People such as Mr Sina of faithfreedom.org are able to convince the already badly informed public that the Quran is a book which preaches violence against them because they deliberately choose not to mention the manner in which the Quran was revealed and the events which took place during its revelation. Had they done so, many of their claims would be invalidated. Keeping people away from the context in which verses were delivered or totally denying this reality is Mr Sina's favourite tactic, as we shall soon discover. First of all here is a little history on the life of the Prophet (pbuh), and how his religion spread initially. 

The Prophets father had passed away before his birth. He was just six years old when his mother passed away. He grew up within a respected tribe and quickly became known as “Ahmed”, meaning the praised one. He developed a knack for trade and his talent was quickly recognised by a wealthy tradeswomen, a widow named Khadija, whom eventually proposed to Mohammed. This was his first marriage.

At some point during his late thirties / early forties he sought a place for meditation during certain parts of the day or night. This is where he first came into contact with the Angel Gabriel, who would deliver to him “The Word of God”. The carriage of the message is from God, through Angel Gabriel to Prophet Mohammed and then scribed on to leather, bark, bones or whatever was available by his followers (those of them who could write). These individual writings were later compiled into a complete book given the title “The Quran”, this name is chosen by God during the revelation.

The Quran was not revealed as one book, given to Mohammed at one moment in time, nor was it revealed over a period of days or months but a total of 23 years! Over this period much reform took place. Pagan ideals were not drastically ended but were phased out slowly and in a very restrained manner. Among the practices Islam came to abolish were infanticide, fornication, incest, slavery, idolatry and the multiple god theories.

To put things into perspective: The Quran contains 114 surahs and anywhere between 3 to 286 verses per surah, a total of somewhere in the region of 6,400 verses. The Quran was revealed several verses at a time, for 30 days (one month) of the year. The remaining parts of the year (11 months) were without revelation. This yearly event took place for 23 years. The months of revelation are known as "Ramadan". This is why they are considered the "holy months" by Muslims. Thus we can see quite evidently, the revelation of the Quran had many gaps and it was very much dependant upon the needs and requests of the people of the time. Do not misunderstand me the Quran also clearly gives instruction and direction for all of humanity, for all of time E.g. It reaffirms the 10 commandments – which by default transcend all of time. The vast majority of the verses in the Quran have a context, and it is tragic to witness fierce anti-Islamics, such as Mr Sina, read out of context, failing to acknowledge this blindingly apparent fact.

So what influences the revelation of a particular verse? Why are certain topics favoured? why is there a fair bit of reference to war? And to personal issues? The simple fact of the matter is: The early followers of the Prophet (The Sahaba) posed questions to the Prophet. Questions such as what should we do with the orphans? How do we deal with the following matter? How should we distribute our wealth? What are the laws for marriage and divorce? What are the limits of warfare? How do we control our people? How can we ensure the integrity of Islam? Other events would take place on Earth which would require a reassurance from God, a message, an instruction, a reminder that God is with the people. This is why the Quran begins many verses with "They question thee (O Muhammad) with regard to...." or "They ask you O' Mohammed concerning the...." or "Your Lord has heard what they ask you...." These are in direct response to questions posed by the people around him.   

Therefore, for the revelation of a particular verse, an event on Earth took place, questions were asked, or guidance was much needed. A thorough history of early Islam and the Prophets upbringing is much required here but this is beyond the scope of this article. In a nutshell, after the death of his wife and uncle, the Prophet was banished from Mecca because of his unsettling of the Pagan customs. He was at his weakest since his uncle was the only one who held tribal relations. The Prophets assassination was plotted, he was the victim of much scorn and his people persecuted and tortured. He was driven out of Mecca with very few followers, many of these were closely related to him. A refuge opened to him in a town called Yathrib. The tribes of Yathrib welcomed him because they heard he was a great arbitrator and a sincere man. The tribes of Yahtrib were at great conflict with each other. When the Prophet arrived he was able to settle all disputes and was at the same time able to propagate his message of Islam, whilst allowing other beliefs to continue. His message was there were not many gods, each governing each tribe but only "One God, the God of all". This notion of “One God, The Creator of all" meant "one people", one race - The Human race, and therefore no need for tribal differences and conflict. These people formed Mohammed’s early followers (outside of his family). The Prophet quickly gained more followers and soon the city of Yathrib was known as "The City of The Prophet" or Medina.

At the same time opposition was growing and Mohammed’s new ideas which appeared fanatical to the chief Pagans of Arabia resulted in great hatred for him. They declared war on Mohammed and all his people. At the time Mohammed’s people were comprised of mainly elderly men, boys and women. His army totalled a flimsy 300 with basic arms, and he had to compete against a few thousand Pagans all well equipped and heavily armed.

Thus early Islam was revealed in the context of all out war. Logically speaking Islam could never be established unless there was a concerted effort by the relatively few early Muslims to defend themselves. By the grace and will of God Almighty, Mohammed’s small army of 300 achieved successive victories against the Pagans, who numbered a few thousand. His army survived against these staggering odds for 3 years. The people of the desert saw Gods hand in these victories and joined in. As history tells us this army expanded from just 300 to 10,000 in a few years! So what exactly took place for Mohammed to win the hearts and minds of another 10,000 in such a short period? These 10,000 were by and large Pagans prior to Mohammed and Mohammed came to destroy their customs, their idol gods, their every way of life, surely he must have been the most hated person in Arabia at the time? If so, why all the subscribers to his message?

Mohammed with his 10,000 strong army then returned to his birthplace of Mecca and called for a truce with the Pagans of Mecca. Instead of waging a bloody revenge he offered them a chance to reform and change their ways. Instead of destroying the people, he destroyed the idols they revered so much. He saw these as the main obstacle to any kind of peace between the tribes, since each tribe had its own gods. On destroying these, he quickly won the hearts and minds of thousands more but at the same time earned the wrath of a few Pagan tribes who in the end waged another series of bloody wars against him and his men. The Prophet was often severely hurt in some of these battles, some of his people were captured, tortured and persecuted, and for a time the entire Muslim community was on the brink of extinction.

Anti-Islamics such as Mr Sina exhibit the Quran in a manner which would disgust any scholarly person, be they Muslim or not. They pick and choose not complete verses but mere lines from the Quran at their own discretion, failing to take into consideration their context and complete meaning. Why should we not apply context and rationale? Thus for the sake of honesty we must conclude the following: If somewhere in the revelation which Mohammed received, there are commands to fight or slay the Pagans they were more than justified at the time and all this only after great losses had been suffered and the Muslims were on the brink of extinction. God commanded the people to defend and fight for their faith in one God against those who waged war on them on account of their religion. Had they not done so, one can only imagine the consequences. Mohammed would have been killed and his followers forced to worship the many idol gods of the Pagans, whilst being subjected to the worst torture, and being forced to participate in the barbaric practices of those days! Thus the verses “fight and slay the pagans” and “fight those who fight you on account of your religion” amongst others were delivered for a purpose, a very wise purpose. Should we overlook these simple facts?