Refuting Islamophobic Claim That Jihadists Represent Traditional and Mainstream Interpretations of Islam - Part 4 on the Jihadist Narrative Justifying Suicide Bombings or Martyrdom Operations
New Age Islam Special
Correspondent
22 January
2021
The
contemporary Jihadists justify suicide bombings, self-sacrifice, or ‘martyrdom
operations’ as a means of warfare and indiscriminate violence. This narrative
is based on the misappropriating of the Quranic verses, Ahadith and of the
classical corpus of Islam. To support the Jihadist narrative, Islamophobes
propagate that Jihadism is based on traditional and classical interpretations
of Islam. This compelled us to examine the relevant Jihadist narrative in the
light of the foundational texts of Islam and to rebut both Islamophobes and
Jihadists and thereby seeking to de-radicalize the laymen who have fallen prey
to the repeated display of the Jihadist narratives.
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The 9/11
attack was not the first time a terror outfit used suicide terrorism to achieve
It's nefarious objective. Throughout history, there are numerous examples of
suicide tactics. As early as 400 B.C.E., the Greek sailors set ships on fire
and steered them into the enemy forces. This tactic gained popularity so much
that it inspired the coining of the term ‘fireship’. Other examples include
suicide attacks perpetrated by the Jewish Sicarii sect against Hellenized Jews
in the 1st century AD, suicidal attack by Arnold von Winkelried in the Swiss
struggle for independence at the Battle of Sempach in 1386, the suicide attack
by the Islamic Order of Assassins during the early Christian Crusades, the
deliberate suicidal crashes by the Japanese Kamikaze pilots of World War II
into enemy targets, usually ships. We can find out a long history of suicidal
attacks but the Islamic Dawa Party’s car bombing of the Iraqi embassy in Beirut
in 1981 and Hezbollah’s bombing of the US embassy in 1983 and attack on the US
Marine and French barracks in 1983 drew international attention towards suicide
bombing.
The radical
militant organizations including Al-Qaeda, Hamas, Al-Aqsa Martyr’s Brigades,
Fatah, Taliban, ISIS, Boko Haram gained popularity in committing suicidal
operations throughout the world. However, these organizations call a suicide
attack Istishhad translated as
‘martyrdom operation’. They dislike using the term ‘suicide’ because Islam
strongly prohibits taking one’s own life. Rejecting the term “suicide
operations (Amaliyyat Intihariyya)” and insisting on the euphemistic label
“martyrdom operations” (Amaliyyat Istishadiyya), “sacrifice operations”
(Amaliyyat Fidaiyya) or “Jihadi operations” (Amaliyyat Jihadiyya), they
struggled to justify their self-sacrificial or so-called “martyrdom” operations
so as to achieve their nefarious objectives.
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Yusuf
al-Uyayri, an influential former leader of al-Qaeda in Saudi Arabia (1973-2003)
issued a pamphlet titled “The Islamic Ruling on the Permissibility of Martyrdom
Operations”. Uyayri asserts that “martyrdom operations” through suicide attacks
are legitimate not only because they are a necessary response to superior
military forces, but also because of the perceived benefit they bring to
Muslims and Islam. He says,
“As for the
effects of these (martyrdom) operations on the enemy, we have found through the
course of our experience that there is no other technique which strikes as much
terror into their hearts and which shatters their spirit as much”.
