Does Islam Say ‘K*ll Non-Believers’? - The Hidden Truth About Jihad, Sharia & Slavery
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If Islam values human beings, why is there a concept of slavery in it? There are wars in the life of Prophet Muhammad, and there is also a concept called "Jihad" in Islam. What would you say to someone who says, "Don't these seem barbaric and violent?" If Islam encourages Muslims to kill non-Muslims just because they're non-Muslims, how come when Muslims were ruling India for about a thousand years? They could have finished off every single Hindu up there, right? Sharia means legislation. So there is Islamic Sharia, French Sharia, Anglo-Saxon Sharia. All these Sharia's are good, are nice.
But there is only one difference between Islamic Sharia and all these type of legislations, which is, it is perfect. Abraham Lincoln, a brave man, he signed a bill freeing 4 million slaves on the spot in a certain day. It resulted in a civil war where half a million died and half a million were disabled. Islam inhibited the love of freedom in the hearts of Muslims. But how did Islam do that? Christianity is mainly about love and peace and in Matthew 5:39, instead of an eye for an eye, you are told to turn the other cheek to the one who slaps you. Islam, on the other hand, is a Sharia with harsh punishments. Why should a Christian who says "God is love" change his belief from there to Islam?
Sometimes I give this example, right? I went to Marshfield, Wisconsin. There was a masjid open house. And a lady, she asked me exactly the same question. "Okay, Doctor Sabeel, you said Islam is beautiful. How come your Sharia punishments are so harsh?" I gave her this example. In this country, reported number of rapes are 93,000 every single year. These are only the reported, by the way. If that is the case, they will be in the jail as an inmate, average only 5 to 7 years. And then they come out and then the society would be compromised. She would be afraid he can come and attack me any time. Where is the justice to the society, to the peace of the society and the protection of that lady?
When this inmate is there, the rapist is there in the prison, who is going to feed him? Who is going to lodge him? Who is going to give him all the luxuries of prison, right? In the New York State, close to 90,000 taxpaying dollars is spent per inmate, per year. 90,000. My tax money. People's tax money. Right? Islam says that there should be just punishment. If that punishment is taken out in the public, the rest of the society is watching, this person is getting punished, and then a potential rapist or a criminal or a thief, if he had thoughts about raping or killing and whatnot, they would be thinking, if I do something, this is what my state is going to be.
So punishments in Islam are as a deterrent. They work. Even if you compare, you know, any Islamic or Muslim country, I should say, the rapes are really low. Homicides, drug abuse, assaults are so low compared to any other country in which are these deterrents are not there. Number one. Number two would be this. Suppose if a robber comes and knocks at the door at 2 A.M. in the morning, then breaks the door, you're not going to say to him, "Turn the other cheek. Welcome. You take this one room. You're in this one room. I'll show you the other room what I have." That is turning the other cheek. That's not practical. The world does not work like that. Imagine if you turn the other cheek.
The whole world would be filled by robbers and thieves and rapists and assaulters. That's not practical. Nobody does it, right? I mean, our country, not your country, this country over here. This has a $800 billion budget for defense. Imagine if US turns the other cheek, the China and Russia all over. They will be all over the U.S., believe me, right? If it's not going to be U.S. anymore. No family practices turn the other cheek. No man should practice turn the other cheek. Right, it's not practical. It will bring chaos. All the good people would be eradicated. Sharia means legislation. So there is Islamic Sharia, French Sharia, Anglo-Saxon Sharia. All these Sharia's are good, are nice.
They want to give people their rights. But there is only one difference between Islamic Sharia and all these type of legislations, which is, it is perfect. It is flawless. Why? Because every system takes the attributes of the founder of the system. Sharia that was made by a human being can be beautiful because the human being can be beautiful. But Sharia by Allah, of Allah is perfect. There is no flaws, no mistakes in it. Sometimes people think they are cleverer than Allah. They will come up with their own legislation and laws and they do that and they fail after that. So nothing is better than what Allah has said. That's in my own, you know what?
Had I been a non-Muslim and I studied all what I have studied in Islam, there are several things that could have attracted me to Islam. One of them is Sharia. There is a miracle. It's called "The legislative miracle of the Qur'an." Why? Because at that time, the different societies in the world were trying to legislate something good. And there was, like, the Romans were legislating something nice. The Greeks were trying. But if you see what they were legislating today, if you read it today, you will laugh. But this is still ongoing and it's perfect for every time and every era. Well, these very strict punishments are not meant to be applied to as many people as possible.
