the ongoing debate about what the Koran really teaches
about jihad accuse the other of taking verses out of context.
The context is indeed the key to understanding why the
Koran contains such contradictory commands about jihad.
To understand fully the true Koranic usage of the word
jihad, we must examine how Muhammad’s strategy in
dealing with those who rejected his message evolved during
his lifetime. We also need to understand certain important
developments in Islam after Muhammad’s death, especially
later attitudes toward nonbelievers, since they also seem to
have found their way into the Koran. Finally, we must
consider as well the sheer volume of verses in the Koran
declaring that Muslims are duty bound to fight until Islam
has conquered and eradicated all of its earthly enemies.
One of the verses most quoted by Muslims in
conversation with Christians is ‘‘There shall be no
compulsion in religion’’ (Sura 2:256). Similar texts include
Suras 3:20; 6:107; and 16:125. Most scholars believe that
these verses date from the early period of Muhammad’s
prophetic career, when he still harbored the hope that Jews
and Christians would freely accept his prophetic status.
Unfortunately, this relatively pacifist version of Islam,
popular as it is among Western commentators, was
superseded during Muhammad’s lifetime. Later in the
Prophet’s career he turned furiously on the Jews and
Christians who rejected him, and began to preach that they
must be conquered by force. Accordingly, the
overwhelming majority of Koranic texts insist that fighting
the unbeliever is mandatory. The same Sura that proclaims