Ghamidi Claims Wars of the Prophet Were Divine Punishment

 بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم

والصلاة والسلام على خاتم النبيين

Among the novel conceptions of the misguided modernist Ghamidi is that some of the wars waged by the most holy Prophet Muhammad ﷺ were for the purpose of inflicting a divine punishment upon the Pagans:

Once the truth is communicated to a people through their respective messengers in a conclusive manner and they still deny it in spite of being convinced about it, they are punished in this very world. At times, this punishment is through earthquakes, cyclones and other calamities and disasters, while, at others, it emanates from the swords of the believers. As a result, those who have denied the truth are totally vanquished in their land and the truth reigns supreme in it. In the case of Prophet Muhammad (sws), the Divine scourge took this very form. Consequently, just as the Prophet (sws) and his Companions (rta) were asked to wage war against oppression and injustice, they were also asked to wage war to punish the rejecters of the truth once it had become totally manifest to his addressees. This was actually a Divine plan executed through human beings. It should be viewed as a divine practice (sunnatullah) and cannot be initiated by human beings in any manner; it is not part of the shari‘ah. The Qur’anic words “God will punish them by your hands” (9:14) allude to this very reality. (Islam: A Comprehensive Introduction p.541)

Ghamidi has quoted the following Ayah of the Quran as proof for his contention that the wars waged by the most holy Prophet Muhammad ﷺ were for the purpose of inflicting a divine punishment upon the Pagans:

قَاتِلُوۡہُمۡ یُعَذِّبۡہُمُ اللّٰہُ بِاَیۡدِیۡکُمۡ وَ یُخۡزِہِمۡ وَ یَنۡصُرۡکُمۡ عَلَیۡہِمۡ وَ یَشۡفِ صُدُوۡرَ قَوۡمٍ مُّؤۡمِنِیۡنَ

Fight them, that Allah may punish them at your hands, and humiliate them, and help you to victory over them, and relieve the hearts of a people who believe

(Sura 9:14)

While the Ayah certainly mentions that Allah shall punish the polytheists through warfare of the Believers, Ghamidi has quoted it out of context to give the impression that such warfare is being waged against the polytheists on account of their rejection of the Truth after the latter has been established against them. One need only read the preceding Ayah to expose Ghamidi’s deception:

اَلَا تُقَاتِلُوۡنَ قَوۡمًا نَّکَثُوۡۤا اَیۡمَانَہُمۡ وَ ہَمُّوۡا بِاِخۡرَاجِ الرَّسُوۡلِ وَ ہُمۡ بَدَءُوۡکُمۡ اَوَّلَ مَرَّۃٍ ؕ اَتَخۡشَوۡنَہُمۡ ۚ فَاللّٰہُ اَحَقُّ اَنۡ تَخۡشَوۡہُ اِنۡ کُنۡتُمۡ مُّؤۡمِنِیۡنَ

Will you not fight a people who have broken their oaths, and who plotted to turn out the Messenger, and they were the first to commence hostilities against you? Do you fear them? Nay, Allah is most worthy that you should fear Him, if you are believers

(Sura 9:13)

This Quranic passage is in fact yet another proof that the wars waged by the most holy Prophet ﷺ his Companions and the Believers in general are meant to be purely defensive and retaliatory, and not to punish the polytheists for their rejection of the Truth after it has been manifested upon them fully as claimed by Ghamidi. While I don’t necessarily reject the idea that Allah may have punished the polytheists and pagans in the past through the sword of the Believers under direction of a Prophet, but to claim specifically that the wars waged by our most holy Prophet Muhammad ﷺ were also for this purpose is clearly unsubstantiated.