Islamic Expansion and Terrorism

Muhammad’s frantic threats that divine punishment awaited those who would abandon him, Muhammad had to find a way to provide a source of livelihood for his followers. To solve this problem, he told them to rob the Meccan caravans. He asserted that the Meccans had driven them out of their homes and so it was lawful for them to plunder them.

Permission (to fight) is given to those upon whom war is made because they are oppressed, and most surely Allâh is well able to assist them. Those who have been expelled from their homes without a just cause except that they say: Our Lord is Allâh. (Q.22:39-40)

Meanwhile, he issued many Qur’anic verses prodding his followers to fight the non-believers.

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. (Q.8:65)

Muhammad justified these attacks by playing what today we call the victim card, much as his followers do today. He claimed that unbelievers had been oppressing believers and waging war against them. In reality, he initiated the hostilities, by raiding the Meccans’ caravans and killing them as soon as he had enough men believing in him and willing to do his bidding.

The contradiction is obvious. In one verse Muhammad urges his followers to immigrate to Medina and threatens those who might be thinking of staying behind with murder and hell, while in other verses he falsely claims that Muslims have been expelled without just cause and refers to them as “those against whom war is made.”

“He struck me, and started crying; then he went ahead of me and charged me with beating him!” perfectly illustrates Muhammad’s modus operandi. His followers play the same dirty game to this day. This strategy made Muhammad dazzlingly successful. He roused sons against their fathers, turned brothers against brothers, and undermined tribal alliances, corroding the fabric of the society. Using this tactic, he eventually brought all of Arabia under his domination.

Promise of Heavenly Rewards

Several verses of the Qur’an exhort Muslims to raid innocent people and loot them, for reward in this world and in the next. “Allâh promises you much booty that ye will capture.” (Q. 48:20)

To placate the conscience of those who might have felt some guilt about what they were doing, Muhammad made his Allâh say:

“Enjoy what you took in war, lawful and good.”³⁷

Many Muslim atrocities throughout the centuries were inspired by this and similar verses. Amir Tîmûr-i-lang, a.k.a. Tamerlane (1336-1405), was a ruthless man who became emperor through banditry. In an autobiographical memoir, The History of My Expedition against India, he wrote:

My principal object in coming to Hindustan (India) and in undergoing all this toil and hardship has been to accomplish two things. The first was to war with the infidels, the enemies of Islam; and by this religious warfare to acquire some claim to reward in the life to come. The other was a worldly object; that the army of Islam might gain something by plundering the wealth and valuables of the infidels: plunder in war is as lawful as their mothers’ milk to Muslims who war for their faith, and the consuming of that which is lawful is a means of grace. ³⁸

Even if we assume that those eighty or so Muslims who emigrated were indeed forced out by the Meccans, how would this justify the raids on the caravans? The goods in those caravans did not necessarily belong to the people who allegedly exiled the Muslims. Is anyone who thinks they are being persecuted in a city justified in taking his revenge on any citizen of that city?

In Chapter 22, Verse 39 of the Qur’an, Allâh gives permission to fight. This is the very same verse with which Osama Bin Laden began one of his letters to America. Can we therefore really say that Islam has nothing to do with Islamic terrorism?

Incite to Violence

In Medina, the immigrants from Mecca were a mere handful. To be effective in his raids, Muhammad also needed the help of recent Muslim converts native in that town, whom he called “Ansar” (the helpers).

However, the Medinans had not joined Islam in order to raid caravans and wage wars. Believing in Allâh is one thing. Raiding, robbing and killing people are altogether something else. Even today, there are Muslims who, though they may believe in Allâh, do not want to fight and kill for their religion. To persuade that kind of follower, Muhammad made his Allâh issue this command:

Fighting is good prescribed for you, and you dislike it. But it is possible that you dislike a thing which is good for you, and that you love a thing, which is bad for you. But Allâh knows, and you know not. (Q. 2:216)

Soon, the Prophet’s efforts bore fruit. Goaded by greed for booty and by promises of rewards in the afterlife, the Medinan Muslims joined in the banditry and looting business as well. As Muhammad’s army grew and his ambition soared, the bandit decided to graduate to potentate. He encouraged his followers not only to wage war for him “in the way of Allâh” but also to pay for the expenses of those wars.

And spend of your wealth in the cause of Allâh, and make not your own hands contribute to (your) destruction; but do good; for Allâh loves those who do good. (Q.2:195)

Note how Muhammad links “doing good” with looting, terror, and murder. It is by this very twisted sense of morality that Muslims are able to sacrifice their consciences and take up a sociopathic situational ethics toward other groups, one that must always be played to their advantage. However a situation benefits Muslims is considered good. Muhammad made his followers believe that subsidizing his warfare and committing such acts of terrorism for Islam were the best deeds that pleased God.

Today, Muslims who cannot fight, compensate by contributing to Islamic “charities.” These “charities” are not established to build hospitals, orphanages, schools or senior housing. Rather, they are established to expand Islam, to build mosques and madrassas, train terrorists, and finance jihad. Islamic charities will aid the poor only to enlist them for their political cause.

