A Summary of the David Wood Video “Three Stages of Jihad”

by Edward Ulrich, June 22, 2019




In this 2012 video, David Wood explains that it is essential to understand the historical and modern stages of Islamic Jihad in order to understand 14 centuries of Islamic history and the situation the world is in right now.  Wood explains an overview of the initial Jihads that happened during Muhammad’s life, and he details the specific circumstances behind earlier passages in the Quran which appear to preach a message of tolerance to non-Muslims.


This article contains a written summary of the video.  Also see the original article page for this video.


This article is a part of A Summary of Islam Related Issues.












Introduction

“If you’ve ever wondered why there are both peaceful and violent passages in the Quran, if it’s ever bothered you that Muslims demand religious tolerance in the West while Christians and Jews can’t build churches or synagogues in Saudi Arabia, if you’ve never quite grasped why organizations like CAIR or ISNA claim Islam is the religion of peace while they support terrorism behind the scenes, welcome to the most important video you’ll ever watch.  You can’t understand Islam in the world today without understanding one essential fact— Jihad proceeds in stages.”

There are thee stages in the call to Jihad depending on the status of Muslims in a society.  And if you understand these three stages, you’ll understand Islam, 14 centuries of Islamic history, and the situation we are in right now.


Both peaceful and hostile passages exist in in Quran, such as the following:

Quran 2:256—  There shall be no compulsion in [acceptance of] the religion.

Quran 9:29—  Fight those who do not believe in Allah or in the Last Day and who do not consider unlawful what Allah and His Messenger have made unlawful and who do not adopt the religion of truth from the people of the book (Jews and Christians) - [fight] until they give the jizyah (an extortion tax on non-Muslims) willingly while they are humbled.

.. So which to believe?





Stage One: Stealth Jihad

When Muslims are completely outnumbered and can’t possibly win a physical confrontation with unbelievers, they are commanded by the Quran to promote peace with non-Muslims and to preach a message of tolerance.

For example when Muhammad as his followers were a “persecuted” minority in Mecca, they criticized the beliefs of the polytheists, but they did so peacefully.  However, revelations that Muhammad received during this time proclaimed a future judgement for non-believers— to punish those who reject Muhammad at a later time.  But in the meantime is was: “to each his own”, “live and let live”, and “coexist”..

Following is an example of an initial “peaceful” passage in the Quran during that time:

Quran 109—  Say: O unbelievers!  I do not serve that which you serve, nor do you serve Him Whom I serve:  Nor am I going to serve that which you serve, not are you going to serve Him Whom I serve:  You shall have your religion and I shall have my religion.

.. Muslims in the West point to passages like that one to portray Islam as inherently peaceful.  However, we know from religious sources that while Muhammad was calling for religious tolerance in Mecca, he was already planning to conquer the world in the name of Allah.  He even tried to lure pagans to Islam by promising them victory over the non-Arabs:

One day some of Muhammad’s tribesmen went to his uncle Ubu Talib because they wanted to arrange a truce with Muhammad—  They wanted Muhammed to stop criticizing their beliefs:

At-Tabari, Volume VI, p. 95—  Abu Talib sent for the Messenger of Allah, and when he came in he said, “Nephew, here are the shaykhs and noble of your tribe.  They have asked for justice against you, that you should desist from reviling their gods and they will leave you to your god.”  “Uncle,” he said, “shall I not summon them to something which is better for them than their gods?”  “What do you summon them to?” he asked..

He replied, “I summon them to utter a saying through which the Arabs will submit to them and they will rule over the non-Arabs.”  Abu Jahl said from among the gathering, “What is it, by your father? We will give you it and ten like it.”  He answered, “That you should say, ‘There is no deity but Allah.’”

.. So in other words, Muhammad was walking around Mecca calling for peace and tolerance, but behind closed doors he tells the Quraysh, “Join me, and we’ll rule over the non-Arabs (Christians, Jews, Persians, ect..)”  These groups aren’t planning to attack Muhammad at all, and he’s already planning to conquer them.  What does he need to subjugate the non-Muslims?  He needs an army, so he asks his tribe to convert to Islam.

One of the key features of stage on is Taqiyya— concealing Islam’s true intentions in order to protect the Muslim community.  This was eventually made explicit in Sura 3:28.

Quran 3:28 — Let not the believers take disbelievers for their friends in preference to believers. Whoso doeth that hath no connection with Allah unless (it be) that ye but guard yourself against them, taking (as it were) security.

Ibn Kathir— “In this case (of being outnumbered by non-Muslims), such believers are allowed to show friendship outwardly, but never inwardly.”

Abu Darda— “We smile in the face of some people although our hearts curse them.”


Another key feature of stage one is the exploitation of “victim status”, where Muhammad and his followers pretended to be persecuted in Mecca, simply because they were Muslims.  But in fact, they were persecuted because they antagonized the Meccans by mocking their beliefs.

