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The Real Face of the Terrorists Who Act in the
Name of Religion
Those who believe and do
not mix up their belief with any wrongdoing, they
are the ones who are safe… (Qur'an, 6:82)
All these examples
reveal that organising acts of terror against
innocent people is utterly against Islam and it
is unlikely that any Muslim could ever commit
such crime. On the contrary, Muslims are responsible
for stopping these people, removing "mischief
on earth" and bringing peace and security to all
people all over the world.
It is not possible to talk about "Christian terror",
"Jewish terror" or "Islamic terror". Indeed, an
examination into the background of the perpetrators
of these acts reveal that the terrorism in question
is not a religious but a social phenomenon.
Crusaders: Barbarians Who Trampled
Their Own Religion
The true message of a religion or a system of
belief can be at times distorted by its own pseudo-adherents.
The Crusaders, whose period constitutes a dark
episode in Christian history, are an example of
this type of distortion.
The Crusaders were European Christians who undertook
expeditions from the end of the 11th century onwards
to recover the Holy Land (Palestine and the surrounding
area) from the Muslims. They set out with a so-called
religious goal, yet they laid waste each acre
of land they entered spreading fear wherever they
went. They subjected civilians along their way
to mass executions and plundered many villages
and towns. Their conquest of Jerusalem, where
Muslims, Jews and Christians lived under Islamic
rule in peace, became the scene of immense bloodshed.
They massacred all the Muslims and Jews in the
city without mercy.
Under Muslim rule,
Muslims, Jews and Orthodox Christians had
lived together in peace in Jerusalem. When
the Crusaders invaded Jerusalem (as seen
above) they carried out terrible acts of
slaughter. The Crusaders continued on to
sack many more towns and murdering civilians
as they went. |
In the words of one historian, "They killed all
the Saracens and the Turks they found... whether
male of female."16 One of the
Crusaders, Raymond of Aguiles, boasted of this
violence:
Wonderful sights were to be seen. Some of our
men (and this was more merciful) cut off the heads
of their enemies; others shot them with arrows,
so that they fell from the towers; others tortured
them longer by casting them into the flames. Piles
of heads, hands and feet were to be seen in the
streets of the city. It was necessary to pick
one's way over the bodies of men and horses. But
these were small matters compared to what happened
at the Temple of Solomon, a place where religious
services are normally chanted ... in the Temple
and porch of Solomon, men rode in blood up to
their knees and bridle reins.17
In two days, the Crusader army killed some 40,000
Muslims in the barbaric ways just described.18
The Crusaders' barbarism was so excessive that,
during the Fourth Crusade, they plundered Constantinople
(present-day Istanbul), a Christian city, and
stole the golden objects from the churches.
Of course, all this barbarism was utterly against
Christian doctrine. Christianity, in the words
of the Bible, is a "message of love". In the Gospel
according to Matthew, it is said that Jesus said
to his followers, "Love your enemies and pray
for those who persecute you" (Matthew, 5:44).
In the Gospel according to Luke, it is said that
Jesus said, "To him who strikes you on the cheek,
offer the other also." (Luke, 6:29) In no part
of the Gospels is there any reference to the legitimacy
of violence; thus murdering innocent people is
unimaginable. You can find the concept of "murdering
the innocent" in the Bible; but only in the cruel
Jewish King Herod's attempt to kill Jesus while
he was a baby.
If Christianity is a religion based on love that
accommodates no violence, how did Christian Crusaders
carry out some of the most violent acts in history?
The major reason for this was that the Crusaders
were mainly made up of ignorant people who could
better be defined as "rabble". These masses, who
knew almost nothing about their religion, who
had probably never read or even seen the Bible
once in their lifetime, and who were for the most
part completely unaware of the moral values of
the Bible, were led into barbarism under the conditioning
of Crusaders' slogans which presented this violence
as "God's Will". Employing this fraudulent method,
many were encouraged to commit dreadful acts strictly
forbidden by the religion.
