Muhannad AlMalki

THEO 424
Islam, Muslims, and Terrorism

Introduction:

After the September/11 attacks, Islam has been associated with terrorism around the

world. This bad reputation has been increasing over and over and more Islamic terrorist groups

are forming. Lately, a Sunni Muslim group has formed after the revolution in Syria. They called

themselves Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS). They have been a big threat lately; and they

are a hot topic when it comes to the presidential elections here in the USA. Although some

people are debating that Islam is not a peaceful religion and Muslims from outside the USA

should be banned, others believe that the terrorist groups such as ISIS and Al Qaeda do not

represent Islamic principles and teachings.

In this paper, I will discuss this issue of Islam and terrorism. To do so, first, we will look

at the two main denominations in Islam, Sunni and Shi'a, and distinguish their differences

regarding their sources of belief. Secondly, we should see why Hadith is an important part of

Islamic belief and without it Islam cannot be existed. Then, we will focus on the Sunni Islam and

their Hadith regarding the terrorism since the big threat nowadays, ISIS, are considered as Sunni

Muslims. Finally, I will talk more about the issue of Islam, Muslims and terrorism and why it is

not fair to ask a question such as "Is Islam a peaceful religion?"

Denominations in Islam:

As all religion and beliefs, there are many denominations in Islam started right after the

death of the prophet Muhammad. The reason behind the first division is that the prophet's friends
had a problem with the prophet's family regarding who is going to be the leader after the death of

the prophet. This split has produced the two main groups nowadays, Sunni (the prophet's friends)

and Shi'a (the prophet's family) (Oxtoby, 225).

There are many similarities between both groups, yet there are some differences

regarding the sources of belief and the way they practice the five pillars, which are shared by

both groups. Qur'an is the first source of belief in both groups. Even though they use the same

Qur'an and the exact same text, they interpret it and understand it differently. The second source

of belief is Hadith (Armanios, 5). Hadith is believed to be a revelation by God to the prophet, yet

it differs from Qur'an. It is called the unwritten revelation and it is believed by scholars to be

influenced by "the Jewish idea of an oral Torah that God revealed to Moses besides the written

one" (Motzki, 59-60). For more than a century, Hadiths were dealt with orally and were

dependent on memory of scholars (Motzki, xiv-xvii). After the gap between Sunni and Shia has

been obviously obvious and each group has their scholars, each group starts to write down their

Hadith books. Nowadays, Sunni has six books of Hadith where Sahih Bukhari and Sahih Muslim

are the most authoritative ones. On the other side, Shi'a uses different four books such as Al Kafi

Fi Ilm Al Din (Brown, 2009, 31-33, 123-130).

The Importance of Hadith:

Hadith are so important to both groups and to all other Muslim denominations because

there are three pillars of Islam are dependent on Hadith, Salat, Zakat, Hajj. Without Hadith no

one would know how to pray, how much Zakat they should pay or what the rituals of Hajj are.

Although they are mentioned in Qur'an separately in multiple verses, Qur'an does not fully

explain them. For example, the number of rak'at (cycles) during one pray is not mentioned in the
Qur'an. How could someone know that Salat Al Fajr (dawn) is two rak'at (two cycles)? It is only

mentioned in Hadith among other important things such as the percent of Zakat and the rituals of

Hajj.

In fact, the five pillars themselves are not mentioned in Qur'an together in one verse.

They are mentioned separately and not as pillars. The idea of five pillars comes from Hadith.

Allah's Messenger ( )said: Islam is based on (the following) five (principles): 1. To testify that

none has the right to be worshipped but Allah and Muhammad is Allah's Messenger ( ). 2. To

offer the (compulsory congregational) prayers dutifully and perfectly. 3. To pay Zakat (i.e.

obligatory charity) . 4. To perform Hajj. (i.e. Pilgrimage to Mecca) 5. To observe fast during the

month of Ramadan. (Vol. 1, Book 2, Hadith 8)

Because of this issue and the fact that different denominations uses different sources of

Hadith, there are some differences between Sunni and Shi'a regarding their core beliefs.

