Islamic Terrorism
§ Scholars agree that terrorism
is a disputed
term.
§ It is common for
opponents in a violent conflict to describe the other side as terrorists or as
practicing terrorism.
§ If you go back in
history, you can hardly any association between Islam and terrorism until
recent years.
§ The earliest incident
in modern time that is now labeled Islamic terrorism and was not labeled as
such at the time was in 1968 when members of the “Popular Front for the Liberation
of Palestine” hijacked an
Israeli flight from Rome that was headed to Tel Aviv and redirected it to
Algeria.
§ The interesting thing
is the leader of this Palestinian organization at the time was “George Habash”,
a Christian Palestinian. Despite that it
is now being lableled as the works of Islamic terrorists.
§ Most of the so called
“Islamic terrorism” acts that followed were directed towards Israeli targets as
a part of the Palestinian-Israeli “conflict”.
American entities were targeted as well as a sign of resentment of the
US foreign policy in support of Israel.
§ The question that we
would like to raise here for those who claim that Islam and its Qur’anic
teachings are behind these “terrorists acts” is how is it in the previous 14+
centuries of Islam Muslims did not use “Islamic terrorism" to advance their
cause.
§ Did the nowadays Muslims
just discover their religion and deciphered coded verses in the Quran that
their predecessors were unable to understand?
§ The truth is that what
is being referred to as “Islamic terrorism” are mostly violent reactions of
oppressed people who have no “state power” to use to counter oppression and
injustice inflicted upon them by tyrant regimes and countries.
§ When this violent
reaction comes from your opponents, you claim whatever it takes to destroy
their image and distort the facts.
§ Simply put, Islam is
innocent from its affiliation with terrorism.
With so much oppression and injustice practiced against Muslims in
modern times is forcing more and more violent reactions of humans who are in
great hardships and suffering with no sympathy from the world leaderships and organizations. To the contrary, there is more support to the
oppressors while the oppressed get no more than hollow lip service at best.
§ Let me close this
point by stating that violence and terrorism are human reaction that can only
be cured by identifying and solving the root cause. Using force to counter violence will do
nothing but make the situation worst.
Jihad
§
Jihad is often mistranslated
as "holy war" as it suggests an attempt to spread Islam by force. This
goes against one of the tenets of Islam that "the freedom of belief is a
God-Given-Right."
§
True, no one can deny that
nowadays the word jihad is closely linked with violent struggle in the many
places in the Muslim world. You hear of groups and organizations with the names
of "Islamic Jihad" and “Al Jihad” as well as others who uses the term
in describing their cause.
§
The truth is that Jihad in
Islam is the act of “exertion and extension of efforts for the cause of God”
§
It refers to one’s
“personal struggle to be righteous” and we Muslims engage in jihad daily.
§
We do Jihad against our “human
temptations”. We do jihad to implement
righteousness in our life styles (physically and spiritually). I am doing
Jihad right now, as I speak to you about the misconceptions of Islam while
trying my best to be accurate and informative.
§
Now, we come to the “holy
war” aspect of jihad. While Jihad does call for Muslims to fight for the rights
of all people, Islam also demands that violence and war be a last resort.
§
It is an Islamic religious
duty to defend and protect God-given rights with vigor and commitment, be it
the rights of Muslims or non-Muslims. Peaceful means are to be exhausted before
resorting to the use of force.
§
If force is to be used, the
Islamic code of ethics “or rules of engagement” strictly calls for :
·
Muslims are only to fight
the oppressors, the aggressors, and the forces of injustice.
·
Muslims are not to press
heavier than necessary nor are they to exceed the necessary limits on the
battlefield.
·
Peace must not be withheld
when the enemy comes to terms.
·
Killing, molesting, or
abusing civilian elderly, women, and children is prohibited.
·
Destroying farms,
factories, infrastructure, churches, etc. is not allowed.
·
Prisoners of war are
treated in the most humane way.
·
Simply put, Muslims are to
observe the highest code of ethics that would leave the door open for the
defeated (lives saved in the battle) to voluntarily and willingly join Islam
later on with no bitterness or bad feelings.