For example, I live in a country where the traffic laws driving laws are very strict and that's why you see people driving in order. You don't see much accidents like you see it somewhere else. And it's actually to protect people. If you look from the angle of the criminal, oh, it is strong, but from the angle of the victim, the victims wish it is stronger than this. Because the one whom his house was broken into and his money was stolen, for him, this money was very important. He was saving it for years. So when someone carelessly breaks into the house, steals this money to buy drugs, from the angle of the thief...
Those who say it is too strict, they are sympathizing with the thief, not with the victim. They say, why do you punish people for committing adultery, okay? And you punish them with capital punishment, right? You know, why is that... They say in the West, "That's barbaric." Say, but do you know how much evil adultery causes? Look, there are laws in Islam against adultery that's very hard to prove. You need four witnesses and they have to witness the actual... Not just two people next to each other. They have to witness everything. So hard. It's meant to kind of scare you away. But look at how scary the punishment is. Why? Because it's trying to keep you away from adultery.
When you look into the American culture, there is a survey that came out by Chicago Tribune. A typical male in this country, they have at least extra seven, you know, girlfriends or extramarital affairs or premarital affairs. And if a man without marriage, you know, have intimacy with a lady and now she has a child, he can just walk out. Just pay, you know, some minimum payment. But the child is without a father now. Single parent homes. That's not the solution. And according to psychologists, the data is that a child born into a single parent home or raised by a single parent, statistically, I am saying, right, not every child, but overall they will have lower IQ.
They will have, their immune system would be much weaker compared to a two parent home. They would be more prone to drop out of schools. There is more chances of being unemployed. There are more chances that they would join drugs and gangs and the vicious cycle continues. This became so much of a burden to the state in the West. They had to bring a law to say, we're going to force men who have these children out of out of wedlock, they must provide money for the child. Because it costs too much taxpayer money. Because it was going out of control, because of this freedom. Did this happen? What do you mean? The state made some laws about this. Did this happen? Oh, yeah.
Now, in every Western country now. If a man sleeps with a woman, the woman is pregnant, and the woman keeps the child, doesn't kill the child, then the man has to pay for the child to the child's upkeep. Even if they're not married. Even if they're not married because it became out of control. Right, and what about these poor children? They didn't do anything wrong. Oh, but there's consequences. You can't just do things with no consequences, yeah? And it got some problems because then some men were thinking, "Well, I'm pretty sure that child, I didn't, it's not my child." There's some, that woman slept with other men. How do I know that's my child?
So you know, the only way to get out of it is you have a genetic test, and then you can say, okay, you know, if it shows it's not your child, then you get out of that. But even then, many times a woman doesn't know who the child's father is, so they think maybe it's my current boyfriend is the one, but they had another person, or my husband is the one, but they had a boyfriend on the side. Maybe one night they met in a pub or in a club. They go out, they had alcohol. They couldn't remember who it was. It became so crazy, out of control that in France, now they've actually prohibited genetic tests.
Because so many times it was coming up that the man who the woman said, "This is the one who is the father of the child," is not the father of the child. So those are the kind of consequences that you see now happening in the West. And people, because they are told that, you know, if you don't dress, you don't show revealing clothing or clothing that shows how rich or powerful or whatever, that you're not going to get attention. And attention is good. You can make money. You get more respect by attention. So everyone wants the attention. So they're going to dress in a way to get the most attention possible.
And every day you are seeing advertisements for adultery, for cheating on your partner. And then they're surprised why the adultery rate or cheating rate is so high. The divorce rate is now 50% in the West, so 1 in 2 marriages is going to fail. And they wonder, why is that? People can't trust their spouses. They can't trust each other. They're always anxious. They're having anxiety. Or maybe my husband's cheating. Maybe my wife's cheating on me. This is the West. This is the so-called happiness that freedom has brought. Everyone's scared. Worried. Not secure. There are wars in the life of Prophet Muhammad (saw). And there is also a concept called "Jihad" in Islam.
