They call themselves a Caliphate -a successor regime of whom? Of the Prophet Muhammad? He defined Islam as "the system where people are not harmed by its word or its hand (action)." Of the four successors of Muhammad (Abu-Bakr; Omar; Othman, and Ali)? They advocated learning from Byzantium, Persia, and Egypt. Muhammad called for searching for knowledge "even in China." Of the Ottoman Empire? But that Empire was built on "the Millet" system where all religions were allowed to thrive.
Then it must be a Caliphate of their lunacy, of their insatiable hunger for brute power, of their worship of an age of darkness led by a crazy maniac all dressed in black calling himself "Caliph Abu-Bakr Al-Baghdadi." Even Al-Qaeda, of Bin Laden and Al-Zawahri, the criminal perpetrators of 9/11 among other calamities, have cut ISIS loose.
Their faith is in the sword; their mode is blitzkrieg; their joy is in decapitation of their opponents; their "Islam" is a black flag and a stolen Humvee; their advocacy is death to the Christians, the Yazidis, the Shia, the Jews, the Alawites, the unveiled women, the secular governance, and those who do not pay them their ransoms and their "estimated taxes." Works of art are their enemy; the great mosaics of Church windows and Islamic mosque domes are a threat which is brought down by dynamite; music and dance and cafe social gatherings are sinful; the West and the East should all perish. They are the new pretenders, the masters of the universe, the holy-inspired throngs with shoulder-carried grenade propellers and Kalashnikov rifles. National borders, indicative of sovereignty, are to be erased. Sovereignty resides in Caliph Al-Baghdadi -a street thug from Anbar!!
How do we measure the distance between ISIS and Islam, a distance co-equal to that between their temporary "Mosul" and the Moon?
The only verifiable yardstick is the Quran and the Sunna (the words and conduct of Muhammad). For these two sources are the primary sources of Sharia (Islamic Law). And they have so much tarnished Sharia to the point that several States within the American Union have adopted legislation banning its citation as a source of law in their courts!!
On this alone, ISIS has scored a crucial victory for their lunatic interpretations and actions. They have converted us to their own interpretation of Islam, thus causing us to ingest their poisonous pills. A historic ISIS contribution to Islamophobia!!
Their lunatic interpretation of the Quran and the Hadith (the traditions of Muhammad), combined with their savagery in the field reflected Islam in their ugly mirror. Relying on that false image, and suffering from anxiety about national security, the non-Muslim would become hostage to their propaganda. That ominous trend toward Islamophobia was also propelled by mistaken writings in the west about Islam. In his several books about Islam, Professor Bernard Lewis of Princeton University falsely asserts that there is a clash between Islam and modernity. Nonsense!!
The first word in the Quran is "IQRAA" (Read) meaning "Learn." Thus early Muslims avidly sought knowledge from Persia, Byzantium including Greece, and Egypt. In their wars, the ransom for a non-Muslim Prisoner of War was a book. That was the golden age of Islam which criminal gangs like ISIS wish to skip over, rewriting the thought and action parameters of "fundamentalist Islam." Fundamentalist Islam and reactionary Islamic are very opposite concepts: the former is light and tolerance, the latter is darkness and banishment of "The other!!"
The primary Islamic method of learning was developed by Al-Azhar which was established by the Shiis in Cairo in 975 AD as a citadel of Islamic learning. That was the seminar method whereby the student selects the instructor -a method which later travelled from Cairo to Andalusia (Spain) to Germany, to the Sorbonne in Paris, then to Oxford and Cambridge in the U.K. Islam and modernity go hand in hand, Professor Lewis, except in periods of decline such as the present one which we are sure to be transient.
So instead of what they say in televised sports, "let us go to the tape," we say "let us go to the Quran and to Muhammad's tradition, the primary sources of Islamic Jurisprudence."
ISIS (I don't care whether they call it ISIS or IS -both are deceptive appellations) declares that only Sunni Muslims are entitled to existence. Nobody else as they are the only "believers." Total idiocy!! The primary principle of Islam is Tawheed (the oneness of God) which means direct relationship between the individual and his/her Creator. There is no middleman.
This concept covers: the elimination of someone declaring the other "an apostate;" the equality between every faith and other faiths; and equality before the law. In fact, this doctrine accepts "non-faith," as the final judgement is left to God. The Quran, which in Islamic dogma, is the word of God as revealed to Muhammad, says: "Say, the truth is from your Lord. Let him who will, believe; and Let him who will, reject!!" (Chapter 18, verse 29)
On diversity and the need to welcome "the other," the Quran says: "Then will God says:" O Jesus the son of Mary! Recount My favor to thee and thy mother. Behold! I strengthened thee with the holy spirit, so that thou didst speak to the people in childhood and in maturity. Behold! I taught thee the Book and wisdom, the Law (the Torah) and the Gospel! and thou healest those born blind, and the lepers by My Leave. And behold!! Thou bringest forth the dead by My leave." (Chapter 5, verse 110).
