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Salaam Levy,
Thank you very much for your question.
We need – regretfully - to note that you have misunderstood our answers. We do not legitimize violence and murder against innocents. On the contrary, we oppose it.
We sincerely appreciate your defense of Islam against ignorant critics. We respect your sincere belief in the equality of humans and your defense of all that is good. Actually, if you have somehow come to feel that Muslims want to murder you and your entire family, it is only natural that you are angry!
We fully understand your position. Still, it seems we need to clarify to you that the stand of Islam on violence and murder is not different from what Moses or Jesus taught. The Qur’an repeatedly and emphatically says that its role is to confirm the previous scriptures of God, namely the Torah and the Gospel. This is because all these scriptures – according to Islam - were revealed to the respective prophets by the same God Almighty, the One and Only Creator.
The Holy Qur’an says in Surah 42, verses 13 – 15: *{The same religion has He established for you as that which He enjoined on Noah - the which We have sent by inspiration to thee [O Muhammad] - and that which We enjoined on Abraham, Moses, and Jesus… … … And they became divided only after knowledge reached them - being insolent to one another… … … Call [them to the faith] and stand steadfast as thou art commanded, nor follow thou their vain desires; but say: "I believe in whatever book Allah has sent down; and I am commanded to judge justly between you. Allah is our Lord and your Lord: for us [is the responsibility for] our deeds, and for you for your deeds. There is no contention between us and you. Allah will bring us together, and to Him is [our] final goal.}*
When this is the teaching of the Holy Qur’an, how can we who believe in the Holy Qur’an justify the killing of any person who follows a different prophet? These attrocities are clearly the result of political discrepancies and not religious. I honestly wonder if you came to this misunderstanding about Muslims from the media, which is constantly distorting the facts and issues in which Muslims are involved.
It is also possible that our responses to the questions on the Palestinian martyr operations - named by the media as “suicide bombings” - might have led also to this misunderstanding. Yet, you have clearly stated about that you believe in the equality of all humans.
So, I wonder if you support the Zionist claim of the superiority of the Jewish race, over the rest of mankind or their claim for the land of Palestine for themselves. Yet, to make our position clear, we would give the following details of the issue:
Zionists claim that being the children of Abraham (pbuh), they should get the land of Palestine, promised by Jehovah to Abraham’s children. Yet, they do not consider the children of the first son of Abraham, Ishmael (peace be upon him) as deserving of this promise! They simply believe that only the children of Isaac (peace be upon him) - the second son of Abraham - deserve all the blessings from God, including the “promised Land”. The Gentiles, or Goyyim, are categorically inferior to Jews and are therefore denied equality and a considerable degree of humanity.
Soon after World War II, the British handed over to the UN, the responsibility of dividing Palestine into a Jewish state and an Arab Palestinian state. The UN gave 56% of the land to the Jewish population, who owned only 7% of the land at the time the decision was taken.
Naturally, Arabs considered this a clear betrayal by the world body. As a result, fighting erupted between Arabs and Israelis. Then with the Western support, Israelis defeated the Arabs and captured most of the Palestinian territory.
On May 14th - 1948, Zionist leaders proclaimed the state of Israel and by that time, over 700,000 Palestinian Arabs had become refugees! More than 75% of the refugees left their homes due to Zionist or Israeli military actions. This is along with psychological campaigns aimed at frightening Arabs into leaving. This is also in addition to direct expulsions. The most infamous atrocity occurred at the massacre of Deir Yassin - a village near Jerusalem - where Menachem Begin’s radical outfit killed in cold blood hundreds of Arab men, women and even children. Please visit the following link for more details: Deir Yassin Remembered As a result of all this, now the Palestinian people live as refugees in the land of their own birth. Many of them still live in the refugee camps established in 1949. From the very inception of Israel, that country, with the help of the US, has been continuously expanding its borders into Arab territory, by direct occupation.
They have been demolishing Arab homes, constructing Jewish settlements, violating the UN resolutions. This is, irrespective of all the protests by the Palestinians and the appeal of all the sensible people of the world.
As a matter of fact, Israel is the only country in the world without a specific border. It is also the only country that possesses nuclear bombs in the Middle East - incidentally, a fact that is conveniently overlooked by the United Nations and the United States in their search for WMD in Iraq.
It is against this background that the Palestinians started a desperate last-ditch battle against Israel, through “suicide attacks” – originally initiated as martyr operations. We do not support the idea of suicide killing oneself. We only support the cause of the Palestinians and giving oneself for the sake of the cause.
Also, we cannot support the attitude of those who imagine that the Israelis who come from far-off lands to settle in Palestine, causing deaths and indescribable suffering to the people of the land, are innocent. At the same time, we might need to repeat that we do not support those who ram planes into buildings, killing men, women and children, whoever they may be.
Justice is an Islamic value. Therefore, we believe that as humans it is our moral duty to establish justice in all areas of our life. In fact, striving for justice on earth is a religious struggle ordained by God.
Muslims of the present-day world live mostly in countries where justice is at a premium… In the twisted logic of the so-called “land of the free”, legitimate struggles for justice in these lands are instances of “terrorism”. Even those who speak for the dispossessed or the downtrodden, or uphold the cause of peace are accused of supporting terrorism!
The sophisticated leaders of “the civilized world” do not want to define “terrorism”, much less find out its causes. To cure a disease, you need to find its causes; but those who want to cure the world of “the disease of terrorism”, do not want to find out its causes. Maybe because the primary cause of terrorism is the atrocities they themselves commit…
Muslims believe in divine judgment. God is never unjust, even in the least degree. So, Muslims – those who submit peaceful to God - are careful that they do nothing to earn His wrath. Thus, they do not kill the innocent. If they do so, it is as if they have killed the whole humanity, as God says in Surah 5, verse 32: *{… if anyone slew a person - unless it be for murder or spreading mischief in the land - it would be as if he slew the whole people. And if anyone saved a life, it would be as if he saved the life of the whole people.}*
So, my dear brother, Muslims do not want to murder you, nor anybody who is innocent. While in some cases the use of force is justified and it is, in truth, self defense, at other times is is simply not justified. We do not believe in the "colateral damage" theory espoused by Ms. Albright and adapted by the US military in many of its operations, particularly in Iraq, an issue that must be addressed separately.
Thank you and please do keep in touch.
Salaam.
Useful Links: Any Teachings to Justify Terror? When and How to Fight
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