The Seeds of Islamic Fundamentalism

[Guest guest]

Compiled by Stephen Knapp

We all know that most Muslims are not terrorists, nor do they want to

quarrel with others. The majority of them simply want to worship God in their

way and live a peaceful life. So why does there seem to be friction and

difficulties that often involve Muslims? And why are there so many terrorists in

the world who, indeed, call themselves followers of Islam? Where do we find

the seeds of their motivation?

The Koranic References for the Sword

Does the Koran itself give credence to strike against kafirs and infidels,

those who are non-Muslims, or to conduct a holy war to protect and expand the

faith? When we study the Koran, it certainly seems that it provides for such

viewpoints.

There are numerous ayats (verses) in the Koran that confirm the ways

for Muslims to view and treat non-Muslims. For example: "O Prophet! Rouse

the believers to the fight. If there are twenty amongst you, patient and

persevering, they will vanquish two hundred: if a hundred, they will vanquish a

thousand of the Unbelievers: for these are a people without understanding."

(Surah 8:65) "Remember thy Lord inspired the angels (with the message): 'I am

with you: give firmness to the Believers: I will instill terror into the hearts of the

Unbelievers: smite ye above their necks and smite all their fingertips off them."

(Surah 8:12) "Truly Allah loves those who fight in His cause in battle array, as

if they were a solid cemented structure." (Surah 61:4)

In this mood, as we have seen, many Islamic terrorists are ready to give

up their lives for the cause. They engage in suicide attacks wherein it is part of

the plan that they will give up their lives, often believing that by doing so they

automatically go to heaven. So does the Koran justify this idea? In this respect

we find the following verses:

"Think not of those who are slain in Allah's way as dead. Nay, they live,

finding their sustenance in the presence of their Lord." (Surah 3:169) "O ye

who believe! What is the matter with you, that when you are asked to go forth

in the Cause of Allah, ye cling heavily to the earth? Do ye prefer the life of this

world to the Hereafter? But little is the comfort of this life, as compared with

the Hereafter." (Surah 9:38) Herein we find the Koran practically encouraging

the anticipation for reaching the next life.

Furthermore, does the Koran specifically relate a harsh view toward

infidels, non-Muslims? If it does, then that would make it even easier for

militant Muslims to feel there is little harm in ill-treating or even killing those

who are participants of other religions. In this regard we find the following

verses in the Koran:

"Verily ye (unbelievers), and the (false) gods that ye worship besides

Allah, are (but) fuel for Hell! To it will ye (surely) come!" (Surah 21:98) "(The

sentence will be:) Throw, throw into Hell every contumacious Rejector (of

Allah)!; Who forbade what was good, transgressed all bounds, cast doubts and

suspicions; who set up another god beside Allah: throw him into a severe

penalty." (Surah 50:24) "Therefore, when ye meet the unbelievers (in fight),

smite at their necks [cut off their heads]; At length, when ye have thoroughly

subdued them, bind a bond firmly (on them): thereafter (is the time for) either

generosity or ransom: until the war lays down its burdens. Thus (are ye

commanded): but if it had been Allah's Will, He could certainly have exacted

retribution from them (Himself); But (He lets you fight) in order to test you,

some with others, but those who are slain in the way of Allah [for the cause of

Allah]--He will never let their deeds be lost. Soon He will guide them and

improve their condition, and admit them to the Garden which He has

announced for them." (Surah 47:4-6) "Those who reject (Truth), among the

People of the Book and among the Polytheists, will be in Hell-fire, to dwell

therein (for aye). They are the worst creatures. Those who have faith and do

righteous deeds--they are the best of creatures." (Surah 98:6 and 7)

This all seems to give justification to expanding the faith not necessarily

with spiritual knowledge, understanding and purity, but by what would be

military strength under the Will of Allah. Furthermore, it would seem that with

this mentality, infidels and all non-Muslims are fit to be exterminated, that it

could be a favor to Allah to rid the world of them. These verses also show that

those who die for Allah or the cause of Islam will be delivered to the garden of

paradise. With the basis of verses like these, it is no wonder that it is not

difficult to arouse young Muslims for the Islamic cause in the training camps of

Al-Qaida and other militant and fundamentalistic groups. How much bloodshed

has already been shed throughout history because of this teaching is inestimable.