When people didn’t pony up enough funds for his military campaigns, Muhammad would angrily rebuke them:

And what reason have you that you should not spend in Allâh’s way? And Allâh’s is the inheritance of the heavens and the earth, not alike among you are those who spent before the victory and fought (and those who did not): they are more exalted in rank than those who spent and fought afterwards; and Allâh has promised good to all; and Allâh is Aware of what you do. (Q.57:10)

He cleverly equated the money that Muslims spend on his warfare to a “loan” given to God, and promised them “goodly interest.”

Who is he that will Loan to Allâh a beautiful loan? For (Allâh) will increase it manifold to his credit, and he will have (besides) a liberal Reward. (Q.57:11)

While Muhammad made Allâh tell his followers how great will be the reward of those who finance his warfare expeditions, he did not want them to brag about their contributions and their sacrifices. Making sacrifices was to be understood as a privilege.It was the believers who had to be grateful to him for the opportunity of serving him, and not the other way round:

Those who spend their substance in the cause of Allâh, and follow not up their gifts with reminders of their generosity or with injury, -for them their reward is with their Lord: on them shall be no fear, nor shall they grieve. (Q. 2:262)

After rousing them to wage war and instructing them to smite the necks of the unbelievers, he assured them of their rewards.

So when you meet in battle those who disbelieve, then smite the necks until when you have overcome them, then make (them) prisoners, and afterwards either set them free as a favor or let them ransom (themselves) until the war terminates. That (shall be so); and if Allâh had pleased He would certainly have exacted what is due from them, but that He may try some of you by means of others; and (as for) those who are slain in the way of Allâh, He will by no means allow their deeds to perish. (Q. 47:4)

In other words, Allâh can kill the unbelievers without the help of the Muslims, but he wants Muslims to do it in order to test their faith. Thus Allâh is like a mafia godfather, a thuggish gang-leader who tests the loyalty of his henchmen by asking them to kill. In Islam, the faith of the believer is ultimately tested by their bloodthirstiness and readiness to kill. Then he said:

And prepare against them what force you can and horses tied at the frontier, to frighten thereby the enemy of Allâh and your enemy and others besides them, whom you do not know (but) Allâh knows them; and whatever thing you will spend in Allâh’s way, it will be paid back to you fully and you shall not be dealt with unjustly. (Q. 8:60)

Muhammad made empty promises that those who warred (with body or finances) against unbelievers and accepted him as Allâh’s messenger would find rewards piled high in the afterlife. In characterizing these rewards, he was indeed most generous and extravagant. He claimed there would be all kinds of goodies and endless sexual indulgence in paradise, and warned that punishment loomed for those who were stingy in subsidizing his warfare: ³⁹

Believers! Shall I point out to you a profitable course that will save you from a woeful scourge? Have faith in Allâh and His apostle, and fight for Allâh’s cause with your wealth and with your persons. That would be best for you, if you but knew it. He will forgive you your sins and admit you to gardens watered by running streams; He will lodge you in pleasant mansions in the gardens of Eden. That is the supreme triumph. (Q.61:10-11)

[In Paradise] they shall recline on couches lined with thick brocade, and within reach will hang fruits of both gardens. Which of your Lord’s blessings would you deny? Therein are bashful virgins whom neither man nor jinnee will have touched before. Which of your Lord’s blessings would you deny? Virgins as fair as corals and rubies. Which of your Lord’s blessings would you deny? (Q.55:53-55)

[In Paradise] theirs shall be gardens and vineyards, and high-bosomed maidens for companions: a truly overflowing cup. (Q.78:32-33)

Believe in Allâh and His messenger, and spend out of the whereof He has made you heirs. For, those of you who believe and spend, – for them is a great Reward. (Q.57:7) ⁴⁰

These and similar verses of the Qur’an make it easy to understand why so many Islamic charities have been caught financing terrorist organizations.⁴¹ One would think that charity and terrorism are diametrically opposed concepts, but such a distinction is not obvious to Muslims. Islamic charities are meant to promote Islam and support jihad. To us, this is terrorism; to a Muslim, it is holy war, an obligation and the most meritorious act in the sight of Allâh.

Thus, to fight in the cause of Allâh became an ordinance, binding upon all Muslims. Muhammad roused the immigrants against their own people, calling for vengeance to be taken against those whom he alleged persecuted Muslims.

Fight until there is no fitnah (mischief/dissension) and religion is wholly to Allâh. (Q. 8:39)

When some of his followers showed reluctance to make war, he coerced them to do his bidding by propitiously “revealing” new injunctions from Allâh, who warned of their dire fate if they disobeyed.

And those who believe say: Why has not a chapter been revealed? But when a decisive chapter is revealed, and fighting is mentioned therein you see those in whose hearts is a disease look to you with the look of one fainting because of death. Woe to them then! (Q.47:20)

If these verses tell us one thing, it is that Islam is by definition belligerent. As long as people believe in Islam and think that the Qur’an is the word of God, Islamic terrorism will always win out. Those within Islam who might call for reform, tolerance, and a “dialogue between civilizations” are easily silenced by the authority of the Qur’an, so many of whose verses rouse believers to wage war against unbelievers.