However, for the sake of this paper, we are going to focus on the Sunni group and we are going

to focus only on one of their books, Sahih Bukhari (Armanios, 2-4).

Sahih Bukhari:

Sahih Bukhari was written by Muhammad b. Ismail Al Bukhari who was born in Bukhara

in 810 AD. He came to Makkah for Hajj when he was sixteen years old with his mother and

brother. He was already a student of Hadith and interested in Hadith and its origin. He started to

write his book Sahih Bukhari when he was sixteen years old and finished it when he was thirty

two years old, sixteen years of traveling and collecting Hadiths. He did not stay in Makkah, yet

he traveled to Egypt, Jerusalem, Iraq, and finally going back to his hometown Bukhara. Sahih

Bukhari is one of six books of hadith in Sunni belief system. With Sahih Muslim, Sahih Bukhari
is considered to be the most authoritative among Sunni Muslims. It contains approximately 7,275

Hadiths in nine volumes. Sunni Muslims believe that it is the most authentic book after Qur'an

and it is never wrong (Brown, 2007, 65-68). Because of this reason, I picked this book to be the

book I choose the Hadiths from to show what might inspires ISIS or Al Qaeda. After each

Hadith, I wrote my response and criticism.

Hadiths from Sahih Bukhari:

Allah's Messenger ( )said, "Know that Paradise is under the shades of swords." (Vol. 4, Book
52, Hadith 73)

In this Hadith, we see how the heaven is directly related to swords which are symbols of

killing and violence. These words, according to Al Bukhari, are the words of the prophet who

was sent by God (Allah). Is it possible that God wants his last prophet and last message to be

related to killing and violence? The main reason behind forming of the terrorist groups nowadays

is that they are not tolerant of other groups with different faith at all. Even if the other group have

similar beliefs and believed in the same book. For example, ISIS hates Shi'a with no exception,

although the Shi'a share the same, God, book, and the five pillars.

The Verse:--"You (true Muslims) are the best of peoples ever raised up for mankind." means, the
best of peoples for the people, as you bring them with chains on their necks till they embrace
Islam. (Vol. 6, Book 60, Hadith 80)

In this Hadith, a part from a verse from the Qur'an (3:110) was explained in Sahih

Bukhari by Abu Hurairah, Muhammad's friend and the most narrator of Hadith directly from the

prophet in Sunni's books. Even though it is not a word from the prophet, Sunni Muslims still

consider this Hadith to be valid and true since it is in Sahih Bukhari. I believe that ISIS uses

Hadiths like this to verify their actions. The Hadith itself shows that the term coexisting does not

even exist in Sunni's belief. Basically, it says that people are forced to be Muslims and that is an
act of "the best of people ever raised up for mankind". We have learn a lot about different

religions in this class, but I have never read something like this in other religions. Faith must be

by choice, otherwise it does not called faith but it is called abuse and denial of the freedom of

belief.

Allah's Messenger ( )said, "I have been ordered to fight the people till they say: 'None has the
right to be worshipped but Allah.' And if they say so, pray like our prayers, face our Qibla and
slaughter as we slaughter, then their blood and property will be sacred to us and we will not
interfere with them except legally and their reckoning will be with Allah." (Vol. 1, Book 8, Hadith
387)

Here is the same concept of forcing people to be Muslims again. In case someone does

not want to be a Muslim for some reasons, his/ her blood and property will not be sacred to the

prophet according to Sahih Bukhari. This Hadith reminds me of ISIS when they had killed a

group of Christians just because they are Christians. The concept of humanity and the integrity of

humans are not considered as a fact as long as someone is not Muslim. If someone is Muslim,

then he/she would be considered as a human and would be treated as a person with integrity.

