Question: How can Islamic extremists think they can get into heaven by murdering innocent people when there is no justification in the Qur’an for doing so.Their motives seem to be more about hatred than the love of God, as they seem more motivated by what God can give them in paradise, as opposed to any love of God. Al-Qaeda in Iraq, for example, seem to think they can kill whoever they want by saying “God is Great” while they murder people, which they imagine absolves them of any wrongdoing. (Dieter-Germany)
Answer: Salam, Dieter. Thank you for your question. Murdering Innocents = Murdering Humanity. First of all, I would like to emphasize the Islamic teaching that murdering an innocent human is like murdering the whole of humanity. You can read the meaning of the following verse in the Qur’an:
*{If anyone slays a human being — unless it be [in punishment] for murder or for spreading corruption on earth —, it shall be as though he had slain all humankind; whereas, if anyone saves a life, it shall be as though he had saved the lives of all humankind}* (Al-Ma’idah 5:32)
Also take note of the Qur’anic command:
*{Let there be no compulsion in religion}* (Al-Baqarah 2:256)
which means that no force should be used to make a person follow the dictates of religion. This means that no one can force anyone else to become a Muslim or follow a certain religion, as faith concerns the heart.
Fighting for Self-Defense and Justice
But the above verses do not preclude fighting in self-defense or fighting for justice. In fact, God in the glorious Qur’an permits such fighting as a last option, when all other avenues are closed:
*{Fight in the cause of God those who fight you, but do not transgress limits; for God loves not transgressors. And fight them wherever you catch them and turn them out from where they have turned you out, for tumult and oppression are worse than slaughter}* (Al-Baqarah 2:190-191). And again, this verse stresses that permission is given for those who are being oppressed to fight their oppressors:
*{To those against whom war is made, permission is given (to fight), because they are wronged;— and verily, God is most powerful for their aid;— (They are) those who have been expelled from their homes in defiance of right,— (for no cause) except that they say, “our Lord is God.” Did not God check one set of people by means of another, there would surely have been pulled down monasteries, churches, synagogues, and mosques, in which the name of God is commemorated in abundant measure. God will certainly aid those who aid His (cause);- for verily God is full of Strength, Exalted in Might, (able to enforce His Will).}* (Al-Hajj 22:39-40)
The above verses do not lend any support to extremism or terrorism. And no Muslim can believe that the killing of innocent humans can earn rewards in Heaven, as such killings are categorically prohibited in Islam.
What is more, justice is one of the most important values (if not the most important value) the Qur’an wishes its adherents to cherish and honor:
*{O you who believe, stand out firmly for justice as witnesses to God, even as against yourselves or your parents or your kin, and whether it be (against) rich or poor: For God can best protect both. Follow not the lusts (of your hearts), lest you swerve, and if you distort (justice) or decline to do justice, verily God is well-acquainted with all that you do.}* (An-Nisaa’ 4:135)
And again we read what means:
*{O you who believe, stand out firmly for God as witnesses to justice; and let not the hatred of a people cause you to swerve from justice; be just; that is the closest to piety.}* (Al-Ma’idah 5:8)
These verses mean that it is the duty of Muslims to do their utmost to see that justice is done under all circumstances, no matter what the cost is. Justice should be done even to the enemies who fight Muslims or even if they have to act against the interests of their own close relatives or friends.
Blaming Islam for the Actions of Muslims
Muslims should never act out of narrow partisanship or out of selfish motives, because God says that doing justice is the closest action to actual piety to Him. Muslims are persons who should live by the Qur’an and the Sunnah, and they should never ever try to flout the explicit commands of God in the Qur’an and the example of the Prophet (peace be upon him). For the same reason, we cannot blame Islam for the actions of certain people that contravene Islamic precepts any more than we can blame Christianity, for instance, for the misdeeds of certain Christians in derogation of the teachings of that religion.
A Political look at today’s Conflicts
Despite the foregoing, why do some people in the Muslim world reportedly resort to the use of violence? Palestine, Afghanistan, and Iraq can serve as good examples.
Some media reports and presentations of events in areas of conflict are biased and slanted to such an extent that we do not get a correct picture of what is happening. Modern wars are fought on various battlefronts, not least on the media front. Embedded journalists cannot know the war from the other side, nor can they report it objectively, even if they know the truth. World media is controlled by the rich and powerful countries of the world, and it is only natural that their interests are safeguarded in the featuring of news stories. Hype, slant, and spin are the order of the day in the media world.
You have mentioned “Al-Qaeda in Iraq.” Just think for a moment: Couldn’t this be a label invented by biased media outlets to discredit the Iraqi resistance against the occupation? If the resistance fighters are called “Al-Qaeda,” immediately their cause is blacked out, and they are taken for terrorists who are bent on “murdering innocent Americans”! People who used to be victims of Saddam Hussein are ruthlessly bombarded with depleted uranium bombs and cluster bombs to implement “democracy.” It is interesting to see how US forces in Iraq are using Saddam’s own Abu Ghraib for this “purpose.”
Any groups who want to fight against this so-called preemptive invasion are depicted as terrorists who are “motivated by what God can give them in paradise.”
This means that they are not fighting the invaders and occupiers, but they simply wish to get rewards in the Islamic Paradise, eager to commit suicide in the process!
Very few people seem to notice the terrible hypocrisy and double standards followed by the leaders of “civilized world.”
They present Islam as “Islamic fascism” or “terrorist Islam” in order to push their imperialist agenda. And the real causes of the conflicts are blurred out. This is the tragedy of the present day world, which ignores the terrible massacre of over 600,000 Iraqis or the systematic genocide and dispossession of the Palestinian people.
Indeed, Islam is a religion like Judaism and Christianity. It is the third of the three Abrahamic religions. Islam teaches its followers to respect all the prophets mentioned in the Bible, including Abraham, Moses, and Jesus.
It teaches that there is only One God, Who is the Creator and Sustainer of the universe — the All-Merciful, All-Just. And Islam holds as holy all the precepts of mercy, kindness, justice, and truth preached by all the Prophets of God.
An American writer wrote about the US attack on Iraq and its “impact” on the Americans:
I noticed no signs of grief in our supermarkets on the days when children’s arms were being blown off, not even the day the Anglo-American forces marched into Baghdad, killing thousands of Iraqi men, women and children all on the same day, the vastness of the killing shocking our own soldiers who were THERE without a CNN filter. ... I could see laughing people hauling bags and bags of nitrate-jammed, high-fat, processed foods out to their cars … And a further look too often cemented the link. There it would be, on the bumper: God said it, I believe it, and that settles it. (Thomas, Lisa Walsh. The Isaiah Crowd: How Their Neo-Christianity is Killing Us. 4 June 2003. Counterpunch.org. Accessed 27 May 2007.)
When Religion becomes a Victim
Sometimes religion becomes a cover for committing atrocities.
If the religion of Jesus Christ is not to be blamed for the greed and sadism of certain Christians, how can Islam be in the dock for the political struggles of liberation that take place in Afghanistan, Iraq, or Palestine?
(www.islamonline.net)