Posted on 09/29/2014 2:39:57 PM PDT by markomalley
Islamic insurgent groups such as Boko Haram use the Qur'an to justify their actions. This has led many non-Muslims to see Muslims - especially those with full beards and dressed in hijab - as terrorists. But in fact, the vast majority of Muslims, including devout youth from across Nigeria, are united in condemning the nefarious acts of religious extremists.
Concepts such as 'terrorism', 'insurgence' and 'extremism' are often associated with Islamic jihad. But it is erroneous to equate this term with violence, according to Toyeeb (20), a Muslim student in Oyo in south-west Nigeria.
"Non-Muslims who want to know about Islam should ask from the right source. People have misconceptions about jihad because they don't understand Islam. In the Qur'an, jihad does not mean you have to fight people and kill them because they've failed to accept Islam. Jihad means striving in the course of Allah. If you help someone out of debt, you've strived in the course of Allah."
Toyeeb's view is substantiated by another Muslim student, Adebayo Fatai (17), from Ogun State. "It is wrong for writers of the dictionary to translate jihad simply as 'holy war' - that's not wide enough."
Right to self-defence
"Islam provides guidelines for people who intend to go to war. When you're fighting, you don't fight aged people, young men, youths, children, people in monasteries and churches - except if they attack you," says Adebayo.
Zaharat Kadiri, an undergraduate from Ibadan, calmly opines that "every reasonable Muslim knows that the ideology of Boko Haram started as a misconception that has escalated into terrorism, radicalism and insurgency."
She also questions why Boko Haram employs Western technology, in spite of the group's anti-Westernisation beliefs, to disseminate information and fight innocent Nigerians.
Corroborating Zaharat's stance, Mustapha Ridwan (24), a Muslim based in Lagos, confirms that "Boko Haram is not in line with the tenets of Islam. There's no such compulsion in Islam. You can only preach [to non-Muslims] with wisdom".
Qur'anic perspective
Some Nigerians think Boko Haram abducted hundreds of girls in Chibok because the sect believes that girls should not be formally educated, a view shared by the Taliban group that tried to murder Malala Yousafza, a Pakistani girl and education activist.
Zaharat however debunks this idea using the Qur'anic perspective. "The prophet says, 'He who trains a woman has trained a nation.' Training a woman, no matter the kind of education, especially if the education is beneficial, is commendable in Islam."
After several deep sighs, Zaharat says that if she was abducted she would never dare out of fear to confront members of Boko Haram on this issue - unlike Malala. She would, however, talk to fellow captives about Islam, teaching them that Boko Haram is not Islamic.
Mustapha notes that while Islam does give females the freedom to be educated, this education should not be to the detriment of Islam. "For example, in medicine, one may be taught how to perform abortion, but Islam says you should not do that."
Education is key
Adebayo has a suggestion for ending the insurgence in northern Nigeria. "The solution is for us to go back to the root of the crisis. Is it poverty, unemployment, religious misconception, indoctrination of Northerners, or illiteracy? All these problems are accumulated in the North, where there is the highest rate of illiteracy. Most people there do not believe in formal education and going to school to learn English, biology, etcetera. They believe more or less in religious studies [as taught at Qur'an schools]."
"So if we really want to solve the problem of terrorism, it's not by killing Muslims, bombing ourselves or condemning Islam. It's by improving the welfare of the people in the North, and creating awareness of the importance of education so that some people won't be misled by egoistic scholars or politicians."
Well, yeah, and the point is?
Yeah, and neither is Barack Obama.
B S
Don’t you understand? All those references to Islam were just jokes!
/s
So I guess that applies to Israel being attacked from people inside mosques.
And the Pope is not Catholic.
That is an excellent chart. Thanks for posting.
The Mafia isn’t Catholic? Just sayin.
On one can name a single Muslims area that is not tyrannical, oppresses women, rapes children, etc. Not a single place.
“But in fact, the vast majority of Muslims, including devout youth from across Nigeria, are united in condemning the nefarious acts of religious extremists.”
Condemning just ain’t gonna cut it anymore buster (not that anyone has actually seen Muslims condemning any of it in the first place). If you aren’t willing to take up arms and help stop them, then we have every right to believer you are on their side.
Mark,
Watch the brave young converts speech! Worth every second, as it end to end, facts about islam;
https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=698996990181639
Thanks Mark, for the image.
Will save me lots of typing..
They are not true goat-humping rock-worshipping diaperheads, and give us genuine goat-humping rock-worshipping diaperheads a bad name.
I know. The same thing happened to all those good Germans when all those psycho thugs committed all those crimes against humanity under the guise of beautiful sweet peaceful Naziism.
Let’s just come out and say it: Islam is not Islam.
It’s whatever our Elites pretend it is.
Eeexxactly!
Yes, I think you’ve nailed it.
Nobody’s jihad is valie but ours!
Libya was getting there ... then 0bama.
Boko Haram is not Islam.
The Islamic State is not Islam.
The Oklahoma beheading is not Islam.
The Fort Hood “workplace violence” is not Islam.
The September 11 attacks are not Islam.
http://www.thereligionofpeace.com/ The other 23,940 terrorist attacks since 9/11/2001 are not Islam.
Got it.
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