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Al-Fitnah and "Spreading Mischief"
Read Between the Lines

December 22, 2006
By Ibn Iblis

Ultimately, there are three questions of prime importance in determining the threat Islam poses to our civilization. First, there is the question of the meaning of jihad, which I've already covered extensively. Inevitably the next questions that arise, sprouting from the root of jihad, are, what is the meaning of fitnah, and what does it mean to spread mischief in the land?

There is always more than meets the eye when it comes to Islamic terminology. Often there are two meanings to each word - the Arabic or English definition, and the Islamic definition. For instance, as most of us know, jihad in Arabic derives from the verb jahada which means "he strove". The Islamic definition, however, has much wider connotations.

The complexity deepens when we consider the Arabic word fitnah. In Arabic, fitnah means "trial" or "testing". Fitnah appears several times in the Qur'an, most notably Q2.193 and Q8.39, which both command Muslims to fight and eradicate fitnah until only Allah is worshipped throughout the world. But what exactly is the "trial" or "test" Muslims must fight against? What is the Islamic definition of fitnah?

Strangely, many English translations of these verses define fitnah as "tumult", "oppression" and/or "persecution". These are odd choices of words considering the Islamic definition is provided by Allah in Qur'an 2.217 - to prevent mankind from following the Way of Allāh, to disbelieve in Him, which is, according to Allah, worse than killing. Ibn Kathir expands on this:

      (...and Al-Fitnah is worse than killing.)

    means, trying to force the Muslims to revert from their religion and re-embrace Kufr after they had believed, is worse with Allah than killing.

This is because those who are open in their disbelief have hindered others from the path of Allah, which leads to paradise, and have instead led them on the road to Kafr - disbelief - which leads to hell; this is surely an act worse than killing, as the agony of death does not compare to an eternity of horrific torment. For this reason, translations such as Marmaduk Pickthall and Yusuf Ali describe fitnah as "oppression" and "persecution". In an Islamic context, this is indeed persecution. In a secular, rational context, this is simple freedom of speech and religion, which Islam, fundamentally, does not recognize; this fact is expanded when we link these Qur'anic verses to the prophetic tradition - the Sunnah.

Naturally, anyone familiar with the hadith, particularly the two Sahihs, will ultimately link Qur'an 2.193 and 8.39 with the following prophetic tradition, which appears no less than eight times in Bukhari and Muslim, all with different chains of narration:

    Allah's Apostle said: "I have been ordered (by Allah) to fight against the people until they testify that Lā ilaha illallāh wa Anna Muhammad-ur-Rasūl Allāh (none has the right to be worshipped but Allah and that Muhammad is Allah's Apostle), and offer the prayers perfectly and give the obligatory charity, so if they perform all that, then they save their lives an property from me except for Islamic laws and then their reckoning (accounts) will be done by Allah."

The above tradition, which cannot be called into dispute except by those heretics who reject the sunnah outright, represents a universal declaration of war against all disbelievers for all time. There is no rational way to nuance what it says, or call its context into question. No pious Muslim would believe that what Allah ordered of Muhammad does not have meaning to Muslims living in different times, particularly since Muhammad is Allah's final messenger; the Qur'an his final message. Muhammad was ordered to fight the people until they submit to Islam, and so this is an order for all Muslims. That not all Muslims recognize this or are aware of these commandments does not change the fact that for 1400 years these commandments have led Muslims to commit unspeakable attrocities, which jihadists still seek to carry out today.

This tradition is cited in Ibn Kathir's tafsir of Qur'an 8.39, and is given as a footnote to 2.193 and 8.39 in the Hilali/Khan Qur'an.

So in conclusion, it is not enough to say that in Islam no deity has the right to be worshipped but Allah (Lā ilaha illallāh); Islam is specific that belief in other gods must be eradicated from outside Islam's sphere of influence as well. This is why Islamic theologians have separated the world into two houses - the house of war (dar al-harb) and the house of Islam. The goal of jihad is to bring the dar al-harb into dar al-Islam, using every strategem of war (Q9.5). Fitnah exists so long as kafr is proliferated anywhere on Earth.

The Meaning of Mischief

Most of us are aware of the Islamophiles' pet Qur'anic verse, Q5.32, which supposedly lectures Muslims that if they murder one person it would be as if they murdered the whole world. Sounds like sunshine happiness, doesn't it? Slow down.

As we all know, the verse specifies that life may be taken if in retaliation for murder or to punish anyone who spread[s] mischief in the land. Even in the first case, this sounds like virtue: if you murder someone your life is forfeit. Liberals may call this crude and uncivilized; others call it justice. But what does it mean to spread mischief? This question is rarely pondered by Islamophiles, if ever.

Spreading mischief, as harmless as it sounds, must be a heinous crime, as the punishment for it is spelled out in the following verse. Not only is death justified for spreading mischief, but perpetrators may also be crucified or their hands and their feet be cut off on the opposite sides, or be exiled from the land...and a great torment is theirs in the Hereafter. And of course, those who spread mischief but then revert from their disbelief and submit to Islam before they can be punished recieve Allah's forgiveness and mercy (Q5.34).

This verse taken in its proper context destroys any notion of justice and civilized behavior normally attached to it by Islamophiles.

