Page 54 - Islam Denounces Terrorism

52 Islam Denounces Terrorism

The word "jahd" is never employed in any other sense in the
Qur'an. Those who perpetrate slaughter under the name of "jihad" say-
ing "Our point of reference is the Qur'an" are either lying or misin-
formed.

In the eyes of the Qur'an, those who are now slaughtering people
in the name of jihad, suicide bombers taking their own lives as well as
lives of defenceless civilians, those who shoot up cafés or concert halls,
or those who are inciting war are committing a grave sin. The verses of
the Qur'an these people misinterpret in the name of war will be set out
in detail in the following pages. There is one important point that

needs to be remembered here; the great majority of radicals spread vio-
lence out of ignorance. They do not know the true faith. Most of them
have likely never even read the Qur'an. That is why it is no use to con-
demn, curse, threaten, imprison or exile someone who kills under the
misapprehension he is waging jihad. His problem is that he has not
been educated with the Qur'an and has not understood the law of God.
Since that is the problem, we have to accept the fact that so long as false

education persists, there will also be radicals who are ignorant of what
they do. If one properly understands what the problem is, one can also
grasp the fact that the only thing that those who spread violence and
terror under the name of jihad need is true education.

Killing Oneself (Committing Suicide) Is not

"Jihad", It Is Forbidden in the Qur'an

The main act of terrorism carried out in the world in the past 20 to

30 years, especially those by terrorist groups originating in the Middle
East, usually took up the form of suicide bombing. Killing oneself, or
suicide, is a sin in the eyes of the Qur'an. But how can a person strap
bombs to his chest and walk into a crowd before blowing himself up,
or drive a bomb-laden car right into the middle of a crowd of civilians?