Speaking of
the cost-effectiveness, Uyayri says,
“On the
material level, these operations inflict the heaviest losses on the enemy and
are lowest in cost to us. The cost of equipment is negligible in comparison to
the assault... The human casualty is a single life, who is in fact a martyr and
hero gone ahead to the Gardens of Eternity, Insha Allah. As for the enemy,
their losses are high.” (The Islamic Ruling on the Permissibility of Martyrdom
Operations, pp.2-3)
Uyayri
speaks of the permissibility of such attacks under the subjective nature of
necessity and benefit. The contemporary clerics, however, have debated over
which circumstances permit such attacks. For instance, while Yusuf al-Qardawi,
an influential theologian, strongly condemned the targeting of American civilians
in the 9/11 attacks, he had previously issued a fatwa in 1997 justifying
suicide bombings in Israel due to military necessity. He said,
“The
Israeli society is militaristic in nature. Both men and women serve in the army
and can be drafted at any moment. On the other hand, if a child or an elderly
person is killed in such a (suicide) operation, he is not killed on purpose,
but by mistake, and as a result of military necessity. Necessity justifies the
forbidden” (Al-Qaradawi, Shariyia Al-Amaliyat Al-Istishhadiya Fi Filastin
Al-Muhtalla (The Legality of Martyrdom operations in Occupied Palestine), cited
in Muhammad Munir, Suicide Attacks and Islamic Law, March 2008, vol. 90, p.4)
Suicide
attacks or the so-called “martyrdom operations” contravene the traditional
consensus (ijma) that forbids the killing of women, children, old,
non-combatants, and the sanctity of life that runs throughout the primary
sources of Sharia. There is no explicit discussion in the traditional and
classical literature on suicide operations during warfare. Therefore the
exhortation of suicide or such “martyrdom” operations perpetrated by the
jihadists cannot be endorsed by the classical and traditional jurists and
scholars.
Mr. Ghulam Ghaus Siddiqi, a regular columnist of New Age Islam writes,
“Such
labelling, however, has not been sufficient to suppress the divine command
which prohibits self-immolation under all circumstances. They (the jihadists) needed to bring a
stronger argument to parry the criticisms of the Muslim scholars and clerics
who had timely convinced the mainstream Muslim world that the suicide attack is
forbidden under all circumstances.
“So under
the narrative of “martyrdom operation”, they point out that the Quran
recognizes and venerates the martyr, citing the following Quranic verses;
“Indeed,
Allah has purchased from the believers their lives and their properties [in
exchange] for that they will have Paradise. They fight in the cause of Allah,
so they kill and are killed. [It is] a true promise [binding] upon Him in the
Torah and the Gospel and the Qur'an. And who is truer to his covenant than
Allah? So rejoice in your transaction which you have contracted. And it is that
which is the great attainment”. (9:111)
“And do not
say about those who are killed in the way of Allah, "They are dead."
Rather, they are alive, but you perceive [it] not.” (2:154)
“In
addition to these Quranic verses, the Jihadists quote numerous Ahadith to
glorify the martyrs, giving the references to the popular books of Ahadith,
such as, Sahih Bukhari and Sahih Muslim. Moreover, they feel pride in the
fighting “for the cause of God or Allah Almighty”.
“When a
person, secretly involved in looking for the means of real peace and real
recognition of the True God, ponders over the Jihadist narratives vs. Islamic
narratives, he finds out the alarming fact in the Quranic verse (5:32) that the
True God cannot allow taking the life of innocent civilians in brutal ways.
This fact becomes enough for him to maintain the idea that the Jihadists are
serving to destroy the creatures of Allah Almighty, including Muslims and
non-Muslims and the Jihadist path is not the path of God or the cause of God.
So they are not killing and getting killed in the cause of God but in the cause
of going against the command of Allah Almighty (see the Quranic verse 5:32)
which forbids the unjust killing of human beings.
“The point to note is that how could the unjust killing of innocent
civilians, which is strictly forbidden under the use of the term “suicide
attacks”, be permissible under the euphemistic label “martyrdom operations”? A
misdeed cannot be called a good deed simply because its name has been changed.
Whether the Jihadists call their attack “suicide attacks”, “suicide operations”
or “martyrdom operations”, their attack
is a strict violation of Islam. The causes that declare suicide attacks
forbidden are also found in the Jihadist “martyrdom operation” to make it
forbidden. In simple words, a forbidden act cannot be deemed lawful by way of
replacing the term ‘suicide attack’ with ‘martyrdom operation’.” ( The Jihadists' Suicide Attacks or
Martyrdom Operations Strictly Forbidden in Islam )
The Jihadists' Suicide Attacks or Martyrdom
Operations Strictly Forbidden in Islam
In his
other article, Mr. Ghulam Ghaus Siddiqi quotes a number of Quranic verses and
Ahadith to declare Suicidal attacks under all circumstances, even during Jihad
and as a war tactic. This also refutes the Jihadist ideology which claims that
“the suicide attack or so-called ‘martyrdom operation’ can be justified as a
war tactic”. The following are excerpts from his article;
Suicide Attack Is Forbidden (Haram) Under All
Circumstances: Proof From The Holy Qur’an
Suicidal
attack for killing others or for any reason is one of the most forbidden acts,
according to the holy Qur’an. Allah Almighty says:
“Do not kill yourself” (4:29).
