Islam and Violence: Difference between revisions

{{QualityScore|Lead=2|Structure=4|Content=3|Language=3|References=3}}Islamic law sanctions several forms of physical violence in domestic, civil, and international contexts, ranging from unprovoked imperial Jihad, to wife-beating, to amputations. While a few modern Islamic scholars have challenged the legality of imperial violence, a smaller minority that also of domestic violence, and yet smaller minority that of civil violence, the overwhelming majority of Islamic scholars today embrace the tradition of Islamic violence in all three respects.

{{Main|Invitation to Islam Prior to Jihad}}The practice of inviting non-Muslim nations to join Islam or pay the Jizyah prior to engaging in offensive Jihad was traditionally first initiated by the Prophet Muhammad. For instance, he is reported to have sent a letter to Heraclius, the Eastern Roman emperor in Constantinople, stating "I invite you to Islam, embrace Islam and you will be safe; ...But if you reject this invitation of Islam, you shall be responsible for misguiding the peasants (i.e. your nation)." Other similar letters were purportedly sent to other rulers before they were conquered by the Muslims, though their authenticity is doubted by modern academic scholars. Muhammad's lead was reportedly followed by the Rightly-Guided Caliphs Abu Bakr as-Siddiq and Umar Ibn al-Khatab. The leaders of later Islamic empires such as the sultan of the Ottoman Empire also followed suit, and it has even been codified within the Islamic Shari'ah (see sections o9.0 to o9.8 in ''<nowiki/>'Umdat as-Salik wa 'Uddat an-Nasik''). Critics have argued that the modern continuation of this practice is found in the actions of Islamic leaders such as Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and even terrorist organizations such as al-Qaeda and Boko Haram, although modern Islamic scholars have argued otherwise.

{{Main|List of Killings Ordered or Supported by Muhammad}}Violence under Prophet Muhammad was a frequent occurrence. The use of assassination to achieve political/religious goals has been important throughout the history of Arabia and Islamic expansion. The list of killings ordered or supported by him number at least forty-three in the sirah and hadith literature. Muhammad and his companions murdered (and even tortured) hundreds of people (most of these being Jews). His targets included men, women and children, both young and old. The reasons behind their executions varied from "causing offence" and writing or reciting poetry, to the monetary gains Muhammad and his movement made by their elimination. This page lists some of the results and reasons for the targeted killings and assassinations reportedly ordered or supported by Muhammad, as well as the primary Islamic sources which mention these incidents. It also discusses academic views on these sources and their use as evidence for aspects of Islamic law.

===Genocide of the Jewish Banu Qurayza===

{{Main|The Genocide of Banu Qurayza}}In the 5th year of Hijra (627 CE), on the orders of Prophet Muhammad, almost nine hundred Jews of a Medinan tribe named Banu Qurayza were massacred by Muhammad's followers. The killing began early in the day, ending in torchlight. Those who escaped death (women and children, excluding boys who had begun to grow pubic hair) were taken captive by Muslims to be sold in slave markets and exchanged for horses and armour. Modern Islamic scholars, acknowledging the event since it is found in the most authentic Islamic scriptures, have presented many arguments to portray the massacre as contextually justified, most notably the idea that the Banu Qurayza had betrayed the Muslims at the Battle of Khandaq. Critics have argued that hadiths to this effect were probably invented later in justification since, if the Muslims really had been betrayed by so large a party, then they should have lost the battle, which they didn't. Historians, by contrast, have at times argued that, contrary to Islamic scripture, the entire ordeal may have been a later invention made to antagonize the Jews and glorify Muhammad, as there is historical evidence which suggests that there were no such populations and tribes of Jews in the vicinity of Muhammad's people.

{{Main|Umm Qirfa}}Umm Qirfa was an old Arab woman contemporaneous to Prophet Muhammad. She belonged to a pagan tribe named Banu Fazara at Wadi Al-Qurra. She was also a chief of her clan and a renown poetess. She was reportedly killed when Muhammad’s followers raided her tribe and won over them. She was tied between two camels which were driven in opposite directions and her body was split apart. Later, her decapitated head was presented to Muhammad, who then ordered it to be paraded throughout the streets of Medina.

