THE TERROR OF ISLAM
By Abdullah Al Araby
It happens almost daily, from Bali, to Moscow, to Tel Aviv,
and it is a daily occurrence in Europe. Now it is beginning to
be a serious threat to our peaceful way of life in the United
States. The word is TERRORISM, and almost every time you hear
or read about it, it is attached to the word “Islamic.”
Islam: A religion of peace?
Muslim activists emphasize that Islam is a religion of peace.
They say that “Islam” is derived from the Arabic word
“Salam,” meaning peace, while Islam, in fact, means
“Surrender” (to the will of Allah).
To prove that Islam stands for peace, Muslims often quote certain
verses out of the early period of the Quranic revelation. Here
are some of them.
“Let there be no compulsion in religion.”
Surah 2: 256
“And have patience with what they (opponents) say,
and leave them with noble (dignity).” Surah 73:10
However, what Muslim advocates deliberately fail to say is
that the peaceful verses from the Meccan period have been abrogated
(nullified) and replaced by the militant verses of the Medinan
period. These verses were written after Mohammed moved to Medina,
abandoned his peaceful approach and resorted to using the sword.
As an example of the abrogation, 124 verses of the Quran that
call for tolerance, peace, and patience have been canceled and
replaced by this one single verse:
"Fight and slay the Pagans wherever ye find them, and
seize them, beleaguer them, and lie in wait for them in every
stratagem (of war.)” Surah 9:5
Islamic violence around the world
The following are news items taken from newspapers in recent
years:
August 5, 2003, JAKARTA, Indonesia
A powerful car bomb exploded outside the Marriott hotel in downtown
Jakarta on Tuesday, killing 13 people and wounding nearly 149
in what an official said was likely a suicide attack. A Dutch
citizen was reportedly among the dead and two Americans were believed
hurt.
November 28, 2002 - Mombassa, Kenya
“A statement attributed to al-Qaeda claimed responsibility
for the car-bombing of an Israeli-owned hotel in Kenya and the
attempt to shoot down an Israeli airliner in the same day. The
statement called the attack a “Ramadan Greeting”
to the Palestinian people.”
October 14, 2002 - Bali, Indonesia
“In the tourist island of Bali, bombs were exploded by a
Muslim group known as Jemiah Islami. The bombs were detonated
in the “Sari Club and Hotel” and at the public “Kuta
Beach,” killing 200, mainly western tourists and wounding
500 that were mainly local Hindus. In poverty stricken Muslim
Indonesia the island of Bali is an oasis of hope, generating 70%
of the nation’s tourism revenue.”
September 11, 2001 - New York, USA
“Thousands of Americans are missing and presumed dead in
the worst terrorist attack by Muslim extremists in the United
States history. Two hijacked airliners on a suicide mission crashed
into New York's Twin Towers, causing their collapse. A third crashed
into the Pentagon, and a fourth went down in western Pennsylvania,
its mission believed to have been thwarted by passengers."
October 12, 2000 - Aden, Yemen
“Muslim extremists crashed a small boat, loaded with explosives,
into the Navy destroyer USS Cole, docked in the port of Aden,
Yemen. The explosion blew a 40X40 hole in the ship killing 17
American sailors and injuring dozens of others.”
August 7, 1998 - Kenya and Tanzania
“Bombs placed by Muslim extremists exploded at U.S embassies
in Kenya and Tanzania, killing at least 224 people, including
12 Americans. Washington responded with cruise missile attacks
on sites allegedly linked to Osama bin Laden.”
November 17, 1997 - Luxor, Egypt
“Muslim militants marched into Southern Egypt’s Temple
of Hatshepsut and massacred 58 tourists. The incident was one
of the deadliest acts of terrorism directed specifically at tourists."
June 25, 1996 - Khober, Saudi Arabia
“A Muslim extremist truck bomb exploded outside the Khobar
Towers housing complex near Dhahran, Saudi Arabia. 19 U.S. Air
Force personnel are killed and more than 500 Americans and Saudis
are injured.”