What would you say to someone who says, "Don't these seem barbaric and violent?" So when people, when they speak about, you know, fighting that the Prophet (pbuh) did, the number of wars, almost every prophet in the Old Testament, they fought. Moses, he fought, right? David and Solomon, I can name so many prophets that fought. Just because a person is involved in a war does not take that person out of prophethood. So the criteria of a prophet is not that the prophet should not fight in any wars. War is sometimes, you know, it's necessary to maintain peace and for defense. When the Prophet moved from Mecca to Medina, he formed the Islamic State.
The Mushrikin, the idol worshippers, the non-believers of Mecca, along with alliances, they kept on attacking the Prophet (pbuh), right? They kept on attacking. But the biggest thing is this. Compared to many constitutions of the world around us, Islam gave ethical guidelines, wonderful guidelines, just guidelines. Even if you are involved in a just war, these are the guidelines you're supposed to follow. The Qur'an says in Chapter number 2, Verse number 190, the translation. "Fight in the cause of Allah for those who fight against you, but do not go to extreme. Allah does not love the extremist." So if somebody is imposing war on you, you have the right to fight back.
But in that fighting, Allah is saying that you are supposed to abide by some guidelines. Do not go to extreme. So what are some of the, quickly, those guidelines? In the Qur'an, it says in Chapter 5, Verse number 32 that "Taking one innocent life is like taking the life of all of humanity." So even in a just war, you cannot harm women and children, or non-combatants for that matter. That's one guideline. There is no carpet bombing in Islam. There is no Hiroshima or Nagasaki in Islam. There is no, you know, indiscriminate killing in Islam. Unlike what some country is doing. And we cannot destroy the resources of the civilian population.
The crops or the animal resources, electrical resources, internet resources. And lastly, if the enemy says, you know, "Let us sign a peace treaty," if they drop the weapons, if they come towards peace, the Qur'an says in Chapter 8, Verse number 61, "You also incline towards peace." Do not shoot them in the back, incline towards peace. Compared to other wars out there, and I can give you one example. Let's take World War Two. In World War Two, the number of causalties, they were close to 60 million. Because majority of the people who died, they were civilians. Islam avoids that by ethical guidelines, just guidelines.
So in that way, if people follow Islam's guidelines, this civilian casualties, they would be minimized. And the wars would be reduced because there would be a deterrence for the wars, by the wonderful way that Islam wants us to live, with peace and harmony and justice with our neighbors. So, we can give so many examples. If Islam encourages Muslims to kill non-Muslims just because they're non-Muslims, how come when Muslims were ruling India for about a thousand years, they could have finished off every single Hindu up there, right? Right now they would not be a single Hindu.
So all those descendant Hindus now of those Hindus, they testify that Muslim rulers, they did not implement this allegation that non-Muslims should be killed. Muslims ruled Spain for 770 years. Every Catholic and Jew would have been killed. They did not, because Islam does not say that. In Egypt right now there are so many, what, 15 million Coptic Christians? They bear testimony that Islam does not encourage. Actually, it prohibits to kill anyone who is under you or living amongst you. Correct? And in Turkey, Iran, Iraq. You know, I went to a barber and he said, you know, I'm a Christian from Iraq, and he's giving the testimony that when Muslims were ruling Iraq, they did not kill him.
Well, the Ayah in Surah Al-Hadid. Allah says in Surah Al-Hadid, Ayah number 25, I think, "I have indeed sent my messengers with miracles and books and the balance of knowing right from wrong, so that people may establish justice." So Islam is a religion of justice. Okay. And then Allah continues, because if you look at this, sending messengers with books, these are peaceful means. So that people can establish justice. What if justice is not established? The Ayah continues and says, "And we descended iron in which there is a great might and benefits for people." So if justice cannot be established with peaceful means, it will be established through warfare. So Islam is a religion of justice.
Peace and war are means to establish justice. Allah told us, "Try to establish justice with peaceful means." Warfare is part of the many tools available in a state's toolkit. When people think about Islam, they tend to use a different set of criteria when judging a government that governs by Islam than any other government in the world. If you now said to a government that you shouldn't have an army and you shouldn't, as a last resort, as a form of defense, you shouldn't use warfare, you would say that's impossible. If Islam values human beings, why is there a concept of slavery in it? Couldn't it abolish slavery? No. Islam abolished slavery, and the West abolished slavery, but differently.
