by MEMRI.org
"DECLARATION"
All India Anti-Terrorism Conference"
Organized by: Rabta Madaris Islamiah (Islamic Madrasas Association)"
Darul Uloom Deoband, on 17 Safar 1429 H = 25 February 2008 Monday
"Chaired by: Hazrat Maulana Marghoobur Rahman Sahib,
"Mohtamim Darul Uloom Deoband & President of Islamic Madrasas Association, Darul Uloom Deoband
"Islam is the religion of mercy for all humanity. It is the fountainhead of eternal peace, tranquility [and] security. Islam has given so much importance to human beings that it regards the killing of a single person [as] the killing [of] the entire humanity, without differentiation based on creed and caste. {This is a reference to Verse 5:32 of the Qur'an, an oft cherry picked verse that is never quoted in its entirety & never put into context with the verses that come before it, or after it...ed. A.I.} Its teaching of peace encompasses all humanity. Islam has taught its followers to treat all mankind with equality, mercy, tolerance [and] justice. Islam sternly condemns all kinds of oppression, violence and terrorism. It has regarded oppression, mischief, rioting and murdering among [the] severest sins and crimes.
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Now the words of Bill Warner of CSPI Publishing & Political Islam.com has to say about the make up of islam as found in the qur'an:
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The amount of the material in the Trilogy (Koran, Sira and Hadith) about the kafir is considerable. About 67% of the Koran written in Mecca is about the kafir, 51% of the Koran written in Medina is about the kafir. About 75% of the text in Ishaq's Sira is about the kafir and 20% of the Hadith (Bukhari) is about the kafir.
Every mention about the kafir is negative. "Kafir" is usually translated as unbeliever, but this is wrong. The word "unbeliever" is neutral. The Koran defines the kafir by its usage and says that the kafir can be killed, hated, punished, raped, mocked, enslaved, plotted against, beheaded, tortured, insulted, condemned, stolen from, deceived, kidnapped, humiliated and on and on. The Hadith and Sira follow in the same vein. There is no word in the English language that has the negativity of the word kafir.
As a measure of the negativity it is interesting to observe the Jew hatred. The hatred of Jews accounts for 10.6% of the text written in Medina . As a comparison, 6.8% of the text in Mein Kamph is about Jew hatred.
Even Hell is political. Only 6% of the people in Hell are there for moral failings—theft, lying and so on. The majority, 94%, of the people in Hell are tortured for the simple reason of not believing Mohammed. That is a political and intellectual disagreement, not a moral failing. Allah's Hell is a political prison for kafirs.
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Excerpted from Symposium: The Fictional Muhammad?
and
Concerning the killing of one individual to be equal to the killing of all humanity, I have the following rebuttal:
Does the Koran's Verse 5:32 Forbid the Killing of Non-Muslims?
by Archi Medes
After every well-publicized major terrorist attack, Islamic apologists appear in the mainstream media, typically claiming that Islam is a religion of peace. To support their assertion, Islamic apologists often quote a famous line from the Koran's verse 5:32. This famous line is actually only a small part of the verse, and is not even a complete sentence. Here is the line, as it is usually quoted, clipped and cropped, by apologists:
"...whosoever killeth a human being... it shall be as if he had killed all mankind, and whoso saveth the life of one, it shall be as if he had saved the life of all mankind..."
Well, so far, so good. It appears to be a universal proclamation that all human life is highly valuable, and that murdering one person would be a terrible crime - like murdering all of humankind. But as we will see, appearances and apologists can be deceiving! To get a better understanding of the origins of this verse and its intended meaning in the Koran, let's go through the complete verses 5:32-37 (Pickthall's translation), starting with 5:32:
5:32: "For that cause We decreed for the Children of Israel that whosoever killeth a human being for other than manslaughter or corruption in the earth, it shall be as if he had killed all mankind, and whoso saveth the life of one, it shall be as if he had saved the life of all mankind. Our messengers came unto them of old with clear proofs (of Allah's sovereignty), but afterwards lo! Many of them become prodigals of the earth."...
(2) When the omitted parts of the verse are included, the meaning of the verse changes, and permits the killing of non-Muslims under many circumstances.
Now, the argument a defender of Islam might make here, after reading the above excerpt, is "So what? Islam and Judaism have a common source, Allah. It was Allah that guided the rabbi in his commentary, and then guided the prophet Mohammad with a more 'correct' version." (For this interpretation to be acceptable to Islam, one must not assume that the rabbi was a partner to Allah, but simply a believer guided by Allah.) However, this more "correct" version, intended for Muslims, has an addition not found in the earlier source. That main addition is the "corruption in the earth" exception. (We don't need to deal with the exception for manslaughter here, for this discussion).
Killing someone for "corruption in the earth/land" is permitted (see 5:33). "Corruption in the land" refers to the words and/or actions that come into significant conflict with Islam. Some people have previously commented on this glaring problem with 5:32, e.g., see Melanie Phillips Diary . Nevertheless, most people who cite the cropped quote seem to have little concern about what the verse actually says. This is not a trivial matter. Interpreted by Muslims, the verse deals with matters of life and death!