This
command of Allah Almighty is for the believers. The point that the obedient
believers will consider it important is very clear. Only the disobedient will
kill themselves. Forbiddance of suicide attacks in this verse has general application.
Without any specific reason, suicide attack is neither allowed in person nor in
public.
Imam Fakhr
al-Din al-Razi interpreted this verse (4:29) and wrote:
“This
verse, “And do not kill yourselves”, prove that it is unlawful for one to kill
someone else or oneself unjustly” (Al-Tafsir al-Kabir of Imam al-Razi, 57:10)
Suicide
attack is forbidden in the Quranic verse 4:29. In just the next verse (4:30),
Allah Almighty legislates the law of punishment for the suicide attackers.
Allah
Almighty says:
“But whoever will do that through transgression
and injustice, We shall soon throw him into the Fire (of Hell) and that is very
easy for Allah”
(4:30).
There is a
general agreement among Islamic jurists and scholars that If Allah Almighty
legislates something in a general application, the restriction is not valid in
any way without the existence of evidence. Therefore, it is unlawful for ISIS
or any other terror outfits to justify suicide attacks for the so-called
‘Jihad’. This general application of the verse refutes all those
Wahhabi-inspired scholars who support suicide bombing in certain circumstances
as a war tactic.
It must be
noticed that the so-called ‘Jihad’ of terror outfits is to kill innocent
civilians including Muslims and non-Muslims. The terror outfits are bereft of
the simple Islamic message that Islamic Jihad in the sense of fighting has some
conditions and that it cannot be waged when two parties mutually agree to a
constitution of peace-treaty. They do not understand the messages derived from
the Quran and Sunnah that breaking the promise of peace-treaty is a great sin
in Islam. Therefore, the terror outfits ought to correct themselves with the
faith that their so-called ‘Jihad’ has no justification. Another point is that
Allah Almighty has prohibited suicide attacks in a general application. The
punishment of suicide attackers is of the hell-fire. Hence, the terror outfits
and the brainwashed youth should never restrict it for any specific reason.
In another
verse, Allah Almighty also says:
“And do not cast yourselves into destruction
with your own hands, and adopt righteousness. Verily, Allah loves the righteous” (2:195)
Islamic
jurists (Fuqaha) and exegetes (Mufassirin) unanimously agree that this verse
(2:195) was revealed in the context of spending in the cause of Allah Almighty.
However, they have also quoted this verse as evidence to prove that it is
forbidden to kill oneself or perpetrate suicide attacks by any means. They
based their assertions on the general meaning of the word (Tahluka, تهلكة) mentioned in this verse, in
addition to quoting other verses like 4:29 and 4:30 and numerous Ahadith(plural
of Hadith) of the prophet Muhammad peace be upon him for the forbiddance of
suicide attacks.
Imam
al-Baghawi quoted the verse 2:195 while interpreting the verse 4:30 and said,
“It is said that He mentioned the Muslim who kills himself”. (Tafsir al-Baghawi
also known as Ma'alim at-Tanzeel: 1:418)
Hafiz ibn
Hajar‘Asqalani said:
“As for
restricting it (the verse 2:195) to the context of not spending in the cause of
Allah, it needs further discussion because the ruling is based on the general
meaning” (Fath al-Baari: 8/115)
Imam
Al-Shawkaani said:
“The
earlier scholars had a number of opinions about the meaning of the verse
(2:195). The truth is that what matters is the general meaning of the word and
not the specific reason. Everything that
may be called (تهلكة Tahluka)
destruction in the religious and worldly terms is included in this word (i.e.
the word تهلكة Tahluka
mentioned in the verse 2:195). Ibn Jareer al-Tabari has this view.” (Fath
al-Qadeer: 1/193)
Based on
the famous principle of Islamic jurisprudence “the ruling is based on the
general meaning and not on the specific reason”, I would follow here in the
footsteps of Islamic jurists and scholars to say that the Quranic verse 2:195
prohibits all kinds of destruction including suicide attacks in person or in
public.