On September 12, 1204,
the Crusaders entered Constantinople, which
was held by their fellow Christians. They
sacked and looted the city even to the extent
of ripping the gold out of the churches.
|
It is worth mentioning that in that period, Eastern
Christians - the people of Byzantium, for instance
- who were culturally far ahead of Western Christians,
espoused more humane values. Both before and after
the Crusaders' conquests, Orthodox Christians
managed to live together with Muslims. According
to Terry Jones, the BBC commentator, with the
withdrawal of the Crusaders from Middle East,
"civilized life started again and members of the
three monotheistic faiths returned to peaceful
coexistence."19
The example of the Crusaders is indicative of
a general phenomenon. The more the adherents of
an ideology are uncivilised, intellectually underdeveloped
and ignorant, the more likely they are to resort
to violence. This also holds true for ideologies
that have nothing to do with religion. All communist
movements around the world are prone to violence.
Yet the most savage and bloodthirsty of them were
the Red Khmers in Cambodia. This was because they
were the most ignorant.
The Bedouin Character in
the Qur'an
In the period of the Prophet Muhammad, there
existed two basic social structures in Arabia.
City-dwellers and Bedouins (desert Arabs). A sophisticated
culture prevailed in Arab towns. Commercial relations
linked the towns to the outer world, which contributed
to the formation of "good manners" among Arabs
dwelling in cities. They had refined aesthetic
values, enjoyed literature and especially poetry.
Desert Arabs, on the other hand, were the nomad
tribes living in the desert who had a very crude
culture. Utterly unaware of arts and literature,
they developed an unrefined character.
Islam was born and developed among the inhabitants
of Mecca, the most important city of the peninsula.
However, as Islam spread to the rest of the the
peninsula, all the tribes in Arabia embraced it.
Among these tribes were also desert Arabs, who
were somehow problematic: their poor intellectual
and cultural background prevented some of them
from grasping the profundity and noble spirit
of Islam. Of this God states the following in
a verse:
The desert Arabs are the worst
in disbelief and hypocrisy, and more fitted to
be ignorant of the limits which God has sent down
to His Messenger. But God is Knowing, Wise. (Qur'an,
9:97)
The desert Arabs, that is, social groups who
were "worst in disbelief and hypocrisy" and prone
to disobey God's commands, became a part of the
Islamic world in the Prophet's time. However,
in later periods, they became a source of trouble
for the house of Islam. The sect called "Kharijis"
that emerged among the Bedouins was an example.
The most distinctive trait of this perverse sect
(which was called "Kharijis", the "rebels", because
they greatly deviated from Sunni practices), was
their wild and fanatical nature. The "Kharijis",
who had little understanding of the essence of
Islam or of the virtues and the values of the
Qur'an, waged war against all other Muslims basing
this war on a few Qur'anic verses about which
they made distorted interpretations. Furthermore,
they carried out "acts of terrorism". Ali, who
was one of the closest companions of the Prophet
and was described as the "gate of the city of
knowledge", was assassinated by a Kharijite.
In later periods, "Hashashis", another brutal
organisation, emerged; this was a "terrorist organisation"
made up of ignorant and fanatical militants bereft
of a profound understanding of the essence of
Islam and thus who could be readily influenced
by simple slogans and promises.
In other words, just as the Crusaders distorted
and misinterpreted Christianity as a teaching
of brutality, some perverted groups emerging in
the Islamic world misinterpreted Islam and resorted
to brutality. What is common to these sects and
the Crusaders was their "Bedouin" nature. That
is, they were ignorant, unrefined and uncultivated,
lacking a true understanding of their religion.
The violence they resorted to resulted from this
lack of understanding, rather than from the religion
they claimed to espouse.
