“Are Islam and terrorism related to each other?” To answer this question correctly, we have to understand the Two Phases of Islam.
The First and Gracious Phase of Islam
When the prophet Muhammad began to call people in Mecca to Islam, he was weak. He needed the help of the Jews and the Christians, so he praised them. Here is what the Koran, the holy book of Islam says about Jews and Christians at that time:
Verily, those who believe [Muslims] and those who are Jews and Christians and Sabians whoever believes in Allah and the Last Day and does righteous good deeds shall have their reward with their Lord. On them shall be no fear nor shall they grieve. (Surat Al-Baqarah 2:62)
In this verse the Koran puts Jews and Christians at the same level and privilege as Muslims.
The Second Phase of Islam
The later phase of Islam, and I may say the permanent phase of Islam, according to the doctrine of abrogation in the Koran, came when the prophet Muhammad migrated to Medina and organized a strong army. When he saw that Jews and Christians rejected his prophethood and Islam, he commanded the Muslims to change the Kibla, the direction in which Muslims turn when they pray, from Jerusalem to the Kaaba in Mecca. At that time in history the Kaaba was a shrine for 360 idols.
Then Muhammad exterminated Jews and Christians from the Arabian Peninsula. He renounced Jews and Christians as polytheists, therefore impure and defiled. As such, Muhammad commanded that they never come near the Kaaba in Mecca. To this day no Jew or Christian can enter the Mecca, or come near Al-Kaaba, the Holy shrine in Saudi Arabia. Here are the words of the Koran:
O you who believe [Muslims] the Mushrikun [polytheists and unbelievers in Allah and the Message of Muhammad] are najasum [impure, defiled]. So let them not come near Al-Masjd Al Haram [the Kaaba in Mecca] after this year. (Surat Al-Tauba 9:28)
This is the phase of Islam we encounter today.
To be sure Islamic Terrorism was practiced in Muhammad’s days. The Koran commands Muslims to terrorize and strike the necks and smite the fingers and toes of the infidels [Jews and Christians]. The Koran says:
I will cast terror into the hearts of those who are infidels, so strike them over the necks and smite over all their fingers and toes. This is because they defied and disobeyed Allah and His Messenger [Muhammad]. And whoever defies and disobeys Allah and His Messenger, then verily, Allah is severe in punishments. This is (the torment), to taste it; and surely, for the infidels is the torment of the fire. (Surat Al-Anfal 8:12-14)
I have to say that there are three kinds of Islamic Terrorism:
First, physical terrorism,
Second, intellectual terrorism,
Third, psychological terrorism.
By discussing these three kinds of terrorism, we will have the answer for our three questions.
Physical Terrorism
The hatred ignited by the teaching of the Koran, in the hearts of those young men who attacked us was so horrible. It blinded them from thinking or imagining the agony and suffering of those thousands of innocent men and women who were murdered in the attacks and the terrible grief of those loved ones who were left behind.
The most horrible thing is that those attackers did not feel any sense of guilt. The Koran taught them that their acts are not acts of evil, but rather acts of a high level of righteousness intended to eradicate the infidel Christians from the face of the earth. The Koran taught them also that there is a great reward waiting for them in paradise if they die as martyrs.
The Koran taught them that their sins will be forgiven, and each one of them will be married to one hundred virgins, with wide lovely eyes in paradise. These are the words of the Koran:
And if you are killed or die in the Way of Allah, forgiveness and mercy from Allah are far better than all that they amass [of worldly wealth].(Sural Al-Imran 3:157)
Verily, Allah has purchased of the believers [Muslims] their lives and their properties for (the price) that theirs shall be the Paradise. They fight in Allah’s cause, so they kill (others) and are killed. It is a promise in truth, which is binding, on Him. (Surat Al-Taubah 9:111)
The Koran describes life in paradise in the following verses:
Eat and drink with happiness because of what you used to do. They will recline (with ease) on thrones arranged in ranks. And we shall marry them to Hur (fair females) with wide lovely eyes. And we shall provide them with fruit and meat such as they desire. (Surat Al-Tur 52:17-20,22)Paradise is all sexual, nothing spiritual.
Another picture of paradise is described in the following words:
The second picture:
Water flowing constantly and fruit in plenty whose supply is not cut off and reclining on couches raised high: verily we have created from them (women) of special creation and made them virgins of equal age.(Surat Al-Waqiah 56:31-37)
The third picture:
Gardens and vineyards and young full-breasted virgins of equal age and a full cup of wine. (Surat Al-Naba 78:32-34) With these pictures of paradise—dreaming about one hundred virgins awaiting each one of them—those young people with their Egyptian leader Muhammad Atta committed suicide and died with their victims.
When we say that Islam and terrorism are related to each other, is this a false accusation? Is it to insult Islam? Or is it a fact based on the clear worlds of the Koran?
Please listen carefully to these verses from the Koran:
(1) The Prophet Muhammad urges Muslims to fight in the cause of Allah,
O prophet Muhammad urge the believers [Muslims] to fight. (Surat Al-Anfal 8:65)
(2) The Koran commands Muslims not to befriend Jews or Christians.
O ye who believe [Muslims] take not the Jews or the Christians for your friends and protectors. They are but friends and protectors of each other. And he among you that turn to them [for friendship] is of them.(Surat Al-Maidah 5:51)
(3) The Koran commands Muslims to fight Jews and Christians.
Fight against those who believe not in Allah, nor in the Last Day, no forbid that which has been forbidden by Allah and His Messenger [Muhammad] and those who acknowledge not the religion of truth (Islam) among the people of the Scripture [Jews and Christians] until they pay the Jizyah with willing submission, and feel themselves subdued. (Surat At-Taubah 9:29)
We have to understand that Jizyah is a special high tax to be paid only by Jews and Christians who live in Islamic countries and who do not want to renounce their religion and convert to Islam.
(4) The Koran declares that those who wage war against Allah and Muhammad must be crucified and tortured in a sadistic manner.
The recompense of those who wage war against Allah and His Messenger Muhammad and do mischief in the land is only that they shall be killed or crucified or their hands and their feet be cut off from opposite sides, or be exiled from the land. That is their disgrace in the world, and a great torment is theirs in the Hereafter. (Surat Al-Maidah 5:33)
(5) The Koran commands Muslims to fight the infidels who are neighbors and close to them:
O you who believe [Muslims]! Fight those of the infidels who are close to you, and let them find harshness in you; and know that Allah is with those who are pious. (Surat Al-Taubah 9:123)
(6) The Koran commands Muslims to convert non-Muslims to Islam by force.
Kill the Mushrikun (polytheists, Christians and non-Muslims), wherever you find them, and capture them and besiege them, and lie in wait for them in each and every ambush. But, if they repent and perform As-salat (public prayer with Muslims) and give Zakat (Islamic alms), then leave their way free. Allah is oft forgiving, most merciful. (Surat At-Taubah 9:5)
(7) The Koran commands Muslims to fight non-Muslims until they exterminate all other religions and make Islam the only religion in the world.
And fight until there is no more Fitnah (disbelief and worshipping of others along with Allah) and (all and every kind of) worship is for Allah (alone).(Surat Al-Bagarah 2:193)
There are almost one hundred verses in the Koran calling Muslims to Jihad, holy war against Jews, Christians, and non-Muslims. Do these clear verses of the Koran indicate that Islam is a religion of peace?