To Struggle in the Path of God

HIST 30049/11/13

Norman Yoffee, “Early Cities and the Evolution of History”

• 5:30, Wed. Sept. 18• 300 Braunstein HallDr. Yoffee is Professor Emeritus in the Department of Near Eastern Studies and the Department of Anthropology at the University of Michigan.Known for his thought-provoking work on ancient Mesopotamia, he is perhaps best known for his comparative research on early states, exemplified in his recent books Questioning Collapse (2009) andMyths of the Archaic State: Evolution of the Earliest Cities, States, and Civilizations (2005). The lecture will take place in 300 Braunstein Hall, and is free and open to the public. A reception in the Anthropology Department will follow.This lecture is jointly sponsored by the Cincinnati Society of the AIA, the Department of Anthropology, and the Department of Classics.

Jihad as Striving22:78 ‘And strive for God as you ought to strive. He

elected you, and did not impose on you any hardship in religion – the faith of your father Abraham. He called you Muslims before and in this, that the Messenger may bear witness against you and you may be witnesses against mankind. So, perform the prayer, give the alms and hold fast to God. He is your Master; and what a Blessed Master and a Blessed Supporter!’

Jihad as Striving25:52 ‘So, do not obey the unbelievers and

strive against them with it [the Qur`an] mightily.’

Self-Restrain and Patience in Propagating the Faith

16:125-128 ‘Call to the Way of your Lord with wisdom and mild exhortation, and argue with them in the best manner. Your Lord surely knows best those who stray from His Path, and He knows well those who are rightly guided. / If you punish, then let your punishment be proportionate to the wrong done to you. Yet should you forbear, that is truly better for those who forbear. / Be patient; yet patience is only through God. Do not grieve for [the unbelievers], and do not be distressed on account of what they devise. / God is with those who are God-fearing and those who are beneficent.’

Permission for Defensive War

22:39-41 ‘Permission is given to those who fight because they are wronged. Surely God is Capable of giving them victory. / Those who are driven out of their homes unjustly, merely for saying: ‘Our Lord is God.’ Had God not repelled some people by others, surely monasteries, churches, synagogues and mosques, wherein the Name of God is mentioned frequently, would have been demolished. Indeed, God will support whoever supports Him. God is surely Strong and Mighty. / Those who, if We establish them firmly in the land, will perform the prayer, give the alms, command the good and prohibit evil. To God belongs the outcome of all affairs.’

Permission to Engage in Offensive War with Restrictions

2:194 ‘A sacred month for a sacred month; and retaliation [is allowed] when sacred things [are violated]. Thus, whoever commits aggression against you, retaliate against him in the same way. Fear God and know that God is with those who fear Him.’

Permission to Engage in Offensive War with Restrictions

2:217 ‘They ask you about the sacred month: ‘Is there fighting in it?’ Say: ‘Fighting in it is a great sin; but to debar people from God’s Way to deny Him and the Sacred Mosque, and to drive its people out of it is a greater sin in God’s Sight. Sedition is worse than murder.’ Nor will they cease to fight you until they make you, if they can, renounce your religion. Those of you who renounce their religion and die, while they are unbelievers, are those whose works come to grief, [both] in this world and in the Hereafter. And they are the people of the Fire, abiding in it forever.’

Lifting of Restrictions9:5 ‘Then, when the Sacred Months are over, kill

the idolaters wherever you find them, take them [as captives], besiege them, and lie in wait for them at every point of observation. If they repent afterwards, perform the prayer and pay the alms, then release them. God is truly All-Forgiving, Merciful.’

Patience with the People of the Book

8:61 ‘And if they incline to peace, incline to it too, and put your trust in God. He is truly the Hearer, the Knower.’

Loss of Patience with the People of the Book

9:29 ‘Fight those among the People of the Book who do not believe in God and the Last Day, do not forbid what God and His Messenger have forbidden and do not profess the true religion, till they pay the poll-tax out of hand and submissively.’

Internal Division and Reluctance to Fight

2:216 ‘You are enjoined to fight, though it is something you dislike. For it may well be that you dislike a thing, although it is good for you; or like something although it is bad for you. God knows and you do not.’

Spending in the Path of God47:38 ‘There you are; you are called upon to

spend freely in God’s Cause, but some of you are stingy. Yet he who is stingy is only stingy unto himself. God is the All-Sufficient and you are the destitute. If you turn back, He will replace you by a people other than you, and they will not be like you at all.’