Let's see which way was the best or which one is better. The way it was done in America, for example, is by prohibition. Islam abolished it by inhibition, not by prohibition. Abraham Lincoln, a brave man, he signed a bill freeing 4 million slaves on the spot in a certain day. It resulted in a civil war where half a million died and half a million were disabled, okay? Well, you can say this is the price for freedom, no problem. But how did Islam do that? Look at the relationship between Whites and Blacks today in the USA. After 150 years from the abolition of slavery. In our countries, there's no problems at all between Whites and Blacks. Why? Because of the way Islam did it.
Islam inhibited the love of freedom in the hearts of Muslims. So Islam made Muslims know that slavery is bad. Islam wants you to end it, okay. You, for example, broke a vow. What do you do? Free a slave, okay. You swore to do something, and then you found that there is something else better, no problem. Do what's better and free a slave. Okay, you broke fast in Ramadan without excuse. Seeking atonement, free a slave. You killed someone by mistake. You had a car accident and someone died. No problem. Free a slave. You know what that means? You took life from someone by mistake. Okay. No problem. Give life to someone lifeless. How can you give life to someone lifeless?
By giving freedom to someone deprived from freedom. This means that freedom in Islam equals life. With all these rulings, Islam inhibited in Muslims the love for freedom. And what happened is it ended slavery, which is rooted in society, but gradually. And people did that willingly. And that's why when many slaves were freed, they did not even want to leave their masters. They said, "Okay, I'm free to go, but can I stay with you?" So the word slave, within a few years, by the way, it nearly faded out and a new word appeared, which is Mawali. Mawali means the ex-slave or the ex-master.
So Salim Mawali Abu Hudhaifa means the ex-slave of Abu Hudhaifa, but also Abu Hudhaifa Mawali Salim, which is the ex-master. They have the same title. That's mind blowing. And then people come and tell us, "You did not prohibit, you did not abolish slavery." Excuse me? You should abolish slavery like us. When people think of slavery, what comes to our mind would be the slavery in the USA. You know, harsh treatment, rights were taken away. Long hours, you know, in the plantation. That's what comes to our mind. Islam abolished that slavery. Really important. See, slavery was an institution. Islam did not invent that.
It was already there in many religions, many cultures and many countries even before the seventh century. So that institution, Islam changed the terminology from a slave terminology and to the terminology of these are our foster brothers. These are our foster sisters. It gave the rights, it gave the justice to these people who are now called as foster brothers. Quickly, they are supposed to be treated in a wonderful way. Same clothes as you wear, you're supposed to give to them. Same food as you're eating, you're supposed to give it to them. You cannot have harsh treatment to them, you cannot overburden them. And there are so many different ways that if they say, "You know what?
Can you give us freedom?" If they request for it, a good Muslim will give them freedom. If the Muslim breaks the oath, they are supposed to free the slaves, right? After the slaves were freed, the slaves were given education. They were given empowerment. They were given high positions, they were given the respect, and now they are treated just like any other person. So because that did not happen in the US once they are freed, even now, today, unfortunately, we can see the remnants of, you know... Chicago's South Side, for example. Detroit area. You know, for African brothers and sisters or Black brothers and sisters, they still do not have the same kind of cultural rights.
They are deprived, they are discriminated. But in Islam, Islam freed the slaves and then empowered the slaves. So we can see, Alhamdulillah how it is a blessing for humanity. So after all these explanations, what would you like to say to someone who is a Christian and has questions and doubts about Islam? For my Christian brothers and sisters and anyone else out there, you know we only have one life to live. Very soon everyone has to die. We'll be standing in front of Allah, in front of God. At that point, it will be too late for us to come back and then pick the right faith, the right concept of God.
My request to my fellow Christians, my fellow humans would be, you know, pick up the copy of the Qur'an, just read it for the sake of education. And you will find the right concept of God in there that was preached by all the prophets. You will find the purpose of life that Allah has defined in the Qur'an. You will find in Islam the solutions to your problems, about you know, racism, about homicide and suicide and breakdown of the family structure. Islam gives, you know, strong families, strong morality, respect of parents. Children are not respecting parents. There is drug abuse. There is fentanyl abuse in San Francisco. Homelessness is there. Poverty is there.
