Islamic Terror & A Peaceful Response

            Recent terror attacks could motivate a supposition that Islam may be the greatest perpetrator of terror today.

Is Islam An Agent For Terror?

            Statistics do not lie. Consider a few terror statistics in the recent years: ¹

            (1) As on date, 18 terror attacks by Islamic terrorists eliminated 350+ and 900+ were injured.

            (2) 1000+ dead and 2500+ injured via 47 terror attacks by Islamic terrorists in 2016.

            (3) 100+ Islamist terror attacks in the year 2015 (3000+ dead and 3000+ were injured).

            Global Terrorism Index 2016 observes that “The Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), Boko Haram and the Taliban were responsible for 55 per cent of all the deaths from terrorism in 2015.”²

            These statistics are adequate to conceive a case for further Islamist terror attacks this year. Significantly, Islam could be the supreme perpetrator of terror in today’s world.

            The verses from the Quran do not lie. The Quran seems to motivate terrorism. Consider a few relevant verses:³

            Quran 2: 191: “And kill them wherever you overtake them and expel them from wherever they have expelled you, and fitnah is worse than killing. And do not fight them at al-Masjid al- Haram until they fight you there. But if they fight you, then kill them. Such is the recompense of the disbelievers.”

            Quran 3: 85: “And whoever desires other than Islam as religion - never will it be accepted from him, and he, in the Hereafter, will be among the losers.”

            Quran 5:33: “Indeed, the penalty for those who wage war against Allah and His Messenger and strive upon earth [to cause] corruption is none but that they be killed or crucified or that their hands and feet be cut off from opposite sides or that they be exiled from the land. That is for them a disgrace in this world; and for them in the Hereafter is a great punishment…”

            Quran 8: 12: “…I will cast terror into the hearts of those who disbelieved, so strike [them] upon the necks and strike from them every fingertip.”

            Quran 9:5: “And when the sacred months have passed, then kill the polytheists wherever you find them and capture them and besiege them and sit in wait for them at every place of ambush…”

            Quran 47:4: “So when you meet those who disbelieve [in battle], strike [their] necks until, when you have inflicted slaughter upon them, then secure their bonds, and either [confer] favor afterwards or ransom [them] until the war lays down its burdens. That [is the command]. And if Allah had willed, He could have taken vengeance upon them [Himself], but [He ordered armed struggle] to test some of you by means of others. And those who are killed in the cause of Allah - never will He waste their deeds.”

            Muslims do not lie. The entailment of the Quranic motivation for terrorism is the logical yet dastardly response by a segment of Muslims who refuse to cooperate with the authorities even if they were aware of an imminent terror attack, “TWO thirds of British Muslims would not inform the police if they thought that somebody close to them had become involved with terrorist sympathizers, according to a poll.”⁴

Are We An Agent For Terror Or Peace?

            These evidences demonstrate that Islam could be construed as the greatest perpetrator of terror today. But does this offer a non-Muslim a valid reason to accuse Islam and the Muslims?

            This content would be consumed by those active in expressing their opinions in the social media or to friends and family. Despite the evidence that indicts Islam as the greatest terror manufacturer of our day, how do we respond to this predicament?

            We could either promote terrorism or peace. Our response could either placate or intensify this situation. A Christian response should rightfully help heal the menace of terrorism.

            What are the options ahead of us?

            Accusing Islam or ridiculing Muslims could be the most natural response. When we accuse Islam or ridicule our Muslim brothers and sisters, we would definitely not appease this situation. Instead, we may amplify the gap to intensify the animosity between Muslims and non-Muslims. If we are to accuse and ridicule Islam and Muslims, a Muslim could dig in his heels deep into his faith.

            Accusing Islam cannot and will not help soothe this situation. Islam cannot change; the Quran will be what it is. The Quran cannot be rewritten to make it less violent or more peaceable. Religious texts cannot be modified. This is the fact of the matter.

            Accusing our fellow Muslims cannot heal the menace of terrorism. Our accusations would probably entail a greater non-cooperation between Muslims and the governing authorities, as is the case in Britain. Alternatively, our accusations could foster an active or a passive intensification of the jihadist movement within Islam or of its support.

            Any form of accusation is more likely to promote terrorism than not.