At-Tabari ,Volume VI, p. 93—  Ibn Humayd - Salamah - Ibn Ishaq: The Messenger of God proclaimed God’s message openly and declared Islam publicly to his fellow tribesmen.  When he did so, they did not withdraw from him or reject him in any way ... UNTIL he spoke of their gods and denounced them.  When he did this, they took exception to it and united in opposition and hostility to him, except for those of them whom Allah had protected from error by means of Islam.

.. So the pagans of Mecca had no problem with Muhammad preaching Islam.  They became angry when they began attacking their beliefs, and they had to put up with a lot.

Following is a description of what the pagans went through (in their own words:)

At-Tabari, Volume VI, p. 101—  “We have never seen the like of what we have endured from this man.  He has derided out traditional values, abused our forefathers, reviled our religion, caused division among us, and insulted our god.  We have endured a great deal from him.”

.. However, when the Meccans responded to the Islamic hostility in kind, Muslims then loudly proclaimed that they were being persecuted, acting is if they had a privileged status among other religions.  But Muhammad’s constant antagonism of the Meccans did eventually lead to persecution, however the persecution turned out to be the best thing that ever happened to Islam.  When people heard that the supposedly poor defenseless Muslims were being mistreated, they rushed to their aid— Including the Christians of Abyssinia, the Jews of Medina, and various pagan groups all agreed at one time or another to protect Muslims from the “mean, bigoted Islamophobes” in Mecca— However, during that time Muhammad was already planning to overthrow all of those people.

Once Muhammad and his followers enough alliances and were no longer at the mercy of the Meccans, the message of the Quran then abruptly changed ...





Stage Two: Defensive Jihad

When there were enough Muslims and resources to defend the Islamic community from attacks, persecution, or criticism, Muslims were then called to engage in “defensive jihad”— fighting unbelievers who pose a physical or intellectual threat to Islam.

After the city of Yathrib which is now called Medina, agreed to protect the Muslim community, Muhammad and his followers left Mecca and were given permission to fight:

Sura 22:39 - 40—  Permission (to fight) is given to those who upon war is made because they are oppressed, and most surely Allah is well able to assist them; those who have been expelled from their homes without a just cause except that they say: “our Lord is Allah”..

.. So according to the Quran, Muslims were kicked out of Mecca “simply because they believed in Allah.”— But as shown in the previous information, the Meccans actually had no problem with Muslims believing in Allah, or even with Muslims preaching Islam.  Their problem was actually Muhammad mocking their religion and causing division in their city.

Now that Muhammad had several non-Muslim groups to defend him, he turned to the primary tactic of stage two— terrorism.  The people of Mecca depended on the caravan trade for their survival.  Anyone who had money would invest it hoping to get back something extra to feed their families.  So if a caravan was robbed, or didn’t return, children might starve.

So instead of living a peaceful live in Mecca, Muhammad started raiding the Meccan caravans.  Muslims launched seven attacks against the caravans and the Meccans never retaliated.  During the seventh attack, the Muslims killed a man and took some captives as well— and that happened during the holy month when everyone agreed not to fight.  Muhammad was worried about this at first, but then he “received” Sura 2:217:

Quran 2:217—  They question thee (O Muhammad) with regard to warfare in the sacred month. Say: Warfare therein is a great (transgression), but to turn (men) from the way of Allah, and to disbelieve in Him and in the Inviolable Place of Worship, and to expel His people thence, is a greater with Allah; for persecution is worse than killing.

.. Muhammad said that to justify (indiscriminately) killing people during the holy month when there was a universal agreement among all peoples not to fight— rationalizing that the Muslims being “persecuted” was worse than the Muslims killing people supposedly in response.

The Meccans were doing all that they could do to try to avoid war, but it was clear that the Muslims were not going to stop attacking caravans, and that Meccan trade and the livelihood of the city would never be safe.  So the pagan tribes sent an army to protect their next caravan, but then Muslims attacked and defeated the army at what became known as the Battle of Badr, which was the first real battle between Muslims and non-Muslims (which notably was a result of non-Muslims trying to protect themselves from Muslims terrorizing their trade routes).  [Note that the Battle of Badr is often falsely portrayed by Islamic apologists as being “a justified response by the Muslims to them being persecuted”]

Therefore it didn’t take long for Islam’s protectors (the three Jewish tribes of Medina) to realize that they’ve been duped.  Muhammad and his followers were far more greedy and violent than the pagans that they were attacking.  But unfortunately, the Muslim’s disillusioned defenders realized that once they agreed to support Muhammad, they don’t get to change their mind— Anything other than perfect allegiance to Muhammad becomes grounds for expulsion, seizing property, enslavement, or annihilation.

[Also see the article “Medina—The first Muslim refugee resettlement program”.]

Non-Muslims also learned that how much they disagreed with Muhammad’s campaign of violence and intimidation, they had to keep their mouths shut.  Muhammad began ordering the assassination of critics during stage two. People who spoke out about Islam or wrote poems about Muhammad were brutally murdered.  And the citizens of Medina— the very people who had invited Muslims into their city— saw their right rapidly disappearing in the name of Allah.

