Daily Times

Not only have the Paris attacks, which killed more than 130 people and wounded many more, sparked anger and outrage, they also have rekindled the old debate regarding the role of Islam as a religion that fuels hatred and promotes the murder of unarmed, innocent civilians including women, children and the elderly. After suffering through the 9/11 attacks, the 7/7 bombings and now the 11/13 massacre, do you not think this is a legitimate concern? Are westerners wrong when they proclaim that even though it is true that all Muslims are not terrorists but all organised terrorists are Muslims? How should Muslims defend their position and, by doing so, their faith?
Faith, let me say first, plays an important role in defining one’s identity. Besides that, it also demarcates the boundaries of your morality, outlines your culture, determines your eating habits and, to some extent, delineates your social structure. Even more, it helps you choose your friends, your confidants and also your spouse. So, it has to be defended and there is no doubt about that. One way of doing this is to completely and unambiguously disapprove terrorist acts, which Pakistanis have started doing after the Peshawar massacre in December. Before that, we were calling Hakeemullah shaheed as well. Secondly, Muslims have to let the world know that the problem does not lie with Islam per se; instead, the problem rests with people who interpret religion in a violent way. Is this true and does Islam really not promote violence at all?
Before I answer, that let us look at some of the explanations Muslims have come up with: first, most Muslims — they say around 95 percent — all around the world do not believe in violent ideology. Islam (as a whole) teaches peace to everyone and Muslims as a rule abide by that principle. Second, the Quran is not any different from any other scripture in promoting violence; there are verses in the Old Testament that are far more violent when compared to some of the doctrines laid down by Allah. Third, terrorists are psychopaths, the same as the kind who enter a school building and mow down dozens of children for no apparent reason. If their psychopathology is not considered a part of their religion then the grandiosity and delusions of Muslim extremists should not be labelled as a problem with their faith either. Instead, their mindset should be regarded as part of a mental illness.
As a rule, I agree with these explanations since most Muslims lead a normal, peaceful life. I also believe that some verses of the Old Testament, like Samuel (15:3), which recommends the killing of women and children can be compared with the ‘Sword Verse’ of chapter nine, which encourages slaying the idolaters wherever Muslims find them. This verse ends by saying: “But if they repent and establish worship and pay the jizya (a tax for non-Muslims), then leave their way free. Lo! Allah is Forgiving, Merciful.”
And it is because of that final piece that Muslim scholars think that, unlike the Old Testament, the Quran always provides a way out to avoid violence and deal with each other peacefully through negotiations and insists on creating an option where a human life can be spared. If that is the spirit then why do Muslims tend to promote more violence than their non-Muslim counterparts in the name of their religion? Why do they push their religion in to settle political scores and risk maligning the faith of a billion people to obtain personal and many times local objectives?
One reason could be that western society at large does not seek to implement the laws of the Old Testament in the modern day. For them, the scripture can be read for personal salvation but not for the transformation of society, at least not any more. Society relies upon science and research, and the will of the people for the solution of current problems whereas Muslims are different. They are encouraged to read, recite and understand the Quran to the best of their abilities. On top of that, they are persuaded to act upon each and every verse in its letter and spirit since its message is both universal and ever lasting. Have we not been told that the reason for the ummah (Muslim community) lagging behind the rest of the world is because we do not take the Quran seriously and do not try to put all its rules into practice?
So when Muslim youths face a political problem, when a tyrant rules their country for decades, when an imperial power ‘steals’ the resources of their country and when they come across social isolation and poverty while living in the ghettos of Europe, they do not have a choice except to find a solution to their problem in the Quran. Sure, they find the verses to kill and raise arms against non-Muslims. Although there exist verses on friendship, mercifulness and justice too, but who can decide which one to pick and which one to ignore? Under political and economic hardship, no one can focus on the humane side of the scripture.
What has made the situation worse is that countries like Saudi Arabia have legalised the puritanical and literal understanding of the book of Allah. Groups like the Taliban and Islamic State (IS), after obtaining the blessings of the Kingdom implement the hardest possible rules and justify them with the Quran, which includes but is not limited to the Sword Verse. So what should Muslims do now as both types of messages can be found in the book? How can one know for sure which one describes God’s will at the moment and for how long Muslims should wait and watch this brutality conducted in the name of their religion? Let me assure you that until they act to fix it, nothing will change for them. It is time to review and redefine current concepts.

The writer is a US-based freelance columnist. He tweets at @KaamranHashmi and can be reached at skamranhashmi@gmail.com