The Koran says that the presence of disbelievers causes confusion and corruption in the land, and therefore Muslims must join together to oppose them (8:73). Ibn Kathir interprets 8:73 to mean that if the Muslims do not join together to protect themselves and their religion from the disbelievers, then "(...there will be Fitnah and oppression on the earth, and a great corruption), meaning, if you do not shun the idolators and offer your loyalty to the believers, Fitnah will overcome the people. Then confusion [polytheism and corruption] will be rampant, for the believers will be mixed with disbelievers, resulting in tremendous, widespread trials [corruption and mischief] between people." SOURCE. (Parentheses and [brackets] in original). Note that fitnah is "'Trial, testing.' A term referring to antagonism toward individual Muslims at Islam's beginning. Now it is used to refer to threats to the health of the state." FITNAH. It can refer to civil strife, the presence of disbelievers, disbelief, or the drawing of Muslims away from Islam and into disbelief. FITNA.
"Oppression" refers to any words, actions, or institutions that go against, or impede, the full unrestricted practice of Islam (Abul Kasem discusses oppression further: SOURCE.
Let's continue....
5:33 "The only reward for those who make war upon Allah and His messenger and strive after corruption in the land will be that they will be killed or crucified, or have their hands and feet on alternate sides cut off, or will be expelled out of the land. Such will be their Degradation in the world, and in the Hereafter theirs will be an awful doom..."
See Ibn Kathir's tafsir of 5:33 here.
Those who wage war against Allah/Mohammad and/or cause corruption in the earth will be killed, or crucified, or significantly dismembered (to the point of being permanently disabled), or banished (or imprisoned). (The severity of the penalty would depend on the judged severity of the transgression against Islam). In addition, they will be punished in hell (5:33). Allah punishes those who "make mischief in the earth," subjecting them to a "painful doom" (2:10; 2:11-14).
Corruption in the land, or corruption/mischief on earth, is a huge category of offenses, violent or non-violent, that significantly go against Islam. Google "corruption on earth" + "death penalty" to get an idea of the range of offenses considered to fit that category today in some strict Islamic countries. These crimes vary widely, including, for a few examples, criticizing or calling for changes in Islamic traditions; practicing "sorcery"; engaging in "charlatanism"; sex between a non-Muslim man and a Muslim woman; highway robbery; destruction of buildings; and terrorism against Muslims.
War against God, mentioned in 5:33 (below), is also the same kind of huge, flexible category that could include a wide variety of offenses significantly against Islamic doctrine or Islamic society. Aqa Mahdi Puya comments: "Waging war against Allah and His prophet means hostility against His chosen representatives; or deviation from His laws by overstepping the boundaries laid down by Him; or letting loose a reign of terror to persecute and frighten innocent people in order to deprive them of their rights; or attempts to undermine the cause of Islam and the overall interests of the Muslims; or activities to enslave, exploit and destroy human beings." Source. There are a couple of potentially misleading statements in Puya's commentary. First, the Koran does call, in jihad, for terrorizing the disbelievers (8:60, 9:5), but never calls for terrorizing believers. Puya's comments about "innocent people" could refer to Muslims, but the Koran does not consider the non-Muslims to be innocent - far from it (see below). Second, the Koran permits Muslims to have slaves (4:3, 4:36, 23:6, 24:58, 30:28, 33:50). Otherwise, Puya's commentary is consistent with other accounts. According to Ibn Kathir, disbelief is included in the category of crimes labeled 'war against God;' see here. What 'corruption on earth' and 'war against God' have in common is that each is a huge category encompassing a variety of violent and non-violent words and actions considered offenses in Islam. The significant overlap between the two categories involves opposition to Islam, including non-violent opposition.
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Conclusions
1. Verse 5:32 is almost certainly derived from earlier Jewish sources - actually a rabbi's commentary, not the revelations of a prophet of God/Allah. Mohammad (or someone) added the "corruption on earth" exception, changing the original concept in order to permit the death penalty for significant violations against Islam.
2. In the Koran, verse 5:32 offers no protection for the lives of non-Muslims. Even if we assume the verse is authentic, corruption on earth is so broad a category that almost anything that disbelievers say or do that is judged to be significantly against Islam could be used as grounds for administering the harsh penalties - including death - described in 5:33. In other words, 5:32 permits what most non-Muslims would consider to be murder. Indeed, the verse grants Muslims licence to kill non-Muslims under a surprisingly broad range of circumstances. Those apologists who present 5:32 to non-Muslims as though it were a good verse are either naïve or are knowingly engaging in deception.
Pertinent Links:
1) "DECLARATION"All India Anti-Terrorism Conference"Organized by: Rabta Madaris Islamiah (Islamic Madrasas Association)
2) Symposium: The Fictional Muhammad?
3) Does the Koran's Verse 5:32 Forbid the Killing of Non-Muslims?
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