ISIS hypocrisy is challenged forcefully by these Quranic admissions and instructions. And hypocrisy, in Islamic tradition, is a non-forgivable way of life. In fact, the Quran devotes an entire chapter of a total of 114 chapters to hypocrisy which ISIS has mastered. The Quran says: "When the hypocrites come to thee, they say, "we bear witness that thou art indeed His Apostle of God? Yea, God knoweth that thou art indeed its Apostle, and God beareth witness that the hypocrites are indeed liars." (Chapter 63; verse 1). Have you heard that Caliph Abu-Bakr Al-Baghdadi?
But obviously the great pretender "Al-Baghdadi, who is busy killing anybody he could catch, if he is not a ransom-paying Sunni, has no time for such Quranic details!!" Yet his delegitimation, as a pair of hands dripping with blood, lies in this Quranic statement: "On that account: We ordained for the children of Israel that if any one slew a person -unless it be for murder or for spreading mischief in the land -it would be as if he slew the whole people; and if any one saved a life, it would be as if he saved the life of the whole people." (Chapter 5; verse 32) On that basis, the air strikes and humanitarian air drops in Kurdistan by the U.S., the U.K. and France, which began as of last Thursday to save the Yazidis, Christians and Kurds, are, under Islamic laws, to be regarded as fully sanctioned and justified.
In all of these arguments, the Quran is not the only yardstick. It is bolstered by the concept of "Wisdom" (Al-Hikmah), which is equally emphasized under Islamic Law by both the Quran and the traditions of Muhammad. It is the pillar of ljtihad (the application of reason to the revealed text of the Quran). Unfortunately, the non-Muslim world has focused on jihad, not on ijtihad. Even that focus was largely mis-directed. In Islamic Law, there is no aggressive war; only defensive war for the dual purposes of territorial protection and self-defense, both within national frontiers. Thus killing of the innocent, as in Mosul or Rakka or in Kurdistan, is totally abhorred by Islam.
Returning to Al-Hikmah (wisdom), we find the Quran saying: "For God hath sent down to thee the Book and Wisdom and taught thee what thou knewest not before, and great is the grace of God unto thee" (Chapter 4, Verse 113). Herein lies the legal bases of the evolution of Sharia to fit changing circumstances. Thus when the scholars of Islam say that Sharia is for "all times," they mean that it evolves with time. Examples follows:
On women, Islamic Law equates between men and women in their respective legal standings. Islam does not preclude women from the work place. During the time of Muhammad and of his four successors, women sat at governance meetings, participated in discussions, and even, at times, contradicted Muhammad himself. On severance of limbs: The practice in Islam, as decreed by the Caliph Omar, in his instructions to the judges, is that the judge should be defendant-oriented. He himself, upon an admission by a malfeasant that he had committed theft, ordered that person to go away, saying "Your guilt was perpetrated by society which denied you adequate means of livelihood. On the hijab, the Quran only mentioned "modesty in dress." On adultery, Islamic Law made it impossible to prove. For it provided for four persons to perceive penetration (an impossibility). On Quranic texts, legislated laws are a necessary supplement and modifiers (such as in the laws of inheritance, and in criminal law, and co-education).
As to religious fanaticism, the hallmark of ISIS, the Quran could not be clearer. It says: "O people of the Book! Commit no excesses in your religion; nor say of God aught but the truth." (Chapter 4, verse 171). ISIS cruelty is abhorrent to Islamic Law as based on Islamic legal outlook and practice. The Quran advises Muhammad to be kind and tolerant. It says: "It is part of the Mercy of God that dost deal gently with them. Wert thou severe or harsh, they would have broken away from about thee." (Chapter 3; Verse: 159).
Now behold ISIS, as it decapitates its hapless victims, shrieks "Allahu Akbar!!" That invocation which they have turned on its head means: "We humans are all equal before God regardless of our beliefs." Yet they call their fallen "a Shaheed" (martyr). But the martyr is the victim not the would-be executioner. The same process of upending Islamic definitions and values manifests itself through their recruitment of foreign fighters. Islamic Law calls on immigrants to abide by the laws of their newly-adopted countries, as they practice their inherited faith.
When ISIS took over control of the Mosul Dam, the main water regulator and feeder for Iraq downstream, they have engaged in another form of genocide -the tactic of siege through the threat of either flooding or manipulation of water resources. It was in Iraq, 1400 years ago, when Imam Ali, the fourth Caliph and cousin and son-in-law of the Prophet Muhammad, who upon prevailing over his war adversaries, the ummayads, directed his victorious troops not to withhold access to water for these rebels. Before their defeat, his adversaries have committed the opposite against that great founder of the Shiism.
May the U.S. air strikes vanquish the new barbarians!! ISIS has no place either in Islam or on any geographical map. Their war crimes may, unfortunately, go on for a while. But their end cannot be in doubt. Neither their war materiel, nor that ill-gotten wealth, nor their horrific videos by which they are seeking to propagate fear, shall ever, in the long run, insure their existence.
Their prediction of one day hoisting their black flag over the White House is proof of their unprecedented hallucination. A more assured bet is on a white flag of surrender flying over their black abodes. Neither God nor humanity are on their side. Compared to other similar jihadi organizations, ISIS is more distant from being Muslims, let alone human.
The translation of the Quranic quotations cited above are from Abdullah Yusuf Ali, The Quran: Text, Translation and Commentary (U.S. edition, 2008). I teach "Islamic Law and Global Security" at Fordham University School of Law, New York City.
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