You know, racism is rampant, drug abuse. What is the solution? Islam gives perfect solution, just solution, practical solution. For all of these problems. We need it, Islam gives it and you need it. So ultimately when you stand in front of God, you cannot come back over here. And you know what? Thinking, you know, I should have embraced Islam. You only have one life. Read the Qur'an and you will find out your questions would be answered. This will give you peace. It will give you solutions. It will give you a pathway for salvation. And pray to God. You know, "God, show me the truth. Guide me to the truth." Inshallah, Allah will guide you to the truth. Allah will guide you to Islam.
But there is only one difference between Islamic Sharia and all these type of legislations, which is, it is perfect. Abraham Lincoln, a brave man, he signed a bill freeing 4 million slaves on the spot in a certain day. It resulted in a civil war where half a million died and half a million were disabled. Islam inhibited the love of freedom in the hearts of Muslims. But how did Islam do that? Christianity is mainly about love and peace and in Matthew 5:39, instead of an eye for an eye, you are told to turn the other cheek to the one who slaps you. Islam, on the other hand, is a Sharia with harsh punishments. Why should a Christian who says "God is love" change his belief from there to Islam?
Sometimes I give this example, right? I went to Marshfield, Wisconsin. There was a masjid open house. And a lady, she asked me exactly the same question. "Okay, Doctor Sabeel, you said Islam is beautiful. How come your Sharia punishments are so harsh?" I gave her this example. In this country, reported number of rapes are 93,000 every single year. These are only the reported, by the way. If that is the case, they will be in the jail as an inmate, average only 5 to 7 years. And then they come out and then the society would be compromised. She would be afraid he can come and attack me any time. Where is the justice to the society, to the peace of the society and the protection of that lady?
When this inmate is there, the rapist is there in the prison, who is going to feed him? Who is going to lodge him? Who is going to give him all the luxuries of prison, right? In the New York State, close to 90,000 taxpaying dollars is spent per inmate, per year. 90,000. My tax money. People's tax money. Right? Islam says that there should be just punishment. If that punishment is taken out in the public, the rest of the society is watching, this person is getting punished, and then a potential rapist or a criminal or a thief, if he had thoughts about raping or killing and whatnot, they would be thinking, if I do something, this is what my state is going to be.
So punishments in Islam are as a deterrent. They work. Even if you compare, you know, any Islamic or Muslim country, I should say, the rapes are really low. Homicides, drug abuse, assaults are so low compared to any other country in which are these deterrents are not there. Number one. Number two would be this. Suppose if a robber comes and knocks at the door at 2 A.M. in the morning, then breaks the door, you're not going to say to him, "Turn the other cheek. Welcome. You take this one room. You're in this one room. I'll show you the other room what I have." That is turning the other cheek. That's not practical. The world does not work like that. Imagine if you turn the other cheek.
The whole world would be filled by robbers and thieves and rapists and assaulters. That's not practical. Nobody does it, right? I mean, our country, not your country, this country over here. This has a $800 billion budget for defense. Imagine if US turns the other cheek, the China and Russia all over. They will be all over the U.S., believe me, right? If it's not going to be U.S. anymore. No family practices turn the other cheek. No man should practice turn the other cheek. Right, it's not practical. It will bring chaos. All the good people would be eradicated. Sharia means legislation. So there is Islamic Sharia, French Sharia, Anglo-Saxon Sharia. All these Sharia's are good, are nice.
They want to give people their rights. But there is only one difference between Islamic Sharia and all these type of legislations, which is, it is perfect. It is flawless. Why? Because every system takes the attributes of the founder of the system. Sharia that was made by a human being can be beautiful because the human being can be beautiful. But Sharia by Allah, of Allah is perfect. There is no flaws, no mistakes in it. Sometimes people think they are cleverer than Allah. They will come up with their own legislation and laws and they do that and they fail after that. So nothing is better than what Allah has said. That's in my own, you know what?
Had I been a non-Muslim and I studied all what I have studied in Islam, there are several things that could have attracted me to Islam. One of them is Sharia. There is a miracle. It's called "The legislative miracle of the Qur'an." Why? Because at that time, the different societies in the world were trying to legislate something good. And there was, like, the Romans were legislating something nice. The Greeks were trying. But if you see what they were legislating today, if you read it today, you will laugh. But this is still ongoing and it's perfect for every time and every era. Well, these very strict punishments are not meant to be applied to as many people as possible.
