Peace of Cake,
PART I
As a matter of fact, I have read some Islamic law. Have you? Your conflating historically transient “compelle intrare” doctrines adopted intermittently in the late Roman early medieval period with black letter Islamic law – where even you concede it was in the form of corporal punishment – is a bit disingenuous. Your statement that “there is no Shariah ruling for forced conversions” is patently erroneous. In fact, forced conversion was not only directly commanded by Allah in both Versed 9:5 and 9:29, but Muhammad explicitly confirmed it in hadith cited by Bukhari and Muslim deemed “sahih”.
• (NOTE: Surah 9 is the most authoritative Chapter in the Qur’an on Jihad. Bukhari is the most authoritative hadith collector and Muslim is the second most authoritative in Islamic law. To identify a hadith as “sahih” is to designate it as authoritative.)
Because the Qur’an is understood to be the basis of Islamic law owing to its status as direct divine revelation – or in Islamic parlance, the “Uncreated Word of Allah” - all the verses of the Qur’an have been doctrinally determined in works called tafsirs. Among the most authoritative tafsirs is titled Tafsir ibn Kathir. Below, you will find Ibn Kathir’s treatment of Qur’an Verse 9:5 (I may send the treatment of 9:29 later) – it starts by citing the verse and then explains what it is meant - fully parsed, line by line. Just to assure you that I am broadly familiar with Islamic law, the treatment will be followed by 1) and outtake from a classic Shafi’te treatment on Islamic law of jihad, 2) followed by the a Hanafi treatment, 3) concluding with a Maliki. That constitutes 3 of the 4 doctrinal schools of Islamic law in Sunni Islam You will note that they all agree with each other – and none of them concur with your observation. One alibi, the Maliki treatment, by the Qadi (Islamic judge) of Cordoba, Ibn Rushd, does not speak to the treatment of non-people of the Book because Andalus was only populated by Muslims and “People of the Book.” Also, Ibn Rushd is better known in the West by the nom de plum he used when writing philosophy – Averroes. Incidentally, all his philosophy manuscripts in Arabic were burned. Hence, what follows represents the gold standard in Islamic law on the topic.
Tafsir Ibn Kathir on the Verse of the Sword in the Surah of the Sword
Quran Verse 9:5
The Verse: 9:5. So when the Sacred Months have passed, then fight the Mushrikin wherever you find them, and capture them and besiege them, and lie in wait for them in each and every ambush. But if they repent and perform the Salah, and give the Zakah, then leave their way free. Verily, Allah is Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful.)
*** NOTE: the text in parens is the Quranic text. ***
*** The text the follows out of parens is the explanation for that line. ***
Tafsir explanation of the Verse (status is doctrinal)
This is the Ayah of the Sword
Mujahid,
Amr bin Shuayb, Muhammad bin Ishaq, Qatadah, As-Suddi and `Abdur-Rahman bin Zayd bin Aslam said that the four months mentioned in this Ayah are the four-month grace period mentioned in the earlier Ayah,
(So travel freely for four months throughout the land.) Allah said next,
(So when the Sacred Months have passed…), meaning, `Upon the end of the four months during which We prohibited you from fighting the idolators, and which is the grace period We gave them, then fight and kill the idolators wherever you may find them.’ Allah’s statement next,
(then fight the Mushrikin wherever you find them), means, on the earth in general, except for the Sacred Area, for Allah said,
(And fight not with them at Al-Masjid Al-Haram, unless they fight you there. But if they attack you, then fight them. )﴿2:191﴾ Allah said here,
(and capture them), executing some and keeping some as prisoners,
(and besiege them, and lie in wait for them in each and every ambush), do not wait until you find them. Rather, seek and besiege them in their areas and forts, gather intelligence about them in the various roads and fairways so that what is made wide looks ever smaller to them. This way, they will have no choice, but to die or embrace Islam,
(But if they repent and perform the Salah, and give the Zakah, then leave their way free. Verily, Allah is Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful.) Abu Bakr As-Siddiq used this and other honorable Ayat as proof for fighting those who refrained from paying the Zakah. These Ayat allowed fighting people unless, and until, they embrace Islam and implement its rulings and obligations. Allah mentioned the most important aspects of Islam here, including what is less important. Surely, the highest elements of Islam after the Two Testimonials, are the prayer, which is the right of Allah, the Exalted and Ever High, then the Zakah, which benefits the poor and needy. These are the most honorable acts that creatures perform, and this is why Allah often mentions the prayer and Zakah together. In the Two Sahihs, it is recorded that Ibn `Umar said that the Messenger of Allah said,
(I have been commanded to fight the people until they testify that there is no deity worthy of worship except Allah and that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah, establish the prayer and pay the Zakah.)
This honorable Ayah (9:5) was called the Ayah of the Sword, about which Ad-Dahhak bin Muzahim said, "It abrogated every agreement of peace between the Prophet and any idolator, every treaty, and every term.’’ Al-
Awfi said that Ibn Abbas commented: "No idolator had any more treaty or promise of safety ever since Surah Bara’ah was revealed. The four months, in addition to, all peace treaties conducted before Bara’ah was revealed and announced had ended by the tenth of the month of Rabi` Al-Akhir.’’
How does Judaism laws read on this issue? - If Sharia means, literally the “path” or “way,”and also is the body of Islamic law developed to deal with all aspects of life for a Muslim, then the “convert or die” issue is forced - and labeled as a false conversion.
Think I may have embellished a bit. The 12th century Rabbi Al Fayyumi made mention of this in Bustan al-Ukul, but hardly can be representative of ‘normative Judaism.’ Maimonides thought he was a fulfilment of a prophecy paving the way for the Messiah, but not all that sympathetic otherwise. I did read Bahya Ibn Paquda’s “Duties of the Heart” and it was just Ghazali’s Ihya U’lum ud-Din rehashed with quotes from the Torah or Rabbinical tradition rather that the Qur’an and Sunnah and where the author couldn’t find a similar quote he just said a great man (i.e. Muhammad).