            How then can our responses to terror heal the menace of terrorism?

            Instead of posting accusatory posts on social media that are intended to accuse Islam and its adherents, we could post prayers or comforting posts that could heal the victims of terrorism.

            Islam, by its very nature, may motivate terrorism, but that there are millions of Muslims who hate these deeds of terror. We could express our love for these Muslim brothers and sisters through our responses.

            Any well meaning government would respond in a manner befitting the situation. Crackdown on terrorism would gain intensity and stringent measures would be employed that could increase the discomfort of ordinary citizens. We could bear with these efforts instead of complaining about the increased discomfort that strives to eliminate terrorism.

            Walk alongside the governing authorities, irrespective of our political affiliations or compulsions, to help heal the terror menace. Information to the authorities of any possible terror insinuations or affiliations that may appear in our domain is the need of the hour. Pray that God gives us the wisdom and discernment to identify a potential terror situation.        

            Please do not judge every Muslim as a terrorist. Let not the average Muslim be a recipient of our latent anger and resentment against the Islamic terrorists.

            Let not our Muslim friends arrive at a conclusion (based on our accusatory posts) that we do not intend to be their good friend. Just as God loves everyone, let not our love for our Muslim friends decrease, instead let it increase.  

            Last but not the least, pray for the terrorists. Pray that they may realize their foolishness, repent and change their ways.

            Pray for the victims of terror. Pray that they regain their normal life or at the very least adapt to their situation with least resistance.

            “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.” (Matthew 5: 9, NIV). “Peacemakers who sow in peace reap a harvest of righteousness.” (James 3: 18, NIV). May we be the peacemakers our world so desperately needs.

Endnotes:

¹These statistics were gleaned from Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Islamist_terrorist_attacks

²http://economicsandpeace.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/Global-Terrorism-Index-2016.2.pdf

³these verses were obtained from https://quran.com/

⁴https://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/659913/two-in-three-British-Muslims-would-NOT-give-police-terror-tip-offs

Could Agnostic Islam Stop ISIS' Terrorism?

            Another Paris style attack in Jakarta, Indonesia by the ISIS! More innocent lives harmed by such ruthless terror. While the world searches for ways and means to stop the ISIS, my friend referred an article to me – an interview of Hassan Radwan by the Clarion Project.

            Clarion Project is an organization that promotes tolerance and moderation to challenge extremism. ¹ Hassan Radwan is an agnostic Muslim writer, activist and the founder of the Facebook discussion group “Agnostic Muslims and Friends.”

            Hassan Radwan suggests that agnostic Islam is the best means to stop ISIS. How could agnostic Islam stop ISIS?

            Hassan Radwan recommends a distinctive methodology to understand the Quran - to fundamentally negate Quran’s infallibility and interpret it based on human reason and conscience tethered to tolerance and moderation ingrained in the goodness of present time and culture. Read this rather lengthy quotation scrupulously so to understand Radwan, “The only way to defeat extremism is to get to the root cause. Groups like ISIS are merely a symptom. The root cause in my opinion is the belief in the infallibility of the Quran. Yes, of course I am aware there are many other factors such as the often foolish and misguided policy of some Western governments towards the Middle East as well as many other social and political factors such as the rise of the Salafi form of Islam. But they alone cannot account for the existence of the harsh puritanical and supremacist form of Islam that seeks to impose political and religious authority throughout the world…

            …But as long as we don’t tackle the belief that the Quran is the infallible words of God then no matter how many problems are solved or inequalities righted there will always be another group seeking to impose the word of God against reason and conscience.

            This is why when you defeat one group another even more desperate rises from their ashes. The idea that the Quran is fallible will of course come as a terrible shock to most Muslims brought up as we are to believe the Quran is the perfect and infallible word of God, but I firmly believe that once we Muslims get passed this shock and emotional reaction and begin to reflect more rationally we will see that in fact this is the only way to save the real soul of Islam from the extremists who are in fact the ones destroying it.

            In actual fact the Qur'an never uses words like infallible, perfect nor miraculous. The reason this belief seems to have gained ground is because of the challenge the Quran makes to "bring something like it." Though being unable to imitate something doesn't of course mean it is either perfect or infallible. The Quran does say it is from God, but then again what I'm saying doesn't contradict that. I accept the Quran was inspired by God. It's just not verbatim his actual speech.

