This is the article Gentle was talking about in the comments below...
When we Muslims state that Islam is a religion of peace, we are not trying to prove something unreasonable or solve a crossword puzzle. Rather, we are just stating a fact backed by clear-cut evidence and unquestionable proofs. Even we donât need to state this fact, for Islam, in itself, is self-explanatory, in terms of its meaning, its noble teachings and the core of its message conveyed by the Prophets Allah sent to mankind.
| I guess it all depends on the meaning you assign the word "peace," doesn't it? That appears to shift from sect to sect within Islam, from Sufism's ability to get along with most other religions to Wahhabism's ability to get along with none, to include those holding different opinions within itself. |
Shedding more light on this issue, here is the statement made by Dr. Muzammil H. Siddiqi, former President of the Islamic Society of North America, in replying a similar question: âThank you very much for your kind words that you do not hate Muslims. Hate is not good for any person. I want to assure you that we Muslims also do not hate non-Muslims, be they Christians, Jews, Hindus, Buddhist or followers of any religion or no religion. Our religion does not allow killing any innocent person regardless of his or her religion. The life of all human beings is sacrosanct according to the teachings of the Qurâan and the guidance of our blessed Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him and upon all the Prophets and Messengers of Allah.
| We're down to quibbling about semantics again, this time the definition of "innocent." Was it Sheikh Qaradawi's opinion is that there's no such thing as an innocent Israelis: all the men are subject to the draft, as are potentially all women. And the little kids are going to grow up, and then they'll be soldiers, too, so it's best to kill them now. Or was that another fatwah from some other renowned scholar? |
The Qurâan says about the prohibition of murder, ââŠTake not life, which Allah hath made sacred, except by way of justice and law: thus does He command you, that ye may learn wisdom.â (Al-An`am: 151) and Allah says in the Qurâan, âNor take life, which Allah has made sacred, except for just cause. And if anyone is slain wrongfully, We have given his heir authority (to demand Qisas or to forgive): but let him not exceed bounds in the matter of taking life; for he is helped (by the law)â (Al-Israâ: 33). According to the Qurâan, killing any person without a just cause is as big a sin as killing the whole humanity and saving the life of one person is as good deed as saving the whole humanity. (See Al-Maâidah: 32)
| Oh, dear. More quibbles. Muslims can take infidels' lives and property in the course of jihad. It's not murder then. And seemingly anyone with a turban can declare jihad, at any time, for any reason. |
However, your question is valid, then how come the Qurâan says, âkill them wherever you find themâŠâ as it is mentioned in Surah Al-Baqarah: 191 and Surah An-Nisaâ: 89. The answer is simple and that is, you should read these verses in their textual and historical context.
| "Kill them wherever you find them, anywhere from New York to Tel Aviv to Moscow to Madrid to Bali to Delhi to Bangkok and all the way back again to Lagos. Kill. Kill. Kill. It's the Muslim way, isn't it? Or should we have a nice hudna, that'll last until the next bus is blown up, or the next train or the next airliner? |
You should read the whole verse and it is better that you read few verses before and few after. Read the full text and see what is said:âFight in the cause of Allah those who fight you, but do not transgress limits; for Allah loves not transgressors. And kill them wherever ye catch them, and turn them out from where they have turned you out; for tumult and oppression are worse than slaughter; but fight them not at the Sacred Mosque, unless they (first) fight you there; but if they fight you, kill them. Such is the reward of those who reject faith. But if they cease, Allah is Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful. And fight them on until there is no more tumult or oppression, and there prevail justice and faith in Allah; but if they cease, let there be no hostility except to those who practice oppression. The prohibited month, for the prohibited month, and so for all things prohibited, there is the law of equality. If then any one transgresses the prohibition against you, transgress ye likewise against him. But fear Allah, and know that Allah is with those who restrain themselves.â (Al-Baqarah: 190-194) | And never forget that it's always the other guy's fault. "Oppression," like so many other things withing Islam, has a flexible meaning. You can always find it, if you look hard enough. F'rinstance, in Thailand, which is a nice country, not oppressive to most people's eyes in the least, where Muslims have fired up the Motorcycles of Doom. |
For your second quotation also read the full text: âThey but wish that ye should reject Faith, as they do, and thus be on the same footing (as they): so take not friends from their ranks until they flee in the way of Allah (from what is forbidden). But if they turn renegades, seize them and slay them wherever ye find them; and (in any case) take no friends or helpers from their ranks. Except those who join a group between whom and you there is a treaty (Of peace), or those who approach you with hearts restraining them from fighting you as well as fighting their own people. If Allah had pleased, He could have given them power over you, and they would have fought you: therefore if they withdraw from you but fight you not, and (instead) send you (guarantees of) peace, then Allah hath opened no way for you (to war against them). Others you will find that wish to gain your confidence as well as that of their people: every time they are sent back to temptation, they succumb thereto; if they withdraw not from you nor give you (guarantees) of peace besides restraining their hands, seize them and slay them wherever ye get them; in their case We have provided you with a clear argument against them." (An-Nisaâ: 89-91) Now tell me honestly, do these verses give a free permission to kill any one anywhere?
