Terrorism As A Stima on Muslim Ummah

By now any sane human being of 21 st

century should realize that the religion
of Islam is not the source of Islamic terrorism happening today around the world.
But sadly, majority of gullible people (Muslim and non-Muslims) tend to ask
questions: Does the Islam have anything to do with Terrorism? More precisely-does
the Quran anyway responsible for Islamic terrorism, or Islamic suicide bombings?
Some hypocritical educated so called moderate Muslims now started to blame
Hadiths (only) for Islamic terrorism/suicide bombings etc. and they are hypocritically
claiming that Quran is totally innocent of this crime. These neo-islamists also claim
that for all these Islamic suicide bombings and Islamic terrorism-it is the Sunnah
(Ahadiths or traditions left by the Prophet Muhammad) which should be blamed,
and not the Holy Quran. In this faulty or erroneous line of thinking they got their
illusionary vision that, if hadiths could be dump then Islam will be very peaceful and
innocent. The objective of study is to sponge down the stigma of terrorism on
Muslim Ummah.

HYPOTHESIS :

What is terrorism?
Is Terrorism a muslim monopoly?
Does Quran and Hadith project terrorism?
: Does the Islam have anything to do with Terrorism?
does the Quran anyway responsible for Islamic terrorism, or Islamic suicide
bombings?

These questions arises in the minds of the people, during any discussion on religion
or world affairs. Muslim stereotypes are perpetuated in every form of the media
accompanied by gross misinformation about Islam and Muslims. In fact, such
misinformation and false propaganda often leads to discrimination and acts of
violence against Muslims.
Firstly lets see the dictionary meaning of the word terrorism, according to Oxford
Dictionary, the word terrorism means: 'the use of violent actions in order to achieve
political aims or to force a government to act.'

The United States Department of Defense defines terrorism as “the calculated use
of unlawful violence or threat of unlawful violence to inculcate fear; intended to
coerce or to intimidate governments or societies in the pursuit of goals that are
generally political, religious, or ideological.”
Well, we can say that terrorism is the use of extreme fear in order to force people
(especially for political reasons)

The word terrorism was first coined in 1790's during the French Revolution.

There is a statement, which is being repeatedly bombarded, especially in the

western media and that statement is, 'All Muslims are not Terrorist, but all Terrorist
are Muslims.' But here are the historical records on terrorist attacks that speak a
different picture

Today, many non-Muslims regard Islam as a religion that promotes violence,

terrorism and war. Unfortunately, they rely in their view of Islam on the general
media, which is not always accurate in reporting the news. Many media outlets,
such as TV, radio, newspapers and magazines, are influenced by their investors or
owners who have certain agendas and who want to promote certain values and
points of view. Other media outlets are simply after the "big story", in order to
make more money and more profits. Others are simply "followers", who only gather
news from other sources, re-package it and try to sell it again purely as a business.

In all these cases, the news reporting is not accurate, but is driven by ulterior
motives or simply by profits. Only very few media organizations are committed to
providing accurate and true information, regardless of financial gain. Therefore,
people today should be very careful in what they take from the media.

Before blindly accepting what the TV, radio or newspaper is reporting, one should
think critically about what is being reported. Is this being reported accurately, or is
it being exaggerated or even completely fabricated? Who are these people reporting
the news, and do they have vested interests to report the story in a certain way, or
are they completely objective and fair? Critical thinking is very important in all
aspects of life, especially when it comes to accepting the media reports about
important and controversial issues.

TECHNIQUE :

The technique used for research on the topic was simple. It was a group discussion
with some of renowned Islamic scholars from Madina University, international Islamic
University and Punjab university’s Professors & some media anchors and a few
students of unbiased thought.

Some of the ,material was taken from the following sites as well

 www.tauheed-sunnat.com
 www.irf.com
 www.tubeislam.com
  www.jamatdawa.org
 www.qurango.com
 www.talkislam.com
 www.al-islami.com

INTRODUCTION

Islam is in fact a religion that promotes peace and understanding among people of
all faiths, and it strongly prohibits all forms of violence and aggression against all
people regardless of their faith or race.

In addition, the following were the instructions of Prophet Mohammad (pbuh) to

Muslims who are forced to fight a war:

• "Do not kill women or children or non-combatants and do not kill old people
or religious people,'' and he mentioned priests, nuns and rabbis. And he said,
"Do not cut down fruit-bearing trees and do not poison the wells of your
enemies.

