What Islam says about suicide bombing, terrorism – Sheikh Sharif Ibrahim Saleh

The recent report about the unfortunate incident about the alleged Nigerian would-be bomber, Umar Faruk Abdulmutallib is disheartening. This is because Nigerians are being subjected to political and social injustices and denied various rights. Despite all the injustices, it is unheard of that a Nigerian would go to the extent of feeling frustrated, hence resorted […]

The recent report about the unfortunate incident about the alleged Nigerian would-be bomber, Umar Faruk Abdulmutallib is disheartening. This is because Nigerians are being subjected to political and social injustices and denied various rights. Despite all the injustices, it is unheard of that a Nigerian would go to the extent of feeling frustrated, hence resorted to retaliating with shedding blood of innocent people. If a Nigerian would react that way, it is believe that his patience has been over-stretched. It is in such cases that you find one ethnic group fighting the other; or one religious sect or group fighting another. Thus, a Nigerian, Muslim or non-Muslim is always promoting peaceful coexistence. This can be testified by other Nigerians and even non-Nigerians. Therefore, this occurrence has come to many as a surprise. To say a Hausa-Fulani Muslim from the Northern Nigerian elite class has now joined forces with Al-Qaeda and engaged in the act of terrorism, then something must be wrong somewhere. This brings forth the need for every father to pay proper attention to the growth of his child (ren). Parents must provide them with sufficient religious knowledge. The would-be bomber’s action is an indication that he never got the right Islamic training. All this deviation from Islamic tenets as provided by our Prophet (SAW) would always arise, if parents do not inculcate in their children adequate knowledge. I want to declare that we, as Nigerian Muslims, do not support extremism. In the same vein, most Muslims around the world who thread the path of the Prophet (SAW) do not support terrorism and destruction. If the alleged would-be bomber is found guilty, then it is indeed sad. And I want to use this opportunity to call on those affected by this act – religious leaders and preachers, parents, traditional leaders, political leaders, elders, the youth, should all join forces to prevent any future occurrence of such dastardly acts within or outside Nigeria . This is because this action does not represent Nigeria or the thinking of Nigerians. May Allah (SWT) guard against any such occurrence(s) in the future! Islam does not encourage violence, destruction or terrorism, and it does not have any links with terrorists. Islam does not employ force against others except if it meets the requirements laid down in Islam. All this terrorist acts are not Jihad. Jihad in Islam is to defend religion from any discredit, disrepute, or from any one who wants to deny you from performing your acts of worship or cause harm to the Muslim Ummah. This is when you can defend yourself. This is what can be referred to as Jihad.

Is any one allowed to go on suicide bombing if he or she feels that is the only way to get at his enemies who threaten his or her freedom of existence?

 

What we are witnessing regarding the problem of Muslims today is that whosoever has been mislead and is unsure of his footing will always switch from one religion to another. Anyone who does not have sound understanding of Islam from the onset, even if the parents are righteous Muslims, but fail to impart such knowledge unto their children, these children cannot practice as ideal Muslims. So, if you come across a person who has wrong understanding of Islam, whoever comes to him with a new ideology, he just accepts it as the right path. This is why there are so many divisions in the religion today. The terms terrorism, extremism and fanaticism, all have no bearing to Islam.  We know that every Muslim is a fundamentalist. It is impossible to say that a Muslimdoes not reminisce or relate his Islamic practice to earlier Muslim believers. So, a Muslim is always relating his present circumstances to the roots of his religion. If a person tells me that he is a fundamentalist or that he holds fundamentalist ideology, that person is right and owes me no apology. But if the person interprets fundamentalism to mean fanaticism or terrorism, then that is where our opinions would differ because Islam has prescribed adequate protection for every religion. This is because Islam considers religion as God’s possession. That is why God Almighty (SWT) said “There is no compulsion in religion.” As such, there is no compulsion in Islam or any religion whatsoever. Therefore, the most important thing I want people to understand is that Jihad as an Islamic concept as portrayed in the Quran, where God Almighty (SWT) says, “Wage war for the sake of your Lord against those who have declared war on you, but do not be harmful” implies that you should not be the first to cause harm to your fellow human. Another interpretation is that even in the prescribed Jihad, there are prohibitions. If you kill someone during a Holy War, you must not mutilate the body; you are also not allowed to kill women and children or the aged. You shall not kill the monks or priests who have secluded themselves to worship their Creator in churches and synagogues. These have been the prescriptions for Muslims. This means that even in Jihad, some rules have been imposed on Muslims before the act can be qualified as Jihad. First, you must not draw the first blood; and you have to be on the defensive. Here, Almighty God is saying, “I have instructed those of you that are been tormented to retaliate in defense.” This means that the battles fought by Muslims since the days of the Prophet (SAW) till date, were never initiated by them. All the battles fought by the Prophet (SAW) were all in pursuance of protection against the unbelievers who first left Mecca and traveled through the vast desert to attack the Muslims in Medina. All the three prominent battles that were fought were initiated by the idolaters – the battler of Badr, Uhud and Ahzab were all initiated by the idolaters. You see, when the Prophet (SAW) went to Mecca for the first time to perform lesser Hajj and was denied entry, was what led to the Treaty of Hudaybiyah. He didn’t go to fight the idolaters. The second is that of Humuratul Kadhiya, when he went repay the last lesser Hajj, which he was denied from performing. Here too, he went to engage in worship, not to wage war against the polytheists. The year he went to unveil Mecca as a holy place, he went with his weapons and army, but he did not use them. He instructed that whosoever sought refuge in a mosque should be spared; that whosoever entered into and stayed indoors should also not be killed; that whoever sought refuge in Abu Sufyan’s home should be spared too. Therefore, if war was meant to destroy, would someone come to take revenge and give such instructions? There was no indication that the Prophet (SAW) had intentions to kill whosoever was residing in Mecca at the time. In fact, when the Prophet (SAW) learnt that some of his companions, who were commanding a unit in his troop, were planning to engage in destruction, he immediately changed those companions with others and transferred the former ones to his own unit, because he knew that while they were under his command, they could not go contrary to his instructions. All this mean that Jihad in Islam is for protection. And in it, there is Jihad to protect life, there is that against ignorance, there is Jihad for the love of self, there is the one against the devil and against vanity. There is also Jihad against fear from others and greed from people’s property, hence total submission to the will of Allah.
So, all this organizations that are doing all sorts of things in the name of Jihad, under any guise, do not have any place in Islam because the religion does not permit you to kill other people or yourself. Your life is yours, but it is not your possession. The owner of your life is the Creator. God Almighty has bestowed on us Muslims the responsibility to protect our religion and that of others. He has also bestowed on us the responsibility to protect our life and the life of other people; and that every living thing is given its right to life and freedom of identity and lineage. And this would protect the society from fornication, because if fornication becomes the order of the day, relationship, identity and lineage would be destroyed. Thus, the kind of obedience which Allah (SWT) has instructed as rights of parents on children; respect for and the act of brotherliness and neighbourliness, if disobeyed, would severe lineage and identity. This is the reason why Allah (SWT) has instructed that we guard against destroying lineage and identity. Religion requires seeking knowledge. It also requires proper understanding and proper practice. This is why protecting our religion is obligatory upon Muslims. We are therefore instructed to guide our own reasoning, including that of others’.