| A
Terrorist is Without Pity Whose Only Purpose
is to Destroy
The
founder of Russian Anarchy, Michael Bakunin
and his disciple Nechayev define an ideal
terrorist in this way:
The whole work of his
[a revolutionist's] existence, not only
in words, but also in deeds, is at war with
the existing order of society, and with
the whole so-called civilized world, with
its laws, morals and customs, he is an uncompromising
opponent… He knows only one science; the
science of destruction. (The Alarm Newspaper
Article, "Bakunin's Ground-Work for the
Social Revolution," 1885 Dec. 26, p. 8)
As understood from these
words of Bakunin and Nechayev, terrorists
are people who sever their relationship
with every material and spiritual institution
thereby rejecting every moral value, and
who view these institutions as impediments
to their designs. Bakunin also said, "Day
and night dare he [a revolutionist] have
only one thought, one aim: the unmerciful
destruction; while he, cold-blooded and
without rest, follows that aim, he himself
must be ready to die at any time and ready
to kill with his own hands any one who seeks
to thwart his aims." In his Ground-Work
for the Social Revolution, there is this
description of what kind of person a terrorist
must be:
Michael Bakunin |
Stringent with himself
he must also be to others. All weak sentiment
towards relation, friendship, love and thankfulness
must be suppressed through the only cold
passion of the revolutionary work.
These words lay bare
the dark face of terrorism and show that
it is completely opposed to the religion
of Islam which is founded on peace, tolerance
and love. In this verse, God reveals that
peace is the real salvation of humanity
and that pursuing the opposite, that is
war and conflict, is to walk in the steps
of Satan:
O You who believe! Enter
absolutely into peace (Islam). Do not follow
in the footsteps of Satan. He is an outright
enemy to you. (Qur'an, 2:208) |
| The
Mass Psychology of Terrorism
Another
important characteristic of terrorists is
that they act with a collective spirit.
Within this spirit, individual ideas and
personal choice are disregarded as everyone
is directed toward one single goal. Those
who act within this collective spirit may
do things they would never do in their right
mind and commit acts without using their
own will and consciousness. In many countries
of the world, terror groups composed of
a few unintelligent and uneducated people
get caught up in the emotional hysteria
of mass meetings, slogans, and without even
knowing what they are doing or why, they
get involved in committing mass atrocities.
In one moment, such people can turn into
killers with blood on their hands, and even
terrorists who are able to commit inhumane
acts. A person may seem quiet and calm when
he is alone, but when he becomes a part
of a terrorist group, he may become capable
of committing acts of arson and assault
for no apparent reason. Such spells are
cast over individuals that they are even
willing to be killed for their cause. The
majority of those who take part in acts
of terror often have weak wills and consciences,
and they become like a flock of sheep under
the influence of mass psychology. Good sense
and judgment are substituted by excessive
and extravagant emotionalism and a tendency
toward violence and aggression. Such people
are easily provoked, intolerant and know
no limitation set by any law.
The error of this mass
psychology is revealed in the Qur'an where
it says that human beings must act according
to their own will and intelligence:
Do not pursue what you
have no knowledge of. Hearing, sight and
hearts will all be questioned. (Qur'an,
17:36) |
One of the Sources of Terrorism:
Third World Fanaticism
These examples from history may help us gain
better understanding of the present phenomenon,
the so-called "Islamic terror", which is nowadays
at the top of the international agenda. That is
because those who emerge and carry out acts of
terrorism in the name of Islam and those who back
such acts, representing a tiny minority in the
world of Islam, stem from this "character peculiar
to Bedouins", not from Islam itself. Failing to
understand the essence of Islam, which is essentially
a religion of peace and justice, they make it
a tool of barbarism, which is simply an outcome
of their social and cultural structure. The origin
of this barbarism, which may well be called "Third
World Fanaticism", is the benighted initiatives
of people who are devoid of love for their fellow
human-beings.
It is a fact that, for the last few centuries,
Muslims in all corners of the Islamic world, have
been subjected to violence by Western forces and
their allies. The colonialist European states,
local oppressive regimes or colonialists backed
by the West (Israel, for example) have caused
great suffering to Muslims at large. However,
for Muslims, this is a situation that has to be
approached and responded to from a purely Qur'anic
stance.
