Page 111 - Age of Peace Goodword.indd

The Age of Peace

The root cause of suicide bombing is that in present times,
the Muslim community has come to think of the world as
being divided between Muslims and kafirs (non-believers);
that, besides Muslims, everyone else is kafir; that the countries
ruled by Muslims are dar as-salam (Land of Islam) whereas the
countries ruled by people other than Muslims are dar al-kufr
(Land of Disbelief). Due to this mindset, Muslims think that
any heinous act may be perpetrated with impunity against
supposed disbelievers.
It is because of this negative mentality of the Muslims of the
present day that the ulama, or Muslim scholars, have become
emboldened to publicly declare suicide bombing as lawful – an
act which has always been unlawful in the absolute sense.
Moreover, there are certain Muslim scholars who have gone
to the extent of openly issuing fatwas, or verdicts, claiming
that suicide is lawful. They have coined a new term—istishhad
(to seek martyrdom)—to give justification for suicide bombing.
Such fatwas are undoubtedly wrong. And it is strange that
the entire community of religious scholars has not openly
condemned this patently wrong fatwa.
The method of suicide bombing – known as hara-kiri – was
first adopted in a big way by Japan. Traditionally practiced
in that country, it was a ritual form of suicide carried out by
slashing one’s abdomen. As we know, the method of hara-kiri
adopted by Japan in the Second World War turned out to be
totally ineffective, and it was subsequently abandoned.
The practice of suicide bombing by Muslim militants has
likewise become totally ineffective. By such attacks, they put
an end to innocent lives, but this fails to produce any positive
results. The question then arises as to why this deadly method
of suicide bombing still continues.
The reason is that Muslims on their own have developed
a baseless belief that a believer killed in a battle becomes a
martyr, and therefore goes straight to heaven. This is a false
belief. According to Islamic teachings, there is absolutely no
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