October 19, 1994 - Tel Aviv, Israel
“A powerful bomb, apparently placed by Islamic militants
opposed to the Arab-Israeli peace negotiations, blew up a crowded
bus during the morning rush hour in the heart of Tel Aviv, Israel.
22 people were killed and 48 were injured.”
July 18, 1994 - Buenos Aires, Argentina
“A huge bomb placed by Muslim extremists exploded destroying
a seven-story downtown building housing two Jewish groups in Buenos
Aires, Argentina. At least 26 people were killed and 127 were
injured.”
February 26, 1993 – New York, USA
“A tremendous underground explosion rocks the 110-story
twin towers of Manhattan's World Trade Center killing at least
five people and injuring more than 1000. Tens of thousands of
workers are sent fleeing for their lives down crowded smoke-filled
stairs. Authorities believe that the explosion was caused by a
bomb placed by Muslim extremists.”
May 4, 1992 - Mansheit Nasser, Egypt
“13 Egyptian Christians were shot dead by Muslim fundamentalists
in Mansheit Nasser, Egypt. Ten Christian farmers were ambushed
and murdered while working in their fields. A Christian teacher
was shot in the local school while teaching a class of ten-year
olds. A Christian doctor was shot dead outside his home.”
top
Silencing the opposition
Muslims have been taught not to question Allah and his Apostle.
They are ordered to accept and practice their sayings regardless
of how irrational they may sound. They were also taught to react
violently toward anyone who questioned or criticized Allah or
Mohammed.
Mohammed was a prime example of this to his followers; he had
no tolerance for anyone who uttered the slightest insult about
him. The poetess, Asmaa bint Marwan, was killed for uttering
a few verses of poetry against Mohammed. A Muslim assassin, acting
on Mohammed's orders, crept in at night to the women's bed, while
her suckling baby was attached to her breast. The man plucked
the baby from her breast and then plunged his sword into her abdomen.
Another example was Abu Afak, an old man of 120 years of
age, was murdered for composing poetry critical of the Prophet.
The essential problem is that the fruit of Mohammed's legacy
exists today. As Muslims get deeper into Islam, they simply try
to follow in the footsteps of their prime example by dealing in
force against anything that they perceive as anti-Islam. Shaikh
Abdul Aziz al-Alshaikh, the Grand Mufti of Saudi Arabia the highest
official cleric in the country, issued a fatwa (sanction) which
was published in the government’s religious magazine “Al-Dawa,”
in May 11, 2000. The Fatwa was in an answer to a Muslim’s
question, “If there were websites on the Internet that are
hostile to Islam, and broadcast immoral materials, is it permissible
for me to send it viruses to disable these websites and destroy
them?” Abdel Aziz answered, “If these websites are
hostile to Islam and you could encounter its evilness with goodness,
and respond to it, refute its falsehood, and show its void content;
that would be the best option. But if you are unable to respond
to it, and you wanted to destroy it and you have the ability to
do so, its ok to destroy it because it is an evil website.”
There are many examples of violent acts committed against intellectuals
who in the course of their creative work stumbled into forbidden
domains, and committed the unpardonable sin of speaking their
mind against Islam or the prophet Mohammed.
- On November 26, 2002, the deputy governor of a largely Islamic
state in northern Nigeria called on Muslims to kill the Nigerian
writer of a newspaper article about the Miss World beauty pageant1.
The article sparked deadly riots that killed about 215 and injured
over 500 people. 4,500 lost their homes in reaction to the article.
Isioma Daniel, a Lagos-based fashion writer, was commenting on
Muslims objection to the beauty pageant and reportedly wrote that
Mohammed would have approved of the pageant: “What would
Mohammed think? In all honesty, he would probably have chosen
a wife from among them.” This comment was seen by Muslims
as an insult to their prophet. A Muslim leader issued an edict,
“If she (Daniel) is Muslim, she has no option except to
die. But if she is a non-Muslim, the only way out for her is to
convert to Islam.” Daniel now is in hiding
- On November 5, 2002, Professor Hashem Aghajari, was sentenced
to death in Tehran2. He was charged for questioning the hard-line
clergy’s interpretation of the Quran. In a speech, Aghajari
had said that the clerics’ teachings on Islam were considered
sacred simply because they were part of history, and he questioned
why clerics were the only ones authorized to interpret Islam.