Stage two then is characterized by “defensive” fighting— fighting those who attack the Muslim community.  However it is crucial to realize that Muslims have a much broader definition of what constitutes an “attack” than anything Western people are familiar with.  More than simply “persecution and military aggression” counting as an attack, simply criticizing Islam counts as an attack, as well as people “backing out of an alliances” after they figure out Muhammad’s true intentions.  And in this “defensive” Jihad stage, Muslims are ordered to respond to such attacks with physical violence and terrorism.





Stage Three: Offensive Jihad

When Muslims establish a majority and achieve political power in an area, they are commanded to begin “offensive Jihad”.  Once Mecca and Arabia were under Muhammad’s control, the message of the Quran changed yet again.  Suddenly, Muslims weren’t told to fight against “aggressors”— they were commanded to fight non-Muslims simply for being non-Muslims:

Quran 9:73—  O Prophet, fight against the disbelievers and the hypocrites and be harsh upon them. And their refuge is Hell, and wretched is the destination.

Quran 9:111—  Surely Allah has brought of the believers their persons and their property for this, that they shall have the garden; they fight in Allah’s way, so they slay and are slain.

Quran 9:23—  O you who have believed, fight those adjacent to you of the disbelievers and let them find in you harshness.

.. Therefore, if Muslims have the political strength to expand their military power and violently subjugate non-Muslim populations, the Quran commands them to do so.

Quran 9:29—  Fight those who do not believe in Allah or in the Last Day and who do not consider unlawful what Allah and His Messenger have made unlawful and who do not adopt the religion of truth from the people of the book (Jews and Christians) - [fight] until they give the jizyah (an extortion tax on non-Muslims) willingly while they are humbled.

.. Note the above verse doesn’t order Muslims to fight “oppressors” or “critics”— it orders them to simply attack those who don’t believe in Allah.

There are also similar teachings in the Hadith:

Sahih al-Bukhari 6924—  Muhammad said: “I have been ordered to fight the people till they say: ‘La ilaha illallah’ (none has the right to be worshipped but Allah), and [for whoever said it], Allah will save his property and his life from me.”

Sahih Muslim 30—  Muhammad said: “I have been commanded to fight against the people so long as they do not declare that there is no god but Allah.”

.. Therefore, Muhammad, who was complaining just a few years prior about supposedly being “persecuted” because of his beliefs, is now giving commands to fight people based on nothing except for what they believe.

In the “offensive Jihad” stage, Muslims can also expel Christians and Jews from lands they’ve been living in for centuries in order to keep certain areas that are important to Muslims “pure”— areas such as Arabia.

Sahih Muslim 4366—  I will expel the Jews and Christians from the Arabian Peninsual and will not leave any but Muslims.

.. Is this a man who promoted “religious diversity and tolerance”?  Only (deceptively so) when he was in the minority.  When he was in control of the government, diversity and tolerance went out the window along with the Jews and Christians.





A Summary of the Three Stages of Jihad With Modern Examples

Muslims have been using the same playbook for fourteen centuries.  It’s in all their sources, it’s as plain as day.  And yet our leaders and the media just can’t seem to understand why Christians and Jews are second class citizens in the Muslim world.

Stealth Jihad occurs when Muslims are too weak to fight.  During this time they promote peace and tolerance outwardly but never inwardly.  They practice Taqiyya, they prepare for Jihad behind the scenes, they claim “victim status”, and they seek special privileges for Islam.

This is what is happening in America, where Muslims forms a small minority of the population, and where the message continually propagated is that “Islam is all about peace and tolerance” and “racist hate mongers are attacking them”, which is why we should be thankful that the government and Christians and Jews are “stepping in to defend Muslims from bigots and Islamophobes”— Just as how governments, Christians, and Jews initially stepped in to help during the time of Muhammad in Mecca.

Defensive Jihad occurs when Muslims are strong enough to fight, but not strong enough to subjugate the unbelievers.  They terrorize their enemies, murder critics, and look for excuses to attack other groups.

Certain places in Africa and in Europe are now at this stage.  Muslims have enough fighters and resources and alliances to fight supposedly “defensively”.  Terrorism is happening, Churches are being burned to the ground and blown up in Nigeria and Ethiopia, Islamic no-go zones are being established, critics of Islam are being killed in Europe.  This is exactly what should be expected based on the Muslim sources.

Offensive Jihad occurs when Muslims are in a majority.  They violently subjugate all non-Muslims, they strive to expand their political dominion, and they rid Muslim lands of all non-Muslims.

In countries such as Saudi Arabia, they don’t allow non-Muslims to preach, build a place or worship, or even set foot in Mecca, which is exactly what we would expect from the Muslim sources.

.. This is the pattern we see in the Quran, the Hadith, and in the Muslim commentaries.






Also.. “Stage Zero: Totally Clueless About Jihad”

Wood also talks about how many Westernized Muslims are more influenced by Western culture than by orthodox Islam, with many of them not actually identifying with Islam’s ideology and not even being familiar with many of the Jihadist aspects of the religion.