The Politically Incorrect Guide to Islam (andtheCrusades}In ot her wor ds, if a cou ntr y is per ce ive d to be hi nde rin g th e spr ea d ofIsl am. Mus lim s are obl ige d to wag e war aga ins t it, Thi s wou ld, of cou rse ,be
a de fe ns iv e co nf li ct , si nc e th e hi nd ra nc es ca me fi rs t. He re th en is
an ot he r il lu st ra ti on of ho w el as ti c an d es se nt ia ll y mea ni ng le ss th e co nce pt
of fi ghti ng onl y in se lf-def ens e has bec ome. Wha t con sti tut es a suffic ien t
pro voc ati on? Mus t the def end ing sid e wai t unt il the ene my str ike sth e fi rs t
mi li ta ry bl ow? Th es e qu es ti on s ha ve no cl ea r or de fi ni ti ve ans wer s in
Isl ami c law , mak ing it pos sib le for anyone to por tra y vir tua lly any stru ggle as
defe nsiv e with out viol atin g the stri ct cano ns of that law.But thi s als o ren der s
mea nin gle ss the oft-rep eat ed cla ims tha t jih ad warfare can only be defensive.
The Qur'an's tolerant verses: "canceled"
Wha t's mor e, theQur 'an 's las t wor d on ji hadisnot def ens ive , but off ensive.
The sur as of the Qur 'an are not arr ange d chr ono log ica lly , but acc ordin g to
le ng th. Ho we ve r, Is la mi c th eo lo gy di vi de s th e Qu r' an in to "M ec can "
an d "M ed in an " su ra s, Th e Me cc an on es co me fr om th efi rs t seg men t of
Mu ha mma d' s ca re er as apr op het , wh en he si mpl y ca ll ed th eMec cans to
Isla m. Lat er, aft er he had fle d to Med ina. his posi tio ns har dene d. The
Med ina n sur as are les s poe tic and gen era lly muc h lon ger tha n tho se fro m
Mec ca; the y'r e als o fil led wit h mat ter s of law and rit ual—and exh ort ati ons
to ji had war fa re aga in st unb eli eve rs. The rel ati vel y to ler ant ver ses qu ot ed
ab ove an d ot her s li ke th em gen er al ly da te fr ont th e Mecca n pe ri od. wh il e
th os e wi th a mo re vi ol en t an d in to le ra nt ed ge ar emostlyfrom Medina.
11 h doe s thi s dis tin cti on mat ter? Bec aus e of the Isl ami c doc tri ne ofabr ogat ion(nas kh). This is the idea that Alla h can chan ge or canc el what he
tel ls Mus lims : "Non e of Our reve lat ion s do We abr ogat e or caus e to be
for gott en, but We subs titute some thin g bett er or simil ar, know est tho u notthat
Allah Hath power over all things?" (Qur'an 2:106). According to this