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Since the
best way of understanding and explaining the Quranic verses is “Tafseer
al-Quran bil Quran” (explaining the Quran by the Quran), I would also say that
the verse 2:195 with its general meaning of the word Tahluka (تهلكة) can be better interpreted by the
verse 4:29 which proves that a suicide attack is forbidden and Allah Almighty
has decreed a permanent torment for the suicide attackers in Hell.
Having
understood the general meaning of the word “Tahluka
(تهلكة)” and interpreted the verse 2:195
by the verse 4:29, it is as clear as a crystal for the believers that suicide
attack is the much forbidden act. After all, if some being so rigidly
brainwashed by the radical ideologies fail to reach out to the true interpretation
of both the Qur’anic verses, or fall prey here to any doubt or confusion, I
would like them to cleanse their minds also with the numerous beautiful Hadith
of the prophet peace be upon him, which strongly forbid suicide attacks,
whether in person or in public.
Suicide Attacks Bombings Or Attacks Are Haram:
Proofs From Numerous Hadiths
The Prophet
Muhammad (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said,
“The one
who commits suicide will go to Hell, and will keep falling into it and will
abide there forever” (Sahih Bukhari, The book of Medicine, Chapter: Taking
poison and using it for medical treatment or using what may be dangerous or
Impure)
Narrated
Hadhrat Abu Hurairah (Allah is pleased with him) that the prophet Muhammad
(peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said,
“Whoever
stabs himself to death will continue to stab himself in Hell. And whoever
throws himself off a cliff will continue to throw himself off a cliff in Hell.
And whoever hangs himself will continue to hang himself in Hell”. (Sahih
Bukhari, The book of Funeral Rites, Chapter: What has come to us about someone
who kills himself’?)
The Prophet
(peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said,
“Whoever
swears by a religion other than Islam (i.e. if he swears by saying that he is a
non-Muslim in case he is telling a lie), then he is as he says if his oath is
false and whoever commits suicide with something will be punished with the same
thing in the (Hell) fire, and cursing a believer is like murdering him, and
whoever accuses a believer of disbelief, then it is as if he had killed
him.” (Sahih Bukhari, The Book of Good
Manners, Chapter: If Someone calls his brother a disbeliever without any
legitimate grounds, then he himself is what he said’, Sahih Muslim)
Hadhrat Abu
Hurairah reported that the Messenger of Allah Almighty (peace and blessings of
Allah be upon him) said:
“Whoever
purposely throws himself from a mountain and kills himself, will be in the
(Hell) Fire falling down into it and abiding therein perpetually forever. And whoever
drinks poison and kills himself with it, will be carrying his poison in his
hand and drinking it in the (Hell) Fire wherein he will abide eternally
forever; and whoever kills himself with an iron weapon (stabbing himself), will
be carrying that weapon in his hand and stabbing his abdomen with it in the
(Hell) Fire wherein he will abide eternally forever.” (Sahih Bukhari, The book
of Medicine, Chapter: Taking poison and using it for medical treatment or using
what may be dangerous or Impure)
Obedience
to Leaders Calling for Suicide Attacks is Forbidden: Proof from Hadith
Hadhrat Ali
(Allah is pleased with him) narrated:
“The
Prophet peace be upon him, dispatched an army, and appointed a man their
commander. Then the man made a fire and said (to the soldiers), "Enter
it." Some of them intended to enter it while some others said, 'We have
run away from it (i.e., we have embraced Islam to save ourselves from the
'fire')." They mentioned that to the Prophet, and he said about people who
had intended to enter the fire. ''If they had entered it, they would have
remained in it till the Day of Resurrection.'' Then he said to others, "No
obedience for evil deeds, obedience is required only in what is good."