What is the penalty for a suicide bomber in Islam?
 
Whoever detonates an explosive on some other human beings will destroy lives, religion, destabilize other people, and has succeeded in destroying every thing good and Islam can never justify such action. For example, if someone is in a aircraft, car or ship, and detonates or cause a bomb to explode, and innocent persons in the aircraft, car or ship are killed, Islam will never condone such acts because you have destroyed peoples’ property, their lives, caused destruction to spread uncontrollably in the society. Islam will never accept such action. God Almighty says, “Verily, the penalty for those who wage war against Allah (SWT) and His Prophet Muhammad (SAW), and are serving as tools for propagating evil on earth would be death, crucification or the cutting-off of their limbs, life in prison or banishment.” Even when the Prophet (SAW) publicly declared faith, stating the qualities of a pious believer, he further emphasized that a believer is the one whose neighbours and society do not become victims of any evil deed committed by him. Meaning that, a pious believer would never engage in acts of terror, or destroy lives or religion of others, or even destabilize them and severe their kinship. A believer should express self respect in piety, strict obedience to religious tenets and not by violating the rights of others. Just like I explained earlier, no one has the right to take neither his life nor that of a fellow human being. Equally, no one has the right to destroy the religion of another; or tarnish the image of others. It is also wrong for you to disrupt peaceful existence in a community or to kill the people resident in that community

What of the Middle-East crisis, particularly the Palestinian whose land had been occupied by the Jews?
 
Palestinians cannot be blamed for their actions and reactions because everyone is aware of the injustice meted on them by the Israelites. Allah (SWT) said that the land belongs to His creations, and each category of His creation has the right to lay claim to land. The Palestinians were resident on their land when Britain and other super powers forcefully took over the land and gave it to the Jews. The Israelites are unjustly occupying the land of the Palestinians. They have no rights to seize the property of the Palestinians. Worse of all is the forceful occupation of the Baitul Makdis, underground constructions beneath the mosque and the construction of Jewish settlements in Gaza and West Bank.
Umar bn Khatab (RA) came to Baitul Makdis and met people occupying the land at that time. When he came, Christians had their churches all over and he confirmed the ownership of their various identities and possessions. At one time, when it was time to pray, the Christians called on him to lead prayers in their churches. He said, no. I shall not pray in the church, not because I have been forbidden from praying inside a church, but my fear is that I wouldn’t want Muslims who would come after us to say that Caliph Umar prayed here in the past, so it belongs to us. Instead, he chose to pray at the location which is today called Masjidul Khatab. If at the time, the Jews, who are now claiming ownership of the land, had a place of worship, he would have confirmed their ownership too. But they never had. They were not even resident there at the time.
So, their entire claim that they have a place of worship, beneath the ground, is untrue. All their digging has not revealed such either. The only discoveries they have been making are those of mosques that have been submerged by wind and natural earth movements.
The people of the Middle East have been bestowed with enormous wealth and population. Protecting their religion and their land is a responsibility bequeathed on them by Allah (SWT). Protecting their possessions (in whatever manner) from aggressors is right and they have not committed any wrong doing. The same applies to the Palestinians. But my emphasis on our initial discussion is that Nigerian Muslims and other Muslims elsewhere, and the popular culture of engaging in extremism or terrorism and other violent acts to destroy lives and property in public places is not acceptable in Islam. All their acts lead to destruction. And the Almighty does not condone destroyers because it was He who said, when a destructive person turns his back, he or she spreads destruction far and wide, causing pain to so many.  This is why Allah (SWT) does not condone destroyers.