ISLAM AND TERRORISM
In the past and particularly in the aftermath of September 11, 2001, events, the Western Media and detractors of Islam have been trying to depict Islam as Synonymous with terrorism. Jihad unfortunately has been misinterpreted by certain Muslim scholars which has portrayed Islam as a blood thirsty religion. Islam takes the sanctity of the human being and confers equal rights upon all without any distinction of race, sex or color. Islam takes the sanctity of the human being and confers equal rights upon all without any distinction of race, sex or color. The Quran requires every Muslim to believe in righteousness of all the prophets who came before Muhammad (peace be upon him) and all the books sent by God on previous people. Thus Islam seeks to bring about reconciliation between the followers of different faiths and to establish a basis of respect and honor among them. They are all invited to unite on the basic principle which all of them are prepared believe in.
“Say, O People of the Book, come to an agreement on a principle common between us and you, in that we worship none but Allah and that we associate no partner with Him, and that some of us take not other for lords beside God’ (3:65).
God did not like social, economic or political exploitation and the people who have been doing that were destroyed by Him.
Concept of Justice in Islam
Sarojini Naidu, a famous poetess and respected Indian Leader, of India, had this to say on the Ideals of Islam, “Sense of justice is one of the most wonderful ideals of Islam, because as I read in the Qur’an I find those dynamic principles of life, not mystic but practical ethos for the daily conduct of life, suited to the whole world”. Justice is the basic foundation of Islamic society and all the prevailing socio-economic and political problems are the direct result of not adhering to these injunctions. Operation of this principle covers every field of activity. Islam places great emphasis on justice tempered with compassion. God commands men to be firm in justice with kindness.
·“O ye who believe! Stand out firmly for justice, as witness to God, even as against yourselves, or your parents, or your kind, and whether it be (against) rich or poor: For God 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 God is well-acquainted with all that ye do.” (4:135)
·“God does not like ill (of others) spoken about, except by him who has been wronged”. (4:148)
·“Permission is granted to those (to take up arms) who fight because they were oppressed. God is certainly able to give help to those”. (22:39)
Concept of Tolerance in Islam
Islam is a religion, which foster freedom of life, ideas and thought. It has forbidden tension and conflict among people, calumny, suspicion and even having negative thoughts about another individual. To force anyone to believe in a religion or to practice it, is against the spirit and essence of Islam. Religion is to be adopted with free will and conscience and nobody can be forced into Islam. Allah has commanded forgiveness and tolerance, ““You shall resort to pardon, advocate tolerance, and disregard the ignorant”. (Surah Al-araf). Indeed, the Muslims firmly believe that the tolerance practiced as commanded in the Quran can alone bring peace and well being to the whole world.
Sanctity of Human Life in Islam
Quran Says:
· “Whosever kills an innocent human being it shall be as if he has killed all mankind and whosoever saves the life of one, it shall be as if he has saved the life of all mankind.” (5:32);
· “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” (6:151).
· “Let there be no hostility except to those who practice oppression” (2 Verse 193).
Islam condemns the killing of the people merely because they believe in a different religion and mandates the absolute freedom of religion in a society. It does not allow restrictions on those who disagree on religious matters.
Co-existence between Minorities in Islam
“O Mankind, your God is one and you have but one father, you are all progeny of Adam, and Adam was made of clay. Lo! The noblest among you, in the sight of God, is the best in conduct, No Arab has any preference over a non-Arab save by his piety.”
The Prophet of God, Muhammad (PBUH) made this declaration on the occasion of his last Hajj before a congregation of around one hundred twenty thousand people. His announcement puts the seal on the twin principles of the Unity of God and the Unity of Mankind. Islam hence advocates in categorical terms the principal of Human equality; common lineage of high and low, white and colored and places all men and Women on the same plane of humanity. It was in Islam that the concept of equality was first proclaimed as human right, fourteen hundred years back, long before it was enshrined in the UN charter.
The concept of Jihad in Islam
The word Jihad does not mean “Holy War”. It means “Struggle” or striving”. In the Quran, the word “Jihad” and its derivatives occur 36 times in the context of a moral struggle. Thus the Quran speaks of the Jihad of the soul, of the tongue, of the pen, of the heart, of the hand, of the faith and of the morality. They together constitute what is known as the “greater Jihad”. The lesser Jihad is considered the Jihad of arms, but the Quran itself uses the word “Qataal” meaning fighting and its derivations (not Jihad) for the practice of warfare. The war is permissible in Islam, but only when other peaceful means such as dialogue, negotiations and treaties fail. Jihad can only be declared by the Imam, meaning thereby, the head of Islamic government and not the individuals or groups.
The war is permissible in Islam, but only when other peaceful means such as dialogue, negotiations and treaties fail. The basic rules of war in Islam are:
1. Be strong so that your enemy fear you and should not attack you.
2. Do not begin the hostilities. Work for peace as much as possible.
3. No collective punishment against non-combatants should be used.
4. Stop hostilities as soon as the other party is inclined to peace.
5. Observe treaties and agreements as long as the enemy observes them.
Terrorism is not Jihad, it is “fasaad” (mischief) and against the spirit and teachings of Islam. About those who twist interpretations of Quranic verses and present out of context, God has said,
“When it is said to them: ‘Make not mischief on the earth’, they say: ‘Why, we only want to do correct things.’ Indeed they are the mischief doers, but they realize (it) not.” (Al-Baqarah: 11-12).
