BLOG 44 - Islam: What The West Needs To Know # 15

[Dr. Shabbir]

REBUTTAL - 15
May 8th, 2008 by Dr. Shabbir

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-871902797772997781

Mr. Walid Shoebat: [Mr. Shoebat eloquently relates a long, emotional story of his own experience as a would-be ‘martyr’.] “Shaheed, the word Shaheed, means witness, to witness to testify, testify there is no God but Allah and Muhammad is His messenger. And you die as a Shaheed for that cause, you’re a witness, you are considered a witness and martyr, and a martyr becomes glorified. …What a waste of life!”

Answer: Dear Sir, being an Arab, previously Muslim, it should be easy for you to correct yourself here. The Qur’an always uses the word Shaheed as witness, someone who is present watching an event, and not even once as a martyr. Why should, and how can, a suicide bomber testify that there is no God but Allah and Muhammad is His messenger? Isn’t verbal proclamation of that Creed sufficient to be a Muslim? Furthermore, please reflect that Allah calls Himself a Shaheed in numerous verses. Could that mean that God ever gets martyred? Here are only a few examples where Allah calls Himself a Shaheed (Witness).

3:98 … Allah Himself is Witness to all that you do?”
4:33 … Allah is Witness over all things and events.
6:19 … Say, “Allah is Witness between me and you…

The term that comes closest in meanings to martyrs is “Maqtooleena Fi Sabeelillah” (Those who lay their lives in the cause of Allah). And we have seen that such Muslims are those who get slain repelling aggression or persecution.
The blanket Rule is that Allah does not love aggressors and this Rule has no exceptions.

2:190: … So, fight in the cause of Allah those who wage war against you, but do not commit aggression. God does not love aggressors.

60:7 It may well be that Allah will bring about affection between you and those whom you now consider enemies. Allah is Able to do all things, and Allah is Forgiving, Merciful.

60:8 Allah does not forbid you from being kind, and fully equitable to those who do not fight you on account of Religion, and do not evict you from your homelands. Allah loves those who lead a just, balanced life.

You rightly said about the martyr operators and suicide bombers, “What a waste, what a waste of life!” Agreed, what a waste of life and, I will add, what a horrible crime killing innocent people!

Glorification: Dear Sir, only fools would glorify the criminals of humanity. Please recall Voltaire and Mark Twain from Rebuttal -13.

All of us know that many of these hell-bound so-called Muslim criminals carry out such ‘operations’ even against fellow Muslims in many Islamic countries, more often than in Israel where the security is much tighter. We are also aware of non-Muslims resorting to suicide bombings, for example, the Buddhist Tamil Tigers in Sri Lanka against Hindus and Hindus against Buddhists and Christians in Myanmar and India. This proves the point that these vagabond hooligans, who are already desperate and fed up with life for one reason or the other, work on some political agenda or other sinister interests, e.g. money for the family, rather than any religion.

A learned gentleman like you must have educated his compatriots to refrain from this gateway to Hell.

Part 3 of 6 shows us a brief conference of P.M. Tony Blair with Al-Jazirah. He is right in saying that there should be more frequent interfaith dialog.

Mr. Robert Spencer: Islam understands its earthly mission to be to extend the law of Allah over the world by force. Now this is distinct from extending the religion by force. Muslims often indignantly deny that Islam was spread by the sword, as the old expression goes, and that anybody is ever forced to convert to Islam. Now of course, forced conversions are a constant hallmark of Islamic history, but they are technically forbidden by Islamic law. Now, the idea in Islam is that Muslims must wage war to establish the hegemony of Islamic law. Not everybody will be forced to become Muslim, but the non-Muslims will be relegated to second class status. They will not be able to live in the society as equals to the Muslims, and it is the responsibility of Muslims around the world to fight to institute that kind of society.

Answer: Dear Sir, in order to save all of us much valuable time, we will let that outstanding Western historian, De Lacy O’Leary, address the first part of your objection.

De Lacy O’Leary - Islam at the Crossroads, London 1923: “History makes it clear, however, that the legend of fanatical Muslims sweeping through the world and forcing Islam at the point of sword upon conquered races is one of the most fantastically absurd myths that historians have ever repeated.”

Most certainly, Christians or any non-Muslims have never been relegated to second class status. We have addressed this question under the Dhimmi Status. Here is a glimpse once again.

Dhimma = Responsibilty. So, Dhimmi, a non-Qur’anic term coined by Islamic jurists, would mean non-Muslim citizens whose safety and well-being is the responsibility of the Islamic State. This guarantee would be above and beyond the guarantee provided to the Muslim citizens.
We have seen that the exalted Prophet had said, “If a non-Muslim is wronged in the Islamic State, I will personally plead on his behalf.” [Sahah Sittah]

So, even if there was such a thing as Dhimmi status ever in history, it could never mean ‘second class’ citizenship. It would rather be ‘first class plus’.

And the Inviolable law of the Qur’an is human equality.

17:70 Surely, We have conferred dignity on children of Adam (as a birth right) …

There is only one criterion of superiority in the Qur’an and that is our conduct with people.

49:13 … Certainly, the most honored among you in the Sight of God is the one who is best in conduct…

Video Image & Voice:
Sahih Al-Bukhari
Vol 4 Bk 53 Hadith 392

While we were in the Mosque, the Prophet came out and said, “Let us go to the Jews.” We went out till we reached Bait-ul-Midras. He said to them, “If you embrace Islam, you will be safe. You should know that the Earth belongs to Allah and His Apostle, and I want to expel you from this land. So, if anyone amongst you owns some property, he is permitted to sell it. Otherwise, you should know that the Earth belongs to Allah and His Apostle.”

Answer: How much credibility a report generated on hearsay, centuries after the exalted Prophet, may have?
It should be easy to understand that the exalted Prophet would never have ordered the eviction of any community. Would not doing so hurt his own credibility before his own companions?

The Qur’an addresses the elite among the Jews of Madinah:

2:84 And watch out! We (Allah) accepted your solemn pledge that you would desist from mutual bloodshed, and from evicting your own people from your townships. This is what you agreed to and you were witnesses to it.

2:85 Yet it is you who subdue and slay your own people, and evict a weak faction among you from their homes. And you support one another in hurting the community and sowing the seeds of discord. And when these homeless people get enslaved by others and are brought to you, you ransom them, whereas it was unlawful for you to evict them in the first place. What! Do you wish to accept one part of the Scripture (Taurah) and reject the other? Think then, what the reward of such wrongdoing must be - nothing but disgrace in the life of this world, and on the Day of Resurrection the most grievous chastisement. God is not unaware of what you do.

With respects from a life-long student, Shabbir.