Does Islam Promote Terrorism?

So, this is my response to the third and final of Laura's videos about Islam and violence. This one is about terrorism.

She begins with, "Regardless of what this or that scholar may say, I think it's more important to look at what the Qur'an and the hadith say." The problem is that the Qur'an, or any other religious text, cannot be understood in isolation from the traditions that build around it. It is no use quoting from the Qur'an if the texts you are quoting are interpreted differently by others from the way you interpret them. It is that interpretation which is resulting in Muslims around the world committing acts of violence and justifying them with reference to these texts. That's why it IS important to study what "this or that scholar" says. I shall be doing this in due course.

Anyway, our hostess next reads us the dictionary definition of "terrorism", and then claims that Islam doesn't support it. What, then, of Qur'an 8:60, which commands: "Against them make ready your strength to the utmost of your power, including steeds of war, to strike terror into (the hearts of) the enemies, of Allah and your enemies."? Even Muhammad himself - who Muslims believe is the Perfect Man; we see several times in these videos how Laura piously utters the Arabic phrase for "peace be upon him" every time she says his name - is recorded as saying, "I have been made victorious with terror (struck in the hearts of the enemy)" (Bukhari v.4, b.56, no.2977). Of course, in this he was not referring to terror in the sense of modern terrorism. Rather, he meant the terror that Allah cast into the hearts of His enemies. But he saw himself and his armies as the instruments of Allah, the means by which Allah's wrath was implemented. So it might be said that his view of himself was not that different from the way modern jihad terrorists see themselves – as a warrior of Allah terrorising the enemies of Islam, in order to demoralise them, thus paving the way for victory. According to the Qur'an, Muhammad sets a "beautiful pattern of conduct" for all Muslims (33:21), who are encouraged to emulate him in any way they can.

A note left for the 9/11 hijackers read: "When the hijacking begins, shout 'Allah is great' because this shout strikes terrors in the hearts of the infidels.” Did they misuse Qur'an verses like 8:60 and Muhammad's own words to draw this conclusion? If so, Laura does not explain how.

Next Laura falls into that comforting trap which all Muslim spokesmen and spokeswomen in the West fall into - she quotes Qur'an 5:32: "whosoever killeth a human being...it shall be as if he had killed all mankind, and whoso saveth the life of one, it shall be as if he had saved the life of all mankind.” This is dangerously misleading. These noble-sounding sentiments come in the textual context of a warning to the Jews (the “Children of Israel”) not to oppose the Muslims. Here is the full text of the passage, along with the verse immediately following:

“For that cause We decreed for the Children of Israel that whosoever killeth a human being for other than manslaughter or corruption in the earth, it shall be as if he had killed all mankind, and whoso saveth the life of one, it shall be as if he had saved the life of all mankind. Our messengers came unto them of old with clear proofs (of Allah's Sovereignty), but afterwards lo! many of them became prodigals in the earth. The only reward of those who make war upon Allah and His messenger and strive after corruption in the land will be that they will be killed or crucified, or have their hands and feet on alternate sides cut off, or will be expelled out of the land. Such will be their degradation in the world, and in the Hereafter theirs will be an awful doom.” (5:32-33)

Suddenly, this passage takes on an entirely different meaning. As ex-Muslim author Ibn Warraq puts it: "The supposedly noble sentiments are in fact a warning to Jews. ‘Behave, or else’ is the message. Far from abjuring violence, these verses aggressively point out that anyone opposing the Prophet will be killed, crucified, mutilated, and banished!”

She goes on to quote several other Qur'an passages which seem to encourage peace. I won't go through them individually, but the main point here is that none of them change the fact that the Qur'an calls for non-Muslims to be fought until all the world is under Islamic rule, being given the choice of either conversion, subjugation or death (cf. 2:193, 8:39, 9:29, etc). Perhaps Laura could kindly explain why Islamic jurists have for centuries completely ignored the verses she quoted and have instead formulated a detailed system of jihad against unbelievers based on the Qur'an's more violent verses. Honest examination of Islam's role in religious violence must begin with this fact. Indeed, these verses even contradict her own summary of the purpose of jihad, which she outlined in the previous video (see my last response at this site).

She then quotes a couple of traditions forbidding the killing of innocent non-combatants. The problem with this is that "innocent" and "non-combatants" are not defined clearly enough. Some Islamic legal authorities allow for the killing of non-combatants if they are seen as somehow aiding the war effort, even indirectly. For example, Hanbali jurist Ibn Taymiyya (d.1328) directed: “As for those who cannot offer resistance or cannot fight, such as women, children, monks, old people, the blind, handicapped and their likes, they shall not be killed unless they actually fight with words (e.g. by propaganda) and acts (e.g. by spying or otherwise assisting in the warfare).” Thus, Muslims can justify killing anyone they deem to be somehow aiding the enemies of Islam. Osama bin Laden justified the 9/11 atrocities by saying: “The American people are the ones who pay the taxes which fund the planes that bomb us in Afghanistan, the tanks that strike and destroy our homes in Palestine, the armies which occupy our lands in the Arabian Gulf, and the fleets which ensure the blockade of Iraq. These tax dollars are given to Israel for it to continue to attack us and penetrate our lands. So the American people are the ones who fund attacks against us, and they are the ones who oversee the expenditure of these monies in the way they wish, through their elected candidates.” By such definition, there is no such thing as an innocent American.