So it should not be surprising that the radical Islamic leader Abdullah Shah

Mazhar recently got 5,000 volunteers to take the "oath of death" and commit

themselves to suicide squads in attacks against the U.S. and other "infidel

forces".

However, this is not new. Swami Vivekananda in a lecture in California

in January of 1900 said regarding this aspect of Islam: "Every step forward was

made with the sword--the Quran in one hand and the sword in the other: Take

the Quran, or you must die; there is no alternative!"

Mahatma Gandhi also spoke about this aspect of Islam. After the

assassination of Swami Shraddhanand by a Muslim fanatic in December, 1926,

he said: "Mussalmans have an ordeal to pass through. There can be no doubt

that they are too free with the knife and the pistol. The sword is no emblem of

Islam. But Islam was born in an environment where the sword was, and still

remains, the supreme law. The message of Jesus has proved ineffective because

the environment was unready to receive it. So with the message of the Prophet.

The sword is yet too much in evidence among the Mussalmans. It must be

sheathed if Islam is to be what it means--peace."

The Rewards and Punishments in the Koran

What makes the idea of who is saved and who is worthy of hell more

clear, there are specific rewards for the believers and punishments for the non-

believers that are related in the Koran. Some of these are as follows:

"For the Rejectors We have prepared chains, yokes, and a blazing fire.

As to the righteous, they shall drink of a cup (of wine) mixed with Kafur. A

fountain where the devotees of Allah do drink, making it flow in unstinted

abundance." (Surah 76: 4-6) "But Allah will deliver them from the evil of that

day, and will shed over them a light of beauty and a (blissful) joy. And because

they were patient and constant, He will reward them with a garden and

(garments of) silk. Reclining in the (garden) of raised thrones, they will see

there neither the sun's (excessive heat) nor (the moon's) excessive cold. And

the shades of the (garden) will come low over them, and the bunches (of fruit),

there will hang low in humility. And among them will be passed round vessels

of silver and goblets of crystal." (Surah 76:11-15)

"Those who reject (Truth) among the People of the Book and among

the polytheists, were not going to depart (from their ways) until there should

come to them clear evidence. . . Those who reject (Truth), among the People of

the Book and among the Polytheists, will be in Hellfire, to dwell therein (for

aye). They are the worst of creatures. Those who have faith and do righteous

deeds--they are the best of creatures. Their reward is with Allah: Gardens of

Eternity, beneath which rivers flow, they will dwell therein forever; Allah well

pleased with them, and they with Him: all this for such as fear their Lord and

cherisher." (Surah 98:1, 6-8)

"Verily the [judgement] day of sorting out is a thing appointed. The day

that the trumpet shall be sounded, and ye shall come forth in crowds; and the

heavens shall be opened as if there were doors, and the mountains shall vanish,

as if they were a mirage. Truly Hell is a place of ambush--for the transgressors a

place of destination: They will dwell therein for ages. Nothing cool shall they

taste therein, nor any drink, save a boiling fluid and a fluid, dark, murky,

intensely cold--a fitting recompense (for them)." (Surah 78:17-26)

In the following verses we also find that the infidels include the

Christians, those who think that God begot a son. "(Those) who say (Allah)