Aghajari’s speech provoked organized street rallies by hard-liners
in several cities.
- On July 30, 2001, well-known Egyptian feminist writer, Nawal
Al-Saadawi, appeared in court. A case had been filed against her
in May, calling for a divorce from her husband, Sherif Hitata,
in relation to comments she had made on religious issues3. The
complaints against her were based on the “Hisba” law.
It is an Islamic legal procedure that allows an individual to
file complaints, on behalf of society, against another individual.
- In 1995, Dr. Nasr Hamed Abu Zeid, a university professor in
Cairo, was faced with similar charges. On June 14, 1995, a Court
of Appeal ruled that he had insulted the Islamic faith in his
writings4. It ordered his wife to divorce him on the grounds that,
as a Muslim, she should not remain married to an apostate. The
Court of Cassation upheld the ruling in August of 1996. Dr. Nasr
and his wife are currently living in exile in Europe and continue
to challenge their forced divorce before a judicial appeals body
in Egypt.
- On June 4, 1994, Taslima Nasrin, 32, a Bangladesh feminist
and writer, fled her Dhaka apartment and went into hiding5. A
warrant was issued for her arrest after a newspaper in India quoted
her as saying that the Quran should be revised. She was accused
of offending the religious sentiments of Muslims. Nasrin denied
making such statement, saying that she had not called for a revision
of the Quran, but of Islamic law, known as Sharia. Despite her
denial and clarification, Muslims radicals intensified their campaign
against her. A Muslim leader in Khulna, 30 miles south of Dhaka,
offered $2,500 in cash for her assassination. The government finally
charged her with “intent to deliberately and maliciously
outrage the religious feelings of Muslims.”
- In 1988 Naguib Mahfouz received his Nobel Prize for Literature
for his novel, “Children of Gebelawi”. Islamic fundamentalist
later condemned the novel as blasphemous6. This caused an uproar
akin to the later reaction against Salman Rushdie's, Satanic Verses.
In 1994 the Nobel Prize laureate was stabbed in the neck with
a kitchen knife. Two Egyptian Islamic militants were sentenced
to death in 1995 for attempting to kill him. Upon questioning,
the assailants admitted that they had never read the novel, and
that they had acted upon a religious fatwa (edict) made by their
leaders.
- In June 1992 a member of Gamaa Islamiya assassinated Dr. Farag
Fouda7, an Egyptian university professor, an intellectual, and
a staunch advocate of secularism. His assassin confessed that
he was motivated by a debate between Fouda, Ghazali and Hodeibi,
and a statement made by a council of Azhar scholars calling Fouda
“a follower of the non-religious current and extremely hostile
to anything Islamic.” He reported that he felt that the
assassination was his duty for the fulfillment of Islamist objectives.
Farag Fouda was the first to warn against the ideas of the Taliban
and Al-Qaeda.
- In 1988, Salman Rushdie, an Anglo-Indian novelist received
his Whitbread Award for his novel “The Satanic Verses.”
Later, the novel was criticized by Islamists around the world,
banned in India and South Africa, and burned on the streets of
Bradford, Yorkshire, UK. The Ayotollah Khomeini issued a fatwa
(an edict) to execute the writer and the publisher of the book8.
An aid to Khomeini offered a million-dollar reward for Rushdie’s
death. In 1990 Rushdie published an essay titled “In Good
Faith” to appease his critics and issued an apology in which
he reaffirmed his respect for Islam. However, Iranian clerics
did not withdraw their death threat. In 1993 the publisher was
wounded in an attack outside his house. Rushdie went into hiding.
In 1997 the price on Rushdie’s head was doubled. A few years
later the highest Iranian state prosecutor, Morteza Moqtadale,
renewed the death sentence. During this period of fatwa, violent
protest broke out in India, Pakistan, and Egypt causing several
deaths.
