"Let’s reveal how difficult it is to say that Islam encourages senseless killing. Yes, the Quran talks of war, but in a very humane way. Innocent lives are to be spared, women and children are not to be attacked and Muslims who do fight must only fight against those that directly engage them in battle. A Muslim is not allowed to intimidate attack, injure or kill another human being; the only exception to that rule is if the said Muslim finds himself in a battle for his life. Only then is he allowed to fight in self-defense against any person seeking to kill him. Once the immediate threat has passed and he is not in any imminent danger, he cannot retaliate in a protracted counter attack or offensive aimed at his enemy. And nowhere in the Quran or the Sunna is indiscriminately killing mentioned, even in the under the most extreme, oppressive and calamitous of circumstances."
Jordan Peace Corps Volunteer Andrew Sinclair writes: Islam is indubitably a religion of mercy, peace and compassion; nonetheless it must be conceded that there are some Muslims whose actions in the face of injustice, oppression and chaos are undoubtedly behaving un-Islamicly
Sunday, October 15, 2006
The Lack of Evidence for Terrorism in Islam
Islam is indubitably a religion of mercy, peace and compassion; nonetheless it must be conceded that there are some Muslims whose actions in the face of injustice, oppression and chaos are undoubtedly behaving un-Islamicly. The innumerable crises currently facing the Middle East might be vast, complex and overwhelming, but that certainly does not justify killing, suicide and terrorism. A lot has been lost in the analysis of Iraq, Palestine and Iraq with regards to Islam: fourteen centuries of knowledge, tolerance and relative peace secured in the name of submission to Allah. Yet, today’s dire situations lead to desperate measures and the Middle East hot spots are chocked full of many Muslims trying to fight for what they see as their existence.
Let’s reveal how difficult it is to say that Islam encourages senseless killing. Yes, the Quran talks of war, but in a very humane way. Innocent lives are to be spared, women and children are not to be attacked and Muslims who do fight must only fight against those that directly engage them in battle. A Muslim is not allowed to intimidate attack, injure or kill another human being; the only exception to that rule is if the said Muslim finds himself in a battle for his life. Only then is he allowed to fight in self-defense against any person seeking to kill him. Once the immediate threat has passed and he is not in any imminent danger, he cannot retaliate in a protracted counter attack or offensive aimed at his enemy. And nowhere in the Quran or the Sunna is indiscriminately killing mentioned, even in the under the most extreme, oppressive and calamitous of circumstances.
Never is it implied that belonging to a tribe or nation implicitly relegates one to an enemy combatant status i.e. one who is fair game to be attacked. Unlike the declarations of many terrorists who deem all Israelis, all Americans or all Britons open to attack in their all out war, the religious basis for fighting war found in the Quran and Sunna unconditionally refutes this idea. The Quraysh of Mecca were not all condemned to death as the Muslims fought them for their survival. Moreover, Muhammad himself and many of the new Muslims were Quraysh themselves. Categorically relegating all inhabitants of a specific group to death is not only immoral and illogical, but also at direct odds with any Islamic injunction.
The pivotal battle of Badr, which ended in a Muslim victory, serves as a perfect case study of how warfare should be conducted in an Islamic context. About fifty Quraysh died during the battle while others were taken prisoner. The captives were taken back to Medina and they were not ill-treated, tortured or executed. In accordance with the Quran they were to be released or returned for ransom. If there was no ransom, the prisoner was allowed to earn money to buy his freedom. Furthermore, as is repeated throughout the Quran, helping a prisoner (or slave) gain freedom out of one’s own resources is exalted. Freeing them without provision is encouraged for believers. It is considered a charitable act of mercy that Allah, the Most Merciful loves. (47;5, 24;34, 2;178) The capturing of journalists, their beheadings and the torture that ensues is in direct contrast to what Islam teaches. It is very clear. It is not a matter of itjihad or interpretation, Islam simply does not condone, encourage or instruct these actions. It explicitly forbids them!
Suicide bombings are a recent phenomena that appeared in the Middle East in the early 80’s during one of many Israel invasions into Lebanon. Suicide is abhorred by Islam. That notion is clearly stated in the Quran and repeatedly throughout many Ahadith of the prophet. All Muslims agree on this point, but the disturbing political climates which have brought in suicide bombings as the weapon of choice for many are where some differ in opinion. That is because martyrdom, or dying while striving in the way of Allah, is a noble cause. But it is too easy to merely say that anyone who blows themselves up in a defensive war is a martyr. Al-Bukhari, in a sahiyah hadith (a true or corroborated saying) recorded an event in which the Prophet addressed a very devout Muslim warrior fighting invaders that were coming into Medina. He was willing to sacrifice his life for a worthy cause and the protection of the Muslim community against invasion, but the prophet said to him:
“One who wants to look at someone from the dwellers of Hellfire, let him look at this man.” Another man followed him and kept on following him until the fighter was injured, and in a wish to die quickly he placed the tip of his sword on his chest and leaned over it until it passed through his shoulders and he killed himself. When the prophet was informed of what happened, he said: “A person may do deeds that seem like the deeds of the people of Paradise, while in fact, he is from the dwellers of Hell. Similarly, a person may do deeds that look like the deeds of the people of Hell while he is, in fact, from the dwellers of Paradise. Verily the (results of) deeds done depend upon what is done at the end (i.e., the last action)”
Most Muslim’s have denounced suicide bombings and atrocities such as the September 11th attacks, but others, such as the late sheikh Ahmad Yassin of Hamas, the late Abu Musab Al-Zarqawi, Bin Laden and Hassan Nasrallah have and continue to advocate, encourage and sanction suicide bombings as a righteous act of martyrdom.