§
True, we often see this
code and that these rules are being broken. In this regard, let us be reminded
that when the pressure and injustice exceed human tolerance and withstanding,
human beings (Muslims or non-Muslims) breakdown and are tempted to revolt and
respond violently.
§
I conclude by stating that
you can’t demand ideal behavior from human beings living under oppressive
regimes and unjust tyrannies. Meanwhile,
you can’t defend their wrong actions either.
Women’s Rights
§
We recognize that women
constitute 50% or more of the human population.
§
Any system (or religion)
that that does not empower such a great portion of its population most
definitely is ill functioning.
§
Islam throughout its
history of flourishing that led to the world of enlightment that we all live
nowadays could have never done so without the support and empowerment of its
women.
§
Islam acknowledges women as
equal partners to men in fulfilling God's purpose for our existence on this
earth.
§
Men and women are to
complement each other and not to compete with each other.
§
In Islam, men and women are
equal, yet they are not identical. It therefore follows that the rights
and responsibilities of a woman are equal to those of a man but they are not
necessarily identical. Equality and sameness are two quite different
things. People are not created identical but they are created equal.
§
What is behind this
misconception are the practices of a few whether countries, societies, or
individuals that are mostly cultural that has nothing to do with Islam. Women
abuse is a worldwide phenomenon that is not limited to Muslim societies. To the contrary, in many Muslim societies women
abuse is way below the norms elsewhere.
§
Let me close this point by
stating that in my electrical engineering bachelor’s graduating class in Egypt
in 1966, the class had about 100 students out of which there were about 25 females.
§
Today, I am supervising a
VT doctoral program in Engineering with about 75 Egyptian students with about
1/3 of them are female. This ratio far
exceeds the US and western world numbers by a huge margin.
§
To tackle the point of
Hijab, which often triggers the issue of “Women’s oppression” in Islam, we need
to recognize that Hijab is not a man-imposed dress code for women.
§
Muslim women recognize
Hijab as an Islamic dress code that they do for the sake of God.
§
Muslim women recognize
Hijab as part of modesty of appearance that empowers them to be respected for
their intellect and not for their physical appearance.
Sharia Law
Sharia (Islamic law) is a comprehensive system
of laws that covers all aspects of human live as individuals, societies, and
states. The areas of Islamic law
include:
·
Hygiene and purification laws.
·
Economic laws, including prohibition on interest and
inheritance laws.
·
Dietary laws.
·
Theological obligations.
·
Marital jurisprudence.
·
Criminal jurisprudence.
·
Military jurisprudence.
·
Dress code.
·
Other topics include customs and behavior
and external relations.
The concept of
crime, judicial process, justice and punishment embodied in sharia is different
from that of secular law. The differences between sharia and secular laws have
led to an on-going controversy as to whether sharia is compatible with modern societies.
Sharia's goal is to protect and promote basic human God-given
rights, including
§ Faith,
§ Life,
§ Family,
§ Property and
§
Intellect.
In fact, Islam has adopted two courses for the preservation
of these five indispensables:
·
First: through cultivating
religious consciousness in the human soul and the awakening of human awareness
through moral education; and
·
Second: by inflicting
deterrent punishment, which is the basis of the Islamic criminal system.
It is important here to recognize that the second is not to
be used unless the first approach is fully exhausted while the criminal is convicted
of committing the crime beyond any shadow of doubt.
Allah is the god of Muslims
§
Muslims believe in the One
and Only Creator Who Created the whole universe and all it contains, the human
race included.
§
He is the same God who
Created Adam, Sent us messengers and prophets to guide humanity to wholesome
quality life.
§
He is the God of Adam,
Noah, Abraham, Moses, Jesus, and Muhammad, pbut all.
§
The Quran reveals to us
that Allah is his name. That is why
Muslims use the name “Allah” to refer to Him.
§
Arabic speaking Christian
and Jews use the name Allah to refer to Him as well.