Jihadists also commonly assert that there are no innocent civilians in Israel; Tunisian jihadist Rashid al-Ghannushi, for example, has issued a fatwa declaring: “There are no civilians in Israel. The population – males, females and children – are the army reserve soldiers, and thus can be killed.”

The point here is that while Laura may think she knows what Muhammad meant by non-combatants, such things are actually hotly disputed among Muslims. All the while there is some theological support for the killing of innocent people, such violence will continue. But instead of directing her efforts at trying to convince her fellow Muslims that killing innocents is wrong on Islamic grounds, she is apparently dedicating her time to telling non-Muslims this. We're not the ones who need convincing, Laura - the jihadists do. What are you doing towards this end?

"You fight a clean and a fair fight, and you leave the civilians out of it."

But you can still fight to impose Islamic law on other peoples, as per Qur'an 9:29 and the teachings of all the schools of jurisprudence, so long as you take care not to kill "civilians"? I feel so much better!

In the final part of the video, Laura admits that although suicide is technically forbidden in Islam, "some scholars do say that because in a certain battle some of the Muslim soldiers declared that they would fight until they died...that shows that you can commit suicide." She seems to dismiss that and quotes from the Qur'an instead, but this is an important point, worth looking at in more detail.

There is no doubt that Muhammad preached the honour of martyrdom – that is, dying in battle against the enemies of Islam. In fact, martyrs were guaranteed a place in Paradise for their actions. The Qur'an says: “Allah hath purchased of the believers their persons and their goods; for theirs (in return) is the garden (of Paradise): they fight in His cause, and slay and are slain: a promise binding on Him in truth” (9:111). The hadith are also full of praise for martyrs: “Allah guarantees that He will admit the Mujahid [holy warrior] in His Cause into Paradise if he is killed, otherwise He will return him to his home safely with rewards and war booty.” (Bukhari v.4, b.52, no.46) In fact, not only are jihadists guaranteed a place in Paradise; they are also guaranteed to reach a higher level of Paradise than anyone else:

“It has been narrated on the authority of Abu Sa'id Khudri that the Messenger of Allah (may peace be upon him) said (to him): Abu Sa'id, whoever cheerfully accepts Allah as his Lord, Islam as his religion and Mubammad as his Apostle is necessarily entitled to enter Paradise. He (Abu Sa'id) wondered at it and said: Messenger of Allah, repeat it for me. He (the Messenger of Allah) did that and said: There is another act which elevates the position of a man in Paradise to a grade one hundred (higher), and the elevation between one grade and the other is equal to the height of the heaven from the earth. He (Abu Sa'id) said: What is that act? He replied: Jihad in the way of Allah! Jihad in the way of Allah!” (Sahih Muslim b.20, no.4645)

When modern jihadists commit suicide bombings, they are, in the words of Qur'an 9:111, slaying and being slain in the same act; therefore they believe they will receive the reward of a martyr in Allah's cause: the luxurious and highly sexualised delights of Paradise.

Technically, then, this is not suicide. Sheik Yusuf al-Qaradawi, who is one of the most powerful and respected clerics in the Muslim world, has defended suicide bombing on this basis: “Those who oppose martyrdom operations and claim that they are suicide are making a grave mistake. The goals of the one who carries out a martyrdom operation and of the one who commits suicide are completely different...The person who commits suicide kills himself for himself, because he failed in business, love, an examination or the like. He was too weak to cope with the situation and chose to flee life for death...In contrast, the one who carries out a martyrdom operation does not think of himself. He sacrifices himself for the sake of a higher goal...He sells himself to Allah in order to buy Paradise in exchange.” Muhammad Sayyid Tantawi, the Grand Imam of Cairo's Al-Azhar University and the closest Muslim equivalent to a pope, has also endorsed suicide bombing as a legitimate form of jihad.

With such high-profile Islamic authorities endorsing this act of terrorism on the grounds of traditional Islamic belief regarding martyrdom, it will be difficult to convince Muslims otherwise. After all, what pious and dedicated Muslim would not want to guarantee themselves a place in Paradise? Again, those interpretations I just mentioned may be completely wrong and Laura's view that suicide under ANY circumstances is forbidden may be right. But regardless, the more violent interpretation is clearly disturbingly common among Muslims all around the world today. And yet, instead of trying to convince her fellow Muslims of her own view, she is trying to "advocate Islam" to non-Muslims. This is a problem we are seeing with most moderate Muslims today, with the exception of a tiny handful who do attempt to spread peaceful understandings of the Qur'an among their co-religionists.

Overall, these videos are a good example of the current problem with the so-called "moderate Muslim community". Laura's apparent endorsement of offensive warfare to propagate Islamic law is worrying in itself, and makes one wonder just how many other "moderate" Muslims have the same view. But even if her views were totally pacific, this would still not be enough. Muslims all around the world are committing acts of violence and basing them on the teachings of the Qur'an, Sunnah and fiqh, and traditional, orthodox Islamic doctrine. And moderate Muslims have come up with no rigorous counter-tradition to challenge it, nor have they shown any serious interest in implementing transparent schemes in schools and mosques to teach against the jihad ideology. All the while this remains the case, a thousand of Laura's videos posted on Youtube won't prevent people from suffering and dying in the name of Islam every single day.