Suicide bombing can be ruled un-Islamic on two counts. One, its aim is primarily to kill non-combatants and two; the bomber has a suicidal intention which, as the hadith points out, is not martyrdom, nor a righteous act of a Muslim. It secures the suicide bomber a place in hell, the antithesis of the goal of every Muslim
So what is the impetus for such horrific violence that comes from seemingly devout and committed Muslims? The answer could be long and drawn out, but simply put it is: injustice, not only from the United States and Israel, but from the very own regimes that house these terrorists in the Arab and Islamic world. Fighting or, more correctly translated, struggling for justice against the injustices of the world is noble cause that all Muslims should undertake, but before singling out this aspect of the religion as the source of terrorism put it into its proper context.
Jihad is an integral part of Islam. Some scholars even consider it to be a type of sixth pillar complementing the other five. Jihad does not mean holy war, despite the countless mistranslations found in the English language. Holy war was a concept born out of Medieval Europe during the crusades; it has no equivalent in the Arabic language or in Islam.
Jihad literally means to exert oneself in the intellectual, spiritual and physical senses. It is an effort that Muslim’s undergo in their daily lives to please God. Whether that means struggling to stay away from sins, struggling to keep up with your daily prayers or struggling to advise yourself and your peers for individual and collective self improvement. This is what is known as the greater jihad or the jihad against the self.
For example, in two Ahadith from Muhammad he is quoted as saying, “The Mujahid is he who wages a struggle against himself.” And, “The best form of jihad is to tell a word of truth to an unjust ruler.” Notice the word Mujahid. For you non-Arabic speakers it literally means one who does jihad. In the plural form it looks like Mujahadeen. Is Mujahadeen a familiar word to you? Remember the pre-Taliban fighters in Afghanistan and the variety of other terrorist groups that pop up in Iraq and Palestine. Mujahadeen is either their name or present in their group’s title. It is a bastardization of a sacred Islamic term, when these self-proclaimed Mujahadeen are killing innocent people, kidnapping and cutting of heads.
Jihad is originally and overwhelmingly a non-military word. During the first twelve and a half years in Mecca the minority Muslims were engaged in a jihad, but one in the sense of language and pious actions against the polytheists and small Jewish tribes. As time progressed, and the meager Muslim umma was in greater danger of physical attack from Mecca and from within Medina, (after all the social change that Islam was calling for was immense) the Prophet received verse 190 in Surat Al-Buqara that said, “And fight in the way of God against those who fight against you, but do not transgress, for God does not love the transgressors.”
The word transgressors or ta’tadu in the above verse is, like most Arabic words, a loaded concept with many connotations. Essentially, most Islamic scholars have determined it to mean aggression, injuring and killing people not engaging you in a battle, ransacking the enemy’s homes and land or general pillaging and destruction for the sake of intimidation or zeal.
The foes of Islam, the ones wanting to retain the old order, thought that they could extirpate Islam through war, since the Muslims were drastically outnumbered. They were fighting for the annihilation of Islam as verse 217 in the same Sura states, “They will not cease fighting you until you turn your back from your religion, if they can…” What recourse did the Muslims have? It was either fight in the way of Allah, for their survival, or be massacred. All early scholars and most in the present day interpret “fighting in the way of God” to mean defensive fighting. This is because fighting for the propagation of Islam is not mentioned once in Quran or in the Sunna. Furthermore it is incongruous with the very nature of Islam. Fighting for the spread of Islam goes against the basic tenet of faith which states that every action must be done with ikhlas or sincerity. A Muslim’s actions, no matter how great they may seem externally, are void without his inner neea or intention of pleasing Allah. Sure you could point a gun to someone’s head to get him to say he is a Muslim, but that strategy is counterintuitive, unproductive and not to mention specifically forbidden in the religion. Additionally, it contradicts the Quranic verse, “there is no compulsion is religion.”
Islam is a religion that allows personal freedoms without sacrificing well-being of the collective whole. That’s why so much stress is placed on alms-giving, care for orphans and relations between family members. Individuals and the society at large must be in a state of peace and security for all to be free to live, worship and develop. The opposite of this is fitnah, which is a complex word that can be best translated as disorder, chaos, insecurity, oppression and persecution. Jihad then can be used to counteract and hopefully get rid of fitnah if it is present in society. So physical armed confrontation, if need be, might be employed to rid society of fitnah, but the non-military means of protesting and non-violent actions are probably more effective in our world than in the time of the Prophet. With all of the human rights groups, mass media and NGO’s present, securing human liberties and social justice through a non-physical jihad is surely more productive than fighting back and adding to the pre-existing disorder. Regrettably, Iraq seems to be descending into the fitnah of all fitnah’s with its myriad of attacks and reprisals. I wish those misguided Muslims could realize that they have transgressed. I hope they can understand that the purpose of true jihad is not to create or add to the disorder and insecurity, but to rid it from society.
If you look at what most terrorists are actually doing in the name of Islam it’s absolutely absurd. They are altering the essence of what it stands for in their bid for political power and social change. One would be hard pressed to justify what is going on in Iraq in an Islamic manner. That’s why the over one billion Muslims worldwide aren’t joining in some jihadist conspiracy to take over the world with RPG’s and suicide bombers. The very tactics of terrorism are indicative of how marginal the crazed few are. In fact, as the Quran stated, they have transgressed.
And in a final exerpt from the Quran (chapter five, verse thirty two) "anyone who murders any person, it shall be as if he murdered all of humanity. And anyone who spares a life, it shall be as if he spared the lives of all of humanity."
