73.20 – So recite what is easy (for you) of the Qur’ān

The first part of this very long verse seems to abrogate the rigorous commands of the first eight verses of the Sūra, replacing it with a much more manageable nighttime ritual.

73.20 – others are fighting in the way of God

When the Quran describes “believers” as “fighting in the way of Allah,” it makes a theological claim by associating Allah with human fighting (qātala). This verse provides the final occurrence of thirteen such associations in the Quran. The claim that human fighting is “God’s way” is problematic, not only in its conception of God but also because it makes it possible for warriors – from the Arab Conquests to modern conflicts – to justify their violence by saying they are fighting in the name and cause of Allah.

Interestingly, the Quran draws the Bible into this theological discussion in two striking passages. One passage seems to refer to an event in the history of the Children of Israel when the people tell a prophet that they want a king and promise to “fight in the way of Allah” (2.246). The name of the prophet is not given, and the king is called here Ṭālūt, but the story is recognizable from the account of Israel’s request to Samuel in 1 Samuel 8.

The second passage is explicit. It claims the Torah, Gospel, and Quran agree that believers “fight in the way of Allah, and they kill and are killed” (9.111). But can this be said to be a true description of the Gospel? In the Gospel accounts, Jesus forbids violence, and the only place in the New Testament where the verb “fight” appears in the imperative is in a figurative usage: “Fight the good fight of the faith” (1 Timothy 6:12).

As for fighting in the Hebrew Bible (Old Testament), the subject deserves more nuance than it is generally given in comparisons to the Quran. While the Quran seems to know of fighting in the time of Saul and David and vaguely hints at the conquest of Canaan under Moses (5.20–26), it is silent on major prophetic books like Isaiah, which paints a different portrait for Israel in the suffering servant of Yahweh.

The 1 Samuel 8 passage itself is full of ambiguity. Though the people clamor for a king (vv. 5, 19), Samuel is displeased with the request (v. 6), and Yahweh says that Israel has rejected him (v. 7). Here it is not “the way of God” that kings lead Israel in battle “like all the other nations” (v. 20). Also noteworthy is the reason why God did not allow David to build the temple: “because you are a warrior and have shed blood” (1 Chronicles 28:3).

According to the Gospel accounts, Jesus said he had come not to abolish the Law (Torah) and the Prophets but to fulfill them (Matthew 5:17). Jesus then gives a series of commandments that have much to do with human violence (Matthew 5:21–48). The final two commandments in the group are to “turn the other cheek” (v. 39) and to love one’s enemies (v. 44). There is good reason to see in Jesus’ preaching and behavior the restoration of an original divine intention, scuttled by humans in such events as Israel’s 1 Samuel 8 request for a king. Perhaps for this reason, many Christians choose to view Old Testament violence through the prism of the life and teaching of Jesus.

In any case, Matthew 5 and other Gospel passages do not match the claim in 9.111 that the Gospel agrees with the Quran on the subject of fighting. On this important issue, the Quran does not “confirm” the Gospel as it so claims.