Islam & Terrorism

What Does Islam Say about Terrorism?
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Islam, a religion of mercy, does not permit terrorism. In the Quraan, God has said:

(1)
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8: Allah does not forbid you to deal justly and kindly with those who fought not against you on account of religion nor drove you out of your homes. Verily, Allah loves those who deal with equal. ​

(Quraan, 60:8)

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(2)
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Chapter: 5.​

32: …, if anyone killed a person not in retaliation of murder, or to spread mischief in the land- it would be as if he killed all mankind….

(3)
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The prophet Mohammad (PBUH) even warned that on the Day of Judgment, {the first cases to be adjudicated between people on the Day of Judgment will be those of bloodshed (This means killing and injuring.)}

(4)
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The Prophet was asked, "Messenger of God, are we rewarded for kindness towards animals?" He said: {there is a reward for kindness to every living animal or human.}

This saying of Muhammad has been mentioned in more detail on this page.

(5)
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The prophet said (PBUH): the biggest of Al-Kabair (the greatest sins) are: (1) To join others as partners in worship with Allah, (2) to murder a human being, (3) to be undutiful to one's parents (4) and to make a false statement or said to give a false witness.​

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In light of these and other Islamic texts, the act of inciting terror in the hearts of defenseless civilians, the wholesale destruction of buildings and properties, the bombing and maiming of innocent men, women, and children are all forbidden and detestable acts according to Islam and the Muslims. Muslims follow a religion of peace, mercy, and forgiveness, and the vast majority have nothing to do with the violent events some have associated with Muslims. If an individual Muslim were to commit an act of terrorism, this person would be guilty of violating the laws of Islam.



(For more articles on Islam on terrorism, please refer to the links at More on Islam on Terrorism).

Yours Sincerely,
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Cat Stevens
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Thanks for that. Well said.Of course the Koran doesn't sanction murder.Moslems are more outraged by the bombings than most because some believe it was done in the name of Islam.
Equally; Christians are not justified to kill either as Lord Jesus Christ condemned murder in the New Testament.

 

Seems to me that murder and other forms of destruction of human beings, both subtle and overt, come in a number of forms and with a wide variety of 'justification'. The focusing on a particular 'justification' instead of the act can lead to prejudice and I have found that this is also coupled with deeper hidden needs within the person or people acting out the prejudice. These "needs", referred to here, at one level will clearly manifest as fear; and it is important that people spend time communicating, even with silence, in order to create an environment that lends itself to realization of similarity, goodness and healing.

 

Flight From Ashiya​

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RE: Moslems are more outraged by the bombings than most because some believe it was done in the name of Islam.​

Exactly . ​

Yours Sincerely,
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Cat Stevens
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I know very little about the Muslim religion myself, but I recognise that there is a large gulf between true followers of the religion and the kind of extremists who feel that it is necessary to kill.

I also recognise that it is very easy for a lot of people to say "this was an attack by Muslims, therefore any Muslims are responsible."

It worries me to think that followers of Islam may be looked down upon or treated badly by members of my society, because they happen to belong to the same religious background as some of the people who organise terrorist attacks supposedly do.

 

Islam, like many other religions, contradicts itself. It justifies and opposes murder at the same time.

Here's a good outlook:

http://islam.about.com/library/weekly/aa090402a.htm

 

hang on is this cat stevens or some cat stevens fan?

 

I thought of sending an email to let him know, just in case. The images tend to imply that this is Cat/Yusef but it is left open to the possiblity that this is not. I was concerned about the idea that someone might be trying to "bank" on giving the idea that they are Yusef, but then again maybe it is.


http://www.yusufislam.org.uk/


http://catstevens.com/

 

I hate it when people get "offended" when people associate Islam and Terrorism. (Not talking about anyone here). Here's the facts everyone: Not all Muslims are terrorists, but all terrorists are Muslim.

 

What a breakthrough! I didn't know the IRA is actually an Islamic Terror Outfit! Now it all makes sense...

