DT Strain said:
Out of curiosity, how many Muslims would agree with the following?:
1) There is nothing that a person could ever say, write, or draw about their personal opinions which would ever justify their death or even calling for their death.
2) There is no atrocity, oppression, offense, religious cause, political cause, or even military tactic that could ever justify the intentional selection of unarmed innocent civilians and children as the primary target for violence.
This is not a rhetorical question, asked in order to make some unstated point. Rather, it is something I would genuinely be interested to know.
Many thanks.
Sincerely,
Hi DT Strain,
I'm not an expert on Islam, so I couldn't give you a list of things which if said, can make the sayer liable to an Islamic death penatly, but I know that the Prophet [sm] had two poets, that used to recite malicious and abusive poetry against him, put to death, so there apperantly is some things, which if said, can make a person liable to the death penalty, under Islamic law.
There also was a Jew, Ka'ab ibn Asharaf, who showed open hostilty towards Islam and the Muslims, by expressing sorrow that the enemies of Islam got defeated in the battle of Badr, and encouraging the enemy to look forward to another fight with the Muslims, and by writing poems condemning the Prophet [sm] and the Muslims, and by writing obcence love poems, mentioning Muslim women; the Prophet [sm] had him put to death as well.
As regards to your question number two, there is indeed nothing at all that justifies the intentional killing of innocent civillians and children.
The Prophet [sm] has explicitly condemned and prohibbited the killing of the elderly, women, children, non-combatants, and monks.
The Prophet [sm] adressed a Muslim army who were about to go to war, in the following terms:
"Go to war in adherance to the religion of God. Never touch the elderly, women or children. Allways improve their situation and be kind to them. God loves those who are sincere" [Ahmad, diya'al-Din. alKamushKhanawi, Ramuz al-Ahadith. vol 1, 84/8]
The Messenger of Allah [sm] also clarified the attitude a Muslim soldier must adopt, even in the middle of a raging battle, in the following terms:
"Do not kill children. avoid them people who devote themselves to worshiping in churches! Never murder women and the elderly. Do not set trees on fire or cut them down. Never destroy houses!" [Ahmad, Diya'al-Din alkamushKhanawi, Ramuz al-Ahadith, vol 1, 76/12]
"...in Islam, the only wars that are permitted are between armies and they should engage on battle fields and engage nobly...The Prophet Muhammed [sm] 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 rabbi's. And he said "Do not cut down fruit bearing trees and do not poison the well of your enemies. ...". [Quote of Shiekh Hamza Yusuf, San Hose Mercury News, sep 15, 2001]
In Sahih Bukhari, Book of Jihad, Chapter 147, hadith 257-258, it says:
"A woman was found killed during one of the Apostle of God's battles. so the Apostle of God forbade the killing of women and children"
Abu Bakar As-Siddique [ra], the first Caliph of Islam, and one of the rightly guided caliphs, gave the following command to his army before the first Syrian expedition:
"Stop O people, that I may give you ten rules to keep by heart: Do not commit treachery, nor depart from the right path. You must not mutilate, nither kill a child or aged man or woman. Do not destroy a palm tree, nor burn it with fire and do not cut a fruitfull tree. You must not slay any of the flock or herds or the camels, save for your subsistence. You are likely to pass by people who have devoted their lives to monastic services; leave them to that which they have devoted their lives. You are likely, likewise, to find people who will present to you meals of many kinds. You amy eat, but do not forget to mention the name of Allah". [Tabari, Ta' rikh, 1, 1850, cited in Majid Khadduri, War and Peace in the Law of Islam, John Hopkins Press, Balitmore, 1955, pg. 102]
Allah Tha'ala says in the Holy Quran:
"Fight in the way of God against those who fight you, but do not go beyond limits. God does not love those who go beyond limits" [Quran, 2:190]
The above Quranic verse and hadiths shows unequivically, the true ethical nature of [fighting/war] Jihad in Islam, and it's clear to see from the above that the principles of Al-Qaida, of killing innocents in retalition for Muslim innocents, is totally wrong and not according to Islam.
There is a famous story from the past, that goes that, when some prisoners of war were caught by the Muslims, a Muslim suggested to the Muslim Commander [I think he may have been], "lets kill the prisoners of war!", the Muslim commander said, "No", the person said, "but they kill our prisoners of war", the muslim commander said, "they [the enemies] are not our teachers".
The above story is a classical example of how, no matter what inhumane and barbaric atrocity the enemies may inflict upon the Muslims, we have to remain steadfast on the righteous path and stick to the Islamic principles and not start copying the barbaric ways of our enemies.
hope that helps
Peace.
