By Atta-Ul Naseer, Imam & National President Ahmadiyya Muslim Jama’ at Greece

According to the Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary the definition of Terrorism is the use of violent action in order to achieve political aims or to force a government to act. In other words it means to use violence as a mean of terrorising people to achieve a particular aim or purpose. On the other hand the word Islam is derived from the root word “Salema” which mean peace, purity, submission and obedience which are completely opposite to the basic definition of terrorism. However, in the present age a lot of time we hear the terms Islamic Terrorists or Islamic Terrorism. These terms are used for those terrorist groups who claim to be Muslims and want to achieve a political aim of coming into power in a particular country and then slowly in the whole world.

There are several such organisations such as ISIS, Al Qaida, Al Shabab, Boko Haram etc. If we add the current membership of all these organisations we find that their strength is around 500 thousand in total. This figure is less than the number of people joining the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community in just one year. If we look at the world population of Muslims than it is around 1.6 billion which makes them 22% of the people living on this planet. This makes them 0.00003% of the whole Muslim Population. If the original teachings of Islam were of hate and terrorism then there would have been 1.6 billion terrorists instead of mere 500,000. If 500,000 people can create such a big mess then we can imagine the chaos 1.6 billion people could have created. Only this fact can prove that the original Islamic teachings have nothing to do with Terrorism. In fact Islam rejects and condemns every form of terrorism. It is not just a claim but the Holy Qur’an and the life of the Holy founder of Islam bears testimony to this fact.

It is stated in the Holy Qur’an Surah Al-Maidah verse 33,

“…whosoever killed a person — unless it be for killing a person or for creating disorder in the land — it shall be as if he had killed all mankind; and whoso gave life to one, it shall be as if he had given life to all mankind.”

These attacks by terrorist organisations result in thousands of innocent lives being lost which shows that with each innocent life they kill the whole mankind again and again. It is absolutely against the teaching of Islam so they can claim to be Muslims but they are practicing something completely opposite to the teachings of Islam.

Again it is stated in the Holy Qur’an Surah AnNisaverse 30,

“And kill not your own selves. Surely Allah is Merciful to you.”

Every year these terrorists carryout suicide attacks and this verse of the Holy Qur’an condemns suicide once and for all. This again proves that these terrorists are not following the religion of Islam. In fact they are not following any religion as all religions have one source and that is love and affection towards the Creator and the creation.

The Holy Qur’an further states in Surah Al Baqarah verse 194,

“…remember that no hostility is allowed except against the aggressors.”

Islam allows Muslims to defend themselves when someone attacks them but has nowhere allowed them to become the transgressors. This also proves that the terrorists are acting against these very clear teachings stated in the Holy Book which they claim to follow.

It is also heard and read that through these terrorist attacks Muslims want to convert the whole world to Islam. It is stated in Surah Al Baqarah verse 257,

“there is no compulsion in the matter of religion”

This is a very clear Islamic teaching absolutely rejecting the idea of compelling anyone to change their belief. So if some Muslims claim otherwise then the Holy Qur’an itself is condemning their un-Islamic ideology.

Islam teaches kindness towards all the creations of God and above all it instils kindness towards the fellow human beings no matter what religion or belief they hold. Islam teaches respect and understanding towards other religions. A person cannot claim to be a follower of Islam unless he believes in the truthfulness of all the prophets sent by God for the guidance of mankind. Thus, I cannot be a Muslim if I don’t believe in Adam, Noah, Abraham, Moses or Jesus (May peace and blessings of Allah be upon them all).

For the first time when Muslims were given permission to defend themselves against those who persecuted them the Holy Qur’an also presented the reasons why this permission was being granted. It is stated in Surah Al Hajj verse 41,

“And if Allah did not repel some men by means of others, there would surely have been pulled down cloisters and churches and synagogues and mosques, wherein the name of Allah is oft commemorated”

In this verse Muslims are told that if they were not given permission to defend themselves against their persecutors then it would have resulted in the places of worship of different religions being pulled down. In another place in Surah Aal-e-Imran verse 111 of the Holy Qur’an it is stated,

“… You are the best people raised for the good of mankind; you enjoin what is good and forbid evil”

So Islam does not only teach Muslims to be good to other Muslims but to be good to whole mankind. These above mentioned verses also categorically prove that Islam teaches love and kindness and rejects every form of terrorism.

The founder of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community, who claimed to be a follower of Prophet Muhammad (saw) and a reformer of the present age states in his book Siraj-e-Munir, RuhaniKhazain Vol 12 p28,

The principle to which we adhere is that we have kindness at heart for the whole of mankind. If anyone sees the house of a Hindu neighbour on fire and does not come forward to help extinguish the fire, most truly I declare that he does not belong to me. If anyone of my followers, having seem someone attempting to murder a Christian does not endeavour to save him, I most truly declare that he does not belong to us.”

These are just a few teachings of Islam which I have presented to prove that terrorism has no place in Islam. In fact it completely opposes, condemns and rejects terrorism of all forms.