Fight then in Allâh’s way; this is not imposed on you except in relation to yourself, and rouse the believers to ardor maybe Allâh will restrain the fighting of those who disbelieve and Allâh is strongest in prowess and strongest to give an exemplary punishment. (Q. 4:84)

Giving them the assurances of success:

And Allâh will by no means give the unbelievers a way against the believers. (Q. 4:141)

And promises of celestial rewards:

Those who believed and fled (their homes), and strove hard in Allâh’s way with their property and their souls, are much higher in rank with Allâh; and those are they who are the achievers (of their objects). (Q. 9:20) ⁴²

Muslims scholars everywhere echo this incitement to violence. Saudi Arabia’s leading religious figure, its grand mufti, defended the spirit of jihad, as a God-given right. “The spread of Islam has gone through several phases, secret and then public, in Mecca and Medina,” the holiest places in Islam, said Sheikh Abdel Aziz Al Sheikh in a statement carried by the state news agency SPA. “God then authorized the faithful to defend themselves and to fight against those fighting them, which amounts to a right legitimized by God, ‘This… is quite reasonable, and God will not hate it,’”⁴³ he said.

Saudi Arabia’s most senior cleric explained that war was not Muhammad’s first choice: “He gave three options: either accept Islam, or surrender and pay tax, and they will be allowed to remain in their land, observing their religion under the protection of Muslims.”⁴⁴ The Grand Mufti is right. Violence against non-Muslims was only a last resort, if they refused to convert or surrender peacefully to the armies of Islam. This is no credit to Muhammad. Few armed robbers resort to violence if their victim peacefully cooperates. Criminals only use violence if they encounter resistance.

In an Internet based debate that I held with Mr. Javed Ahmed Ghamidi, arguably the most prominent Pakistani Islamic scholar, through his student Dr. Khalid Zaheer, Mr. Ghamidi wrote: “The possibility of killings mentioned in the Qur’an are either meant for those who were guilty of murder, or causing mischief on earth, or those who were declared unworthy of living in this world any more after they had denied the clearly communicated and understood message from God.” Mr. Ghamidi is a moderate Muslim. However, he knows his religion well and knows that those who reject Islam are “unworthy of living in this world any more” and must be put to death.

References:

37 Qur’an, 8:69. See also Qur’an, 8:74: “Those who believe, and adopt exile, and fight for the Faith, in the cause of Allâh 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.” One who is not familiar with Muhammad’s style of writing (actually, of reciting, as he was illiterate) may wonder how the order to loot people can be reconciled with the command to fear Allâh. However, those who read the Qur’an in Arabic notice that the verses rhyme, and Muhammad often added words or phrases that are out of place, such as ‘fear Allâh,’ ‘Allâh is most merciful,’ ‘He is all knowing, all wise,’ etc., just to make his verses rhyme. Otherwise, it is inconceivable to fear the wrath of God and at the same time pillage and murder innocent people. By doing so—by associating God with looting, genocide and rape—Muhammad lowered the moral standards of his followers and sanctified evil. Thus pillage became holy pillage, killing became holy killing, and iniquity was sanctioned and even glorified. He assured his men that those who fight for their Faith would be rewarded, not only with the spoils of war but with forgiveness for their sins.

38  Malfuzat-i Timuri, or Tuzak-i Timuri, by Amir Tîmûr-i-lang In the History of India as told by its own historians. The Posthumous Papers of the Late Sir H. M. Elliot. John Dowson, ed. 1st ed. 1867. 2nd ed., Calcutta: Susil Gupta, 1956, vol. 2, pp. 8-98.

39. Qur’an, Chapter 47, Verse 38: “Behold, ye are those invited to spend (of your substance) in the Way of Allâh: But among you are some that are niggardly. But any who are niggardly are so at the expense of their own souls. But Allâh is free of all wants, and it is ye that are needy. If ye turn back (from the Path), He will substitute in your stead another people; then they would not be like you!”

40. See also Chapter 63, Verse 10.

41. An affidavit made public in federal court in Virginia in August 19, 2003, contends that the Muslim charities gave $3.7 million to BMI Inc., a private Islamic investment company in New Jersey that may have passed the money to terrorist groups. The money was part of a $10 million endowment from unnamed donors in Jiddah, Saudi Arabia. http://pewforum.org/news/display.php?NewsID=2563

42 See also Qur’an, 8:72, “Those who believed and those who suffered exile and fought (and strove and struggled) in the path of Allâh, – they have the hope of the Mercy of Allâh: And Allâh is Oft-forgiving, Most Merciful.” and Qur’an Chapter 8, Verse 74: “Those who believe, and adopt exile, and fight for the Faith, in the cause of Allâh 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.”

43 http://metimes.com/articles/normal.php?StoryID=20060918-110403-1970r

44 Ibid