TERRORISM AND ITS ROOT CAUSES
No single and comprehensive definition of terrorism has yet been found. All the existing definitions have been coined according to the socio-economic and political milieu of the society. In 1973, the Ad Hoc Committee on the International Terrorism, formed by the UN General Assembly, made three sub-committees to come up with such a definition. Seven draft proposals were presented but the house could not reach consensus. The matter remained suspended till 1987, when the General Secretary called an international conference to define and distinguish terrorism from struggles for self-determination. The majority of the participants agreed that terrorism was crime and that struggle for self-determination was not terrorism. USA and Israel voted against this resolution. The State Department of the USA has given the following definition:
“The term “terrorism” means premeditated, politically motivated violence perpetrated against non-combatant targets by sub-national groups or clandestine agents, usually intended to influence an audience”
“The term “international terrorism” means terrorism involving citizens or the territory of more than one country.”
One of the main sticking point in this debate has been the question of legitimacy of the struggle of the people for their right of self-determination. In the post decolonization era, the principle of self-determination however, has lost some of its allure and now only a small number of countries including Pakistan insist on a distinction between terrorism and the acts of the people struggling for their right of self-determination. The Western World led by the US and joined by Russia, India and others appose a definition of terrorism, which seeks to distinguish between right to self-determination and terrorism, because if they think it will lead to disintegration in their own countries.
Similarly the question about some States allegedly supporting the independence or self-determination struggles abroad through financial and material support has become a contentious issue. The US has declared Iran, Libya, Syria, Sudan, Iraq, Cuba and North Korea as States sponsoring terrorism and has imposed sanctions against them.
During the Cold War era the US did patronize and install tyrant regimes on the developing world through its agencies. To quote a few examples Somoza, Batista, Pinochet and apartheid government of South Africa were close US allies. It was the US Government and its agencies, which helped install or bring Contras in Latin America and Afghan Mujahideen and Osama Bin Laden in Afghanistan. That is why; the US and her allies do not want a complete definition of terrorism. They would like to coin definitions which suit there interests from time to time.
Similarly from 1969-1990, according to the Western perceptions PLO carried the mantle of terrorism. The eminent U.S journalist William Safire of the New York Times repeatedly kept describing Yasser Arafat as “the Chief of Terrorism”. But then in September 1998 the once menacing Yasser Arafat was being photographed in the White House in the company of former President Clinton and former Israel Prime Minister Natenyahu.
A more glaring example of such changing stances of the major World powers is that of the pre-Israel Jewish leadership. The terrorist label was slapped on them for killing British Administrators in Palestine, Zionist leaders like former Prime Minister Menachem Begin and Yitzhak Shamir carried official head money of 100,000 pounds sterling each. But once the holocaust horror unfolded in Europe, the sympathy for the Jews among the allied powers during the World war-II, led these terrorists to be described as freedom fighters.
Terrorism requires a deeper analysis. The present approach of attacking the terrorists to eliminate them tantamount to cutting the branches or leaves of the tree rather than root of the tree of terrorism. The US and its allies should realize that the most of the terrorism in the present world is due to their flawed policies towards the Muslim world and that when a repressed group cannot win a traditional war, it resorts to terrorism, which is actually struggle for freedom.
Walter Lacquer, in his book ‘The Age of Terror’ describes terrorism as “acts of violence or repression carried out by the government against their own people”.
There is again disagreement on dubbing the acts of repression of the governments against their citizens, as state terrorism. But the Western democracies and organizations like Amnesty International and the Human Rights Watch consider it so, although in most of the governments of developing countries fall under this category. Similarly the question about some States allegedly supporting the independence or self-determination struggles abroad through financial and material support has become a contentious issue. The US has declared Iran, Libya, Syria, Sudan, Iraq, Cuba and North Korea as States sponsoring terrorism and has imposed sanctions against them.
During the Cold War era the US did patronize and install tyrant regimes on the developing world through its agencies. To quote a few examples Somoza, Batista, Pinochet and apartheid government of South Africa were close US allies. It was the US Government and its agencies, which helped install or bring Contras in Latin America and Afghan Mujahideen and Osama Bin Laden in Afghanistan. In 1985 President Reagan had proudly introduced to the media a group of Afghan Mujahideen in the White House as “the moral equivalent of America’s founding fathers”. However in August 1998 after attacks on the US Embassies in Nairobi and Dar-us-salam, unbeknown to them, those founding fathers including Osama Bin Laden, became arch terrorists and hence the Clinton Administration bombed them with cruise missiles. In September 1998, Yasir Arafat who was declared as a terrorist by the US government and political circles was the White House along with the Israeli Prime Minister and the same political circles were the advocates of awarding him the Nobel Prize.
Similarly, the pre-Israel Jewish leadership, labeled as terrorist for killing British Administrators in Palestine, Zionist leaders like former PM Menachem Begin and Yitzhak Shamir who carried official head money of 100,000 pounds sterling each, were described as freedom fighters after the holocaust.
Because of this dichotomy of perception envisaging ‘good terrorists’ and ‘bad terrorist’ has disillusioned the developing world and it is maintained that declaring some person or a state a terrorist depends upon involvement of economic and political interests of the super powers.
To be continue.......