Q. As a 14-year old student, I am puzzled about events that take place under an Islamic banner, such as suicide bombings, the Sept. 11 attacks, Riyadh and Bali attacks and the Chechens’ attack in the Moscow theater? Are these justified in Islam? If a suicide bombing attack is carried out against enemy soldiers in Israel, is it acceptable? Please clarify.
(Name and address withheld)
A. To start with, Islam permits war for a just cause, such as self-defense, or defending an oppressed group of people, who may not even be Muslims. But war in Islam also has to abide by certain ethics, such as not killing anyone who is not a combatant. The Prophet (peace be upon him) and his successors in ruling the Muslim state gave express orders to commanders of Muslim armies not to kill any woman, child, elderly person, or anyone not taking part in supporting the enemy’s war effort.
Keeping this in mind, we can say that the bombings in Riyadh, Bali, Nairobi, or the attacks on the World Trade Center on Sept. 11, 2001, are contrary to Islamic principles and values. Islam does not approve of indiscriminate killing even of enemy personnel. It is impossible, from the Islamic point of view, to justify hijacking a plane in order to fly it into a building, intending to kill its passengers and as many other civilians as possible. Those who committed such acts tried to justify them on grounds that the US and others are enemies of Islam who are bent on suppressing its message. Islam cannot be supported by actions that are contrary to its values and principles. Such indiscriminate killing of people who are not engaged in a war against Islam is unjustifiable.
Having said that, we must add that the US has been consistently pursuing a policy which is detrimental to Islam and Muslims, as we see clearly in its support of Israeli aggression against Palestine and other Muslim states, and in its occupation of Afghanistan and Iraq. But resisting such US policies cannot be through the indiscriminate killing of American citizens. What we should do is to pursue an informative policy that makes the American people aware of our rights and the wrongs that US policies are doing to us and to other people. If we do that consistently and with clear aims, we can bring about a change in American policy that will serve the interests of our faith.
The case of the Chechens who occupied the theater in Moscow is different. The Russian government has been following a policy of brutal aggression against the Chechen people, resulting in much killing and devastation in Chechnya. The group which occupied the theater tried to force the government into stopping some aspects of its aggression, such as releasing prisoners, and stopping attacks. It was the Russian government which used poisonous gas to enable its soldiers to storm the theater, killing 129 of its own citizens in addition to the 50 Chechen men and women who took part in the operation. The Russian government could have resorted to different tactics which would not have resulted in such a large number of casualties, but they opted for this knowing that its action will result in many innocent people losing their lives. What is amazing is the fact that the world media which covered the incident always mentioned the Russian casualties, but not the Chechen ones, as though 50 Chechen lives were not worth mentioning.
In Palestine, the case is one of stark injustice, with aggression continuing over nearly a hundred years and enjoying support by the US and other Western governments. When Israeli forces blow up houses of Palestinian civilians or attack Palestinian banks and get away with all the cash that belongs to ordinary Palestinian citizens, this hardly deserves a mention in the world media. The Palestinians then find themselves lacking support even by their Muslim neighbors. How can they defend themselves when they are denied arms, a state, or a voice demanding the observation of basic human rights? They have found no way other than sending young people to blow themselves up.
All Muslims should support the Palestinians in their just cause, because they have been victims of serious injustice over a very long period of time. It is injustice that could lead to terrorism. If the US really cares about stopping terrorism, it should start thinking about bringing about some justice in its attitude toward Muslims, particularly the Palestinians. Without justice, the world will continue to suffer and the suffering is perpetrated primarily by the unjust, particularly the United States government.
Having said that, I should add that as Muslims we differentiate between ordinary people and government policies. A Muslim’s attitude to others is that of love and care. We love others, including Americans, but we dislike the present American policy which is based on blatant support for all the injustice against Palestine and other Muslim states and peoples.
