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Name
Mohamed
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Profession
Question
How does Islam view the recent massacre that took place at Fort Hood military base, which led to the killing of 13 and the wounding of more than 30 people?
Answer
One of the supreme objectives of the Islamic shari’ah is to affirm and safeguard the sanctity of human life. In the hierarchy of those objectives this objective ranks as number 2 only after safeguarding faith. The Qur’an is definitive “do not take life which Allah has made sacred except for just cause” (Al-Isra’:33) In fact the Qur’an considers claiming a single life without just cause as tantamount to murdering the whole of humanity: “if anyone slew a person unless it be for murder or for spreading mischief in the land, it would be as if he slew the whole humanity. And if anyone saved a life, it would be as if he saved the life of the whole humanity…..” (Al-Mai’dah: 32)
This is the general rule, but are there any exceptions? And what constitutes a “just cause” and “mischief”. It must be made clear in the beginning that when we use the term “exception” it does not mean exception from the principal or supreme objective of safeguarding the sanctity of human life and preserving life. In fact, there are exceptions that are part of the preservation of human life. To illustrate this, we can deal with exceptions related mainly to individuals and to states.
For individuals, exceptions include the possibility of executing a first-degree murderer because of his aggression against the sanctity of the life of another human. As such the law of equality (qisas) would be a just and appropriate punishment. Such punishment preserves life as it deters potential murderers from committing such a horrible crime. This is possibly what the Qur’an refers to in both verses recited above.
Another exception is in surat al-Maidah, and that is “spreading mischief in the land”. Determination of this criterion is not left to interpreters’ whims since this verse is known to be in the context of hirabah, meaning sedition or armed rebellion against legitimate authorities such as armed robbery which may result also in the murder of innocent people.
There are also exceptions to the ban on the use of force which could be lethal in the case of states but these decisions are not left to individuals or groups but must be made by legitimate authorities that represent the broader concerned Muslim communities and after due process of consultation. This issue has been covered in a paper available on IslamOnline under the title: Muslim/Non-Muslim Relations.
The most relevant of that paper is the impermissibility of declaring war against another state or community (Muslim or non-Muslim) except to repel aggression (previous, current or imminent) or to resist severe oppression. Please refer to the following verses for confirmation: Al-Baqarah: 190-194/ Al-Mumtahanah: 8-9.
Even if one or both of these conditions is/are fulfilled there are strict ethics of engagement in the battlefield including the impermissibility of killing the POW’s or the injured due to the absence of danger to the life of the defender. It is a duty in fact to treat the POW’s in a humane manner and to save the life of the injured. This ethic applies to recent incidents. For example, to indiscriminately spread bullets in a crowded room is like shooting at fish in a fish bowl. It may be analogous in one sense to the killing of the POW’s or the injured.
Name
Ali
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Profession
Question
The American media and many other western media were quick to blame Islam and Muslims for the incident, in spite of Muslims' condemnation. How do you see this matter, and what is the right course that Muslims should take in order to refute such accusations? How should Muslim communities in the West react to this massacre?
Answer
Blaming Muslims, or worse even, blaming Islam reflects a possible combination of the following:
1. Ignorance of genuine Islamic teachings, whether due to the lack of authentic information or accessing twisted and erroneous information about Islam. Also due to interpretations of the scriptures that are driven by political and/or religious extremists’ agendas, thanks to the main media outlets and Islamophobic blogs.
2. The attitude of the anti-Islam hatred and sentiments inflamed again by media and others with questionable agendas.
3. Irrational negative stereotypes against Islam as a faith and its normative teachings. Also stereotypes against Muslims who, like other major world religious communities, are people; good apples and bad apples. To blame 1.6 billion Muslims worldwide or even 6-8 million Muslims in the US is as irrational as blaming peaceful and decent American Christians for the evil committed by Timothy McVeigh, murdering a 168 innocent people including 19 children in Oklahoma city.
4. Double standards and failure to look oneself in the mirror. Mass irrational criminal shootings are part of common occurrences in many parts of the world including the US. No one keep harping on the “religious” background of the murderers. What we commonly hear is that such murderers may be deranged or responders to harassments or bullying or simply being psycho-paths or socio-paths. Only in the case of Islam, if the murderer is a “Muslim”, devout or not, or when the name sounds Muslim or Arab, many will jump to conclusion that the 6-8 million American Muslims are to blame as if they were co-conspirators or even perpetrators of that crime. That is done irrespective of the fact that the mainstream Muslim community has nothing to do with such crimes, planning or executing such a crime and irrespective of their clear, direct and unequivocal condemnation of such crimes.
One wonder whether this attitude of gross injustice is one subtle manifestation of racism, false sense of superiority, “holier than thou” attitude, or simply failure to look oneself honestly in the mirror. Hours after the tragic events in Fort Hood, a former employee of a company was involved in an indiscriminate act of shooting resulting in murder and injury of innocent employees. No big questions were raised about his “religious” backgrounds, which church he might have been frequenting and how did the sermons of his pastors or minister might have motivated him to commit such a crime. What we heard is that he may have been deranged or bitter about the loss of his job or was under severe distress and “snapped”. Suppose that a deranged person shouted a Christian symbol such as “Hail Mary” before murdering others, what would be the rightful Christian response? A lot of decent Christians will say that he abused such a religious symbol; as such his action or his crime has nothing to do with the Christian faith. As a Muslim, I would certainly agree with their response.
