By Ghulam Ghaus, New Age Islam
01 July, 2014
The self-styled Islamic state of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), the extremist organization has begun to eliminate almost all possibilities of prosperity, deepening the cycle of hatred and rage. Looking at violence and mass slaughter in Iraq during the last 40 years of war that has widowed not less than a million women, strewn body parts right and left, bombed thousands of civilians including school kids and recently brothers killing brothers or Muslims killing Muslims, I would go so far as to say that violent occurrences are due to not practicing Islamic teachings.
The moment we look into the Qur'an and Ahadith we get to gather scores of holy verses and sayings of the Prophet (peace be upon him), which strictly forbid killing Muslims. Let us see how strictly the Qur'an and sayings of the Prophet (peace be upon him) forbid killing Muslims, taking into consideration where the extremist organizations like ISIL are when they ascribe themselves to be Islamic.
The holy Quran says:
“But he who kills a Muslim deliberately, his sentence will be Hell wherein will he abide for ages. Allah will afflict him with His wrath and will cast His curse on him. And He has prepared for him a dreadful torment”. (4:93)
From this we can infer that deliberate killing of a Muslim is a great sin that will send its perpetrators to the Hell for a long time. What would be the case with ISIL militants who are killing Muslims in Iraq just for seizing territories and establishing their own state? How much Islamic as they claim they are can be estimated that Allah Almighty will afflict them with His wrath and cast His curse on them and thus a dreadful torment for them.
Allah Almighty says:
“And do not kill the soul whose (killing) Allah has forbidden, except when it is rightfully due (according to law in self-defence against disruption and whilst combating terrorism). It is these (injunctions) He has enjoined upon you so that you may apply reason”. (6:151)
From the verse above it is evident that unlawful killing of any soul i.e. any human being is forbidden. ISIL militants are doing the acts that Allah has forbidden. Do they not have faith in the Day of Judgement where they will have to recompense the killing of innocent lives? Their recompense is the Hell as mentioned in the verse (4:93).
Also Allah Almighty says:
“On account of this, We prescribed (this commandment in the Torah sent down) to the Children of Israel that whoever killed a person (unjustly), except as a punishment for murder or for (spreading) disorder in the land, it would be as if he killed all the people (of society); and whoever (saved him from unjust murder and) made him survive, it would be as if he saved the lives of all the people (of society, i.e., he rescued the collective system of human life). And indeed, Our Messengers came to them with evident signs. Yet, even after that, the majority from amongst these people are certainly those who commit excesses in the land” (5:32)
It is now very clear that killing a person is tantamount to kill all mankind and saving a person is like saving all mankind. Despite knowing this teaching from the holy Qur’an revealed by the prophet Muhammad peace be upon him, the ISIL militants are killing Muslims in Iraq. May Allah Almighty save Iraq and Iraqis from these transgressors!
Let us ponder over the following verse:
“And those who hurt the believing men and the believing women without their doing anything (wrong), surely, they bear (themselves) the burden of a false allegation and an open sin” (33:58)
It is an open sin to hurt the believers who have not done anything wrong, according to the holy Quran. But when we see the situation going on in Iraq and the Muslim world, tears come out of our eyes to express that how much anti-Islam the ISIL militants are when they are turning the country into a sea of blood. How great oppressors they are!
Allah Almighty forbids a community to ridicule another community:
“O believers! Let no community ridicule another community. It is likely that they may be better than those (who ridicule)” (49:11)
The ongoing war in Iraq should not be called Sunni vs. Shiites. Almost all the terrorists are fond of attaching their names with Islamic terms like Islam, Jihad, Sharia, Sunni, while they have nothing to do with Islamic teachings like peace, harmony, co-existence, brotherhood, integrity, unity and love. Why is it that they want such titles? Some say they are doing so to disrepute Islam, others say they are being brought up by extremist westerners who have hate and prejudice against Islam so as to degrade the value of Islam, while others say they want to seize Iraq and establish their self-styled caliphate system. Whatever the reason may be, I will say they have no relation with the Qur’an, Ahadith, and rightly guided caliphs. As for their claiming to be Sunnis, it is nothing but a false statement as is transparent in the following Ahadith.