For example, I live in a country where the traffic laws driving laws are very strict and that's why you see people driving in order. You don't see much accidents like you see it somewhere else. And it's actually to protect people. If you look from the angle of the criminal, oh, it is strong, but from the angle of the victim, the victims wish it is stronger than this. Because the one whom his house was broken into and his money was stolen, for him, this money was very important. He was saving it for years. So when someone carelessly breaks into the house, steals this money to buy drugs, from the angle of the thief...
Those who say it is too strict, they are sympathizing with the thief, not with the victim. They say, why do you punish people for committing adultery, okay? And you punish them with capital punishment, right? You know, why is that... They say in the West, "That's barbaric." Say, but do you know how much evil adultery causes? Look, there are laws in Islam against adultery that's very hard to prove. You need four witnesses and they have to witness the actual... Not just two people next to each other. They have to witness everything. So hard. It's meant to kind of scare you away. But look at how scary the punishment is. Why? Because it's trying to keep you away from adultery.
When you look into the American culture, there is a survey that came out by Chicago Tribune. A typical male in this country, they have at least extra seven, you know, girlfriends or extramarital affairs or premarital affairs. And if a man without marriage, you know, have intimacy with a lady and now she has a child, he can just walk out. Just pay, you know, some minimum payment. But the child is without a father now. Single parent homes. That's not the solution. And according to psychologists, the data is that a child born into a single parent home or raised by a single parent, statistically, I am saying, right, not every child, but overall they will have lower IQ.
They will have, their immune system would be much weaker compared to a two parent home. They would be more prone to drop out of schools. There is more chances of being unemployed. There are more chances that they would join drugs and gangs and the vicious cycle continues. This became so much of a burden to the state in the West. They had to bring a law to say, we're going to force men who have these children out of out of wedlock, they must provide money for the child. Because it costs too much taxpayer money. Because it was going out of control, because of this freedom. Did this happen? What do you mean? The state made some laws about this. Did this happen? Oh, yeah.
Now, in every Western country now. If a man sleeps with a woman, the woman is pregnant, and the woman keeps the child, doesn't kill the child, then the man has to pay for the child to the child's upkeep. Even if they're not married. Even if they're not married because it became out of control. Right, and what about these poor children? They didn't do anything wrong. Oh, but there's consequences. You can't just do things with no consequences, yeah? And it got some problems because then some men were thinking, "Well, I'm pretty sure that child, I didn't, it's not my child." There's some, that woman slept with other men. How do I know that's my child?
So you know, the only way to get out of it is you have a genetic test, and then you can say, okay, you know, if it shows it's not your child, then you get out of that. But even then, many times a woman doesn't know who the child's father is, so they think maybe it's my current boyfriend is the one, but they had another person, or my husband is the one, but they had a boyfriend on the side. Maybe one night they met in a pub or in a club. They go out, they had alcohol. They couldn't remember who it was. It became so crazy, out of control that in France, now they've actually prohibited genetic tests.
Because so many times it was coming up that the man who the woman said, "This is the one who is the father of the child," is not the father of the child. So those are the kind of consequences that you see now happening in the West. And people, because they are told that, you know, if you don't dress, you don't show revealing clothing or clothing that shows how rich or powerful or whatever, that you're not going to get attention. And attention is good. You can make money. You get more respect by attention. So everyone wants the attention. So they're going to dress in a way to get the most attention possible.
And every day you are seeing advertisements for adultery, for cheating on your partner. And then they're surprised why the adultery rate or cheating rate is so high. The divorce rate is now 50% in the West, so 1 in 2 marriages is going to fail. And they wonder, why is that? People can't trust their spouses. They can't trust each other. They're always anxious. They're having anxiety. Or maybe my husband's cheating. Maybe my wife's cheating on me. This is the West. This is the so-called happiness that freedom has brought. Everyone's scared. Worried. Not secure. There are wars in the life of Prophet Muhammad (saw). And there is also a concept called "Jihad" in Islam.
What would you say to someone who says, "Don't these seem barbaric and violent?" So when people, when they speak about, you know, fighting that the Prophet (pbuh) did, the number of wars, almost every prophet in the Old Testament, they fought. Moses, he fought, right? David and Solomon, I can name so many prophets that fought. Just because a person is involved in a war does not take that person out of prophethood. So the criteria of a prophet is not that the prophet should not fight in any wars. War is sometimes, you know, it's necessary to maintain peace and for defense. When the Prophet moved from Mecca to Medina, he formed the Islamic State.