 

StonerBill ​

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RE: hang on is this cat stevens or some cat stevens fan?​

No I am not him ​

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natural23 :​

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RE: I thought of sending an email to let him know, just in case. The images tend to imply that this is Cat/Yusef but it is left open to the possiblity that this is not. I was concerned about the idea that someone might be trying to "bank" on giving the idea that they are Yusef, but then again maybe it is.​

Do not bother my heart Yusuf because of me please, I am not him .​

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trippymcnugget:​

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RE: but all terrorists are Muslim.​

I think you forgot some others ? or ignoring that? Whatever .​

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Yours Sincerely,
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Cat Stevens
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CatStevens,

Just answering it truthfully makes it OK. Thank You for the blessing, may God bless you as well.

Peace,

David
23

 

Well that'd be true if the IRA were terrorists. They bombed unoccupied government buildings (and warned people ahead of time) sometimes though unfortunately, people died. Reckless Radicals? Yes. Terrorists? No. I'm not saying the IRA are good people, I'm just saying that the word terrorist is thrown around too much I think.

My response above...

 

Trippy,

There has been, in my estimation, significant upsurgance during the last approximately 40 years of terrorists that claim they represent Islam. And this upsurgance, in my rough and not very knowledgable estimation, has taken a very significant up-swing during the last approximately 15 years.

Although I respect your right to free speech, it might be a better idea to not speak in a manner that is first inaccurate and second, and I believe most important, to speak in manner that would tend to induce prejudgemental and bigoted reactions in folks who may be fearful and have a predilection beacuse of how they have been socialized to act out in bigoted ways.

I should point out that some terrorists act without backing of an organization. Kaczynski (unabomber) is an example. TimothyMcVeigh basically acted with a loose group, possibly with the support of a "militia movement" in the US. Following are some random links to lists of terrorist orangizations (active terrorist organizations are defined as such). The first article should convince you that the statement you made in your first post in this thread is inaccurate:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_terrorist_groups


http://www.state.gov/s/ct/rls/pgtrpt/2002/html/19991.htm


Peace,

David
23

 

Ok fine, I'll change my statement: the majority of terrorists are muslim.

 

Trippy,

Your honesty and humility is much appreciated. And this leads me to ask a question, I'd like to know what you think about this. Do you think that the "allied forces" approach to "the war on terrorism" is actually evoking the creation of many more terrorists. How would you feel if a child of yours was destroyed by allied bombs, for example ? I want to add here that I believe that we should defend ourselves, and that we are, actually, not doing nearly as good a job at this as we could be doing (see my other posts related to this). I believe that we, the USA and allied counties, could have, actually, greatly advanced the cause of world peace if different actions were taken; for one, we have damaged one of our greatest strengths. This strength being our moral integrity. And, here, I include corporations and individuals; all collectively.

David
23

 

Trippy,

Following is a snippet of some of "other posts" that I referred to above:



It seems that alot of folks think that violence is a way to resolve issues. I respect your right to express your opinion; do you really think that all Muslim are terrorists ? I, through the years, have met and spent time with a number Muslims and I found that some tended to think in terms of resolving prolems with violence but most were/are kind, honest and good citizens; really not too much different than most people, at least as I know them. In fact recently I met a man who is brilliant, extremely intelligent, and kind spirited. I was driving by the other day an I saw him hidden away on some steps with his hands clasped, eyes closed and facing east.

Yes, we should defend ourselves and part of this requires a steady-minded populace that does not tend to involve itself in bigotry. Just like the healings that so many responsible leaders have spoken out about we should be wise and aware, be cautious, and reach out in order to facilitate peace.

Do you really claim to understand Islam ? I do not. However, I know that over the long-term I have interacted with and gotten to know Muslim people and I have, as I said before, for the most part, found them kind and good people. I hope you are not suggesting that we hurt or imprison Muslim people because they are Muslim ? This would be sin akin to that of which the Nazis were guilty.

The fact is that oftentimes in order to do what is right and correct we have to, at least temporarily, accept extra difficulty; this is just a fact of life. In order to solve the problem of terrorism we need to be balanced in our approach and not fall into prejudgement and bigotry due to fear or another manifestation of fear called anger.

When did you last take some time to talk with and possibly befriend a Muslim person ? It would help to heal our world.

