In the name of Allah, the beneficent, the merciful And among mankind is he whose speech about the life of this world impresses you, while God bears witness against what is in his heart, and he is the most violent of adversaries. (Q2/204) There will be in my Community a dissent and a faction, a people with excellent words and vile deeds. They will read Quran, but their faith does not go past their throats. They will pass through religion the way an arrow passes through its quarry. They will no more come back to the religion than the arrow will come back to its original course. They are the worst of human beings and the worst of all creation. They summon to the book of Allah but they have nothing to do with it...-Prophet Muhammad The West won the world not by the superiority of its ideas or values or religion but rather by its superiority in applying organized violence. Westerners often forget this fact, non-Westerners never do. - Samuel P.THE necessity for circumspection and caution in our attempt to use men as measurement for what they claim they believe in is evident in the above quotations from the Quran and the Hadith of the Prophet of Islam, Muhammad (upon him be peace and blessings of Allah). Thus I propose as follows: that there are wars and turmoil in the Muslim world today because the leadership there, itself a product of a followership out of tune with Islamic heritage, have lost their connection with the Quran. Again I propose thus: there exists a gulf in-between the Quran/Islam and the Muslims because the latter are products of the modern world - a world, which belongs to the West. The West owns the world, in line with Huttington, not by the superiority of its ideas or values or religion but rather by its superiority in applying organised violence.But the above could be pooh-poohed by my compatriots as an unwarranted simplification and globalisation of a national hiatus. Unfortunately, however, this is part of the narrative. It is true with reference to Afghanistan and Iraq. The West was there in Iran-Iraq conflict. The West was and is still there in Somalia and Sudan. The reason Mubarak colonized Egypt and turned his compatriots to vassals was, de facto, for the security of Israel, and, de jure, the politricks of the West. The West creates insecurity outside its borders in order that it may be secure within its own borders. Until recently, when China began the second imperialism, the West used to monopolise the production and sale of all instruments of violence for imperial reasons. Is it not true that Mexico would not be a failed state today were it not for the surplus ammunition on sale on American streetsBut could the sale of what is forbidden be pleaded as an excuse for indulgence in what is forbidden Could the sale of chastity by the prostitute serve as inducement for the participation in what is haram Would it be valid for me to say that it is the sale of guns in my city of residence, which pushed me to kill my brother who happens to be a sunni or shia or my neighbour who happens to be Christian Answers to these questions are, from the Islamic legal perspective, in the negativeIn fact the prohibition of a thing presupposes its existence for, if it were not to be existent, its prohibition would have become asinine and Allah, may His name be exalted, would not engage in inanity. Thus all acts of inter-tribal, inter-communal and sectarian violence, which often leads to death and destruction of lives and property, are haram (forbidden). To indulge in it is to challenge Allah to bring his punishment.A careful reader of the Quran would discover that the book repeatedly emphasises that defensive war - fighting to protect oneself against invading enemiesis the only kind of combat mainly approved (Q2: 190 - 191). In numerous other examples, the Quran teaches that the use of force should be a last resort (Q2: 192, Q4: 90); that normal relations among peoples, nations and states, whether Muslim or not, should be peaceful (Q49: 13); that necessary wars must be limited in time and space (Q2: 190); that maximum effort should be applied at all times to advance the cause of peace (Q10: 25); that whatever means are undertaken to work for peace during a conflict (such as mediation and arbitration) must be attempted over and over again until resolution is achieved (Q8:61); that freedom of religion must be granted to every one (2:256) among others.It must be crystal clear that verses of the Quran, which talk about Muslims fighting non-Muslims (Q9: 5, 29 and 36), were not directed against the latter based on their religious beliefs. Rather they were revealed to the Prophet of Islam based on the fact that those people, Jews and Christians, were aggressors and/or transgressors. But non-Muslim critics of the Quran, including C.N Hore who wrote to me on this issue usually engage these Quranic texts in complete disregard to their contexts. Hore even went ahead to remind me of over 20 verses of the Quran, which according to him promote violence.Another compatriot of mine, Jude, who forgot to inform me of where he was writing from even said that my piece of last week implied that Muslims are not perfect contrary to the Bible which encourages Christians to be perfect. He wrote in part thus:Dear Afis,I do not, with due respect understand your separation concept. My religion, Christianity teaches me be ye perfect as your heavenly father is perfectMy response to these is simply thus: Those who read scriptural texts, be it the Quran or the Bible or even the Jewish Torah, without fidelity to their contexts could be accused of intellectual dishonesty. In other words, I feel I would be under obligation to seek interpretive guidance of the laity each time I read the following texts from the New Testament in which Prophet Isa, Jesus Christ, (May Allahs peace be on his soul), is reported to have said:Do not think that I have come to send peace on Earth. I did not come to send peace, but a sword. I am sent to set a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law (Mathew 10:34-35).Dear reader, in view of my ignorance of Biblical theology, revelation and reason would demand that I seek counseling of my senior colleagues in Biblical studies in the university each time I read the following from the book of St Luke:I say to you that to everyone who has, more shall be given, but from the one who does not have, even what he does have shall be taken away. As for my enemies who do not want me to reign over them, bring them here and kill them in my presence (Luke 19:26-27).Thus, in closing, the sacredness of life in Islam is a cardinal principle which recognises neither creed nor colour and no interpretive wizardry of any pseudo-scholar in the Muslim world will ever invalidate it. Once again, I join Jude and others who have written to me to declaim the hara-kiri going on in Jos. Each time an innocent soul is killed anywhere in the world I feel, like Prophet Muhammad (Q9: 111), as if a part of me has been immolated.
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