Does Islam permit suicide bombing?

Quran and Hadith are two basic sources of Islamic faith. They strictly forbid the Muslims to harm any civilian no matter how desperate the struggle is. They also forbid any Muslim to commit suicide under any circumstances. The Holy Quran mentions ‘jihad’_ military fighting _ in 38 verses. Fourteen make passing reference to fighting in the way of Allah. Seven criticize those who show cowardice in battle. Three command the people of Israel to fight against oppressors. Two deal with those who break treaties. Two refer to losses in battle suffered by unbelievers and two concerns with offering of peace. The remaining verses refer to accounts of battle, an attack on Muslim and fighting during Ramadan.

The Holy Quran

When is it most appropriate to fight? The Quran defines its nature in two verses: verse 190 of Sura Al-Baqra ordains “And fight in the way of Allah with those who fight with you and do not exceed the limits, surely Allah does not love those who exceed limits.” Verse 191 of same Sura commands “and kill them wherever you find them and drive them out from whence they drove you out, and persecution is severer than slaughter and do not fight with them at the Sacred Mosque until they fight with you in it, but if they fight with you then slay them; such is the recompense of the unbelievers,” Verse 39 of Sura Al-Araf reinforces this basic commandment, ”And fight with them until there is no more persecution and religion should only for Allah; but if they desist, then surely Allah sees what they do.”

Hadith Bukhari

The book of Hadith Bukhari reiterates what Quran says. None of the 130 Hadiths, dealing with fighting, mentions suicide and none mentions killing civilians except the one that forbids it. A case was referred t Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) that a man who fought very well on the battlefield would now follow and kill any unbeliever going alone. The Holy Prophet (PBUH) did not approve of it and said, “He is among the people of the Hell.” The brave man got wounded seriously in the battle and decided to bring about his death quickly. He leaned on the sword and killed himself. Allah’s Prophet (PBUH) expressed his unhappiness and said, “He is from the people of Hell.” In military conflicts, however between Muslims and non-Muslims, where exceptionally brave soldiers engage in combat that is ‘suicidal’ but it is not termed as suicide. It is martyrdom as part of traditional combat.

The Modern Situation

Those were the days when opposing combatants faced each other on almost equal footing. Both sides were in possession of similar weapons. Opponents had little foreign support. Modern wars are fought more in the international diplomatic arena and only part of it in actual battlefield. The results of the clashing armies are determined by the superiority of weapons supplied by outside powers. In case of Israeli the question of the occupation of Palestine is two-fold. The occupation is clear case of oppression and persecution which is illegal under both Islamic and International Law. Palestinians have been driven from their homes by terror tactics. Israel plans to occupy the entire Palestine. What should Palestinians do? They do not enjoy whole hearted support of any super power while US is fully at the back of Israel. Palestinians are seriously handicapped in the matter of military strength as compared to Israel. Are Palestinians, therefore, justified in resorting to suicide bombing? The answer is they would be within their rights to fight the enemy by throwing bombs to blow up Israeli soldiers and not the civilians. Suicide bombing would not be valid in any case.

The 9/11 incident

What could have motivated the highjackers of the four commercial airlines on the morning of Sep11, 2001. The leader of the highjackers, Muhammad Ata, was anything but a devout Muslim. He was a boozer, a womanizer with little respect for the tenets of Islam. He could be termed as a professional terrorist and not a Muslim fundamentalist.

Two top Islamic authorities, the Grand Imam of Al-Azhar University and the Grand Mufti of Saudi Arabia, have both condemned this act of terrorism and called him and his fellows liars, infidels, charlatans having nothing to do with Islam. They do not deserve mercy of Allah. A western scientist who has traveled extensively throughout the Muslim world says, “At no time in his conservations with Muslims, has he ever heard a word of praise for Osama Bin Laden.