Yahya related to me from Malik from Yahya ibn Said that Abu Bakr as-Siddiq was
sending armies to ash-Sham. He went for a walk with Yazid ibn Abi Sufyan who was
the commander of one of the battalions. It is claimed that Yazid said to Abu Bakr,
"Will you ride or shall I get down?" Abu Bakrsaid, "I will not ride and you will not
get down. I intend these steps of mine to be in the way of Allah." Then Abu Bakr
advised Yazid, "You will find a people who claim to have totally given themselves to
Allah. Leave them to what they claim to have given themselves. You will find a
people who have shaved the middle of their heads, strike what they have shaved
with the sword. "I advise you ten things: do not kill women or children or an aged,
infirm person. do not cut down fruit-bearing trees. do not destroy an inhabited
place. do not slaughter sheep or camels except for food. do not burn bees and do
not scatter them. do not steal from the booty, and do not be coward’’
This shows how much peaceful Prophet MUHAMMAD S.A.W and his Companions
were.

The years 1793 and 1794 were called as 'The Reign of Terror' or 'Years of
Terror.'During these years Maximilin Robespierre guillotined thousands of
innocents. He arrested more than 500,000 out of which he executed 40,000.
More than 200,000 were deported and more than 200,000 were starved and
tortured to death in the prisons.

Today there is a statement, which is being repeatedly bombarded, especially

in the western media and that statement is, 'All Muslims are not Terrorist,
but all Terrorist are Muslims.' But here are the historical records on terrorist
attacks that speak a different picture:

19th century – We hardly find any terrorist attacks done by Muslims.

1881 – Tsar Alexander was assassinated in a Bomb Blast. He was traveling in
a bulletproof carriage in St. Pietersburg Street. The first bomb kills innocent
21 bystanders. The second bomb killed him while he was stepping out of the
car. He was killed by Ignacy Hryniewiecki. He was Anarchists.
1886 – Bomb Blast at Haymarket Square, Chicago, during a labour rally. 12
people were killed; one among them was a policeman. Seven policemen
were injured and they died in the hospital. The people responsible were 8
Anarchists all of them were non-Muslims.
6 September 1901 – The US President, William McKinley, was shot twice by
an Anarchist named Leon Czolgosz. He was a non-Muslim.
1 October 1910 – Bomb blast in Los Angeles at Times newspaper building. 21
were killed. The blast was done by 2 Christians named James and Joseph.
They were union leaders.
28 June 1914 – Archduke of Austria and his wife were assassinated which
precipitated the World War I. The members of Young Bosnia assassinated
them - most of them were Serbs. They were non-Muslims.
16 April 1925 – Bomb Blast in St. Nedelya Church in Sofia, the capital of
Bulgaria. 10,050 were killed and 500 injured. This was the biggest terrorist
attack that was done on the soil of Bulgaria. The Bulgarian Communist Party
did it. They were non-Muslims.
9 October 1934 – King Alexander I of Yugoslavia was assassinated by a
gunman by the name of Vlada Georgieff. He was a non-Muslim.
1 May 1961 – First US plane to be hijacked was not done by a Muslim. It was
done by Ramierez Ortiz.
28 August 1968 – The US Ambassador to Guatemala was assassinated by a
non-Muslim.
30 July 1969 – The US Ambassador to Japan was knifed by a Japanese non-
Muslim.
3 September 1969 – US Ambassador to Brazil was kidnapped by a non-
Muslim.
19 April 1995 - The famous attack of the Oklahoma Bombing in which a truck
loaded with bombs ran into the federal building of Oklahoma, in which 166
were killed and 100 were injured. Initially in the press it came as 'Middle East
Conspiracy'. Later on they came to know that it was done by two Christians
named Timothy and Terry.
After World War II

After World War II from 1941 to 1948, the Jewish Terrorists conducted 259
terrorist attacks.
22 July 1946 – The famous bombing of King David Hotel was conducted
under the leadership of Menachem Begin. 91 were killed, out of which 28
were British, 41 Arabs, 17 Jews and 5 others. The Ignun group dressed up as
Arabs to show as though the Muslims did this bombing. Menachem Begin
was called terrorist number one by the British government. Later on after a
few years Menachem Begin the terrorist number one became the Prime
Minister of Israel & got a Noble Prize for Peace. Imagine a person who was a
terrorist number getting a Noble Prize for Peace. Menachem Begin and
others were fighting to get a Jewish state. Before 1945 Israel did not exist in
the World Map. These Jewish group were fighting for a Jewish state and later
on with the power they kick the Palestinian out and now the same people are
calling the same Palestinian who are fighting for a more just cause for
getting their land back. And the Israelis label them today as Terrorist.
Hitler killed 6 million Jews. The Palestinians welcome the Jews. Later on the
Jews kick the Palestinians out of their own land and when the Palestinians are
fighting to get their land back they are labeled as Terrorists. It is like I
welcome a stranger in my house. After a few days that person throws me out
of my house and when I shout out side my house that I want my house back,
you call me a Terrorist.
In Germany from 1968 – 1992, Baader Meinhoff Gang killed several innocent
human beings.
In Italy, Red Brigades kidnapped and killed Aldo Moro, the former Prime
Minister of Italy.
20 March 1995 - Aum Shinrikyo a Buddhist Cult used Nerve Gas in the Tokyo
Subway in which 12 people were killed and 5700 were wounded and injured.
IRA (The Irish Republican Army)

