Quranic Term Fasad Covers Terrorism and Extremism That Needs to Be Fought with the Same Vigour with Which Muslims Fought Kharjites
By S. Arshad, New Age
Islam
17 April 2021
The Mayhem perpetrated by Modern Terrorist Organisations Clearly Comes
Under the Islamic Definition of Fasad Which Quran Considers worse than
Slaughter and worthy of being fought with full vigour.
Highlights:
1.Quran has clear verses denouncing terrorism and extremism.
2. Terrorist groups are modern day Kharijites that Muslims fought against
and excluded from their communities throughout their history.
3. Quran asks Muslims to fight terrorists till they come back to God's
command.
4. Quran asks Muslims to fight terrorism and extremism of all kinds to
the best of their ability.
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The holy
Quran not only preaches Tawheed but also principles of harmonious living and
envisages a society where its members will pursue the policy of 'preaching good
and negating evil' in a peaceful manner. On a number of occasions, the Quran
stresses the fact that God does not like transgression and tyranny, injustice,
persecuting the members of other communities on religious, sectarian, ethnic or
linguistic grounds. The Quran does not support violence in the name of
preaching or propagating Islam among non-Muslims. It declares those who
perpetrate violence in the name of propagation of Islam transgressors and warns
them of severe punishment in the Hereafter.
Religious
extremism is a form of transgression which leads believers to committing
violence not only against non-Muslims but also against Muslims who follow the
path of moderation and tolerance. This extremism gradually turns into violent
way of interpreting Islam.
Religious
extremism had started rearing its head during the life of the Holy Prophet pbuh.
A group among Muslims who were pious and strictly followed religion would often
express extremist views in matters of religion. There is a hadith according to
which the holy Prophet pbuh was distributing war booty among the warriors when
a Kharijite had accused the Holy Prophet pbuh of distributing war booty
unjustly. Hadhrat Umar wanted to kill him over his temerity but the holy
Prophet pbuh had forbidden him because it might create rift among Muslims.
Over the
years, this group became a prominent sect among Muslims who were known for
their extremist views on religious matters and issues. They became so extremist
and violent that during the caliphate of Hadhrat Ali r.a. they even criticised
him for not taking the right decision on religious or political issues. Hadhrat
Ali had to fight a battle in Nahrawan (in Iraq) to wipe out this group of
violently pious Muslims called Kharijites.
As has been
said, this group had started to take shape even during the life of Prophet pbuh
and so we find a few verses in the Quran that give a hint of the extremist
behaviour of this group and disapprove them. That the verses are not about
non-Muslims but about this extremist group among Muslims becomes evident from
the fact that some of these verses are Madani verses when most of the area
around Madina had become Muslim. Therefore, the people addressed in these
verses are arguably Muslims and not non-Muslims. For example, here are some
verses from the Quran:
"Of the people, there are some who say,
"We believe in Allah and the Last Day", but they do not really
believe",(Al
Baqarah:8)
"In their hearts is a disease and Allah
has increased their disease and grievous is the penalty they incur because they
are false (to themselves). (Al Baqarah:10)
"When it is said to them, “Make no
mischief on land", they say, “Why we are only the reformers."(Al Baqarah:11)
"Of a surety, they are the ones who make
mischief but they realise not."(Al Baqarah:12)
Not only
that, in the latter part of Surah Al Baqarah, the Quran describes this group of
extremists more vividly.
"There
is the type of men whose speech about this world's life may dazzle thee and he
calls Allah's witness about what is in his heart, yet he is the most
contentious of enemies. When he turns his back his aim everywhere is to make
mischief through the earth and destroy crops and cattle. But Allah loveth no mischief. When it is said to him, "Fear
Allah," he is led by arrogance to crime. Enough for him is Hell, an evil
bed indeed."(Al Baqarah:204-206)
From the
diction and the period (Medinan) of the revelation of the aforesaid verses it
can be argued that these verses may be about the non-Muslims but they also
address the extremist group among Muslims that had become recognisable by that
time. Polytheists did not believe in the Last Day (see Baqarah:8); the
polytheists did not bother about reforming tge society, neither did the Jews of
Madina or Makkah (see Baqarah:11); the polytheists did not call Allah to
witness (Allah Ki Qasam Khana)(See
Baqarah:204-206).
