Islam and Terrorism - The Second Phase of Islam
The Second Phase of Islam
The later phase of Islam, and I may say the permanent phase of Islam, according to the doctrine of abrogation in the Koran, came when the prophet Muhammad migrated to Medina and organized a strong army. When he saw that Jews and Christians rejected his prophethood and Islam, he commanded the Muslims to change the Kibla, the direction in which Muslims turn when they pray, from Jerusalem to the Kaaba in Mecca. At that time in history the Kaaba was a shrine for 360 idols.
Then Muhammad exterminated Jews and Christians from the Arabian Peninsula. He renounced Jews and Christians as polytheists, therefore impure and defiled. As such, Muhammad commanded that they never come near the Kaaba in Mecca. To this day no Jew or Christian can enter the Mecca, or come near Al-Kaaba, the Holy shrine in Saudi Arabia. Here are the words of the Koran:
O you who believe [Muslims] the Mushrikun [polytheists and unbelievers in Allah and the Message of Muhammad] are najasum [impure, defiled]. So let them not come near Al-Masjd Al Haram [the Kaaba in Mecca] after this year. (Surat Al-Tauba 9:28)
This is the phase of Islam we encounter today.
To be sure Islamic Terrorism was practiced in Muhammad’s days. The Koran commands Muslims to terrorize and strike the necks and smite the fingers and toes of the infidels [Jews and Christians]. The Koran says:
I will cast terror into the hearts of those who are infidels, so strike them over the necks and smite over all their fingers and toes. This is because they defied and disobeyed Allah and His Messenger [Muhammad]. And whoever defies and disobeys Allah and His Messenger, then verily, Allah is severe in punishments. This is (the torment), to taste it; and surely, for the infidels is the torment of the fire. (Surat Al-Anfal 8:12-14)
Before September 11th, we saw Islamic terrorism in Egypt—where many Egyptian Christians were murdered—in Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, and other parts of the world. When the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center in New York, and the Pentagon in Washington, D.C., occurred on September 11, 2001, Americans woke up, as from a nightmare. Their financial and military institutions had been attacked. And a third plane was aimed to destroy the White House, the executive institution. But, thank God, it crashed in Pennsylvania.
On that day, Americans began asking three questions:
First, “Who are those people who attacked us?”
Second, “Why do they hate us?”
Third, “What motivated them to commit these horrific attacks?”
Before answering these three questions, I have to say that there are three kinds of Islamic Terrorism:
- First, physical terrorism,
- Second, intellectual terrorism,
- Third, psychological terrorism.
By discussing these three kinds of terrorism, we will have the answer for our three questions.
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