Debate About Islam Continues: Is It a Religion of Peace?

Apr 1, 2002
9 minutes read time

Muslim officials have declared their peaceful intentions through messages at their annual hajj. U.S. President Bush and British Prime Minister Blair have publicly praised Islam as a religion of peace. Others challenge that assertion, as the debate goes on.

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Muslims' annual pilgrimage to Mecca, which ended Feb. 24, provided Saudi Arabia with an opportunity to distance Islam from the black deeds of Osama bin Laden and his al Qaeda Islamic militants. King Fahd sought to strike the desired tone in his address to the pilgrims: "The Muslim in this universe has a positive role to play in endeavors to fulfill it. The objective of this role is to work for the good of mankind and protect the means of life and achieve stability" ("Defending Islam Was the Theme of Hajj" by Hamca Hendawi, AP, Feb. 24, 2002). The pilgrimage is required of each able-bodied Muslim male at least once in his life; estimates indicate over 2 million visited Saudi Arabia in 2002's hajj. The world focused upon the words of a sermon given there by Sheik Abdul-Aziz bin Al al-Sheik, Saudi Arabia's top cleric. "How can terrorism fit in a religion that gives peace precedence over war?" asked the sheik. He continued, "How could terrorism fit in a faith that calls for the respective agreements, the offering of pacts?" Hendawi described the collective messages as a mix of defensiveness and defiance, noting that the Saudi kingdom feels it is under a cloud of suspicion for a presumed guilt-by-association role in the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. (Of the 19 airline hijackers, 15 were from Saudi Arabia, as is bin Laden himself.) The hajj ended with a symbolic "stoning of the devil" in which hundreds of thousands of pilgrims threw pebbles at three stone pillars in the valley of Mina, outside Mecca. Harsh words against Islam Coincidental with the hajj, a different type of "stoning the devil" was taking place in the United States. Television evangelist Pat Robertson artlessly disputed the soothing comments of Muslims, along with those of Britain's and America's top politicians, about Islam being a religion of peace on his Feb. 22 Christian Broadcasting Network's The 700 Club. Making no allowances for Muslims who do not share his interpretation of the Koran, Robertson generalized, "The Koran makes it very clear, if you see an infidel, you are to kill him." Reporting on Robertson's biting analysis, Alan Cooperman of The Washington Post quotes Robertson's conclusion--that Islam "is not a peaceful religion that wants to coexist. They want to coexist until they can control, dominate and then if need be destroy" ("Robertson Calls Islam a Religion of Violence, Mayhem," Feb. 22, 2002). A firestorm of protest erupted from the American Muslim community, as well as from numerous pundits. In addition to the perceived gracelessness of his current comments, Robertson is tainted by an off-the-cuff commentary he made last September on the same program with associated TV preacher, Jerry Falwell. Within days of the attacks suffered by New York City and Washington, D.C., the two offered opinions on why they believed God's protection had been removed from the United States, citing examples of sins and sinners. They came across as judgmental, callous and self-righteous to many. Ellis Henican of Newsday rolled Robertson's most recent statements about Islam in with the inelegant remarks the two ministers made in mid-September. "These bizarre remarks were met with the expected eye rolling. And, eventually, Falwell and Robertson sort of apologized. But you don't think they learned anything from their brush with utter stupidity? I can promise you Robertson didn't. Because here he was again this past week, on the very same TV show, talking terror again. This time, he didn't limit his blame to the actual suicide hijackers or to the terror groups that backed them. Or even to the governments that trained and financed the terror groups. He took what we might call a broader approach. He blamed the whole Islamic world. He blamed Islam itself" ("Pat Robertson Is at It Again," Feb. 24, 2002). CBN did not apologize this time. Instead, the network charged The Washington Post with inaccurate reporting, failing, for example, to spotlight "the bulk of Arab Muslim opinion that supports terrorist actions as an expression of their faith." CBN's defense included anecdotes from interviews conducted by an Arabic-speaking CBN reporter at the recent annual convention of American-Muslims. The reporter related opinions from a Muslim-American attending the conference, an Egyptian Muslim and an Algerian Muslim--also presumably attending the conference, although CBN's statement was unclear on this point. The composite of the interviews is a defense of terrorism and sharp criticism of American foreign policy, but the identities of the speakers weren't given other than what is noted above. Because such anecdotal evidence can't be confirmed, it keeps the debate in the realm of arguing over opinions and hearsay. Anti-Semitic element to Muslim message We should stick to the facts, and let them speak for themselves. The Muslim faithful heard many other sermons during this year's hajj, besides the one quoted above. While clerics generally followed the orders of the royal family to stay away from politics, Sheik Osama Abdullah Khayyat preached to the faithful: "God give your glory but to Islam and Moslems. The Lord...defeat those tyrant Jews" ("No 'Sermon on the Mount' From Mecca" by Don Feder, Creators Syndicate, Feb. 25, 2002, emphasis added). Words expressed by at least one Saudi official before the hajj weren't as