The Mushrikin, the idol worshippers, the non-believers of Mecca, along with alliances, they kept on attacking the Prophet (pbuh), right? They kept on attacking. But the biggest thing is this. Compared to many constitutions of the world around us, Islam gave ethical guidelines, wonderful guidelines, just guidelines. Even if you are involved in a just war, these are the guidelines you're supposed to follow. The Qur'an says in Chapter number 2, Verse number 190, the translation. "Fight in the cause of Allah for those who fight against you, but do not go to extreme. Allah does not love the extremist." So if somebody is imposing war on you, you have the right to fight back.
But in that fighting, Allah is saying that you are supposed to abide by some guidelines. Do not go to extreme. So what are some of the, quickly, those guidelines? In the Qur'an, it says in Chapter 5, Verse number 32 that "Taking one innocent life is like taking the life of all of humanity." So even in a just war, you cannot harm women and children, or non-combatants for that matter. That's one guideline. There is no carpet bombing in Islam. There is no Hiroshima or Nagasaki in Islam. There is no, you know, indiscriminate killing in Islam. Unlike what some country is doing. And we cannot destroy the resources of the civilian population.
The crops or the animal resources, electrical resources, internet resources. And lastly, if the enemy says, you know, "Let us sign a peace treaty," if they drop the weapons, if they come towards peace, the Qur'an says in Chapter 8, Verse number 61, "You also incline towards peace." Do not shoot them in the back, incline towards peace. Compared to other wars out there, and I can give you one example. Let's take World War Two. In World War Two, the number of causalties, they were close to 60 million. Because majority of the people who died, they were civilians. Islam avoids that by ethical guidelines, just guidelines.
So in that way, if people follow Islam's guidelines, this civilian casualties, they would be minimized. And the wars would be reduced because there would be a deterrence for the wars, by the wonderful way that Islam wants us to live, with peace and harmony and justice with our neighbors. So, we can give so many examples. If Islam encourages Muslims to kill non-Muslims just because they're non-Muslims, how come when Muslims were ruling India for about a thousand years, they could have finished off every single Hindu up there, right? Right now they would not be a single Hindu.
So all those descendant Hindus now of those Hindus, they testify that Muslim rulers, they did not implement this allegation that non-Muslims should be killed. Muslims ruled Spain for 770 years. Every Catholic and Jew would have been killed. They did not, because Islam does not say that. In Egypt right now there are so many, what, 15 million Coptic Christians? They bear testimony that Islam does not encourage. Actually, it prohibits to kill anyone who is under you or living amongst you. Correct? And in Turkey, Iran, Iraq. You know, I went to a barber and he said, you know, I'm a Christian from Iraq, and he's giving the testimony that when Muslims were ruling Iraq, they did not kill him.
Well, the Ayah in Surah Al-Hadid. Allah says in Surah Al-Hadid, Ayah number 25, I think, "I have indeed sent my messengers with miracles and books and the balance of knowing right from wrong, so that people may establish justice." So Islam is a religion of justice. Okay. And then Allah continues, because if you look at this, sending messengers with books, these are peaceful means. So that people can establish justice. What if justice is not established? The Ayah continues and says, "And we descended iron in which there is a great might and benefits for people." So if justice cannot be established with peaceful means, it will be established through warfare. So Islam is a religion of justice.
Peace and war are means to establish justice. Allah told us, "Try to establish justice with peaceful means." Warfare is part of the many tools available in a state's toolkit. When people think about Islam, they tend to use a different set of criteria when judging a government that governs by Islam than any other government in the world. If you now said to a government that you shouldn't have an army and you shouldn't, as a last resort, as a form of defense, you shouldn't use warfare, you would say that's impossible. If Islam values human beings, why is there a concept of slavery in it? Couldn't it abolish slavery? No. Islam abolished slavery, and the West abolished slavery, but differently.
Let's see which way was the best or which one is better. The way it was done in America, for example, is by prohibition. Islam abolished it by inhibition, not by prohibition. Abraham Lincoln, a brave man, he signed a bill freeing 4 million slaves on the spot in a certain day. It resulted in a civil war where half a million died and half a million were disabled, okay? Well, you can say this is the price for freedom, no problem. But how did Islam do that? Look at the relationship between Whites and Blacks today in the USA. After 150 years from the abolition of slavery. In our countries, there's no problems at all between Whites and Blacks. Why? Because of the way Islam did it.
