The Lesser Striving

The Lesser Striving

Striving in the Divine Religions

Striving, or fighting, to uphold the word of God, spread monotheism, and establish the religion that God has approved, is something God has ordained. He called upon the believers to strive and made it obligatory for them, promising Paradise to those who strive in His path and threatening the Fire to those who turn away from striving.

The prophets and messengers are the bearers of the word of God, and the carriers of the banner of striving and fighting in the path of God. The history of the prophets and messengers lies before you in the Torah, the Gospel, and the Quran. There, you find Moses carrying his sword and marching to enter the Holy Land, Joshua son of Nun carrying his sword and entering the Holy Land, and David spending his days fighting to uphold the word of God and spread monotheism: “So they defeated them by God’s leave, and David killed Goliath, and God gave him kingship and wisdom and taught him whatever He willed. If God did not repel some people by means of others, the earth would surely be corrupted; but God is full of bounty to the worlds.”^[23]

God also said: “Be patient with what they say. Remember Our servant, David, the man of strength. Indeed, he was ever-repentant.”^[24]

Solomon then succeeded David in building the Temple of worship while also fighting to uphold the word of God. God said: “Solomon inherited [succeeded] David. He said: ‘O people, we have been taught the speech of birds, and we have been given some of everything. Indeed, this is a clear favor.’”^[25]

God also said: “When the envoys came to Solomon, he said: ‘Do you offer me wealth? What God has given me is better than what He has given you. Rather, it is you who rejoice in your gift. Return to them, for we will surely come upon them with armies they cannot withstand, and we will surely drive them out of it, humiliated and brought low.’”^[26] The Torah is filled with accounts of the battles of David and Solomon.

After David and Solomon, Jesus said to his followers: “Whoever wishes to follow me, let him carry his wooden cross upon his back.” That is, he calls for rising against oppression and corruption, and commands his followers to strive and fight in the path of God. The “wood” in that time is akin to the burial shroud in our time-meaning, it is as if he is saying: whoever wishes to follow me, let him carry his shroud with him.

As for the Messenger Muhammad, he spent most of his days in Medina after the migration striving and fighting in the path of God. In Mecca, he and those who believed alongside him spent their days striving and fighting with the word and proof, even when they were tortured and harmed. Those among them who were killed went to their Lord as witnesses and martyrs.

There is no doubt that the way of life of the Prophets and Messengers is the ultimate proof. God has commanded striving and fighting in His cause to uphold His word, and what the prophets and messengers have brought constitutes the clearest and most conclusive proof. Thus, no excuse remains for one who turns away from the command of God, nor can anyone excuse him. As for the one who denies God's command, he can only be called a disbeliever.

So after God, His signs, and the way of His prophets and messengers, what message is left for you to believe in?

The passages in the Torah, as it exists today and is known among Jews and Christians, that speak of striving and fighting in the path of God are too numerous to be contained in a brief discussion like this. Still, there is no harm in citing a few of them for those who wish to reflect.

Perhaps it is best to begin with Joshua son of Nun, the successor of Moses. After Moses, the prophet of God who brought the Torah, Joshua was the one who went the farthest in striving and fighting in the path of God to uphold the word of God.

The Book of Joshua in the Old Testament records the following (Josh. 10:34–43, NRSV):

Then Joshua passed on from Lachish, and all Israel with him, to Eglon; and they laid siege to it and attacked it. They captured it that day, and struck it with the edge of the sword; and he utterly destroyed every person in it that day, just as he had done to Lachish. Then Joshua went up with all Israel from Eglon to Hebron; they attacked it and captured it, and struck it with the edge of the sword, along with its king and its towns and all the persons in it; he left no one remaining, just as he had done to Eglon, and utterly destroyed it with every person in it.

Then Joshua turned back with all Israel to Debir and attacked it. He captured it with its king and all its towns; they struck them with the edge of the sword and utterly destroyed every person in it; he left no one remaining, just as he had done to Hebron, and as he had done to Libnah and its king. So Joshua defeated the whole land, the hill country and the Negeb and the lowland and the slopes, and all their kings; he left no one remaining, but utterly destroyed all that breathed, as the LORD, the God of Israel, had commanded. Joshua defeated them from Kadesh-barnea to Gaza, and all the land of Goshen as far as Gibeon. Joshua took all these kings and their land at one time, because the LORD, the God of Israel, fought for Israel. Then Joshua returned, and all Israel with him, to the camp at Gilgal.

The Book of Joshua further states (Josh. 11:1–23, NRSV):

When King Jabin of Hazor heard of this, he sent to King Jobab of Madon, to the king of Shimron, to the king of Achshaph, and to the kings who were in the northern hill country, and in the Arabah south of Chinneroth, and in the lowland, and in Naphoth-dor on the west, to the Canaanites in the east and the west, the Amorites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, and the Jebusites in the hill country, and the Hivites under Hermon in the land of Mizpah. They came out, with all their troops, a great army, in number like the sand on the seashore, with very many horses and chariots. All these kings joined their forces and came and camped together at the waters of Merom, to fight with Israel.