When the tribe of Bani Quraiza was ready to accept Sa`d's judgment, Allah's Messenger ( )
sent for Sa`d who was near to him. Sa`d came, riding a donkey and when he came near, Allah's
Messenger ( )said (to the Ansar), "Stand up for your leader." Then Sa`d came and sat beside
Allah's Messenger ( )who said to him. "These people are ready to accept your judgment."
Sa`d said, "I give the judgment that their warriors should be killed and their children and women
should be taken as prisoners." The Prophet ( )then remarked, "O Sa`d! You have judged
amongst them with (or similar to) the judgment of the King Allah." (Vol. 4, Book 52, Hadith 280)

Bani Quraiza were a Jewish tribe who lived outside of Madina. Muslims claimed that

there was an agreement that they will not fight against Muslims during Battle of the Trench. Yet,

Bani Quraiza tried to attack Muslims later on. Then, Muslims besieged them until the Jewish

tribe gave up. Then, Muhammad ask one of his friends named Sa'd ibn Mu'adh. Sa'd, as

described in this Hadith, suggested that the warriors should be killed and women and children
should be taken as slaves. However, the prophet did not argue with him, instead he supported his

judgment and described it as the judgment of the king Allah. What is the mistake of the children

and women that made them to be slaves?

`Umar bin Al-Khattab expelled all the Jews and Christians from the land of Hijaz. Allah's
Messenger ( )after conquering Khaibar, thought of expelling the Jews from the land which,
after he conquered it belonged to Allah, Allah's Messenger ( )and the Muslims. But the Jews
requested Allah's Messenger ( )to leave them there on the condition that they would do the
labor and get half of the fruits (the land would yield). Allah's Messenger ( )said, "We shall
keep you on these terms as long as we wish." Thus they stayed till the time of `Umar's Caliphate
when he expelled them to Taima and Ariha. (Vol. 4, Book 53, Hadith 380)

The same treatment and abuse is occuring again in Sahih Bukhari toward non-Muslim

communities. They are left to live in their houses, which were there before Islam even started, in

one condition. The condition is that the Jews would do the labor and get half of the fruits. The

prophet's answer was shocking. He agreed that they can stay accepting the condition that they

offered, yet he told them that he can expel them whenever he want! I imagine myself to be a

member of the Jewish or Christians tribes at that time. I would live in fear everyday since I

would not be sure when I would get expelled by Muslims, this is the definition of terrorism.

Some Zanadiqa (atheists) were brought to `Ali and he burnt them. The news of this event,
reached Ibn `Abbas who said, "If I had been in his place, I would not have burnt them, as Allah's
Messenger ( )forbade it, saying, 'Do not punish anybody with Allah's punishment (fire).' I
would have killed them according to the statement of Allah's Messenger ( ), 'Whoever changed
his Islamic religion, then kill him.'" (Vol. 9, Book 84, Hadith 57)

Another teaching of intolerance and elimination of others with different beliefs and

opinions. If this law is just, can we apply it to non-Muslim who want change their religions and

become Muslims? For example, what if someone from Hinduism background and wanted to

convert to Islam, is it just to kill him because he change his faith? Why is Islam so special then?

Is Allah afraid that people will not like his religion, so he wants to keep them in Islam even if
they do not like it. It is either you leave Islam and get killed, or live your life hiding and faking

your beliefs, another form of terrorism.

... 'Aisha and 'Abdullah bin 'Abbas said, "When Allah's Apostle became ill seriously, he started
covering his face with his woolen sheet, and when he felt short of breath, he removed it from his
face and said, 'That is so! Allah's (curse be on the Jews and the Christians, as they took the
graves of their prophets as (places of worship),' intending to warn (the Muslims) of what they
had done."... (Vol. 5, Book 59, Hadith 727)

I actually did not know that Jews and Christians use their prophets' graves as places to

worship, but that might be an ignorance of me. However, I feel that people lie to themselves

when I see a Sunni Shaikh with a Christian priest talking about how they should coexist and be

tolerant. I am not saying that I do not want this to happen. In fact, I would love to see them get

along and coexist in peace and respect. Yet, what I want them to do, at least the Sunni Shaikh, is

to re write their books and clean them from Hadiths like this which can be used by terrorist

groups to hate and kill Jews and Christians later on. They should fix the issue from its root,

people are suffering now in the Middle East because no one wants to be real and tell the truth,

the whole truth.

