Islam condemns Terrorism

By: M.K

Terrorism in any form is a despicable action and whoever indulges in it is undoubtedly defying human values universally. A terrorist is neither defined by color nor religion but rather a sordid mindset that only seeks one objective: disservice whomever follows a different way of living than his own. And these differences may constitute political or doctrinal views and economic or social status. Radicalism, extremism, philistinism and psychical disturbance are in essence, some common elements contorting a terrorist’s ideology. Following this theme, let us look at recent world events that have unfortunately disseminated grief worldwide. On November 12, two suicide bombers massacred at least 43 people with more than 200 wounded in the Shi’ite dominated southern region of Beirut, Lebanon. And not soon after, the night of November 13 brought upon a similar tragedy in the beauteous city of Paris, France. With 129 people murdered, another 352 were left injured.

At Shia Wisdom, we condemn this raw act of barbarous terrorism that has undoubtedly taken innocent lives and mercilessly razed the hope of families that have lost their loved ones. Our condolences go out to all in Lebanon and France for their loss and our hearts are with all who suffered in cold blood. These tragedies are in no way solitary and affect us all globally. Therefore, we sincerely pray for survivors and families of lost ones, and souls that are no longer with us. Additionally, we offer our prayers to all in the affected regions to remain strong in this difficult time. We would also like to take this opportunity to shed some light on the causation behind these deplorable events.

As may already be the case of news headlines, the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) has admitted responsibility for the vile actions this past week. Despite using the term ‘Islamic’ within their title, ISIL in simple words is a terrorist organization with ancient roots that deviated from the true Islamic teachings and formed its own credo of carnage and annihilation since the times of Umayyad regime (644-656 CE). Terrorism, murdering, disservicing and oppressing innocent is against the religion of Islam that has been practiced by the Holy Prophet (s) and his Ahlul-bayt. Evidence of this can be found in the Quran that says, “And do not kill a soul that God has made sacrosanct, save lawfully” and that, “Whoso kills a soul, unless it be for murder or for wreaking corruption in the land, it shall be as if he had killed all mankind and he who saves a life, it shall be as if he had given life to all mankind” [HQ: 6,151; 5,53].