The items that I have mentioned are just a few examples out
of thousands of terrorist attacks. They all have one element in
common: they were all committed by Muslim extremists. While there
are extremists in other groups who are capable of committing acts
of violence, it seems that violence committed by Muslim extremists
exceeds the violence of all other groups combined.
top
Why do Muslim extremists act this way?
Are Muslims acting this way because they are inherently inhuman,
savage, and evil? Of course not; Muslims are ordinary people,
just like anybody else. They are fathers, brothers and sons. They
are doctors, engineers and lawyers. They are your co-workers,
and your next-door neighbors. Only the Muslims who hold extremist
views are capable of committing these acts of violence.
So, what goes on in their minds, causing them to act violently?
To understand this, one must understand an important and dangerous
Islamic teaching called “Jihad” (Holy war). It is
important to understand that not every Arab is a Muslim, not every
Muslim is an Arab, and not every Muslim is an extremist. We are
not trying to attack a group of people here; we are only exposing
a teaching within a religion that could have a serious effect
on all society. |
It is also important to know that in exercising Jihad, Muslims
may not think they are trying to maliciously hurt others, but
rather they think that they are only obeying God's commandments.
And, by doing so, they are assuring themselves of a place in Paradise.
Jihad (Holy War)
Jihad is one of many sacred duties Muslims perform. The word
“Jihad” is an Arabic word, which means, “struggle.”
Jihad can mean the struggle within oneself to be a better Muslim,
but it can also mean fighting in the name of Allah. In this sense
Jihad is the struggle for the cause of spreading Islam, using
all means available to Muslims including force. This kind of Jihad
is often referred to as “Holy War.”
In resorting to force, Muslims will not have any problem finding
passages in the Quran (believed by Muslims to be Allah's word),
and the Hadith (Mohammed's sayings), that not only condone violence,
but demand it. Somebody counted the times the word “kill”
and other words derived from it that appeared in the Quran and
Hadith and found them to be about 24,400 times.
It is bad enough if a religion calls on adherents to kill themselves,
but what right do they have to kill others? If Allah gives Muslims
the right to kill, what kind of God is he that orders followers
to kill innocent people on his behalf?
top
Jihad in the Quran
Allah orders Muslims in the Quran to terrorize non-Muslims
on His behalf:
“Strike terror (into the hearts of) the enemies
of Allah and your enemies.” Surah 8:60
“Fight (kill) them (non-Muslims), and Allah
will punish (torment) them by your hands, cover them with shame.”
Surah 9:14
“I will instill terror into the hearts of the
unbelievers, smite ye above their necks and smite all their finger-tips
off them It is not ye who slew them; it was Allah.”
Surah 8:12, 17
“But when the forbidden months are past, then fight
and slay the Pagans wherever ye find them, and seize them,
beleaguer them, and lie in wait for them in every stratagem (of
war); but if they repent, and establish regular prayers and practice
regular charity, then open the way for them: for Allah is Oft-forgiving,
Most Merciful.” Surah 9:5
“Fight (kill) those who believe not
in Allah, nor the Last Day, nor hold that forbidden which hath
been forbidden by Allah and His Messenger, nor acknowledge the
religion of Truth, (even if they are) of the People of the Book,
until they pay the Jizya with willing submission, and feel themselves
subdued.”
Surah 9:29
Jihad in the “Hadith”
In the Hadith, Mohammed also urges Muslims to practice Jihad.
Mohammed once was asked: “what is the best deed for the
Muslim next to believing in Allah and His Apostle?” His
answer was: “To participate in Jihad in Allah's cause.”
