Professor Nguyen’s claim is disingenuous and misleading. He echoes Hamas-linked CAIR talking points in claiming that jihad “trying to make ends meet” or “getting a great education,” and apparently leaves unanswered the question of whether the Qur’an promotes “aggression or armed combat,” whether or not it uses the word “jihad” in that context. Let’s look at the record:
“And kill them wherever you find them, and drive them out from where they drove you out; persecution is worse than slaughter. But fight them not by the Holy Mosque until they should fight you there; then, if they fight you, kill them — such is the recompense of unbelievers, but if they give over, surely Allah is all-forgiving, all-compassionate. Fight them until there is no persecution and the religion is Allah’s; then if they give over, there shall be no enmity save for evildoers.” (Qur’an 2:191-193)
“They wish that you should disbelieve as they disbelieve, and then you would be equal; therefore do not take friends from among them, until they emigrate in the way of Allah; then, if they turn their backs, seize them and kill them wherever you find them; do not take for yourselves any one of them as friend or helper.” (Qur’an 4:89)
“This is the recompense of those who fight against Allah and His Messenger, and hasten about the earth to do corruption there: they shall be killed, or crucified, or their hands and feet shall be struck off on opposite sides; or they shall be exiled from the land. That is a degradation for them in this world; and in the world to come awaits them a mighty chastisement.” (Qur’an 5:33)
“When your Lord was revealing to the angels, ‘I am with you; so confirm the believers. I shall cast terror into the hearts of the unbelievers; so strike the necks, and strike every finger of them!” (Qur’an 8:12)
“Fight them, till there is no persecution and religion is all for Allah; then if they give over, surely Allah sees the things they do.” (Qur’an 8:39)
“Make ready for them whatever force and strings of horses you can, to strike terror into the enemy of Allah and your enemy, and others besides them that you know not; Allah knows them. And whatever you spend in the way of Allah shall be repaid you in full; you will not be wronged.” (Qur’an 8:60)
“Then, when the sacred months are over, kill the idolaters wherever you find them, and take them, and confine them, and lie in wait for them at every place of ambush. But if they repent, and perform the prayer, and pay the alms, then let them go their way; Allah is All-forgiving, All-compassionate.” (Qur’an 9:5)
“Fight those who believe not in Allah and the Last Day and do not forbid what Allah and His Messenger have forbidden, and do not practice the religion of truth, even if they are of the People of the Book — until they pay the jizya with willing submission and feel themselves subdued.” (Qur’an 9:29)
“Allah has bought from the believers their selves and their possessions against the gift of Paradise; they fight in the way of Allah; they kill, and are killed; that is a promise binding upon Allah in the Torah, and the Gospel, and the Koran; and who fulfils his covenant truer than Allah? So rejoice in the bargain you have made with Him; that is the mighty triumph.” (Qur’an 9:111)
“O believers, fight the unbelievers who are near to you; and let them find in you a harshness; and know that Allah is with the godfearing.” (Qur’an 9:123)
“When you meet the unbelievers, strike their necks, then, when you have made wide slaughter among them, tie fast the bonds; then set them free, either by grace or ransom, till the war lays down its loads. So it shall be; and if Allah had willed, He would have avenged Himself upon them; but that He may try some of you by means of others. And those who are slain in the way of Allah, He will not send their works astray.” (Qur’an 47:4)
How have Muslims throughout history understood these passages? They took them as meaning “My jihad is trying to make ends meet. My jihad is getting a great education,” right? Unfortunately, the historical record is not quite so full of laughter and sunshine. Find out how Muslims throughout history have actually understood the Qur’an’s exhortations to warfare in my new book, The History of Jihad From Muhammad to ISIS, which you can preorder here.
“Expert defines Islam for Greenwich audience,” by Ken Borsuk, Greenwich Time, July 25, 2018:
GREENWICH — In trying to explain the history and pillars of faith for Islam, not to mention its place in American culture, all within an hour, Martin Tran Nguyen, admitted he had “quite a tall order” ahead of him.
Nguyen sought to dispel misconceptions many Americans have about the religion in his talk before an audience of more than 100 at the Retired Men’s Association of Greenwich on Wednesday morning.
“There is an immense diversity when it comes to who Muslims are,” said Nguyen, an associate professor of Islamic religious traditions at Fairfield University. His credentials include a master’s degree in theological studies from Harvard Divinity School plus a master’s in history and a doctorate in Middle Eastern studies and history from Harvard University….
“Think about how the popular imagination in America thinks,” Nguyen said. “We think Arabs and Islam are synonymous, but only one in five of Muslims would identify as Arab. They are in fact elsewhere, mostly in the Asian Pacific region.”…
During his presentation, he talked about the commonalities of Islam and other religions, including how the teachings of the gospels, the psalms and the Torah are in the Qur’an; the pillars of the Muslim faith; the differences between the majority Sunni Muslims and the minority Shi’a; and the history of how the faith has developed and grown in America. Its roots are in the international slave trade, with many Muslims from Africa captured and brought to the Colonies….
ISIS reinforced the “terrorist image” for all Muslims because of the actions of a few, he said. And he noted that Muslims condemned the acts of ISIS and that more Muslims were victims of ISIS.
Nguyen also discussed the meaning of the word “jihad” and how it is used in the Qur’an.
“The word jihad is an interesting one because it appears in the Qur’an on several occasions, but the way it is used in the Qur’an is not its later meaning,” he said. “We all think of jihad as holy war. That’s the popular understanding of it. But the way it’s used in the Qur’an it means a struggle. You can say, ‘My jihad is trying to make ends meet. My jihad is getting a great education.’ Muslims know jihad as ways through personal struggle reflected by face. The Qur’an never uses the specific word jihad to mean aggression or armed combat.”
Though the Qur’an does talk about defending one’s self, jihad is not meant to be used that way, Nguyen said. It has been used as propaganda by those who were in power to justify combat and in the current climate as a “way to reclaim glory and strike against oppressors,” he said, which creates a muddied image of what jihad is….