We arrived at Khaibar, and when Allah helped His Apostle to open the fort, the beauty of Safiya
bint Huyai bin Akhtaq whose husband had been killed while she was a bride, was mentioned to
Allah's Apostle. The Prophet ( )selected her for himself, and set out with her, and when we
reached a place called Sidd-as-Sahba,' Safiya became clean from her menses then Allah's
Messenger ( )married her. Hais (i.e. an 'Arabian dish) was prepared on a small leather mat.
Then the Prophet ( )said to me, "I invite the people around you." So that was the marriage
banquet of the Prophet ( )and Safiya. Then we proceeded towards Medina, and I saw the
Prophet, making for her a kind of cushion with his cloak behind him (on his camel). He then sat
beside his camel and put his knee for Safiya to put her foot on, in order to ride (on the camel).
(Vol. 5, Book 59, Hadith 522)

This Hadith shows how Muhammad does not care about people feelings, and especially

women. According to Sahih Bukhari, Muslims have killed Safiya's husband, then Muhammad
took her as a slave and then married her. Did she accept the marriage? Would she marry someone

just killed her husband? Did Bukhari expect us to think that Muhammad was fair and peaceful

from this Hadith or more like ISIS nowadays?

Conclusion (Islam vs. Muslims):

We always hear the question "Is Islam a peaceful religion?" In my opinion, this question

is wrong. This question must be specified which group of Muslims we are talking about since

each group has their sources of belief. I have established the differences between the two main

groups in Islam, Sunni and Shia. Then, I focused my response and criticism on one book of

Sunni Muslims, Sahih Bukhari. My main goal of this paper was not to attack Sunni Muslims, yet

to show what is written in their books.

As a result, I believe that Sunni Muslim scholars, at least, must reform their religion and

clean what is written in their books so no terrorist groups would use them to verify their

ideologies. I only used one Sunni book in this paper, Sahih Bukhari, but there are more hate and

violence in other books. Most Sunni Muslims do not know about these Hadiths and never heard

of them, only those who search and read their books carefully. Although these Hadiths suggest

that Sunni Islam is violent and terrorist, there are some principles in Qur'an and Sahih Bukhari

shows that Sunni Islam is peaceful.

An example From Qur'an:

(whosoever killeth a human being for other than manslaughter or corruption in the
earth, it shall be as if he had killed all mankind, and whoso saveth the life of one, it shall be as if
he had saved the life of all mankind) (5:32)

An example from Sahih Bukhari:

The Prophet ( )said, "I and the person who looks after an orphan and provides for him, will
be in Paradise like this," putting his index and middle fingers together. (Vol. 8, Book 73, Hadith
34)

Annotated Bibliography:

Amore, R., Oxtoby, W., Hussain, A. & Segal, A. (2015). A concise introduction to world
religions. Don Mills, Ontario: Oxford University Press.

A section of this book was used to distinguish Sunni and Shi'a and the origin of their
conflict.

Armanios, F. (2004, February). Islam: Sunnis and Shiites. In Congressional Research

Service Report to Congress.

This report was used to see how Sunni and Shi'a are similar and different regarding their
beliefs. It gives an account of what Sunni and Shi'a consider as a source of Hadith as
well.

Brown, J. (2009). Hadith: Muhammad's legacy in the medieval and modern world.
Oxford: Oneworld.

Brown 2009 provides a good distinguish between Sunni and Shia movements regarding
Hadith. It explains why they have different sources of Hadith and how they were formed.

Brown, J. (2007). The canonization of al-Bukhari and Muslim: The formation and
function of the Sunni adith Canon. Leiden: Brill.

Brown 2007 gives a good account of Al Bukhari and his early life. His journey around
the Islamic state to collect Hadith was explained. It shows how Al Bukhari was very
interested in Hadith from his adolescence till his thirties. It also gives some informations
about Sahih Bukhari as a book.

Center for Muslim-jewish engagement at University of Southern California (website)

(http://www.usc.edu/org/cmje/religious-texts/hadith/bukhari/)

This academic website was used to find Hadiths from Sahih Bukhari in English. It is also
used to find the translated verses from Qur'an as well.
 Motzki, H. (2004). HHadith: Origins and developments. Aldershot: Ashgate/Variorum.

Motzki gives a clear understanding of Hadith and its origin and how I is differ from
Qur'an, although both are considered as revelations from God.