http://peacejournalism.com/ReadArticle.asp?ArticleID=20734
Islam and violence
John Esposito
Washington, DC - While the atrocities and acts of terrorism committed by
violent extremists have connected Islam with terrorism, the Islamic
tradition places limits on the use of violence and rejects terrorism,
hijackings and hostage taking. As with other faiths, mainstream and
normative doctrines and laws are ignored, distorted, or hijacked and
misinterpreted by a radical fringe.
Islam, like all world religions, neither supports nor requires illegitimate
violence. The Qur'an does not advocate or condone terrorism. The God of the
Qur'an is consistently portrayed as a God of mercy and compassion as well as
a just judge. 113 of 114 chapters start with a reference to God's mercy and
compassion; throughout the Qur'an in many contexts, Muslims are reminded to
be merciful and just. However, Islam does permit, indeed at times requires,
Muslims to defend themselves and their families, religion and community from
aggression.
Like all scriptures, Islamic sacred texts must be read within the social and
political contexts in which they were revealed. It is not surprising that
the Qur'an, like the Hebrew scriptures or Old Testament, has verses that
address fighting and the conduct of war. Arabia and the city of Mecca, in
which Muhammad lived and received God's revelation, were beset by tribal
raids and cycles of vengeance and vendetta. The broader Near East, in which
Arabia was located, was itself divided between two warring superpowers, the
Byzantine (Eastern Roman) and the Sassanian (Persian) empires.
However, Qur'anic verses also underscore that peace, not violence and
warfare, is the norm. Permission to fight the enemy is balanced by a strong
mandate for making peace: "If your enemy inclines toward peace, then you too
should seek peace and put your trust in God" (8:61) and "Had God wished, He
would have made them dominate you, and so if they leave you alone and do not
fight you and offer you peace, then God allows you no way against them"
(4:90). From the earliest times, it was forbidden in Islam to kill
non-combatants as well as women and children and monks and rabbis, who were
given the promise of immunity unless they took part in the fighting.
But what of those verses, sometimes referred to as the "sword verses", that
call for killing unbelievers, such as, "When the sacred months have passed,
slay the idolaters wherever you find them, and take them, and confine them,
and lie in wait for them at every place of ambush" (9:5)? This is one of a
number of Qur'anic verses that are cited by critics to demonstrate the
inherently violent nature of Islam and its scripture.
During the period of expansion and conquest, many of the ulama (religious
scholars) enjoyed royal patronage and provided a rationale for caliphs to
pursue their imperial dreams and extend the boundaries of their empires.
They said that the "sword verses" abrogated or overrode the earlier Qur'anic
verses that limited physical jihad (as opposed to spiritual and moral jihad)
to defensive war. In fact, however, the full intent of "When the sacred
months have passed, slay the idolaters wherever you find them" is missed or
distorted when quoted in isolation, for it is followed and qualified by:
"But if they repent and fulfil their devotional obligations and pay the
zakat [the charitable tax on Muslims], then let them go their way, for God
is forgiving and kind"And if one of the idolaters should seek refuge with
you, give him refuge so that he may hear the Word of God; then convey him to
his place of security. (9:5-6).
The same is true of another often quoted verse: "Fight those who believe not
in God nor the Last Day, nor hold that forbidden which hath been forbidden
by God and His Apostle, nor hold the religion of truth [even if they are] of
the People of the Book," which is often cited without the line that follows,
"Until they pay the tax with willing submission, and feel themselves
subdued" (9:29).
Throughout history, the sacred scriptures of Judaism, Christianity and Islam
have been used and abused, interpreted and misinterpreted, to justify
resistance and liberation struggles, extremism and terrorism, holy and
unholy wars. Religion does provide a powerful source of authority, meaning
and legitimacy. Religiously motivated or legitimated violence and terror
adds the dimensions of divine or absolute authority (buttressing the
authority of terrorist leaders), religious symbolism, moral justification,
motivation and obligation, certitude, and heavenly reward that enhance
recruitment and a willingness to fight and die in a "sacred struggle."
In the same way that the militant (as distinguished from mainstream)
Christian Right of a Pat Robertson or Jerry Falwell must be distinguished
from violent forms of the Christian Right, so must Wahhabi Islam be
distinguished from violent forms of Wahhabi Islam similarly infused with a
theology of hate. The former do follow exclusivist, non-pluralistic
theologies as well as alternative theological interpretations or
orientations within their own faith tradition, but do not advocate violence
and terror. However, their theological worldviews can be appropriated by
militants to justify blowing up abortion clinics, government buildings or
the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center, assassinating "the enemies of
God," and radicalism in Israel/Palestine and Iraq. Christians and Muslims
share a common task of addressing exclusivist theologies which are
anti-pluralistic and weak on tolerance for they contribute to beliefs,
attitudes and values which feed religious extremism and terrorism.
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