Worst even is to blame Islam itself (a centuries-old universal faith) for everything that goes wrong with Muslims in violation of its own teachings. This is just as irrational and prejudicial as blaming the Christian faith for the Crusades, Inquisitions, and abortion clinic bombings. Or blaming for that matter Judaism as a faith for the crimes, including war crimes, committed by the Israelis in the brutal massacres of the Palestinian people especially in Gaza.
Name
Khaled
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Profession
Question
How should Muslim communities in the West react to this massacre?
Answer
First we need to pray to Allah to protect the Muslim community and all other communities for that matter from any injustice and aggressive behaviour especially in view of the reported frequencies of hate emails, calls and death threats. These unfortunate behaviours have been sadly a routine reaction that the American Muslim community in the US had to endure after every tragic incident in which a Muslim is involved, even contrary to Islamic teachings and against the consensus of peaceful and productive mainstream Muslim community. Secondly, we should speak truthfully, clearly, logically and unapologetically about our authentic belief and stance as Muslims against any criminal act. We should also take whatever necessary and legitimate measures to protect the American Muslims and their institutions from the repeated act of aggression and vandalism. This is especially important in view of inflammatory and hate inciting statements in the media and by extreme right wing politicians, the so-called experts and the minority of intolerant elements of all religious communities including Muslims.
Name
Mahmoud
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Profession
Question
It is claimed that Nidal Hasan gave a speech to his doctor colleagues in Washington last July where he said that infidels should have their throats cut (The Telegraph – 8 November 2009). How come no official investigation was made on this clear sign of his mental imbalance and danger to society? How was he left four months after that speech without official questioning, at least by his immediate supervisors?
Answer
It is normal after tragic incident to conduct a thorough investigation of “possible” motives and/or reasons for any major crime. Various reported statements or actions must be verified. Furthermore, all possible motives should be carefully examined including severe distress due to horror stories that the accused might have heard from service men and women returning from the battlefields, the harassments and demeaning remarks against the accused by some of his colleagues because of his “religion” or any other possible motives based on investigations, not speculation. It must be made clear, however, that such possible “motives” or reasons should not be taken by any means to justify such a crime. The focus should be on obtaining useful information that may help avoid the recurrence of such a tragedy or at least reducing the number and severity should they, God forbid, recur. We should all, Muslims, all other faith communities, Americans and all humans in general prayer for peace and justice.
Name
Abderrahman
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Profession
Question
By Law, any American citizen working in the US military has the right to refuse to be sent abroad for service in a foreign country against his own free will. Why was Nidal Hasan being forced to go to Afghanistan despite his clear refusal and objection?
Answer
Muslims are supposed to fulfill their contractual obligations (Chapter 5:1). Obligations, however, are conditional on the fact that such contract does not involve disobedience to Allah. For example, a contract to assassinate an innocent person is not obligatory and is wrong to contract in the first place. Any other contract that is legitimate and ethical must be fulfilled even if it requires some sacrifice. In a situation where the person’s own conscience is against the command given to him/her, he or she should explore all possible legal measures such as declaring a status of consentience objector. With such possible avenues there is absolutely no justification whatsoever to resort to the murder of others to vent one’s frustration or distress.
Name
Manal
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Profession
Question
President Obama asked for calm following the Fort Hood incident, but what are the possible implications of this massacre on American Muslims? Do you think it could lead to a new anti-Muslim backlash in America?
Answer
President Obama made a responsible statement that any leader in his position should have made. I am sure that President Obama is aware of the hundreds, if not thousands, of incidents of discriminations against the American Muslim community especially in the post 9/11 era including acts of intolerance, harassments, vandalism, and physical aggression including attempted murder or actual murder in a few cases. As a responsible leader, he did the right thing to call on all American to abide by the US constitution, other laws and the principal of individual responsibility for one’s actions. Whether his will meaning appeal or will be headed by all, is difficult to say.
In the American society, as is the case with every society, there are some elements that are driven by hatred and violence to the point of disregarding the law of the land. Such elements must be dealt with to the full extent of law by legitimate authorities. In the meantime, and giving these realities in the ground, call for calm and due process of law should be accompanied by special measures through intelligence and other means to protect innocent Muslims and their institutions at least during this critical, tragic time. This responsibility should not be left totally to local or state law enforcement authorities but should involve the more resourceful federal law enforcement authorities as well.
Name
Aisha
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Profession
Question
ISNA has announced launching an appeal for donations by American Muslims to a special fund for the benefit of victims of the Fort Hood attack. Do you support this initiative? And what other actions do you recommend American Muslims should do?
Answer
Financial support for widows and children of those who were killed is a legitimate act of charity and compassion.
Name
Host
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Profession
Question
How do you generally assess this whole issue from its different dimensions? Would you like to add further thoughts on the matter?
Answer
The American Muslim community should reach out to fellow citizens and engage in peaceful and rational dialogue on all issues of concern. One of the possible avenues to start with is inter-faith and civic dialogue with those who are willing to be part of the solution rather than be part of the problem.
Name
Editor
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Profession
Question
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Answer
Finally, we would like to thank Dr. Jamal Badawi for taking the time to answer the questions of Islamonline viewers today, and we also thank all those who participated in this dialogue. We encourage our readers to join us in upcoming sessions.