In no part of the Qur'an does God command believers
to respond to violence with violence. On the contrary,
God commands Muslims to "respond to evil with
goodness":
A good deed and a bad deed are
not the same. Repel the bad with something better
and, if there is enmity between you and someone
else, he will be like a bosom friend. (Qur'an,
41:34)
It is no doubt a legitimate right of Muslims
to react against this cruelty. However, these
reactions should never turn into a blind hatred,
an unjust enmity. God warns about this in the
following verse:
... Let not the hatred of a people
[who once] obstructed you from the Sacred Mosque
lead you to transgress. Help one another in benevolence
and piety, and help not one another in sin and
transgression… (Qur'an, 5:2)
Consequently, carrying out terrorist acts against
the innocent people of other nations under the
pretence of "representing the innocent nations
in the world", is by no means compatible with
Islam.
Another point that deserves a special mention
here is that all Western nations and communities
cannot be held responsible for the aforementioned
violence and oppression against Muslims. Actually,
the materialist, irreligious philosophies and
ideologies that prevailed in the 19th century
are in the main responsible for these dismal acts.
European colonialism did not originate from Christianity.
On the contrary, anti-religious movements opposing
the values of Christianity led the way to colonialism.
At the roots of the greatest brutalities of the
19th century lies the Social Darwinist ideology.
In the Western world today, there are still cruel,
mischievous and opposing factors, as well as a
culture dominated by peaceful and just elements
that have its roots in Christianity. As a matter
of fact, the main disagreement is not between
the West and Islam. Contrary to the general opinion,
it is between the devout people of the West and
of the Muslim world on the one hand, and the people
opposing religion (materialists, atheists, Darwinists
etc.) on the other.
Another indication that Third World Fanaticism
has nothing to do with Islam is that, until recently,
this fanaticism had been identified with the communist
ideology. As is well-known, similar anti-Western
acts of terror were carried out in 1960s and 1970s
by Soviet-backed communist organisations. As the
impact of the communist ideology faded, some of
the social structures which gave birth to communist
organisations have turned their attention to Islam.
This "brutality presented under the guise of religion",
which is formulated by the incorporation of some
Islamic concepts and symbols into the former communist
literature is entirely against the moral values
which constitute the essence of Islam.
A last remark about this issue is that Islam
is not peculiar to a particular nation or geographical
region. Contrary to the dominant Western perception,
Islam is not an "eastern culture". Islam is the
last religion revealed to mankind as a guide to
the true path that recommends itself to all humanity.
Muslims are responsible for communicating the
true religion they believe in to all people of
all nations and cultures and making them feel
closer to Islam.
Consequently, there is a unique solution for
people and groups who, in the name of Islam, resort
to terror, form oppressive regimes and turn this
world into a dreadful place instead of beautifying
it: revealing the true nature of Islam and communicating
it so that the masses can understand and live
by it.
| One
of The Methods of Terrorism is to Cause
Fear and Panicin Society
One
of the most important characteristics of
terrorism is that it selects its targets
indiscriminately. The fact that it determines
these targets without discrimination is
one of the most important reasons for the
spread of fear, because no one can feel
secure. If people know that they are possible
targets for no reasons, no one will feel
safe from the terrorists. There is nothing
a potential target can do to protect themselves,
since terrorists act according to their
own rules, in a time and place of their
own choosing. Thus acts of terror in society
are arbitrary and unpredictable.
 
Terrorist organisations attack their
targets indiscriminately which means
that innocent and defenceless individuals
are killed or wounded. A typical example
of this was the nerve gas attack in
the Tokyo Metro on March 20, 1995.
|
|
The Error of Radicalism
There is another idea that we must examine together
with that of terror; that is, the phenomenon of
radicalism.
Radicalism means supporting sudden revolutionary
destructive changes in any sphere and applying
a strict uncompromising policy in order to achieve
them. Radicals are characterised by their desire
for revolutionary change and the stern, sometimes
aggressive attitude they adopt.
In this, as in every sphere of life, the guide
for the Muslim is the Qur'an. When we look at
radicalism in the light of the Qur'an, we see
that it has nothing to do with the way in which
God commands the believers to behave. When God
describes a believer in the Qur'an, He depicts
him as a loving, soft-spoken person, shunning
conflicts and arguments, approaching even the
most hostile people with warmth and friendship.