(Sahih Bukhari, [The Book of Accepting Information Given by a Truthful Person,
Chapter, Acceptance of the information given by one truthful person in about
all matters, and Sahih Muslim, [The book of leadership]
The similar
Hadith has also been recorded in various books of Hadith with a slight change
of wording; Sahih Muslim [The book of Leadership, Chapter: the obligation of
obeying leaders in matters that do not involve sin, but it is forbidden to obey
them in sinful matters], Sunan an-Nasa'i [The Book of al-Bay'ah, Chapter: The
Punishment Of One Who Is Commanded To Commit Sin And Obeys The Command] and
Sunan Abi Dawud [Book of Jihad (Kitab
Al-Jihad) Chapter: Regarding Obedience].
According
to this Hadith, obedience to the leaders is only in what is good and not in
what is evil like suicide attacks in personal or in public.
Paradise
for the Suicide-Attackers is forbidden
On the
authority of Jundub ibn Abdullah (Allah is pleased with him), who said that the
Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said:
“There was
amongst those before you a man who had a wound. He was in [such] anguish that
he took a knife and made with it a cut in his hand, and the blood did not cease
to flow till he died. Allah the Almighty said: My servant has himself
forestalled Me; I have forbidden him Paradise”. This Hadith has been narrated
in Sahih Bukhari [The book of the prophets, chapter: What has been mentioned
about the children of Israel], Sahih Muslim [the book of faith, chapter ‘the
severe prohibition of killing oneself and if someone commits suicide with something,
he will be tormented with the same in the Hellfire] and Ibn Hibban in al-Sahih)
Paradise For The Suicide Attackers Even During
Jihad Is Forbidden
In
accordance with the Qur’an and Hadith, Suicide attack is forbidden in a general
application. However, ISIS militants and other terror outfits brainwash the
young people by justifying it somehow on the basis of the so-called ‘Jihad’ and
‘martyrdom’. By Allah Almighty, they are distorting and ignoring the following
Hadith which has exclusively forbidden suicide even during the real Jihad (i.e.
Jihad for defence); let alone the so-called ‘Jihad’ that is being fought today.
Narrated
Sahl:
“During one
of his Ghazawat, the Prophet peace be upon him encountered the pagans and the
two armies fought, and then each of them returned to their army camps. Amongst
the (army of the) Muslims there was a man who would follow every pagan
separating from the army and strike him with his sword. It was said, "O
Allah's Messenger peace be upon him! None has fought so satisfactorily as
so-and-so (namely, that brave Muslim). "The Prophet said, "He is from
the dwellers of the Hell-Fire." The people said, "Who amongst us will
be of the dwellers of Paradise? if this (man) is from the dwellers of the
Hell-Fire?" Then a man from amongst the people said, "I will follow
him and accompany him in his fast and slow movements." The (brave) man got
wounded and wanting to die at once, he put the handle of his sword on the
ground and its tip in between his breasts, and then threw himself over it,
committing suicide. Then the man (who had watched the deceased) returned to the
Prophet peace be upon him and said, "I testify that you are Apostle of
Allah". The Prophet peace be upon him said, "What is this?" The
man told him the whole story. The Prophet peace be upon him said, "A man
may do what may seem to the people as the deeds of the dwellers of Paradise,
but he is of the dwellers of the Hell-Fire and a man may do what may seem to
the people as the deeds of the dwellers of the Hell-Fire, but he is from the
dwellers of Paradise." (Sahih
al-Bukhari [The Book of Military Expeditions led by the Prophet (pbuh)
(Al-Maghaazi) Chapter: Ghazwa of Khaibar], Sahih Muslim [The Book of Faith »
Chapter: Clarifying the emphatic prohibition against killing oneself; the one
who kills himself with something will be punished with it in the fire]
Suicide Bombing Is Forbidden Under All
Circumstances, Even As A War Tactic?