And the LORD said to Joshua, “Do not be afraid of them, for tomorrow at this time I will hand over all of them, slain, to Israel; you shall hamstring their horses and burn their chariots with fire.” So Joshua came suddenly upon them with all his fighting force, by the waters of Merom, and fell upon them. And the LORD handed them over to Israel, who attacked them and chased them as far as Great Sidon and Misrephoth-maim and eastward as far as the valley of Mizpeh. They struck them down until they had left no one remaining. And Joshua did to them as the LORD had commanded him; he hamstrung their horses and burned their chariots with fire.

Joshua turned back at that time and took Hazor and struck its king down with the sword. Before that time Hazor was the head of all those kingdoms. And they put to the sword all who were in it, utterly destroying them; there was no one left who breathed, and he burned Hazor with fire. And all the towns of those kings and all their kings, Joshua took and struck them with the edge of the sword, utterly destroying them, as Moses the servant of the LORD had commanded. But Israel burned none of the towns that stood on mounds except Hazor, which Joshua did burn. All the spoil of these towns and the livestock the Israelites plundered for themselves, but all the people they struck down with the edge of the sword, until they had destroyed them, and they did not leave any who breathed. As the LORD had commanded his servant Moses, so Moses commanded Joshua, and so Joshua did; he left nothing undone of all that the LORD had commanded Moses.

So Joshua took all that land: the hill country and all the Negeb and all the land of Goshen and the lowland and the Arabah and the hill country of Israel and its lowland, from Mount Halak, which rises toward Seir, as far as Baal-gad in the valley of Lebanon below Mount Hermon. He took all their kings, struck them down, and put them to death. Joshua made war a long time with all those kings. There was not a town that made peace with the Israelites except the Hivites, the inhabitants of Gibeon; all were taken in battle. For it was the LORD’s doing to harden their hearts so that they would come against Israel in battle, in order that they might be utterly destroyed and might receive no mercy but be exterminated, just as the LORD had commanded Moses.

At that time Joshua came and wiped out the Anakim from the hill country, from Hebron, from Debir, from Anab, and from all the hill country of Judah, and from all the hill country of Israel; Joshua utterly destroyed them with their towns. None of the Anakim was left in the land of the Israelites; some remained only in Gaza, in Gath, and in Ashdod. So Joshua took the whole land, according to all that the LORD had spoken to Moses, and Joshua gave it for an inheritance to Israel according to their tribal allotments. And the land had rest from war.^[27]

This passage offers a glimpse of some of the days Joshua son of Nun spent in striving and fighting to uphold the word of God, spread the religion of God, and establish monotheism on this earth. Several points about the striving of Joshua and those with him deserve attention, because there is much to be learned from them:

1. Those who were with Joshua son of Nun were the children of the Israelites who had crossed the sea with Moses. Their fathers died in the wilderness, where God punished them for rebelling against His command to strive and fight in His cause, when they said to Moses: “O Moses, we will never enter it so long as they remain in it. So go, you and your Lord, and fight. We will stay right here.”^[28]

The wandering in the wilderness was therefore a corrective punishment. Its outcome was the emergence of this righteous generation, who fought alongside Joshua, the successor of Moses, and entered the Holy Land.

2. The number of those who came out of Egypt with Moses was far greater than the number of those who fought with Joshua. Great numbers were of no use when people’s hearts were full of love for this world, just as small numbers were no disadvantage when people’s hearts were full of love for God.

3. Those with Joshua were vastly outnumbered by the massive armies they faced. By any material calculation, their numbers were insufficient to conquer all the lands they did. Yet God granted them victory by striking terror into the hearts of their enemies: “How many a small group has overcome a large group by God’s leave. God is with the steadfast.”^[29]

4. The small numbers, limited equipment, and weak material resources all characterized the circumstances surrounding Joshua son of Nun. Yet when he and the believers armed themselves with faith, patience, endurance in hardship, and trust in God, and when God granted them victory by casting terror into the hearts of their enemies, they were able to fight many battles and prevail by the power of God. They spread the word of God and monotheism throughout the Holy Land. Faith and conviction are the strongest weapons, and through them the believers’ victory is secured.

5. Joshua was God’s vicegerent in his time. To obey him was to obey God, and to disobey him was to disobey God. Those who obeyed him obeyed God, and those who fought with him fought with God. In that age, they were the party of God and the bearers of the word of God to the people of the earth; thus mercy, tranquility, victory, and blessings descended upon them.

The conclusion, then, is that God’s prophets and messengers strove and fought to uphold the word of God. They obeyed the command of God, who prescribed striving and made it obligatory. Neither the small number of those who supported them nor the weakness of their resources held them back, and neither the multitude of their enemies nor the vastness of their strength deterred them from striving. They also called to God with wisdom and good exhortation, and debated those who disbelieved in the best manner. But when verbal argument no longer availed against the disbelievers, the prophets of God met the enemies of God by force of arms, and God granted them victory and strengthened them with His angels.