Most Gracious [Lord] has begotten a son! Indeed ye have put forth a thing

most monstrous! As if the skies are ready to burst, the earth to split asunder,

and the mountains to fall down in utter ruin. That they should invoke a son for

(Allah) Most Gracious. For it is not constant with the majesty of (Allah) Most

Gracious that He should beget a son." (Surah 19:88-92) "Further, that He may

warn those (also) who say, 'Allah hath begotten a son'; No knowledge have

they of such a thing, nor had their fathers. It is a grievous thing that issues from

their mouths as a saying. What they say is nothing but falsehood!" (Surah 18:4-

5)

The Basis of Muslim Brotherhood

In the Koran there are several ayats (verses) that dictate the basis of

Muslim brotherhood and how they should view one another. For example:

"Verily, this Brotherhood of yours is a single brotherhood, and I am your Lord

and cherisher. Therefore, serve Me (and no other)." (Surah 21:92) "To each is a

goal to which Allah turns him; then strive together (as a race) towards all that is

good. Whosoever ye are, Allah will bring you together. For Allah hath power

over all things." (Surah 2:148) "Those who believe, and adopt exile and fight

for the Faith, in the cause of Allah as well as those who give (them) asylum and

aid--these are (all) in very truth the Believers: for them is the forgiveness of sins

and a provision most generous." (Surah 8:74)

In this way, the Koran establishes the basis of a Muslim Brotherhood in

which they serve and support each other and their activities that are considered

to be the cause of Allah, or for Islam in general. Thus, they are motivated to

work to help each other. This is most favorably viewed while under the dictates

of the Koranic law, which takes priority over the civil or state law of the local

country. This is the foundation of what is called the "Islamic Nation", which

Muslims call the general Islamic community that consists of Muslims

throughout the world. Furthermore, few outsiders are allowed to be part of this

brotherhood. It tends to divide Muslims from all others who are non-Muslims,

who are considered non-believers in view of the Koranic verses quoted above.

The problem with this sort of brotherhood has been noted by numerous

people. In a lecture in California in January of 1900, Vivekananda said:

"Mohammedans talk of universal brotherhood, but what comes out of that in

reality? Why, anybody who is not a Mohammedan will not be admitted into the

brotherhood; he will more likely have his throat cut."

Another example is from Dr. B. R. Ambedkar, who formed the Indian

Constitution. He could see the dangers of what is the Islamic brotherhood. In

his book, "Thoughts on Pakistan", published in 1940, he explains: "Hinduism is

said to divide people and in contrast Islam is said to bind people together. But

this is only a half truth. For Islam divides as inexorably as it binds. Islam is a

close corporation and the distinction that it makes between Muslims and non-

Muslims is a very real, very positive and very alienating distinction. The

brotherhood of Islam is not the universal brotherhood of man. It is the

brotherhood of Muslims for Muslims only. There is a fraternity but its benefit is

confined to those within that corporation. For those who are outside the

corporation there is nothing but contempt and enmity."

In 1941, Ambedkar spoke further about the effects of the Islamic

brotherhood, at least in India. However, it reflects an attitude in Muslims that is

found in numerous other areas as well. "It is this which leads every Mussalman

in India to say that he is a Muslim first and Indian afterwards. It is this

sentiment which explains why the Indian Muslim has taken so small a part in the

advancement of India but has spent himself to exhaustion by taking up the cause

of Muslim countries and why Muslim countries occupy the first place and India

occupies the second place in his thoughts."

In conclusion, if any of the above information and Koranic references

are taught to young Muslims in such places as the thousands of madarsas

(Islamic schools) in India, and that the 880 million fellow citizens of India are

but kafirs and infidels who deserve or are ultimately going to be thrown into the

hellfire; and that their primary allegiance is not to the country of their residence

but to the State of Islam; and that the Koran justifies them to engage in Jihad

against all non-Muslims; then their psychological and spiritual well-being, along

with the peace of the world and the safety of anyone else, is in jeopardy.

(Verses were taken from "The Holy Qur'an: Text, Translation and

Commentary" by 'Abdullah Yusuf 'Ali, published by Amana Corporation,

Brentwood, Maryland, USA.)

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