An example to guide us in this matter is the
command given by God to Moses and Aaron to go
to Pharaoh and speak gently to him:
Go to Pharaoh; he has overstepped
the bounds. But speak to him with gentle words
so that hopefully he will pay heed or show some
fear. (Qur'an, 20:43-44)
Pharaoh was one of the most cruel and rebellious
unbelievers of his time. He was a despot who denied
God and worshipped idols; moreover, he subjected
believers (the Israelites of the time) to terrible
cruelties and murder. But God commanded His prophets
to go to such a hostile man and speak to him gently.
You will notice that the way shown by God was
the way of friendly dialogue, not the way of conflict
with sharp words, angry slogans and agitated protests.
God commands you to
return to their owners the things you hold
in trust and, when you judge between people,
to judge with justice. How excellent is
what God exhorts you to do! God is All-Hearing,
All-Seeing.
(Qur'an, 4:58) |
There are a few other examples to show Muslims
how to behave in the dialogue between Shu'ayb
and the deniers. This dialogue is related in the
Qur'an in this way:
And to Madyan their brother
Shu'ayb. He said, "My people, worship God! You
have no deity apart from Him. Do not give short
measure and short weight. I see you prospering
and I fear for you the punishment of an all-encompassing
Day.
My people! Give full measure
and full weight with justice; do not diminish
people's goods; and do not go about the earth,
corrupting it.
What endures with God is
better for you if you are believers. I am not
set over you as your keeper."
They said, "Shu'ayb, do
your prayers instruct you that we should abandon
what our fathers worshipped or stop doing whatever
we want to with our wealth? Yet you are such a
lenient, normal person!"
He said, "My people! What
do you think? If I do possess a Clear Sign from
my Lord and He has given me His good provision,
I do not want to oppose you in what way I am forbidding
you. I only want to put things right as far as
I can. My success is with God alone. I have put
my trust in Him and I turn to Him." (Qur'an, 11:84-88)
When we examine what he says, we see that Shu'ayb
invited the people to believe in God and to adopt
high moral principals and he did this with friendliness
and humility. We can explain some of the reasons
behind of the things said in these verses:
* When Shu'ayb says "I am not set over you as
your keeper." to the people, he does not want
to dominate them; his only intention is to inform
them of the truth that God has revealed.
For terrorists, killing
people, wreaking destruction and havoc is
a way of life. For them, bloodshed is a
deliberate act. They can shoot innocents,
throw a bomb at children or blow up a house
without any feeling of compassion. |
* "You are clearly the forbearing, the rightly-guided":
These words of the deniers to Shu'ayb show his
warm, gentle and courteous character and that
this was particularly appreciated by the deniers.
* "My people! What do you think?" This expression
used by Shu'ayb shows that he calls on the deniers
to use their intelligence and conscience. In other
words, he does not use insistent pressure, but
questions their ideas from an opposing stance
and invites them to consider and come to a conclusion
based on their own free conscience.
* "I do not want to oppose you in what way I
am forbidding you". Shu'ayb's prohibition here
is not actually a prohibition. He explains that
some acts are sinful and invites the people to
abandon them. Moreover, when Shu'ayb says "I do
not want to oppose you", it is not his purpose
to dispute with the people; he does not want to
make them uncomfortable and incite a quarrel;
he wants only to invite them to faith and the
practice of high moral principles.
If you examine the Qur'an you will see that a
warm, gentle and tolerant disposition characterized
all the prophets. God describes Abraham as "tender-hearted
and forbearing." (Qur'an, 9:114) and in
another verse, the prophet Muhammad's moral principles
are described in this way:
It is a mercy from God that you
were gentle with them. If you had been rough or
hard of heart, they would have scattered from
around you. So pardon them and ask forgiveness
for them, and consult with them about the matter.
Then when you have reached a firm decision, put
your trust in God. God loves those who put their
trust in Him. (Qur'an, 3:159)
An obvious characteristic of radicalism is its
anger. This disposition can be clearly seen in
the speeches, writings and demonstrations of radicals.
However, anger is not an attribute of Muslims.
