Does Islam Promote Terrorism Or Peace

Does Islam Promote Terrorism or Peace? Islam is based on three basic concepts: 1. Iman – an act of faith, heart and mind to believe in certain realities 2. Islam – denotes the practical aspect of the Islamic teachings 3. Ihsan – it is to achieve the excellence, to achieve the state of perfection. It is the completion of the journey of iman and islam, it is the highest beauty and lies in spiritual feelings, conditions and states. Iman is derived from the root word amn, which means peace, so iman literally means peace, to be in peace and provide others with peace. The basic philosophy of iman according to islam is based on amn, which is peace and security and those who are against this do not posses iman. Islam is derived from the root words silm, salm and salamah, which also means: peace, safety, security, tranquility. So the practical aspect of Islam is also based on peace and security. Ihsan is derived from the root word husn, which means beauty, excellence, benevolence, to be compassionate, merciful, generous and kind with others. This state of mind is known as ihsan. To Muslims, any kind of hatred let alone terrorism, any jealousy, negative propensities and thoughts, negative attitude, extremism, etc: all these do not find any place anywhere in Islam. So why is it said that there are some terrorists in the ummah? Terrorism and terrorist have no religion, they are neither Muslim, Jew nor Christian, they do not believe in any religion; extremism, fanaticism does not have a religion, it itself has become a religion and culture, independent behavior and it doesn’t believe in Divinely revealed religions. The Holy Qur’an does not declare them to be Muslim, the enemy of mankind, irrespective of their way, religion, society, language is not regarded Muslim. Their punishment is the capital punishment, we believe in killing killers of mankind. Why are these acts taking place? Legislation on its own is not the solution to the problem. If we are serious and honest with the situation the only solution is to know and address the root causes. Why is it emerging, what are the root causes? If we are honest we know it is the issues surrounding the UN resolutions, the agenda of Palestine is still pending and has not been resolved. In 1947 the UN partition resolution where 53% of land was to be given to Palestine and 47% to the Israel state, but more than half a century has passed and that has not been implemented. Their land was snatched so they spread all over the world, if you snatch a persons right of living, his legal rights, his home and he has no one to listen to him and to address his problem, no one to provide justice, so what can we expect after this? Would he become a terrorist or not? His being a terrorist is not justified; I am not talking about the legal position but the root cause of the problem.

We have to think about the powers handling the international matters, the main decision makers, are they dealing equally? One community is given billions of dollars to vacate, they are given weapons, technology, economic energy etc and on the other side the Palestinians don’t posses anything accept their bodies. They have no job, no protection, no family, no house, no rights, the only thing they have is their own body. So they would use that for revenge, they kill themselves and others, before calling these people criminals, we have to become honest and think about these issues. Britain has in the passed had a role in human rights, human development and democracy, it should again play a vital role in this situation. The same applies in Pakistan and India, in 1947, the resolution was passed by the security council, that the fate of Kashmir was to be decided by the People of Kashmir i.e. enable them to decide their fate. More than half a century has passed and this has also not been implemented. 70, 000 Kashmiri people have given their lives for this and still have not been able to get their independence. Human Rights in Islam – 6 basic values 1. Human dignity 2. Equality 3. Liberty in freedom 4. Brotherhood 5. Justice 6. Tolerance & Benevolence. In Surah An-Nisa, verse 36, ten rights have been mentioned; one of which is religious and nine of which are civil & social. The religious right is the Right of Almighty Allah, that He should be worshipped alone and not associated with any partners, this is His exclusive right. The other rights are related to human beings, to be compassionate, kind, benevolent, merciful, generous firstly to parents, then relatives, orphans, to the poor and deprived community and your society, close neighbours, unknown neighbours, companions, travelers, your servants/workers/labourers. “And worship Allah, and do not associate anyone with Him and do good to parents, relatives, orphans, the needy, both close and distant neighbours, the companions of your side and the wayfarer and to your male and female servants. Undoubtedly, Allah loves not the proud, boastful.” This is a categorical commandment of Almighty Allah, the first right which is incumbent on all Muslims is to worship Almighty Allah exclusively then there are nine rights which are to be followed in order to become one of the blessed. So among these ten rights, one is religious and nine are human rights, look at the balance, the weight which is given to human rights. It means 90% of Islamic teaching is human rights and 10% is of the right of Almighty Allah.

Right of honour and dignity, irrespective of religion. In surah Bani Israel, children of Yaqoub it states that ‘We have honoured the mankind’ this is relating to all mankind and not just Muslims, it primarily talks about the honour and dignity of mankind. In surah At-Tin it states ‘we have created man as best of creation’ this is inclusive of religion, it includes everyone and is not exclusive to Muslims. In the Last Sermon, the Holy Prophet sallallahu alaihi wa salim was addressing the whole of mankind, he sallallahu alaihi wa salim repealed the unjust order of the world, based on injustice, based on economic exploitation, discrimination of the poor and tribal jealousy. Rasulullah sallallahu alaihi wa salim cancelled the unjust order and propagated a just global order of world peace and security. For further elaboration on this please read the book entitled ‘Human Rights in Islam’: written by Shaykh-ul-Islam Prof. Dr. Muhammad Tahir-ul-Qadri. Although Islam promotes peace, tolerance and security the western media is only interested in promoting extreme views, media shows the extremists shouting slogans against the west etc but they are never interested in showing the real moderate view. During the days of the afghan war, Minhaj-ul-Qur’an has been recorded as being the most vocal advocates against terror. Nobody supported the president of Pakistan, Pervez Musharraf more than Shaykh-ul-Islam on this, there are 2 volumes of a book called: ‘Popular Muslim Reaction’ in which there is a chapter about Pakistan. Within three lines it relates how the president of Pakistan supported the war on terror and what his role was, after mentioning him; it relates the role of Shaykh-ul-Islam giving it a weight of sixteen lines! Shaykh-ul-Islam was interviewed by British media for his views but they did not broadcast those interviews, which raises the question, what is media really interested in? Spreading terror? The USA agency are also not ignorant, they are aware of the terrorists, the extremists and their organisations but instead of eliminating them they just create embarrassment for the Muslim Ummah by allowing them to walk free. These are the issues which we must think over and address.