In UK since hundred years IRA (The Irish Republican Army) is conducting

Terrorist attacks against UK. They are Catholics. But are never called as
Catholic Terrorist. In 1972 IRA conducted 3 bomb blasts. In the first blast 7
were killed, in second blast 11 were killed and in the third 9 were killed.
In 1974 IRA conducted two bomb blasts. First at Guildford Pub in which 5
were killed and 44 injured; second at the Birmingham Pub which killed 21
and injured 182.
In 1996 IRA conducted bomb blast in London in which 2 persons were killed
and more than were 100 injured. In the same year IRA conducted bomb blast
in Manchester shopping center in which 206 people were injured.
On 1 August, 1998, the 'Banbridge' bomb blast took place. The IRA planted
500 pound of bomb, which was loaded in a car where 35 people were
injured.
On 15 August, 1998, 'Omagh' bomb blast took place. IRA planted 500 pound
of bomb in a car where 29 people were killed and 330 injured.
On the 4 March, 2001, the BBC was bombed by IRA.
The IRA is never called as Catholic Terrorist. Today the UK government is
more afraid of Muslim terrorist. Today Tony Blair is more afraid of the
'Muslim terrorists' than IRA who is conducting terrorist attacks for more than
a hundred years. Why?
In Spain and France ETA conducted 36 terrorist attacks. In Africa there are
many terrorist organisations. But the most notorious is the 'Lord's Salvation
Army'; a Christian terrorist organisation in Uganda. They train young
childrens to commit terrorist attacks.

In Sri Lanka, the LTTE (Liberation Tigers of Tamil Elam) is the most notorious.
It is the most violent terrorist organisation in the world. They are experts in
suicide bombings and they even train children to take part in suicide
bombings.

Normally people know Palestinian suicide bombings, Iranian suicide bombing,

but they don't know that LITTE are people who have popularized to suicide
bombings. The LTTE i.e. Tamil tigers, they are Hindus.

In India majority of the terrorist attacks are talked about the Kashmiri
militants. In India there are terrorist organization belonging to almost all
different religions. We have Sikh terrorist, the 'Bhindranwala' in Punjab. If
you go to South Asian Terrorism portal run by Non-Muslims, and if you see
the list of terrorist attacks done by all the people, you will find the Muslims in
a minority. But that is never highlighted in the media.

On 5 June, 1984, the Indian Security Forces took over the Golden Temple in
which 100 people were killed. In retaliation on 31 October, 1984, Prime
Minister Indira Gandhi was assassinated by her Sikh security guard. In
Tripura there are Christian terrorist organizations called ATTF (All Tripura
Tiger Force) and NLFT (National Liberation Front of Tripura). On the 2
October, 44 Hindus were killed by these Christian terrorists.

In Assam we have ULFA (United Liberation Front of Assam). ULFA in the 16

years from 1990 to 2006 has conducted successfully 749 confirmed terrorist
attacks. The ULFA will put the Kashmiri militants to shame. But in the
newspapers we only hear of Kashmiri militant. Why? The ULFA are trained to
kill the Muslims, they are Hindus. How many times do we hear about them?

The maximum terrorist attacks, which have been done in India, are done by
the Maoists. Only in Nepal, in the past 7 years they have conducted 99
terrorist attacks. According to the Indian Government out of 600 districts in
India Maoists are present in 150 districts of India. They have done terrorist
attacks in one-third part of India. The Maoists are the biggest dangers to
India but yet the Indian Government is afraid of the Muslim terrorist. Why?
The reason is George Bush. The Times of India, edition dated 9 September,
2006, reported that 875 rockets and 30 launchers were confiscated by the
police. It is the biggest haul in the history of India that the government has
confiscated.

From all these things we can surely say that Terrorism is not a Muslim
Monopoly. Not a Muslim monopoly, it is not even a specialty of the Muslims.
It is not even encouraged by Islam. The Holy Qur'an says in Sura Maidah,
chp.5, verse.32, that "If anyone kills any human being, except as a
punishment for murder or creating mischief in the land, it will as though he
had killed the entire humanity". Most of the religions don't preach that you
should kill innocent human being. Terrorism is not the monopoly of any
religion.