            Revelation and inspiration is a mystery. I believe that to a lesser or greater extent we can all be inspired in different ways. How we express this inspiration is determined by our environment, personality and limitations. Whatever inspiration Prophet Muhammad received, it had to be expressed though his language, his person, his character and his culture. This must be borne in mind when reading the Quran. They are human words attempting to convey spiritual experiences beyond human language and conceptualization.

            Thus we as Muslims can draw wisdom and benefit from the Quran as long as we apply our reason and conscience. Yes, of course our reason and conscience are fallible, but so is the Quran, particularly when one appreciates that it was formed by a human being in a very different time and context as our own today” (Emphasis Mine).²

            So Radwan, either implicitly or explicitly, submits these propositions to eliminate terrorism predicated on religious extremism:

            1. Quran, if considered as infallible, will entail religious extremism a.k.a. terrorism (because Quran could be interpreted in a violent manner).

            2. ISIS has created its extremist ideology from the Quran.

            3. Quran cannot be infallible since Prophet Muhammad, a mere man, expressed it through his distinct yet culturally-entrenched self.

            4. A Muslim cannot know, for certain, if the Quran is God’s literal words or not.

            5. Hence all Muslims are to be agnostic and negate Quran’s infallibility.

            6. An agnostic Muslim should apply his own reason and conscience (firmly entrenched in brotherly love) while interpreting the Quran.

            7. If all Muslims are agnostic about the Quran, then terrorism, based out of the Quran, would be eliminated.

            This then is the utmost countermeasure against terrorism, according to Radwan.

            Radwan’s rejection of Quran’s infallibility is reasonable because Muhammad, being the only or the single source of divine revelation, could have expressed the revelation through his flaws and bias. The single source of Quranic authorship duly caused doubt in Radwan’s mind, “No matter how great the source of inspiration it is nevertheless inextricably tied to the time and place of the person who received it and subject to his flaws, limitations & context.” ³ Give credit to Radwan for he hit the proverbial nail on its head through his proposition to reject Quran’s infallibility.

            Radwan rejects Quran’s infallibility to liberate Islam from its violence and to reform it to be more tolerant and inclusive, “We must stop protecting the Quran on the basis that “God said it” because he didn't. Muhammad said it, albeit inspired by God. Only in this way can Islam truly become a universalistic, inclusive and pluralistic religion.”⁴

            This is a positive first-step to curb terrorism. Rejection of Quranic infallibility could mellow a tough heart.

            Terrorism cannot be eliminated totally, but can be curbed. However for terrorism to be successfully curbed, the truth of Quran’s fallibility should be communicated to the Islamic grassroots.

            While Radwan’s rejection of Quranic infallibility is reasonable, his overall strategy to eliminate terrorism based on the Quran, is existentially untenable. This is because Radwan presupposes the following:

            1. Non-existence of Satan (who, according to the Quran, urges humans to sin - Sura 114:1-6). 

            2. All humans are good.

            Both these presuppositions are invalid. First, Satan exists. Second, if Satan exists, all humans cannot be good.

            If all humans are good, their interpretation of Quran would absolutely exclude violence. But since sin resides in human heart, sin would motivate a violent interpretation of the Quran. 

            Thus we are back to square one, which is to confront terrorism.

            Terrorism, in a short term perspective, should be confronted with due diligence and aggression. Terrorists ought to be imprisoned before they wreck havoc or be eliminated once and for all.

            In a long term perspective, terrorism cannot be totally eliminated since evil will continue to exist. Evil will exist since Satan, the source of evil, will continue to exist. Satan will cease to exist when the Lord Jesus Christ returns to annihilate Satan once and for all. Until then, all we can hope for is to curb terrorism and not to absolutely contain it.

            May the good Lord Jesus Christ comfort, encourage and strengthen those adversely impacted at Jakarta and in the other parts of the world by the terrorists.

Endnotes:

¹ http://www.clarionproject.org/about

² http://m.clarionproject.org/analysis/hassan-radwan-faith-faithless-and-back-again

³ Ibid.

⁴ Ibid.