"Mischief" or "corruption" has an Arabic term as well: al-fasad. Ironically, Muzammil H. Siddiqi, the chairman of the Fiqh Counsil of North America, authors of the ridiculous "fatwah" condemning "terrorism", authored a sermon on al-fasad, perhaps unaware that his definition of it destroys the peaceful connotation of Q5.32. He says,

    The Qur'anic term for corruption is al-Fasad. It means spoiling the order, disturbing the balance of justice by greed, self-interest, deception and double talk. The Qur'an has used this word about 50 times. Al-Fasad could be in morals, in values, in social system, in family system, in educational system, in economics, in politics or in human relations in general.

    Al-Fasad appears when people follow their lusts and vain desires, when they try to twist the truth and distort the facts. Instead of following the Truth and the Guidance from their Lord and Creator, they ignore and turn away from His message.

Nowhere in his sermon does Siddiqi mention that the punishment for al-fasad - spreading mischief - is death, cruxifiction, or having one's hands and feet cut off on opposite sides.

The meaning of mischief is first covered by Ibn Kathir in his tafsir of Qur'an 2.11-12:

    In his Tafsir, As-Suddi said that Ibn `Abbas and Ibn Mas`ud commented,

      (And when it is said to them: "Do not make mischief on the earth,'' they say: "We are only peacemakers.'')

    They are the hypocrites. As for,

      ("Do not make mischief on the earth"),

    that is disbelief and acts of disobedience." Abu Ja`far said that Ar-Rabi` bin Anas said that Abu Al-`Aliyah said that Allah's statement,

      (And when it is said to them: "Do not make mischief on the earth"),

    means, "Do not commit acts of disobedience on the earth. Their mischief is disobeying Allah, because whoever disobeys Allah on the earth, or commands that Allah be disobeyed, he has committed mischief on the earth. Peace on both the earth and in the heavens is ensured (and earned) through obedience (to Allah)."

    Types of Mischief that the Hypocrites commit

    Ibn Jarir said, "The hypocrites commit mischief on earth by disobeying their Lord on it and continuing in the prohibited acts. They also abandon what Allah made obligatory and doubt His religion, even though He does not accept a deed from anyone except with faith in His religion and certainty of its truth. The hypocrites also lie to the believers by saying contrary to the doubt and hesitation their hearts harbor. They give as much aid as they can, against Allah's loyal friends, and support those who deny Allah, His Books and His Messengers. This is how the hypocrites commit mischief on earth, while thinking that they are doing righteous work on earth."

    The statement by Ibn Jarir is true, taking the disbelievers as friends is one of the categories of mischief on the earth. Allah said,

      (And those who disbelieve are allies of one another, if you do not do this (help each other), there will be fitnah on the earth, and great mischief.) (8:73),

    In this way Allah severed the loyalty between the believers and the disbelievers.

Further, in Ibn Kathir's tafsir of Q5.32, he cites other tafsirs explaining that only Muslims or "believing souls" are protected by this commandment; disbelievers, who spread mischief by their very disbelief alone, are not protected. No life that Allah has forbidden killing can be taken. This is expanded on in numerous Qur'anic verses, notably 6.151, 17.33, and 25.68. For example:

    And those who invoke not any other ilāh (god) along with Allāh, nor kill such life as Allāh has forbidden, except for just cause, nor commit illegal sexual intercourse and whoever does this shall receive the punishment. (Q25.68)

Inevitably the question then becomes, who has Allah forbidden from being killed? Indeed, nowhere in the Qur'an does Allah specify that disbelievers cannot be killed. The blood of a Muslim, however, must not be shed:

    It is not for a believer to kill a believer except (that it be) by mistake ... And whoever kills a believer intentionally, his recompense is Hell to abide therein, and the Wrath and the Curse of Allāh are upon him, and a great punishment is prepared for him. (Q4.92-93)

Similarly, Bukhari records:

    Allah's Apostle said, "The blood of a Muslim who confesses that Lā ilaha illallāh (none has the right to be worshipped but Allah) and that I am His Apostle, cannot be shed except in three cases: In Qisas for murder, a married person who commits illegal sexual intercourse and the one who reverts from Islam (apostate) and leaves the Muslims." (Bukhari 009.083.017)

Too often and too conveniently the difficulty of translating the Arabic Qur'an into English is cited in apology of some of the more disturbing passages of therein. But in reality, with certain words, this is true, as we've seen. Fitnah does indeed mean "persecution", but the Islamic definition of persecution is different from the dictionary's. Similarly, al-fasad means to "spread mischief", but, especially taking into account the punishment for this crime, in Islam this sin is far more heinous than it would seem at face value. Nowhere in the Qur'an is the blood of the kafr protected. It is true that the sunnah provides circumstances where those under the protection of the dhimma cannot be killed, but, as Q9.29 shows, those who refuse second-class dhimmi status must be killed - unless of course they submit to Islam.

These of course are fundamentalist views of jihad and the treatment of disbelievers. Not all Muslims believe in this, or are even aware that these concepts exist. This is obviously not the point. The point is that these concepts, among others, drive jihadists to kill and subjugate us. They are not perversions of the faith. They are the pure, naked fundamentals. Do not mistake fundamentalism for extremism. Fundamentalism in Islam is only extreme to our Western sensabilities, which Islam has had little if any influence on. Within the realm of Islamic jurisprudence, these concepts are mainstream. They are among the reasons why no serious attempt has been made to define jihad in a way that is not offensive to disbelievers, and why those who attempt to do so - such as the Fiqh Counsil of North America - are dismissed or even mocked by both Muslim and non-Muslim scholars alike.