It is narrated that the Prophet (peace be upon him) said: “A true Muslim is one from whose tongue and hands, all other Muslims are safe; And a true believer is one from whom people’s lives and wealth are secured; And a true Mujahid is one, who subdues his inner self and forces it into God’s obedience; And a true Muhajir is one, who leaves everything that God has disapproved. By Him, Who controls my life in His hand, no such person shall enter Paradise, whose neighbour was not safe from his transgressions”. (This Hadith has been narrated with minor variations in Bukhari Shareef, Muslim Shareef, Tirmidhi, Nasai, Abu Daud, Ahmad Ibn Hambal, Darmi, Ibn Hibban, Bayhaqi, Nasai Sunan al-Kubra, Ibn Abi Shaybah, Abd al-Razzaq, Abu Ya’la and Humaydi)
Sunni is one who follows Sunnah of the prophet Muhammad peace be upon him. The ISIL militants are not practicing any Sunnah. We see Muslims in Iraq are not safe from their tongue and hands. So, the people across the world should not jump to label this terrorist activity “the war between Sunnis and Shiites”, rather it is justly better to call it “the war between terrorists and Muslims”. Moreover, it is the responsibility of all Muslims to unite together to eliminate this act of terrorism through all possible means.
Better to mention some more Ahadith which reflect the fact that the ISIL militants are against the Islamic teachings. The prophet Muhamamd peace be upon him said:
"Abusing a Muslim is Fusuq (evil doing) and killing him is Kufr (disbelief)." (Sahih al-Bukhari Volume 9, Book 88, Number 197)
These ISIL militants are false in their claim of being Sunnis by killing Muslims or doing an act of disbelief.
Sunan Ibn Majah, Imam Tabarani in his book “Musnad al-Shamiyyin”, Imam al-Mundhiri in ‘Targhib wa Tahrib’ have the following Hadith from Abdullah ibn Amr ibn al-‘As (RA) that he said:
“I saw the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) performing Tawaf around the holy Kaaba saying to it: ‘how pure and good you are! How pure and good your fragrance is! How great and exalted you are! And how great and exalted your sanctity is! But by Him in whose hand is Muhammad’s soul, the sanctity of a believer’s blood and property in the sight of Allah is greater than your sanctity!”
How much importance Islam has given to the life of a believer can be easily perceived that the sanctity of his blood is greater than that of Kaaba. Where are the ISIL militants wandering without this Hadith?
Abu Huraira (RA) narrates that Allah's Messenger (peace be upon him) said:
“None amongst you should point a weapon towards his brother, for he does not know that Satan might cause the weapon (to slip) from his hand and (he may injure anyone) and thus he may fall into Hell-Fire” (Sahih Muslim; the Book of Virtue, Good Manners and Joining of the Ties of Relationship (Kitab Al-Birr was-Salat-I-wa'l-Adab) Imam Hakim (R) narrated this Hadith in 'Al Mustadrak, Behqi in As Sunan Al Kubra.
The Prophet Muhammad peace be upon him also said:
“He who pointed a weapon towards his brother the angels invoke curse upon him even if he is his real brother so long as he does not abandon it (the pointing of weapon towards one's brother Muslim). (Sahih Muslim, Imam Tirmidhi narrates the same Hadith in As Sunan, Imam Hakim in Al Mustadrak, Imam Bayhaqi in As Sunan Al Kubra)
Pointing a weapon like a knife, dagger, sword, or gun at a Muslim, even in play, is forbidden in Islam. It is strictly prohibited for a Muslim to frighten another Muslim unnecessarily. This is what we learn from the Hadith that the angels curse him who points a weapon at another Muslim.
Imam Behqi in Sunan al-Kubra, Sunan Ibn Majah, Imam Ar-Rabee in his Musnad have narrates the following Hadith that forbid to help in killing a Muslim by even a half word:
“Whoever helps in killing a Muslim by even half a word will be brought on the Day of Judgment with the words ‘hopeless from the mercy of Allah’ written between his eyes.”
All the afore-mentioned divine verses and Ahadith strictly forbid killing Muslims. But unfortunately, the current scenario reveals the full horror going on in the Muslim world, particularly Iraq where Muslims are killing Muslims. However, it is more unfortunate that the majority mainstream Muslims and Islamic countries are not coming to unite against oppression in Iraq. So long as we lack that unity, the Islamic world will continue to face the almost daily occurrences of violent and terrorist acts.
A regular columnist for New Age Islam, Ghulam Ghaus is an Alim and Fazil (Classical Islamic scholar) with a Sufi background. He has completed the classical Islamic sciences from a Delhi-based Sufi Islamic seminary Jamia Hazrat Nizamuddin Aulia Zakir Nagar, New Delhi with specialization in Tafseer, Hadith and Arabic. He completed his Alimiat and Fazilat respectively from Jamia Warsia Arabic College, Lucknow and Jamia Manzar- e- Islam, Bareilly, U.P. He has graduated in Arabic (Hons) and is pursuing his M.A in Arabic from Jamia Millia Islamia, New Delhi.
URL: https://newageislam.com/radical-islamism-jihad/isil-militants-killing-muslims-iraq/d/97833