carefully crafted for international consumption. An official of the Saudi ministry of Islamic affairs, Abdullah bin Matruk al-Haddal, called Jews "brothers of the apes and pigs." He declared that the World Trade Center attack was the product of a Jewish-Zionist conspiracy and advised the United States to "get rid of the Jews" (Feder, p. 1). A recent Zogby poll of Muslim-Americans shows that the community doesn't support the current U.S. military action. Seven percent endorsed the use of military force in the war against terrorism, while 67 percent chose "changing America's Middle East policy" as the best way to do the job, in their opinion. Clearly, that means that they believe the United States should withdraw from supporting Israel. What the Koran says Are there statements in the Koran that could be taken as incitements to violence? Let's take an objective look at the Koran, allowing it to speak for itself instead of debating personal opinions. The following are quotes from the Koran, as translated by Yusuf Ali (http://db.islam.org:81/Quran/FMPro, emphasis added). "Remember thy Lord inspired the angels (with the message): 'I am with you: give firmness to the Believers: I will instil [sic] terror into the hearts of the Unbelievers: smite ye above their necks and smite all their finger-tips off them.' Say to the Unbelievers, if (now) they desist (from Unbelief), their past would be forgiven them; but if they persist, the punishment of those before them is already (a matter of warning for them)...And fight them on until there is no more tumult or oppression, and there prevail justice and faith in Allah altogether and everywhere; but if they cease, verily Allah doth see all that they do" ("Spoils of War," 12, 39). "But when the forbidden months are past, then fight and slay the Pagans wherever ye find them, an[d] seize them, beleaguer them, and lie in wait for them in every stratagem (of war)" ("The Repentance," 5). "Soon shall We cast terror into the hearts of the Unbelievers, for that they joined companions with Allah, for which He had sent no authority: their abode will be the Fire: And evil is the home of the wrong-doers!" ("The Family of Imran," 151.) "When ye travel through the earth, there is no blame on you if ye shorten your prayers, for fear the Unbelievers May attack you: For the Unbelievers are unto you open enemies...For the Unbelievers Allah hath prepared a humiliating punishment" ("Women," 101-102). These passages certainly have a violent tone and seem to direct the faithful to make war on, mutilate and kill unbelievers. One might argue that it's like Christians have taken selected verses out of the Bible to justify opinions that the Bible as a whole does not endorse. Again, to keep from merely debating over words, let's ask and answer this fair question: How are such passages generally interpreted by teachers of Islam? An Islamic journalist speaks out Amir Taheri, an Iranian journalist and author, is the editor of the Paris-based Politique Internationale (International Politics). He is also a Muslim, meaning his words cannot be dismissed as those of an ultraconservative Christian or Jew with political prejudices. He wrote a startlingly frank editorial for the Internet edition of the Wall Street Journal last Oct. 27. (An important word of qualification: More moderate Muslim leaders do not always interpret the Koran in the manner mentioned below.) "Al Queda did not materialize out of thin air. Nor have they been operating in a vacuum. Bin Laden belongs to a prominent Yemeni-Saudi family that makes much of its Islamic credentials. He began his militant career in 1984 as a fund-raiser for Afghans fighting the communist regime in Kabul in the name of Islam. He had offices in a dozen Muslim countries, none of which regarded his activities as un-Islamic... "Anyone familiar with text books in most Muslim countries would know the twisted view of the world they propagate and the hatred they promote. Anyone who follows the media in the Muslim world would know that the verbal version of the Sept. 11 attacks is almost daily fare. Go to the Internet and check the editorials of virtually any Muslim paper on Sept. 10 and see what they were saying about the West in general and the U.S. in particular. Anyone listening to a sermon in virtually any mosque, including many in the West, would be shocked by the vehemence of the anti-Western, especially anti-American, sentiments expressed. "It is both dishonest and dangerous for Muslims to remain in a state of denial. And yet a state of denial is what we have... "The Muslim world today is full of bigotry, fanaticism, hypocrisy and plain ignorance--all of which create a breeding ground for criminals like bin Laden. The principal victims of these criminals are Muslims, who were prevented from developing a modern political culture without which they cannot reform their societies and rebuild their economies." These are powerful and sobering words, coming from a Muslim about his own faith. Not the means to the desired end The present mix of defensiveness, suspicions, accusations and political papering over real differences isn't going to result in the harmonious world that most claim they would like to see, regardless of their religious persuasion. World peace will come, neither by proselytizing nor by persecuting, but rather through the intervention of the Creator God. Not surprisingly, based upon the chaos we see in today's world, neither Christian nor Muslim has realized the plan He has in mind. Few can appreciate how different the Church Jesus built is from the mosques, temples and churches that dot the present-day's landscape. Do you know? Read our booklet, The Church Jesus Built. WNP
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