Al Bukhari vol. 1:25
Mohammed was quoted as saying: “I have been ordered to
fight with the people till they say, none has the right to
be worshipped but Allah.” Al Bukhari vol. 4:196
Mohammed also said, “the person who participates in (Holy
Battles) in Allah's cause and nothing compels him to do so except
belief in Allah and His Apostle, will be recompensed by Allah
either with a reward, or booty (if he survives) or will be admitted
to paradise (if he is killed).” Al Bukhari vol. 1:35
top
Mohammed’s Example
When the prophet of Islam started preaching his new religion
in Mecca, he was conciliatory to Christians and Jews. He told
them: “We believe in what has been sent down to us and
sent down to you, our God is the same as your God.”
Surah 29:45
This attitude changed completely after he gained strength.
Allah then allegedly told him to “Fight People of
the Book (Christians and Jews), who do not accept the religion
of the truth (Islam), until they pay tribute (penalty tax) by
hand, being inferior.” Surah 9:29
Comparing Christians to the Jews, it seems that Mohammed hated
the Jews more. The Quran clearly states:
“Strongest among men in enmity to the believers
wilt thou find theJews and Pagans; and nearest among
them in love to the believers wilt thou find those who say,
“We are Christians”: because amongst these
are men devoted to learning and men who have renounced the world,
and they are not arrogant.” Surah 5: 82
During his lifetime, Mohammed devoted much of his efforts to
get rid of the Jews. He stated. “You (Jews) should know
that the earth belongs to Allah and his apostle, and I want to
expel you from this land (the Arabian Peninsula), so, if anyone
owns property, he is permitted to sell it.” Al-Bukhari
vol. 4:392
At that time, there were three Jewish tribes in Medina. Mohammed’s
men besieged two of them, the Bani Qaynqa and the Bani-al-Nudair
tribes. Their access to food supplies was blocked until they surrendered
on Mohammed's terms. His terms for their lives to be spared were
that they had to deposit all their belongings at a certain place
for distribution among Muslims and then emigrate from Medina.
The third tribe, Bani Qurayza, was not as lucky. During the
War of the Trench, Abu Sofyan led a siege against Mohammed’s
forces. Afterward, it was alleged that Bani Qurayza agreed to
provide help from within to Abu Sofyan's forces. The alleged help
never materialized and the siege eventually ended. Nonetheless,
Mohammed never forgave them for their willingness to help his
enemies.
The Muslims turned against the Bani Qurayza tribe and blocked
their streets for twenty-five days. Then the Jewish tribe expressed
readiness to accept the surrender terms that had been afforded
to the other two Jewish tribes. Their belongings were to be confiscated
and they were to be granted safe conduct for their departure from
the area10.
Mohammed, however, would not consent to this. Instead he appointed
as an arbiter Saad iben Moaz, a man who was known to be on bad
terms with Bani Qurayza. Saad ruled that all Bani Qurayza's men
should be beheaded, that the women and children should be sold
as slaves and that all their property should be divided among
the Muslims. Trenches were dug in the bazaar of Medina for disposal
of the eight to nine hundred Jewish bodies whom Mohammed and his
men had spent the night slaughtering. (See Ibn Hisham: The Prophet's
biography; vol. 2 pages 240 & 241).
top
In Conclusion:
These are historical facts that occurred 14 centuries ago.
They represent a dangerous tendency for violence in the Muslim
mentality. More serious is that Muslim fundamentalists are trying
to repeat these acts of violence in this 21st century.
In doing so they are terrorizing individuals and governments
as well. Islamic violent protests occur around the world whenever
Islam is being criticized. As a result, governments around the
globe have started to enact laws under the pretext of “hate
crimes.” These laws prosecute anyone who criticizes Islam
or Muslims. The laws have, in fact, very little to do with hate
crimes. They are designed only to appease Muslims, and quell their
wrath, for the sake of peace and tranquility in society.
Nothing is mentioned about the criticism Christianity receives
from Muslim religious leaders in the media of the Islamic world
and of the West as well. But Christians are tolerant of criticism
against their religion; no riots, nobody gets killed, and no buildings
get burned. No wonder, nobody cares about hate crimes against
Christians.
Once again we are being held hostage. One of the weapons that
are being used to keep us as hostages is terror, and more terror.
top
For information or comments, write to Feedback@IslamReview.com
|