==Women==

{{Main|Wife Beating in Islamic Law}}Wife-beating is instructed by the the Qur'an and the Hadiths, and has been an accepted part of Islam law since its inception. {{Quran|4|34}} states that men are in charge of women and that husbands may, among other things, beat their wives if they fear disobedience. Prophet Muhammad provided tacit approval of wife beating by not scolding Muslims for beating their wives, referred to women who spoke-out against abuse as "not the best among you", forbade Muslims from questioning men who beat their wives, allowed others to hit his wives (the very women whom all Muslims adore and refer to as "the Mother of believers"), reaffirmed the command of wife-beating in his farewell sermon, and himself struck one of his wives in the chest. In addition to Muhammad's actions, three of the four Rightly-Guided Caliphs are also reported to have beaten women. Because of its many endorsements within Islamic scripture, wife-beating is permitted by the majority of Muslim scholars and leaders. This has led to domestic violence being permitted under law in several Islamic states or being largely ignored by the authorities.

===Honor violence===

In Islamic law, there is no punishment merely for the shame caused upon a family by their female relations, nor to restore family honor by killing them. Honour killing has been condemned in a recent fatwa<ref>[https://islamqa.info/en/101972 Fatwa 101972 Ruling on honour killing]</ref>, which says that the punishment for fornication by the unmarried is flogging, and must be carried out by the proper authorities.

===Rape===

{{Main|Rape}}Rape, known in Islamic law as ''zina bil-ikrah'' or ''zina bil-jabr'' (literally "fornication by force"), is generally defined by Muslim jurists as forced intercourse by a man with a woman who is not his wife or slave and without her consent. As with enslaved females, according to Islamic law, married women are required to oblige their husbands sexual advances - and according to one school of jurisprudence may even be forced to do so. The concept of "rape" is thus deemed to be equally non-existent in the contexts of both marriage and slavery.

===Islamic Scripture===

===Lesser vs greater Jihad===

{{Main|Lesser and Greater Jihad}}During Prophet Muhammad's lifetime, and onwards to the present, the word 'Jihad' was, and is, almost always used in a military sense. This idea of a greater and lesser jihad was a later development which originated from the 11th century book, ''The History of Baghdad'', by the Islamic scholar al-Khatib al-Baghdadi, by way of Yahya ibn al 'Ala'. The "lesser versus greater jihad" hadith's isnad has been categorized by scholars as "weak" (da`if), and generally in Islamic law, only the authentic (sahih) and good (hasan) hadiths are used in deriving the rules. The weak hadiths are far lesser value for the purpose of Shari'ah. Contemporary Islamic scholars have even classed it as "maudu" (fabricated), meaning this narration, by some, is not even considered to be a hadith at all. This narration does not appear in any of the famous hadith collections, and even appears to contradict the teachings found in corroborated (Mutawatir) sahih hadith. Furthermore, all four schools of Sunni jurisprudence (Fiqh) as well as the Shi'ite tradition make no reference at all to the "greater" jihad, only the lesser.

{{Main|Suicide Bombing in Islam}}

It is important to note that while many Islamic jurists have endorse suicide bombing as such, they have, as would be expected, differed endlessly as regards to whether it should be used in the contexts where it is actually used. Indeed, the majority of Jihad-oriented suicide bombing in the world today is conducted by terrorists who do not have majority support among the Islamic establishment.

==Apostates==

{{Main|Qur'an, Hadith and Scholars:Apostasy}}

{{Quote|{{Bukhari|9|83|17}}|Narrated 'Abdullah:

Allah's Apostle said, "The blood of a Muslim who confesses that none has the right to be worshipped but Allah and that I am His Apostle, cannot be shed except in three cases: In Qisas for murder, a married person who commits illegal sexual intercourse and the one who reverts from Islam (apostate) and leaves the Muslims." }}

{{Main|Qur'an, Hadith and Scholars:Punishments}}{{Quote|{{Quran-range|5|33|34}}|The punishment of those who wage war against Allah and His Messenger, and strive with might and main for mischief through the land is: execution, or crucifixion, or the cutting off of hands and feet from opposite sides, or exile from the land: that is their disgrace in this world, and a heavy punishment is theirs in the Hereafter; Except for those who repent before they fall into your power: in that case, know that Allah is Oft-forgiving, Most Merciful.}}