Some
Wahhabi-inspired scholars have appeared to support the view that suicide
bombing is permissible under certain circumstances as a war tactic. This is
extremely antithetical to the spirit of Islam. The general application of the
Quranic verse (2:195) and the Hadith narrated by Hadhrat Sahl, as mentioned
above, clearly reject the Wahhabi view allowing suicide bombing in certain
circumstances. According to the Quran [2:195], when the suicide-attack is
forbidden under all circumstances, and similarly according to the
aforementioned Hadith when suicide attack is forbidden even during Jihad, how
can it be permissible in the state of Fitna? Then how can suicide-bombing have
any justification under any circumstances? The Quran and Hadith forbid suicide
attacks under all circumstances but it is Wahhabism that allows it under some
circumstances. This way, the Wahhabis are transgressing the limits of Allah and
have forgotten the message of the Quran, “Allah does not like those who
transgress the limits” (2:190). It is time for intellectual Muslims, Ulama, and
scholars to propagate the clear message of Islam that suicide bombing is
forbidden under all circumstances and that no specific reason can justify it
under any circumstances, otherwise the terrorists will keep on recruiting naive
people for committing suicide bombing in public for indiscriminately killing innocent
lives.
What About The Funeral Prayer For The Suicide
Attackers?
According
to a narration, the prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him)
did not offer prayers for the person who committed suicide.
Jabir bin
Samura reported:
“(The dead
body) of a person who had killed himself with a broad-headed arrow was brought
before the Messenger of Allah peace be upon him, but he did not offer prayers
for him” (Sahih Muslim [The Book of Prayer – Funerals, Chapter: Leaving the
funeral prayer for one who committed suicide]
Having
analysed the afore-mentioned Qur’anic verses and numerous Ahadith, it is
evidently clear that the suicide attacks or bombings perpetrated by ISIS
militants at Istanbul’s Ataturk Airport and Baghdad or elsewhere in Iraq or the
world are brazenly anti-Islamic. ISIS’s suicide attackers will reside in the
Hell forever. So, a true Muslim who has
no doubt in the divine book of Allah and believes in the authoritativeness of
Hadith can never justify suicide attacks. A Muslim tasting the true love for
Allah Almighty and his beloved prophet (peace be upon him) will always regard
suicide attack as a forbidden act. A true Muslim who should always thank Allah
Almighty for the reward of life cannot destroy his life by blowing himself up.
He can never brainwash any other Muslim for suicide attacks. If he or she does
this forbidden act, he or she will deserve punishment in Hell and lose every
way leading to the closeness of Allah Almighty and his beloved prophet (peace
and blessings of Allah be upon him) in the hereafter.” ( Suicide Attacks By ISIS or Any Other
Muslim Militants Are Brazenly Un-Islamic and Categorically Forbidden [Haram]
Under All Circumstances: Evidence from the Quran and Hadith )
The above
arguments refute the Jihadist narrative justifying suicide attack or ‘martyrdom
operation’. Nevertheless, the contemporary Jihadists make an analogy (Qiyas) between suicide operation and Inghimas to claim that the
permissibility of suicide attacks is supported by the classical Muslim Ulama
and jurists who permitted Inghimas
(an act of self-immersion into enemy ranks or attacking the enemy in such a
manner that the possibility of survival is very low). They have used Qiyas Ma’al Fariq (analogy with a
discrepancy) which is invalid as per Classical Islamic jurisprudence.
We should
see the differences between the concept of the Jihadist suicide operation and
the classical concept of Inghimas. As
per the classical Inghimas, a person
doing Inghimas, which may be referred
to as Inghimasi, is killed by an
enemy’s weapon, but in the Jihadist suicidal operation, the attacker is killed
by his own weapon deliberately. Inghimas
is waged during the actual battle. But the Jihadist suicidal operation is not
necessarily perpetrated during battles as the Jihadists are committing suicide
attacks outside the conflict zone, including the 9/11 attacks. In Inghimas, there is a high risk but
survival is still possible whereas in the suicidal-operation there is no chance
of survival, as a matter of fact, we have not yet found any record of a suicide
attacker surviving after the attack. With so many differences, the analogy
cannot be rightly made to justify the Jihadist suicidal operation, as the
analogy is with a discrepancy (qiyas ma’al fariq).
This can be
deduced from the above that the Jihadists’ claim that “the suicidal operation
or so-called ‘martyrdom operation’ is endorsed by the classical interpretation
of Islam” is merely based on false propaganda to gain acceptance among the
mainstream Muslims who have been rejecting them since the inception their act
of Jihadism. If the Jihadists can’t present Islamic justification for their suicidal attacks, Islamophobes too should not associate Jihadism with the classical interpretation of Islam.
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