Spending in the Path of God49:15 ‘Indeed, the believers are those who have

believed in God and His Messenger, then were not in doubt, but struggled with their possessions and themselves in the Cause of God. Those are the truthful ones.’

Exceptions for the Poor9:91-93 ‘The weak, the sick, and those who have nothing to

spend are not at fault, if they are true to God and His Messenger. There can be no blame on the beneficent; and God is All-Forgiving. Merciful. / Nor on those who, when they came to you asking you for mounts, you said ‘I do not find that wereon I can mount you.’ Thereupon they went back, their eyes over-flowing with tears, sorrowing for not finding the means to spend. / The blame is on those who ask your permission, although they are rich. They are content to join those women who stay behind. God has placed a seal upon their hearts and so they do not know.’

Recompense for God’s Sustenance and Bounty

33:9 ‘O believers, remember God’s Grace [Bounty] on you when enemy hosts came upon you; then We sent against them a wind and hosts you did not actually see. God perceives well what you do.’

Recompense for God’s Sustenance and Bounty

22:58-59 ‘And those who emigrated in the Path of God, then were killed or died, God shall provide them with a fair provision. God is surely the Best provider. / He will admit them into a place with which they will be well-pleased. Surely, God is All-Knowing, Clement.’

Recompense for God’s Sustenance and Bounty

3:169-171 ‘And do not think of those who have been killed in the Way of God as dead; they are rather living with their Lord, well-provided for. / Rejoicing in what their Lord has given them of His Bounty, and they rejoice for those who stayed behind and did not join them; knowing that they have nothing to fear and that they shall not grieve. / They rejoice in the Grace of God and His Favor, and that God will not withhold the reward of the faithful.’

Seeking Redress for Wrongs22:39-41 ‘Permission is given to those who fight because they

are wronged. Surely God is Capable of giving them victory. / Those who were driven out of their homes unjustly, merely for saying: ‘Our Lord is God.’ Had God not repelled some people by others, surely monasteries, churches, synagogues and mosques, wherein the Name of God is mentioned frequently, would have been demolished. Indeed, God will support whoever supports Him. God is surely Strong and Mighty. / Those who, if We establish them firmly in the land, will perform the prayer, give the alms, command the good and prohibit evil. To God belongs the outcome of all affairs.’

Defending the Weak from Oppression

4:75 ‘And why don’t you fight for the Cause of God and for the down-trodden, men, women, and children, who say: ‘Lord, bring us out of this city [Mecca] whose inhabitants are unjust and grant us, from You, a protector, and grant us, from You, a supporter.’

Against those who Break Covenants and Oaths

9:12-14 ‘But if they break their oaths after their pledge [is made] and abuse your religion, then fight the leaders of unbelief; for they have no regard for oaths, and that perchance they may desist. / Will you not fight a people who broke their oaths and intended to drive the Messenger out, seeing that they attacked you first? Do you fear them? Surely, you ought to fear God more, if you are real believers. / Fight them, God will punish them at your hands, will disgrace them, give you victory over them, and heal the hearts of a believing people.’

God’s Reward is Equal to Effort

4:95 ‘Those of the believers who stay at home while suffering from no injury are not equal to those who fight for the Cause of God with their possessions and their persons. God has raised those who fight with their possessions and persons one degree over those who stay at home; and to each God has promised the fairest good. Yet God has granted a great reward to those who fight and not to those who stay behind.’

God’s Reward is Equal to Effort

2:245 ‘Who is it that will lend God a generous loan, so that He might multiply it for him manifold? God provides sparingly and generously, and to Him you shall be returned.’

God’s Reward is Equal to Effort

4:74 ‘So let those who sell the present life for the life to come fight in the Way of God. Whoever fights in the Way of God and is killed or conquers, We shall accord him a great reward.’

Map Quiz

1. Put everything away except a writing utensil.2. Put your name on the quiz.3. The next slide will list ten geographic

features, locate them on the blank map and label them with either the location’s name or number from the list.

4. Don’t forget to put your name on the quiz.

Map Quiz

1. Constantinople2. Clermont3. Venice4. Jerusalem5. Edessa6. Cordova7. Baltic Sea8. Euphrates River9. Danube River10. Hungary