When God describes believers in the Qur'an, he
describes, "those who give
in times of both ease and hardship, those who
control their rage and pardon other people - God
loves the good-doers" (Qur'an, 3:134)
There is no situation in which a Muslim displays
anger. The only thing a Muslim wants from other
people is that they believe in God and live according
to moral principles, but this is possible only
by the grace of God. No matter what we do, no
matter how much we try to explain the truth to
people, human hearts are in God's hands. God reminds
Muslims of this very important fact in this verse,
"... Do those who believe not know that if God
had wanted to He could have guided all mankind?
..." (Qur'an, 13:31)
There is another verse that emphasises this same
fact;
If your Lord had willed, all
the people on the earth would have believed. Do
you think you can force people to be believers?
(Qur'an, 10:99)
Therefore, it is the duty of a Muslim only to
explain the facts and to invite people to accept
them. Whether or not people accept the invitation
is completely up to their own conscience. God
reveals this truth in the Qur'an when He says
that there is no compulsion in religion.
There is no compulsion in religion.
True guidance has become clearly distinct from
error. Anyone who rejects false deities and has
belief in God has grasped the Firmest Handhold,
which will never give way. God is All-Hearing,
All-Knowing. (Qur'an, 2:256)
Therefore, there is no coercion to make people
believe and become Muslims, or to make Muslims
perform prayers and beware of sin. There is only
advice. God reveals in a few verses addressed
to the Messenger of God that Muslims are not oppressors:
We know best what they say. You
are not a dictator over them. So remind, with
the Qur'an, whoever fears My Threat. (Qur'an,
50:45)
Say: "Mankind! The truth has
come to you from your Lord. Whoever is guided
is only guided for his own good. Whoever is misguided
is only misguided to his detriment. I have not
been set over you as a guardian." (Qur'an, 10:108)
Muslims are responsible only for explaining their
religion, they apply no pressure or coercion on
anyone and are enjoined to speak gently to even
the most tyrannical deniers. Such persons cannot
be radicals, because radicalism stands for the
opposite of those qualities we have enumerated.
Indeed, radicalism is an unIslamic current of
thought and a political stance that came into
the Islamic world from outside. When we examine
social phenomena described in terms of radicalism,
it will be seen that these are basically a collection
of methods and pronouncements used by communists
in the past, or an expression of the "fanatical
rage" that has no place in true Islam. (The Qur'an,
48:26)
All Muslims must totally reject an angry, unbending
argumentative attitude which goes against the
very nature of the Qur'an and in its place adopt
a friendly, gentle, tolerant, calm and compassionate
one. Muslims must set an example to the world
and be admired for their maturity, tolerance,
moderation, modesty and peacefulness. Muslims
must live Islam in the best possible way and be
its representatives to the world, not only in
these things, but also by their achievements in
the fields of science, culture, art, aesthetics
and social order and others.
Explaining Islam to others and defending Islam
against ideas alien to it are included in what
we have listed above. In the verse below, God
clearly reveals what attitude a Muslim must assume
with regard to others:
Call to the way of your Lord
with wisdom and fair admonition, and argue with
them in the kindest way. Your Lord knows best
who is misguided from His way. And He knows best
who are guided. (Qur'an, 16:125)
Terrorist Methods and Psychology
The concept of terror has a wider meaning in
today's language. Generally it refers to the armed
conflict carried on by radical ideological groups.
In general, terror means intimidation. But this
intimidation encompasses a broad field including
the whole lives of people who feel the intense
threat of fear and violence. Terror includes intense
and systematic intimidation designed to make people
adopt a certain way of thinking and behaviour,
as well as every kind of violent act carried out
to produce this intimidation. But in every situation,
the target of terrorism is directly or indirectly
the citizens themselves.
Terror organisations use terror to rally support.
The intimidation they use is calculated to increase
their strength and so to gain the support of some
or all the citizens.
Terrorists aim to
damage people both physically and psychologically
to attain a certain goal. Morals of religion,
however, is opposed to terrorism in that
it aims to foster love, well-being, compassion,
joy and hope in society. |
The first thing that people think of when we
mention the word "terror" is generally the kind
known as "leftist terror", but there is also a
kind of terror found in Third World countries
and practiced by dictatorial regimes. Actually
the reality here is nothing other than a massive
implementation of leftist terror tactics. A dictator
or a group in power is oppressive, using their
power only for personal gain and for this reason
they experience various kinds of social opposition.