Sincerely,
David
23



AND,



Yes Random, exactly. People are all very similar under the surface of symbols and apparent form. Also, in terms of defence for an individual, a home, a town, a government, or any group it starts with the mind, or the collective mind where applicable; one is much stronger when one believes with all the heart in what one is doing. By being sincere in maintaining, or being involved in the restoration of, integrity one is greatly strengthened over states lacking this, and the power held within this truth should not be underestimated.

I think my posting of the Blair quote lacked balance because of the destruction being caused on all fronts. It is as if a not so good surgeon amputates a leg when all that was needed was to disinfect a toe; and then the surgeon touts, "look we have saved a life". A crude, destructive, dishonestly executed approach to the problem of terrorism. Yes we should defend ourselves and this starts by not being afraid to look at the full truth. I was prompted to write this section of this post tonight when I saw a picture of an Iraqi man carrying a beautiful young Iraqi girl with her foot blown off, her body clearly filled with shrapnel. We should not screw around with dishonesty and lack of integrity on these issues, or any issue for that matter. But there are people deeply embedded within "subcultures" that, in general, think in terms of war who are slow, or unwilling, to look at the reality that in order to truly solve this problem everybody needs to act with integrity; and to make great progress a significant number of people need to do this.

When I think about some of the causes I think of situations where people are driven to madness by torment. 911, thousands of Iraqi civilian deaths and 77 are certainly not the only examples. Some random choices could be the Bhopal India Union Carbide accident and the bombing of Cambodia, but there are in our "recent history" at least hundreds more like this; and every nation is involved. Pointing at part of the problem and saying that "this is the source of the entire problem" does little good. And 'throwing ones hands up' and saying, for example, "there is nothing that I can do" is simply a false statement; everybody can do something that is legitimate and effective toward solving this; just talking to people about these issues, as you referred earlier, can be very effective. And as I previously stated, it is certainly not my intent to say that any nation should not protect itself; just the opposite. To think that there are many in my country, the United States of America, that would treat people who think with such obvious sensibility with great suspicion or hostility is utterly stunning.


Peace,

David
23

 

I think the war is an indirect cause of more people joining the Jihadists. Not because they're holding their dead children in their arms one day and decide to, but because the Jihadist leaders use our justified retaliation against them as propaganda. Example:"We've been telling you all along that the infidels want to kill you, now see! They really, really do! No joke this time!" The brainwashed forget what Al-Qaida did on 9/11, 7/7, and join. These numbers though, aren't as large as the MSM would have you believe.

But, we are over there fighting them, most likely killing more per day than they can recruit. We can't just cower into the corner, hoping that they are just a bee that won't sting you if you don't bother it, and will evenually fly away. That's what Spain did; the people voted in a coward, and he pulled out of Iraq. And what did they get? I'm pretty sure they got another terror attack.

 

Trippy,

This situation is a complex web of events that have significant starting points that for a compressed discussion could be initiated at lets say at 30 or 40 years in the past. So in order to relay an idea I will make a small list of concepts and events:

Many of our covert tactics have been destructive to us. An example is selling Saddam Hussein weapons. There are literally scores of these types of examples that stem from mind sets (notice the plural) that are ultimately destructive to us, for many reasons.

The way we dealt with 911 is simply crude, without "finesse", without adequate intelligent articulation. And the result is tens of thousands of innocent people dead and maimed, significantly damaged economys, significantly damaged reputation, and much more. The impact of this should not be underestmated.

Our corporations and military are intertwined in a relationship that is damaging to our economy, to our morality including our ability to make moral stands on the world stage, and to the very nature of this scared democacy, and to much more not listed here. These are effects that are not necessairly felt right away but, instead, are felt over many years time. And I am afraid that the key people and groups that could make good change here are ideologically mode-locked such that even greater damage will be done until we reach a point where it will be very difficult to reverse. Additionally, there has been and will probably continue to be great damage propogated globally due to this situation. We do great good also but we should not use this to hide from our error. We don't need a 'holier than thou' state of mind as we are scared, as they are sacred. We should not forget what we are, what our ideals are.


David
23

 

i'm pretty sure they didn't. didn't the terrorist attacks occur a few days be4 the election in which the socialists were voted in? whether zapatero is a coward is a matter of opinion. standing up 2 america takes some guts i think.