Islam inhibited the love of freedom in the hearts of Muslims. So Islam made Muslims know that slavery is bad. Islam wants you to end it, okay. You, for example, broke a vow. What do you do? Free a slave, okay. You swore to do something, and then you found that there is something else better, no problem. Do what's better and free a slave. Okay, you broke fast in Ramadan without excuse. Seeking atonement, free a slave. You killed someone by mistake. You had a car accident and someone died. No problem. Free a slave. You know what that means? You took life from someone by mistake. Okay. No problem. Give life to someone lifeless. How can you give life to someone lifeless?
By giving freedom to someone deprived from freedom. This means that freedom in Islam equals life. With all these rulings, Islam inhibited in Muslims the love for freedom. And what happened is it ended slavery, which is rooted in society, but gradually. And people did that willingly. And that's why when many slaves were freed, they did not even want to leave their masters. They said, "Okay, I'm free to go, but can I stay with you?" So the word slave, within a few years, by the way, it nearly faded out and a new word appeared, which is Mawali. Mawali means the ex-slave or the ex-master.
So Salim Mawali Abu Hudhaifa means the ex-slave of Abu Hudhaifa, but also Abu Hudhaifa Mawali Salim, which is the ex-master. They have the same title. That's mind blowing. And then people come and tell us, "You did not prohibit, you did not abolish slavery." Excuse me? You should abolish slavery like us. When people think of slavery, what comes to our mind would be the slavery in the USA. You know, harsh treatment, rights were taken away. Long hours, you know, in the plantation. That's what comes to our mind. Islam abolished that slavery. Really important. See, slavery was an institution. Islam did not invent that.
It was already there in many religions, many cultures and many countries even before the seventh century. So that institution, Islam changed the terminology from a slave terminology and to the terminology of these are our foster brothers. These are our foster sisters. It gave the rights, it gave the justice to these people who are now called as foster brothers. Quickly, they are supposed to be treated in a wonderful way. Same clothes as you wear, you're supposed to give to them. Same food as you're eating, you're supposed to give it to them. You cannot have harsh treatment to them, you cannot overburden them. And there are so many different ways that if they say, "You know what?
Can you give us freedom?" If they request for it, a good Muslim will give them freedom. If the Muslim breaks the oath, they are supposed to free the slaves, right? After the slaves were freed, the slaves were given education. They were given empowerment. They were given high positions, they were given the respect, and now they are treated just like any other person. So because that did not happen in the US once they are freed, even now, today, unfortunately, we can see the remnants of, you know... Chicago's South Side, for example. Detroit area. You know, for African brothers and sisters or Black brothers and sisters, they still do not have the same kind of cultural rights.
They are deprived, they are discriminated. But in Islam, Islam freed the slaves and then empowered the slaves. So we can see, Alhamdulillah how it is a blessing for humanity. So after all these explanations, what would you like to say to someone who is a Christian and has questions and doubts about Islam? For my Christian brothers and sisters and anyone else out there, you know we only have one life to live. Very soon everyone has to die. We'll be standing in front of Allah, in front of God. At that point, it will be too late for us to come back and then pick the right faith, the right concept of God.
My request to my fellow Christians, my fellow humans would be, you know, pick up the copy of the Qur'an, just read it for the sake of education. And you will find the right concept of God in there that was preached by all the prophets. You will find the purpose of life that Allah has defined in the Qur'an. You will find in Islam the solutions to your problems, about you know, racism, about homicide and suicide and breakdown of the family structure. Islam gives, you know, strong families, strong morality, respect of parents. Children are not respecting parents. There is drug abuse. There is fentanyl abuse in San Francisco. Homelessness is there. Poverty is there.
You know, racism is rampant, drug abuse. What is the solution? Islam gives perfect solution, just solution, practical solution. For all of these problems. We need it, Islam gives it and you need it. So ultimately when you stand in front of God, you cannot come back over here. And you know what? Thinking, you know, I should have embraced Islam. You only have one life. Read the Qur'an and you will find out your questions would be answered. This will give you peace. It will give you solutions. It will give you a pathway for salvation. And pray to God. You know, "God, show me the truth. Guide me to the truth." Inshallah, Allah will guide you to the truth. Allah will guide you to Islam.