Terrorism Has No Place in Islam
By Mohammad Amjad Hossain
Falls Church , VA
Islam and terrorism are not intertwined as some people in Europe and America would have you believe. They are simply trying to malign Islam. A terrorist does not believe in any religion whether it is Islam, Christianity or Judaism.
A terrorist by definition applies fear, panic or coercion to terrorize the people or community at large to accept his logic whether it has any basis or not. Terrorism, according to Webster’s New World Dictionary, means to use force and violence to intimidate as a political policy. In America, the term domestic terrorism is used for activities that involve acts dangerous to human life that are a violation of the criminal laws of the United States, or of any state, to influence the policy of the government by intimidation or coercion; or to affect the conduct of a government by mass destruction, assassination, or kidnapping, and occur primarily within the territorial jurisdiction of the United States of America. Internationally, no consensus definition has yet emerged.
The people, who follow the tenets of Islam in the true sense of the word, could not get involved in any form of terrorism under any circumstances because he or she is connected to Allah (God), the creator of the universe, and Allah would guide him or her to follow the correct path in this world.
Many scholars in Europe have accepted Islam as a message of peace. Let me quote from the book ‘Islam’ by Karen Armstrong (a British nun), one of the world’s foremost scholars on religious affairs, who points out that the Qur’an insists strongly that there shall be no coercion in matters of faith, and commands Muslims to respect the beliefs of Jews and Christians, whom the Qur’an calls ahl al-kitab, a phrase usually translated “as people of the book”, but which is more accurately rendered as people of an earlier revelation.
The foundation of beliefs and practices of Islam lies in the Qur’an, the revealed words of Allah, and in the sunnah, the sayings and teachings of Allah’s messenger Muhammad (Peace be upon him). Therefore, the Qur’an and Islam are synonymous. In the Qur’an, Muslims have been commanded to believe in previously revealed books, and show respect to other prophets. The Qur’an says: Say (O Muslims), we believe in Allah and that which is revealed to us and that which was revealed to Abraham and Ishmael, and Isaac and Jacob, and their children, and that which Moses and Jesus received. We make no distinction between any of them and unto Him we have surrendered (Para 136 of Sura 2).
Here I feel tempted to quote Anne Marie Schimmel, an eminent scholar on Islam and Sufism who was a protestant German Christian, and is on record of saying that “I have never seen anything in the Koran or in the traditional writings that called for or even allowed terrorism or hostage-taking”. I came to know her personally when I stayed in Germany as a Bangladesh diplomat from 1996 to 1999. She paid a visit to my official residence while I paid a return visit to this great lady. Anne Marie Schimmel had a distinguished educational career: she received double doctorates on Islamic languages and civilization and history of religion and expertise in Qur’anic language - Arabic. She knew Persian, Urdu, and Turkish and concluded her professorial career at Harvard University as Professor of Indo-Muslim Culture while devoting her life to foster a better understanding of Islam and the Muslim world in the West. Anne Marie Schimmel had been to Pakistan several times and translated Allama Iqbal’s Javednama into German. She received three honorary degrees from different universities of Pakistan. She was decorated with the coveted civil award of Tamgha-i-Imtiaz by the Pakistan government.
Let me reemphasize that Islam stands for peace: the word peace is mentioned 58 times in the Qur’an. Islam also does not encourage war; rather it eliminates almost all reasons that normally incite war, and does not approve of wars fought for unjust gain and oppression. Islam and Muslims do not condone the killing of innocent people even during war. Prophet Muhammad (Peace be upon Him) had set many examples of saving the lives of innocent people and children, including prisoners of war. Islam does not absolve the killings of innocent people, nor does it encourage suicide, or for that matter, suicide bombing to kill people. Let us look at what the Qur’an has to say about suicide: do not kill yourselves. God is merciful to you but he who does that through wickedness and injustice shall be burned in fire. That is enough for Allah (Para 29 of Sura 4). In another sura, it is stated clearly: Give generously for the cause of Allah, and do not with your own hands cast yourselves into destruction (Para 195 of Sura 2).
There is also a misperception about the word jihad. The struggle to establish the sovereignty of God on earth is called jihad. Jihad is carried out by giving men the chance to emancipate themselves from the oppressors, and to restore the human rights granted by Allah (God) to all mankind. And Allah says the true believers fight for the cause of Allah, but those who reject faith fight for the devil (Para 76 of Sura 4).Generally, Muslim scholars refer to jihad as the inner struggle of the believer, not physical confrontation.
Terrorism in any form is condemnable and in no way acceptable as a means to resolve conflicts. When the attacks on the World Trade Center in New York took place on 11 September 2001 Muslims from all over the world condemned in unison the killing of the 3000 innocent people. This condemnation was based on religious and humanitarian grounds. No political or religious cause could ever justify such terrible crimes. The Bush administration was urged by the Muslim American Society on September 18 “to make sure that factual legal evidence, that meets international standards, must be established beyond reasonable doubt before any response plan is developed or executed”.
President Bush did not listen to the good counseling of the Muslims in America.
In his speech on Islam and the West on October 27, 1993, Prince Charles, who is the patron of the Oxford Centre for Islamic Studies, admitted that “Islam has been grossly distorted by taking the extremes to be the norm. This is a serious mistake”. In his opinion Muslims, Christians and Jews are all ‘peoples of the book’. Islam and Christianity share a common monotheistic vision.
The article of faith in Islam is tolerance. Allah himself commanded mankind not to quarrel about who is better or superior. As stated in Sura Baqarah, Allah alone will judge on the Day of Judgment. In the same sura it has been stated: Nay, whoever submits his whole self to Allah, and does good works shall be rewarded by his Lord, he shall have nothing to fear or to regret (Para 111 of Sura 2). Having said that it becomes amply clear that Islam does not promote suicide bombing or killing of innocent people, rather Islam stands for peace.
The Qur’an was revealed to the Prophet Muhammad (SM) in 610 AD and not a single word has been distorted so far. One must note the fact that Allah has spoken in the Qur’an in first person, which changes to the first person singular or the third person singular in the course of the same sentence throughout the Qur’an. In the opening verses and few passages the Prophet or the angel Gibrail Alaissalaam speaks in the first person. These observations are noted by N.J. Dawood, an Iraqi graduate from London University, who brought out the English version of the Qur’an in 1956. The Qur’an contains many statements and stories relating to many Prophets of the past, including Prophet Moses (SM) and Prophet Jesus (SM). These points must be recognized. Otherwise, there is scope to make more than one interpretation. Therefore, one should read the Qur’an and understand its contents fully to avoid misinterpreting its message.
(Mohammad Amjad Hossain is a retired Bangladeshi diplomat and former President of Nova Toastmasters International Club. He resides in Virginia)
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