By YesPakistan.com Staff Writer

Suicide bombing:

• suicide bombing is categorically condemned by Islamic scholars
• suicide bombers are waging a distinctly modern type of warfare not sanctioned in any faith
• suicide is haram in Islam. It's prohibited, like a mortal sin. And murder is haram. And to kill civilians is murder.
• the taking of one's own life, not to mention the taking of the lives of innocents, is forbidden
• Islam teaches that the person who takes his/her own life will be condemned to hell
• war, in Islam, can only be fought in self-defense and has limits and boundaries
• the whole concept of jihad is misunderstood by non-Muslims and many Muslims as well - they understand it only in the sense of armed confrontation whereas there are numerous aspects to it (see jihad below)
• some Muslims misunderstand it to the point where they think strapping explosives to their chests and walking into a crowd is an acceptable way to confront the enemy
• the Holy Quran does not justify aggression
• suicide bombing is about politics, not religion; it is an act of desperation and there is no Islamic justification for it

Jihad:

• "jihad" means to strive or struggle
• jihad is applied in various ways: there is jihad of the hand, which means the struggle to put faith into action by doing good deeds; jihad of the heart, which is the struggle to make the faith real as a spiritual force; jihad of the tongue, the struggle to speak about the faith with others; and jihad of the sword, the struggle to defend the faith when it is under attack.
• you cannot kill innocent people. There is no Islamic declaration of war against the United States. Every Muslim country except Afghanistan has an embassy in this country. And in Islam, a country where you have embassies is not considered a belligerent country.
• in Islam, the only wars that are permitted are between armies and they should engage on battlefields and engage nobly. The Prophet Muhammad said, ``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.'' The Hadith, the sayings of the Prophet, say that no one can punish with fire except the lord of fire. It's prohibited to burn anyone in Islam as a punishment.
• the Prophet said the greatest jihad is the struggle of a man against his own evil influences. It also refers to what Christians call a ``just war,'' which is fought against tyranny or oppression -- but under a legitimate state authority.

Terrorism:

Terrorism: The unlawful use or threatened use of force or violence by a person or an organized group against people or property with the intention of intimidating or coercing societies or governments, often for ideological or political reasons.

• terrorism is clearly outside the purview of Islam
• the limits of a war are clearly circumscribed in Islamic law and bringing civilians into an armed conflict goes against those divine laws
• in Islam, there is no acceptance of the notion that "the end justifies the means," so if someone were to use terrorism to achieve "Islamic" goals they would be participating in something that Islam repudiates
• both the ends and the means must be Islamic in order for that action to be just and accepted by Allah
• see points on jihad and suicide bombing

sources: www.jannah.org

Date/Time Last Modified: 6/18/2002 8:05:11 AM

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