating the power of God but he is incuring the displeasure of Allah.

This reminds us of the planned demolition of the Kaaba by the people of the Elephants led by Abraha Al-Ashram, who was a governor of Yemen about two months before the birth of Prophet Muhammad.

According to historical Islamic sources, Abraha, who was a Christian, had thought of building a church similar to the Kaaba in Sanaa. He wanted the Arabs to perform the pilgrimage in Sanaa instead of Makkah, with the intention of diverting trade and benefits to Yemen. He presented the idea to the then king of Ethiopia who agreed to it.

Abraha built the church. Ibn Kathir reported that Abraha acquired most of the precious adornments for the church from the palace of Bilqis. But even with that, the Arabs refused to come for pilgrimage in Sanaa.

This infuriated him, prompting him to form an army including 13 elephants to invade Makkah and demolish the Kaaba.

The lesson here is that Abdul Muttalib, the grandfather of Prophet Muhammad was the leader of the Quraish and the custodian of the Holy Ka’bah at that time. Instead of planning a counter attack, he told his people that the Holy Ka’bah is the sacred house of Allah and that only Allah will protect His house. Rather, he instructed that city of Makkah be evacuated for safety of the people.

Abdul Muttalib held the door of the Ka’bah and beseeched Allah in the following words: “O Allah! Each person is the protector of his house, You protect Your house. And assist Your people against the people of the cross and its worshippers. Their cross and their schemes will never overpower Your house and Your plans. They brought along all their forces and their elephants to capture Your dependants. Out of sheer ignorance, they aim to invade your Royal territory (Makkah) with their evil plots, but they fail to acknowledge Your supreme Majesty.”
After the prayer, Abdul Muttalib left Makkah in desolation.

Abrah defeated all Arab armies on the way to Makkah. A few meters to the Kaaba, he was attacked by flocks of birds that dropped small stones on them sent by Allah.

The siraat of Kaaba by the Islamic Theological Society, Eastern Cape said the size of each pebble resembled the size of pea seeds or lentils. Each bird carried two pebbles in its claws and one in its beak. Whichever wretched person these pebbles struck would not survive. On each pebble was marked the name of the one it was decreed to fall on as well as the name of his father.

With the divine power of Allah (SWT), these pebbles swiftly rained down upon the army of Abraha like volleys of lethal bullets. A pebble would strike the head and fatally emerge from the posterior. The soldiers and elephants fled in panic. Many of them died instantly and the rest of them died on their way back. In this way Abraha’s army was completely eliminated and wiped out from the face of the earth.

Abraha after being hit, was afflicted by a deadly disease that spread poison over his body. As they carried him away, his entire body broke out with small pox, which exuded pus and blood. One after the other, his body limbs began fragmenting and falling to the ground. Finally, upon reaching San’a, his chest burst open causing Abraha to die a miserable death

A whole Surah gave account of the incident in the Quran. Have you not considered, [O Muhammad], how your Lord dealt with the companions of the elephant? Did He not make their plan into misguidance? And He sent against them birds in flocks, Striking them with stones of hard clay, And He made them like eaten straw. Quran 105: 1-5

http://www.vanguardngr.com/2014/10/s-fighting-allah/

LESSON: Nobody can fight for Almighty Allah, all we should always do as a Muslim, is to strive to know more about our religion, teach it and be of good behaviour that can be emulate by others. Nobody can claim to be a good Muslim until he follows keenly the words of the Holy Qur'an. And Almighty Allah taught us to be tolerance in so many verses of the Qur'an, which some of the verses are as follows:

“Do not revile those unto whom they pray beside God, lest they wrongfully revile God through ignorance” (Quran 6 : 108). Almighty Allah directly forbids verbal religious intolerance, candidly pointing out the logical consequence of mutual animosity and hatred.  Disagreement is sometimes unavoidable; however, petty name-calling is certainly something we can all maturely surmount.

“Had God willed, they had not been idolatrous.  We have not set thee as a keeper over them, nor art thou responsible for them” (Quran 6 : 107)

Bear patiently what they (abusers) say." (Quran 20:130)

"Disregard their annoying talk." (Quran 33:48)

"When you hear Allah's messages disbelieved in and mocked at, sit not with them until they enter into some other talk." (Quran 4:140)

"And if you invite them to guidance, they hear not; and you see them looking towards you, yet they see not. Take to forgiveness and enjoin good and turn away from the ignorant." (Quran 7:198 – 199)

“Forgive and show indulgence to them…Whosoever surrendereth his purpose to God while doing good, his reward is with his Lord; and there shall no fear come upon them neither shall they grieve” (Quran 2 : 109 - 112).

May Almighty Allah continue to guide us towards the right path and strengthen us towards His deen (Amin)

Allahu akbar . this is indeed a wonderful piece. Jwzakumullahu khairan. Its disheartening to see some muslims due to the false teachings they have been fed with. I once asked a muslim brother a question and his response made me realise that many muslims know nothing of islam. I asked him if a non muslim insulted the rasul(sallalahu alayhi wasallam), what should we do? He replied saying if he had the chwnce he would kill him. I was shocked at his reply and I had to immediately correct that...
My advice to all muslim brothers is this is the age of technology. Don't just take all what your local mallam tells you/has told you as all true. Sometimes they might be wrong without even realising it. We should learn to read more and verify. May Allah help us ALL in becoming better muslims. Ameen

Assalamu aleikum,

This topic has not been dealt with exhaustively in my opinion.

First of all, muslim are required to exhibit the highest levels of patience and tolerance but we should not present it as if Islam is a pacifist religion. It is not.

We are peaceful but not pacifist. If an army is coming to attack our town, we are obligated to defend ourselves and families.

We should not be aggressors or harm people.

The Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “The one who is killed defending his wealth is a martyr, the one who is killed defending his family is a martyr, the one who is killed defending his religion is a martyr, and the one who is killed defending his life is a martyr

Narrated by al-Tirmidhi (1421),

A man came to the Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) and said: O Messenger of Allaah, what do you think if a man comes wanting to take my property? He said: “Do not give him your property.” He said: What if he fights me? He said: “Fight him.” He said: What if he kills me? He said: “Then you will be a martyr.” He said: What if I kill him? He said:“He will be in Hell.” Narrated by Muslim(140).

So if the need arises, we can fight and defend ourselves.

Considering Op and tbaba1234, you are both right pretty much really. It just depends on circumstances. Like udatso rightly said, looking from that perspective, Wizeboy is surely right in that respect.

Assalam alaykum warahmatullah.
As a muslim, self defence is a duty upon us. However, when others insult the Prophet Mohammed (SAW), we are not to take up arms. All the wars fought in the time of Rasul (SAW), none of them was because of insults to his person. So where are we getting "our current day" responses from?

Quality contributions on this thread starting from the OP.

Lovely! JazakalLahu khairan.

Wizeboy: Almighty Allah directly forbids verbal religious intolerance, candidly pointing out the logical consequence of mutual animosity and hatred. Disagreement is sometimes unavoidable; however, petty name- calling is certainly something we can all maturely surmount.

Let aside the inadequacies, this is where the strength of the article lie. To appreciate this, we have to consider practical cases where neglect for tolerance turned into tragedies. As such, i discussed the issue in light of the two Churches burnt down in Katsina early this year by muslim youths over a disrespectful statement about Muhammad alledged to have been made by a Christian teacher.

Holy Ignorance Is Behind Attacks On Two Nigerian Churches

Be relieved of your thirst for truth.