| Certainly not. You need a fatwah to do that. But fatwahs are cheap. |
These verses were revealed by God to Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, at the time when Muslims were attacked by the non-Muslims of Makkah on a regular basis. They were frightening the Muslim community of Madinah. One may say using the contemporary jargon that there were constant terrorist attacks on Madinah and in this situation Muslims were given permission to fight back the âterroristâ. These verses are not a permission for âterrorismâ but they are a warning against the âterrorists.â But even in these warnings you can see how much restraint and care is emphasized.
| We saw that on September 11th, three years ago. Those boys sure did know their Koran, didn't they? |
It is important that we study the religious texts in their proper context. When these texts are not read in their proper textual and historical contexts they are manipulated and distorted. It is true that some Muslims manipulate these verses for their own goals. But this is not only with Islamic texts, it is also true with the texts of other religions. I can quote dozens of verses from the Bible which seem very violent, if taken out from their historical context. These Biblical texts have been used by many violent Jewish and Christian groups. Crusaders used them against Muslims and Jews. Nazis used them against Jews. Recently Serbian Christians used them against Bosnian Muslims. Zionists are using them regularly against Palestinians.
| That's a fairly loose usage of facts. The Crusades were indeed religiously based, at least the first and second. None of the other examples is strictly driven by sectarianism. The Nazis tried to destroy the Jews on racial grounds. One could stop being a religious Jew and still be subjected to the "final solution." The Serbian offenses against the Bosnians were similar to the Serbian offenses against the Roman Catholic Croatians, and were driven more by tribal animosities than by religious; it wasn't the Bosnians practice of Islam so much as their historical association with the Turks. The ultimate defenders of the Bosnians were Christian — actually secular — Europe and the United States. The only example that actually holds water is the charge of Zionist use against the Paleos. But again, Zionism is a racial thing, demanding a homeland for the Jewish people, not particularly for the Jewish religion. Israel is chock full of not particularly religious Jews, and except for a few crackpots Israel's efforts to defend itself aren't couched in religious terms. In contrast, virtually all aggression by the Muslim world against the rest of us is specifically based in religion. |
Let me mention just a few verses from the Old Testament and New Testament and tell me what do you say about them:âWhen the LORD your God brings you into the land where you are entering to possess it, and clears away many nations before you, the Hittites and the Girgashites and the Amorites and the Canaanites and the Perizzites and the Hivites and the Jebusites, seven nations greater and stronger than you. And when the LORD your God delivers them before you and you defeat them, then you shall utterly destroy them. You shall make no covenant with them and show no favor to them. (Deutronomy 7:1-2)
âWhen you approach a city to fight against it, you shall offer it terms of peace. If it agrees to make peace with you and opens to you, then all the people who are found in it shall become your forced labor and shall serve you. However, if it does not make peace with you, but makes war against you, then you shall besiege it. When the LORD your God gives it into your hand, you shall strike all the men in it with the edge of the sword. Only the women and the children and the animals and all that is in the city, all its spoil, you shall take as booty for yourself; and you shall use the spoil of your enemies which the LORD your God has given you⊠Only in the cities of these peoples that the LORD your God is giving you as an inheritance, you shall not leave alive anything that breathes (Deutronomy 20:10-17)
Now therefore, kill every male among the little ones, and kill every woman who has known man intimately. But all the girls who have not known man intimately, sparefor yourselves. (Numbers 31:17-18) | Those are Old Testament verses, dating from about 1100 B.C. The world outside the Arabian peninsula has progressed since then. We no longer think or act in those terms. Not even the Zionists. |
Even in the New Testament we read the following statement attributed to Jesus saying to his disciples: âI tell you that to everyone who has, more shall be given, but from the one who does not have, even what he does have shall be taken away. But these enemies of mine, who did not want me to reign over them, bring them here and slay them in my presence." (Luke 19:26-27) | Unlike the events in the Koran, that even didn't actually take place, did it? Christianity became arrogrant and brutal in its maturity, but the Church during Christ's time wasn't founded on bumping people off. It was three hundred years before Christianity became predominant within the Empire. |
Excerpted, with slight modifications, from: http://pakistanlink.com/religion.html |