|
In the Name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful.
All praise and thanks are due to Allah, and peace and blessings be upon His Messenger.
Dear questioner, thank you very much for having confidence in us, and we earnestly implore Allah to guide us to the best way to serve the Muslim Ummah.
In the first place, away from judging the authenticity of such news, we would like to stress that Islam doesn’t permit any measure that causes harm or humiliation to any human being, let alone killing him in cold blood or slaying him like a sheep for everyone to see!
Islam does not permit aggression against innocent people, whether the aggression is against life, property, or honor, and this ruling applies to everyone, regardless of religion, color or nationality.
Even while retaliating in war times, Muslims must always stick to the limits prescribed by the Shari`ah. The Shari`ah does not allow Muslims to rape or sodomize people in any circumstance—even if it be in retaliation.
Responding to the question, a prominent Azharite scholar, Sheikh `Abdul-Majeed Subh, states:
"First of all, I would like to comment on a widely held view in the West that when a Muslim individual or even a group of Muslims make a mistake, it is said that it is Islam who calls for this. This is an unfair attitude as individual acts committed in a certain community should not be taken as proving generalizations about that community. The Christians have displaced whole villages in Southern Nigeria, however, it is not said that they have done so in the name of Christianity.
Christianity calls for mercy and love, and so does Islam. Islam urges Muslims to be merciful and kind to their fellow human beings. It does not contain any instruction calling for beheading captives or humiliating them in any way. On the contrary, it urges Muslims to observe the human rights of captives. In this context, Allah Almighty says: "And they feed, for the love of Allah, the indigent, the orphan, and the captive." (Al-Insan: 8).
It is important to note that captives in the hands of Muslims were non-Muslims. This shows that Islam is tolerant and merciful to others.
The early Muslims held a great number of the Makkan disbelievers captive during the great Battle of Badr. The Muslims treated the captives well, and, moreover, they used to give them bread to eat. Bread at that time was more superior than dates, which was the usual food the Muslims used to eat.
Furthermore, there was no prison at that time for captives. They would be taken by Muslim families as trusts in their hands [until the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) would decide what to do with them]. In fact, there are many examples in the history of Islam that show how far the Muslims, following the teachings of their religion, treated the non-Muslim captives with mercy and respect.
Guided by what is stated above, I condemn in the name of Islam and its laws that any captive be beheaded or humiliated in any way. I do not justify the reaction of the Iraqi individuals concerning beheading the American civilians. If this can be substantiated beyond all doubt, they would be quite wrong, but I want to say that worse than what they allegedly did is what the Americans have done (and are still doing) in Iraq.
Having said this, I should affirm here that the action of the Iraqis would be a reaction to the oppression the American occupation troops have perpetrated against the Iraqi people for more than a year now. So, considering the motives that led those Iraqi individuals to react in this way, blame is to be placed on the initial actions of the Americans. I am referring to their violation of the Iraqis' rights, especially those of the Iraqi detainees in the notorious Abu Ghraib prison. Those Iraqis may have been guided by the proverb that evil is to be reciprocated with evil and he who starts (inflicting evil) is to receive more blame.
I would like to draw the attention of Muslims to the fact that the Western media will take such a story (whether or not it is true) as a means of further distorting the image of Islam. This is, of course, unfair, but it is their habit to base their judgments on biased criteria. It is part of their adherence in following whims and injustice on which the ongoing war in Iraq is based."
Moreover, the eminent Muslim scholar and renowned Da`i Sheikh `Abdel Khaliq Hasan Ash-Shareef adds:
"We, Muslims, have a religion that governs all our actions and reactions at all times and under all circumstances. All our actions are to be judged according to what Allah the Almighty dictates. In our present context, we must keep in mind the legal maxim, "There should be no retaliation except in reciprocity, and there should no punishment except through what Allah legislates."
The crusaders who were captured by the Muslim army were astonished because of the very kind treatment meted out by the Commander of the Muslim armies, Saladin. He treated the captives well despite the fact that the crusaders used to humiliate any Muslim who was captured by them. Saladin removed their astonishment with his famous saying:
‘THEY (THE CRUSADERS) COMMIT THESE ATROCITIES MOTIVATED BY THEIR OWN MORALS, AND WE (MUSLIMS) DO WHAT OUR RELIGION DICTATES!’
In Islam, manners and morals are part and parcel of the Islamic creed. It is for this reason that Islam TOTALLY PROHIBITS abusing, insulting and reviling any prisoner of war, let alone slaying him like a sheep!.
Here, I would like to state that the ones who behead civilians, have violated the teachings of Islam and are surely sinful. Such an act CAN NEVER BE justified as an Islamic act, but rather it is an act that stems from sheer ignorance of Islam and its teachings.
Islam, being the divinely revealed religion that calls for good manners and kind treatment of all people, prohibits and totally condemns such actions. This is the true Islamic ruling irrespective of those who have acted contrary to it.
Having stated the above, I should further assert that all Iraqis should take care of foreign civilians who they might capture at any Iraqi location. It is prohibited to leave these foreign civilians to meet their fate due to their wounds. It is also prohibited for any Iraqi to rape any American or foreign woman in retaliation.
Throughout the course of Islamic history, Muslims were the best examples of good treatment in all the non-Muslim lands which they entered. This runs counter to what the Americans are actually doing in Iraq. It is not even the character of the true Muslims to base their reactions on ignorant or transitory acts done by others against them. This can never be taken as a pretext or justification for a Muslim to behead civilians."
You can make use of the following related links:
Even in Retaliation… Ethics Must Be Honored
Did Muhammad (PBUH) Ever Torture His Enemies?
Do Muslims Kill Their Opponents?
Islam’s Stance on Prisoners of War
And listen to:
Beheading Hostages .. An Islamic Perspective  - Dr. Maher Hathout
You can also go through the following special page:
People Against POW Abuse
|
 |