The human being who has killed the maximum people is Adolf Hitler. Hitler
incinerated 6 million Jews. He was Christian. Joseph Stalin (Uncle Joe) killed
20 million human beings; including 14.5 million were starved to death. Mao
Tse Tsung of China killed 14 to 20 million human beings. He was Non Muslim.
Benito Mussolini of Italy killed 400,000 human beings. Maximilin Robespierre
during the French revolution starved and tortured 200,000 people to death
and executed 40,000 people. Ashoka in one battle of Kalinga alone killed
more than 100,000 people. He was a Hindu. Saddam Hussein killed a few
100 thousands people. But the embargo put by George Bush and the USA
alone killed more than half a million Iraqi children. In Indonesia, Muhammad
Suharto killed 500,000 people.

This is nothing compared to Hitler or uncle Joe nothing compare to Mao TSE
sung each individual will put the Muslims to shame. I am not trying to say
that these individual they were religious. If they would have religious then
they would not have committed such acts. But yet we find in the
international media that the Muslims are called as fundamentalist,
extremists and terrorists. The American Revolution took place in the 19th
century. According to the British Government the terrorist No. 1 that time
was Benjamin Franklin and George Washington.

Views of world's famous personalities

The President of Venezuela, 'Hugo Chavez' says, 'The biggest terrorist in the
world is George bush'.
The President Elect of Bolivia, 'Evo Morales', he says that George Bush is a
terrorist.
Famous singer and activist of America, Harry Bellefonte says that the biggest
terrorist in the world is George Bush.
An MP in UK by the name of George Galloway he said, 'The blood that is on
the hands of George Bush and Tony Blair is much more than the bombers
who have done bombing in London. It will be justified that a suicide bomber
goes and kill Tony Blair without injuring any other human being. This is type
of suicide bombing will be justified'.
Former Chief Minister of West Bengal, Jyoti Basu said, 'The biggest terrorist
in the world is George Bush'.
Noble prize winner for Peace, Betty Williams said, 'I would love to kill George
Bush'.
Solution to terrorism

Politicians should be honest and just and should not do wrong things for the
vote bank.
Innocent Indian citizens should not be instigated by the politicians and kill
other human beings. Police should be upright and just and protect the
innocent. They should not be ploy of the politicians. I know that there are
times that they can be transferred. But if every policeman in India is honest,
the new policemen who are transferred will also be honest. So what will the
politicians do?
People should not take the law in their hand and kill other human being.
Mahatma Gandhi said, " If India has to improve it should be ruled by a
dictator as honest and upright as Hadrat Umar (The Caliph of Islam). Dr.
Joseph Adam Pearson said, 'People who worry that nuclear weaponry will one
day fall in the hands of the Arabs, they fail to realize that the Islamic bomb
has already been dropped, it fell the day Prophet MUHAMMED (pbuh) was
born'.
Ma'idah {5:28}
((If you will stretch forth your hand towards me to slay me, I am not one to
stretch forth my hand towards you to slay you surely I fear Allah, the Lord of
the worlds))

Israa {16:126}
(("And if you punish, you shall inflict an equivalent punishment. But if you
resort to patience instead of revenge, it would be better for the patient
ones.))

Conclusion:

Islam Prohibits Violence and Aggression, and stands for Peace and Justice.

Islam clearly prohibits all kinds and forms of aggression and violence against anyone, except in self-
defense. Islam is a practical religion, meant to be implemented in every aspect of our life. Therefore,
it realizes the fact that a person who commits aggression and violence against others will not cease
these actions unless they are deterred by similar actions taken against them.

Islam also places very high importance on justice, and allows for aggressors and unjust people be
punished accordingly, unless they repent before they are brought to justice. At the same time, Islam
encourages people to forgive those who have wronged them whenever possible.

Evidence of these ideals can be found in the Holy Qur'an, which is the word of God revealed to the
messenger of God, Mohammad peace be upon him. It can also be found in the Hadeeth, the sayings of
Mohammad peace be upon him, and in his teachings to Muslims. A few examples of this are shown
below from the Holy Qur'an:

• "Fight in the cause of Allah those who fight you, and do not transgress; for Allah loveth not
transgressors." (Surah 2, Verse 190).

• "But if they cease (fighting you), Allah is Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful." (Surah 2, Verse 192).

• "But if the enemy incline towards peace, do thou (also) incline towards peace, and trust in
Allah: for He is the One that Heareth and Knoweth (all things)." (Surah 8, Verse 61).

• "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." (Surah 2, Verse 194).