In this situation, the dictatorial regime always
resorts to the same formula to show that it is
stronger than the opposition; they inaugurate
the use of terror so that citizens will be afraid
and their own power are consolidated.
Terror organisations, on the other hand, in accordance
with the ideologies they espouse, claim that their
aim is to remove a government and its administrators
which they regard as illegitimate and cruel and,
in so doing, that they will reach their goal of
establishing a happier and more just way of life.
However, this is not a realistic claim. In the
Qur'an, in the first verses of Sura Baqara, God
issues this command to those who think in this
way:
When they are told, "Do not cause
corruption on the earth," they say, "We are only
putting things right." No indeed! They are the
corrupters, but they are not aware of it. (Qur'an,
2:11-12)
For terrorists, killing people is a way of life.
They may shoot innocent people without pity and
throw bombs at children. For them shedding blood
is a pleasure. They have ceased to be human beings
and turned into raving savage beasts. If there
is anyone among them who shows the least feeling
of compassion, they brand him as a coward or a
traitor and demote him. Often they use their guns
against one another and carry out bloody purges
against internal factions in their own organisation.
It can be seen that terrorism is nothing other
than a totally diabolical source of bloodshed.
Whoever supports this cycle of savagery is defending
a satanic system. If a terrorist uses religious
language and symbols, this must not deceive anyone.
Terrorists who hide under the cloak of false religion
are doubly guilty, both of the blood they have
shed and for the anti-religious propaganda they
have spread while committing these crimes in the
name of religion.
Terror and religion are completely opposed to
each other. Terrorism adopts the way of aggression,
murder, conflict, cruelty and misery. But according
to the Qur'an, all these things are kinds of oppression.
God enjoins peace, harmony, goodwill and compromise.
He forbids terror and every kind of act that does
not promote peace, and, condemns those who commit
such acts:
But as for those who break God's
contract after it has been agreed and sever what
God has commanded to be joined, and cause corruption
in the earth, the curse will be upon them. They
will have the Evil Abode. (Qur'an, 13:25)
The basic quality that terror and those who are
infected by its cruelty have in common is that
the fear and love of God is something completely
alien to them. Their hearts have become hardened
and they are spiritually ill. In the Qur'an, God
speaks about the character of such people:
But do not obey any vile swearer
of oaths, any backbiter, slandermonger, impeder
of good, evil aggressor, gross, coarse and furthermore,
despicable.(Qur'an, 68:10-13)
To rebel for no cause and to commit acts of assault
are forbidden by God. In Islam, acts of what we
call terror and anarchy today are forbidden. In
the Qur'an it is said:
Say: "My Lord has forbidden indecency,
both open and hidden, and wrong action, and unrightful
tyranny, and associating anything with God for
which He has sent down no authority, and saying
things about God that you do not know." (Qur'an,
7:33)
  
…Heed God (alone).
God is aware of what you do.
(Qur'an, 5:8) |
Acts of Violence- One of
the Most Important Methods of Terrorist Propoganda
Terrorists regard acts of violence as propaganda
for their organisations. For them, killing innocent
people, robbing banks, assassinating people, kidnapping
and planting bombs all act as propaganda for their
struggle. To the terrorist who is bent on wreaking
chaos, what publicity a single act of violence
can generate in one day is much more publicity
than what millions of brochures could do.
This idea is totally foreign to every kind of
human feeling of compassion, mercy, concord and
tolerance; it is alien to the moral teaching of
the Qur'an and can gain a following only in those
societies in which anti-religious ideologies hold
sway. For this reason, the only possible solution
that can save humanity from this benighted way
of thinking is the widespread acceptance of the
moral teachings found in the Qur'an and taken
as a way of life.
God calls to the Abode
of Peace and He guides whom He wills to a straight
path. (Qur'an, 10:25)
God calls to the Abode
of Peace and He guides whom He wills to
a straight path.
(Koran, 10:25) |
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