{{Main|Amputation}}Amputation is the removal of part or all of a body part enclosed by skin.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.medterms.com/script/main/art.asp?articlekey=12537 |title=Definition of Amputation |archiveurl=http://archive.is/20120915/http://www.medterms.com/script/main/art.asp?articlekey=12537 |archivedate=2012-09-15 |accessdate=2012-09-15}} - Medicine Net</ref> It is a prescribed punishment in the Qur'an, and within the context of Islamic law, it refers to the removal of the hands or feet. Today, amputation is used as a punishment for theft in Saudi Arabia<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.arabnews.com/?page=0&section=1&article=27038&d=5&m=6&y=2003 |title=Kingdom’s Leading Executioner Says: ‘I Lead a Normal Life’ - Mahmoud Ahmad, Arab News - June 5, 2003 |archiveurl=http://archive.is/20120915/http://www.arabnews.com/?page=0&section=1&article=27038&d=5&m=6&y=2003 |archivedate=2012-09-15 |accessdate=2012-09-15}}</ref> and Northern Nigeria, which reintroduced Shari'ah law in 1999<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.mg.co.za/article/2005-09-19-nigerian-islamic-court-orders-amputation |title=Nigerian Islamic court orders amputation - Mail & Guardian Online - September 19, 2005 |archiveurl=http://archive.is/20120915/http://www.mg.co.za/article/2005-09-19-nigerian-islamic-court-orders-amputation |archivedate=2012-09-15 |accessdate=2012-09-15}}</ref>. In Somalia, a court run by an extremist Islamic group sentenced four Somali men in June of 2009 to each have a hand and a leg cut off for allegedly stealing mobile phones and guns.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,528139,00.html |title=Islamic Extremists Sentence 4 Somalis to Amputations - Associated Press, FoxNews.com - June 22, 2009 |archiveurl=http://archive.is/20120915/http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,528139,00.html |archivedate=2012-09-15 |accessdate=2012-09-15}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.javno.com/en-world/somali-islamists-amputate-teenagers-hands-legs_267541 |title=Somali Islamists Amputate Teenagers` Hands, Legs - JAVNO, June 25, 2009 |archiveurl=http://archive.is/20120915/http://www.javno.com/en-world/somali-islamists-amputate-teenagers-hands-legs_267541 |archivedate=2012-09-15 |accessdate=2012-09-15}}</ref> In 2008, the Islamic Republic of Iran saw five double amputations in a single week -- five convicted robbers were each sentenced to have their right hands and left feet amputated.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/11/world/middleeast/11iran.html |title=Spate of Executions and Amputations in Iran - Nazila Fathi, The New York Times - January 11, 2008 |archiveurl=http://archive.is/20120909/http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/11/world/middleeast/11iran.html |archivedate=2012-09-09 |accessdate=2012-09-09}}</ref> When the Taliban, an Islamic militant group, took over Afghanistan in 1996, within a year, public executions, amputations and stonings were a regular Friday event in Kabul.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/1600136.stm |title=Flashback: When the Taleban took Kabul - Terence White, former AFP correspondent in Kabul - BBC News - October 15, 2001 |archiveurl=http://archive.is/20120713/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/1600136.stm |archivedate=2012-07-13 |accessdate=2012-07-13}}</ref>

===Lashing===

{{Main|Zina}}

The Quran prescribes the punishment of 100 lashes for free unmarried men and women guilty of fornication ([[zina]]). For men, this is defined as sexual relations with a woman who is not his wife or slave, or for a woman, a man who is not her husband. For a slave woman (whether married or unmarried) who has sexual relations with someone other than her husband or master, the punishment is half that i.e. 50 lashes. The punishment is still present in the legal codes of some Muslim majority countries, or individual provinces such as Aceh in Indonesia.

* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R7s6h6zlk-0 Islam and Violence: The Honest Truth] - islamwhattheydonttellyou164 ''- YouTube Video''

* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4mSLSzugDfw&rco=1 Islam & ISIS - Terrorism & Extremism] - The Masked Arab - ''Beginning of a YouTube series covering this topic in the context of primary scripture justifying ISIS's actions''

[[Category:Apologetics]]