• " ... and let not the hatred of some people in (once) shutting you out of the Sacred Mosque
lead you to transgression (and hostility on your part). Help ye one another in righteousness
and piety, but help ye not one another in sin and rancour: fear Allah: for Allah is strict in
punishment." (Surah 5, Verse 2).

• "Nor can Goodness and Evil be equal. Repel (Evil) with what is better: then will he between
whom and thee was hatred become as it were thy friend and intimate!" (Surah 41, Verse 34).

• "O ye who believe! stand out firmly for justice, as witnesses to Allah, even as against
yourselves, or your parents, or your kin, and whether it be (against) rich or poor: for Allah can
best protect both. Follow not the lusts (of your hearts), lest ye swerve, and if ye distort
(justice) or decline to do justice, verily Allah is well-acquainted with all that ye do." (Surah 4,
Verse 135).

• "God advocates justice, charity, and regarding the relatives. And He forbids evil, vice, and
transgression. He enlightens you, that you may take heed." (Surah 16, Verse 90).

• "And if ye do punish them, punish them no worse than they punished you: but if ye show
patience, that is indeed the best (course) for those who are patient." (Surah 16, Verse 126).

The first three verses above instruct Muslims to fight those who fight them, and not to commit
aggression first, as God does not like transgressors. They also instruct Muslims to stop fighting those
who wish to cease fighting them, and to accept peace with the enemy who becomes inclined towards
peace.

The fourth verse mentioned above instructs Muslims that if someone transgresses against them, they
should respond to them likewise, and it reminds Muslims to fear God and to restrain themselves to
this limit.

The fifth verse reminds Muslims not to let hatred of some people for past reasons to lead them to
transgress against those people or be hostile towards them. It also instructs us to help each other in
good and righteous actions, and not to cooperate in aggression and sin, and it reminds them finally of
the strict punishment of God to encourage them to abide by these principles.

The sixth verse reminds us that goodness and evil are never equal, and that we should repel evil with
good actions. This means that when someone is unjust to us or commits evil against us, we are
encouraged to respond with kind and good actions, so that the hatred between us and that person will
evaporate and will become an intimate friendship!

The seventh verse mentioned reminds us to stand up for justice, even if it is against ourselves or our
family, and even if it is against those who are rich or powerful, because justice applies to everyone. It
also reminds us that God knows everything we do, and so if we act unjustly even in our hearts, God
knows what we did and we will be accountable for that.

The eighth verse informs us that God enjoins us to follow justice, and that God forbids us from
committing evil, vice and transgression.

The ninth and final verse reminds Muslims that if they are punished, that they may only respond with
the same punishment and not to go over this limit. However, they are reminded that forgiveness and
patience is the best course of action.

These are the wonderful ideals of Islam:

 • To pursue peace with everyone including past enemies, except when they fight the Muslims
and refuse peace, then Muslims are allowed to fight in self-defense.

• To ensure that we always apply justice and never transgress against others even if they are
our enemies.

• To repel evil actions with good actions, in order to replace hatred with an intimate friendship.

• To respond to punishment with the same punishment, but that forgiveness and patience is
even better than retaliation.

7. Conclusion:

This is the Islamic point of view on war, peace and justice. We hope that after reading this article,
people will have a clear understanding that Islam promotes peace and justice, and stands against
aggression and violence.

It is very sad that some people who want to give a wrong impression of Islam, simply select a few
words from the Qur'an and distort them and put them in the wrong context, all in order to prove that
Islam supports violence. They ignore all the verses we have mentioned in this article.

Therefore, we hope that people will be more careful about what they may hear or read on TV, radio,
newspapers, magazines or on the internet. Make sure that you do not blindly believe anything that is
being said. Try to get both sides of the story, by listening to all points of view on any issue before
coming to a conclusion.

[Quran 6:151] "...... You shall not kill - GOD has made life sacred - except in the
course of justice. These are His commandments to you, that you may
understand."

[Quran 2:256] "There shall be no compulsion in religion...".

The Prophet Muhammad, may the mercy and blessings of God be upon him, used to
prohibit soldiers from killing women and children,[1] Narrated in Saheeh Muslim, #1744,
and Saheeh Al-Bukhari, #3015.
and he would advise them: “...Do not betray, do not be excessive, do not kill a
newborn child.”[2] Narrated in Saheeh Muslim, #1731, and Al-Tirmizi, #1408.

And he also said: “Whoever has killed a person having a treaty with the Muslims
shall not smell the fragrance of Paradise, though its fragrance is found for Narrated
in Saheeh Al-Bukhari, #3166, and Ibn Majah, #2686.a span of forty years.”[3]