Overview (Verse 75)

Taking up the Cause of the Oppressed
 
Having portrayed the position of wavering Muslims, the sūrah goes on to address the whole Muslim community. It appeals to Muslims who are presumably sensitive to the cause of weaker men, women and children who suffered at the hands of the Makkan unbelievers. Had such weaker elements been able to migrate to Madinah, the land of Islam, they would have enjoyed protection and safety. These victims were seeking salvation and praying to God to rescue them from the clutches of oppression and aggression. The sūrah emphasises the nobility, honour and dignity of the purpose for which Muslims are called upon to fight without hesitation or vacillation. “And why should you not fight in the cause of God and the utterly helpless men, women and children who are crying, ‘Our Lord! Deliver us from this land whose people are oppressors, and send forth to us, out of Your grace, a protector, and send us one that will help us.’” (Verse 75)
 
The sūrah enquires: How can believers hesitate to fight for God’s cause and rescue helpless men, women and children whose poignant conditions stir believer’s enthusiasm, dignity and emotion? These were hapless people, suffering the worst type of persecution because of their beliefs and religious convictions. Religious persecution is far more terrible than making away with material or personal possessions, because it strikes at the essence of human life to which all material considerations are secondary.
 
The image of vulnerable and heart-broken women and children is heart-rending, and so is that of the defenceless elderly who are unable to defend their beliefs. These images alone are powerful enough to spur believers into action, and so the Qur’ān, profoundly and effectively, denounces the inclination to ignore such calls for help.
 
It is appropriate here to comment on the concept of homeland and nationality in Islam. The land “whose people are oppressors” which, in this context, would be considered hostile and from which Muslims are obliged to rescue their oppressed fellow-Muslims, was Makkah, the land of the Muhājirīn (those who had immigrated to Madinah). The urgency of the call to go and fight the unbelievers is addressed to these Makkan immigrants who had settled in Madinah.
 
The fact that Makkah was their original homeland did not make any difference, since it was not ruled by the laws of Islam and since the Muslims therein were being persecuted for their beliefs and religious convictions. On the contrary, it had become a “land of hostility” which they should not defend but should, in fact, attack in order to rescue their fellow-Muslims. Muslims fight to defend the faith. The homeland they fight for is where the laws of Islam are upheld, and the land they protect is the “land of Islam” which adopts Islam as its way of life. All other concepts of nationality or citizenship are alien to Islam and emanate from ignorant, non-Islamic beliefs.