Therefore,
these verses seem more related to the extremist Muslims of the prophetic era
than to non-Muslims).
In the
later Islamic period, religious extremists gained ground and were the cause of
a lot of bloodshed. They considered themselves more pious than the rightly
guided caliphs and the senior Sahaba. Things came to such a passé that Hadhrat
Ali had to fight a battle against them and eliminate them.
However,
their extremist ideology could not be eliminated and in the twentieth century,
this ideology gave birth to terrorist organisations like Al Qaida, Al Shabab,
Boko Haram, ISIS etc. They are the modern day Kharijites who believe in
violence and bloodshed in the name of reform or establishment of an Islamic
state.
Thus the
Quran has clear cut injunctions on terrorism and extremism. When it mentions
Fasad (mischief) it also means extremism and terrorism because the activities
and behaviour of the members of the modern terrorist organisations clearly come
under the definition of Fasad. That is, they cause bloodshed but think that
they are doing this to bring reform in the society. They claim that they
believe in Allah and the Last Day and call Allah to witness but destroy crops
and lives on earth though they speak with reference to Quran and Hadiths to
sound pious.
The Quran
prescribes severe punishment for them in this world and promises them a severe
torment in the Hereafter:
"Those who fight against Allah and the
Messenger and run about trying to spread disorder on the earth, their
punishment is no other than that they shall be killed, or be crucified or their
hands and legs are cut from different sides or they be kept away from their
land. That is a humiliation for them in this world, and for them there is a
great punishment in the Hereafter."(Al Maidah:33)
The Quran
prescribes different punishment for the extremists according to the severity of
their crime: death, or amputation or banishment. They are banished from the
land and so live in forests and hills like outcastes and from there they launch
attacks on crops and cattle and on residential areas killing innocent people.
However, to
prove that they are not the group the Quran addresses or hints at, they quote
the war time verses in which the Quran allows Muslims to fight non-Muslims of
Makkah and Madina and try to create the impression that they are like the
Muslims of the Prophetic era who fought to establish the word of Allah and the
modern day Muslims are Kafirs and Mushrik but they can not explain why they
live like outcastes in forests and in hiding if they are well wishers of
Muslims and why they kill Muslims including children.
The fact is
that they are the mischief-makers mentioned in the Quran. The Quran has made it
clear that Allah does not like mischief-makers and killers of innocent people
or perpetrators of injustice.
"He does not like
the transgressors":(Al Araf:55)
"And do not kill
one another. Indeed Allah is to you merciful. And whoever does that in
aggression and injustice then we will drive them into a Fire."(Al Nisa:29-30)
There can
not be a clearer verse against the terrorists of modern times than this:
"If two groups of
the believers fight each other, seek reconciliation between them. And if one of
them commits aggression against the other fight the one that commits aggression
until it comes back to Allah's command."(Al Hujurat:9)
The Quran
enjoins on Muslims to seek reconciliation between the violent or warring groups
of Muslims and if a group does not make peace and continues its aggression,
Muslims are asked to fight it until they surrender. Therefore, fighting against
these terrorist and extremist groups had been mandated for Muslims. Hadhrat Ali
first offered amnesty to the Kharijites. 1200 of the 4000 Kharijites abandoned
their extremist views and came back to the mainstream. The rest 2800 Kharijites
did not repent and were killed in the battle of Nahrawan.
Therefore,
Quran has clearly mentioned the extremist and terrorist groups and prescribed
punishments and ways to deal with them: invite them to the mainstream society
to live according to the Quran and Sunnah and if they do not abandon their
extremist ideology and violent behaviour, fight them till the end.
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S.
Arshad is a columnist with NewAgeIslam.com
URL: https://newageislam.com/radical-islamism-jihad/quranic-term-fasad-covers-terrorism/d/124705
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