Suicide Bombing in Islam: Difference between revisions

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==Exceptions to norms==

{{Quote| 1=Tafsir Ibn Kathir, [http://www.webcitation.org/64xUSMcl1 The Story of the Sorcerer, the Monk, the Boy and Those Who were forced to enter the Ditch]|2=Then the king said, "Whoever abandons his religion, let him go, and whoever does not, throw him into the fire.'' They were struggling and scuffling in the fire, until a woman and her baby whom she was breast feeding came and it was as if she was being somewhat hesitant of falling into the fire, so her baby said to her, "Be patient mother! For verily, you are following the truth!'') Muslim also recorded this Hadith at the end of the Sahih. }}

This hadith indicates that killing yourself is allowed in Islam in certain circumstances.The lady killed herself, which benefited Islam, because many people converted to Islam after being amazed by her actions. Hence, many scholars conclude, killing yourself is ok when it is going to “benefit” Islam, like in this incident.

Many verses in the Quran, however, relate to the pre-Islamic era, a famous one for example is “On that account: We ordained for the Children of Israel that if anyone killed a person - unless it for murder or for spreading mischief in the land - it would be as if he slew all mankind “ [Qur'an 5:32]. “Mischief” is understood to mean disbelief, according to Muhammad, his companions and the famous Muffasirun (like Ibn Kathir and al-Suyuti). This verse is related to the time of Adam and Eve, when Cain killed his brother Abel, so Allah sent down this verse. Many other verses and hadith refer to stories of past times and are nonetheless used to derive rulings, especially when clear evidence to the contrary is absent.

Muhammad also praised the lady that killed herself in the incident by calling it a “beautiful/pleasant fragrance”, without pointing out that such an act would in his Sharia be prohibited, which is something he could have done and did do in other cases. For instance, while Yusuf (Jospeh) has his brothers and parents prostrate to him in the Qur'an, Muhammad is reported to have explicitly stated that such a practice (prostrating to humans or even prophets) would no longer be permissible in his (Muhammad's) time.

And he 'said to them: Take him to such and such mountain; make him climb up that mountain and when you reach its top (ask him to renounce his faith) but if he refuses to do so, then throw him (down the mountain). So they took him and made him climb up the mountain and he said: O Allah, save me from them (in any way) Thou likest and the mountain began to quake and they all fell down and that person came walking to the king. The king said to him: What has happened to your companions? He said: Allah has saved me from them. He again handed him to some of his courtiers and said: Take him and carry him in a small boat and when you reach the middle of the ocean (ask him to renounce) his religion, but if he does not renounce his religion throw him (into the water). So they took him and he said: O Allah, save me from them and what they want to do. It was quite soon that the boat turned over and they were drowned and he came walking to the king, and the king said to him: What has happened to your companions? He said: Allah has saved me from them, and he said to the king: '''You cannot kill me until you do what I ask you to do'''. And he said: What is that? He said: '''You should gather people in a plain and hang me by the trunk (of a tree). Then take hold of an arrow from the quiver and say: In the name of Allah, the Lord of the worlds; then shoot an arrow and if you do that then you would be able to kill me'''. So he (the king) called the people in an open plain and tied him (the boy) to the trunk of a tree, then he took hold of an arrow from his quiver and then placed the arrow in the bow and then said: In the name of Allah, the Lord of the young boy; he then shot an arrow and it bit his temple. He (the boy) placed his hands upon the temple where the '''arrow had bit him and he died''' and the people said: We affirm our faith in the Lord of this young man}}

The first hadith indicates that Muslims will be rewarded based on their intentions, including the intentions of an act they carry out, rather than just the act itself. Hence a suicide bomber who blows himself up because of what is considered a good reason in Islam (e.g. to kill enemies of Islam), then according to a straightforward reading of this hadith, he will be rewarded for that as that was his intention first and foremost.

   

Here is another excerpt taken from a longer fatwa (15 pages in length) by Muslim scholar Sheikh al-Uyayri, explaining in depth why suicide bombings and killing of civilians (including Muslims) via the use of them as "human shields" is permissible in Islam.

1. One's intention is sincere and pure - to raise the Word of Allah. <BR>

Shaykh Gibril Haddad of SunniPath.com and LivingIslam.com said about the hadith of the [[Misinterpreted Qur'anic Verses#Those who blow themselves up are throwing themselves into destruction (2:195)|man who rushed into the enemy by himself seeking death]] (an act that was praised), regarding “Suicide Warfare”

{{Quote|1=[{{Reference archive|1=http://www.livingislam.org/k/ighm_e.html|2=2011-05-28}} Inghimas In ' Suicide ' Warfare] ''- [[Gibril Haddad]]'', LivingIslam.com|2=In light of the above paradigms, if, by immersing himself into enemy ranks, a fighter brings about his own death, such self-immersion is legally the same as bringing about his own death by his own hand. In this respect there is '''no legal difference between the direct hand of the self-detonating suicide fighter and the proxy hand of the outnumbered fighter entering the fray [battle, fight] alone.'''}}

==References==

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