Murder in the Name of Allah — Page 8
Murder in the Name of Allah choice to accept or reject it. Yet, elsewhere, the Quran says: 'Verily, this is a reminder. so whosoever wishes may take to the way that leads to his. Lord. ' (76. 30) No charter of human rights can surpass the clarity of the. Quranic phrase faman Shaa' (whosoever wishes). The word 'whosoever' is all inclusive. It is surprising that after such a clear declaration anyone could possibly think that Islam supports the use of force. . Again, in the 39th chapter of the Quran, the Prophets is ordered to tell unbelievers: 'It is Allah I worship in sincerest obedience. ' Now, as far as you are concerned, 'Worship what you like besides Him. ' (39. 16). Since freedom of conscience - freedom to believe and to preach - is the cornerstone of religion, and repression of religious heresy is the aim of anti-religious forces, the Quran lays great emphasis on the freedom of conversion. The last line of Chapter 109 of the Quran sums up the basic principle of a true religion. 'For you, your religion and for me, my religion. In an earlier passage (10. 100), God refers to the same principle by asking a rhetorical question. Addressing the Holy Prophetsa, He says: 'If thy Lord had enforced His will, surely all those on earth would have believed, without exception? Will thou, then, take it upon thyself to force people to become believers?' In the scheme of creation, man must have complete free will to believe or reject; there is no compulsion; a man must use his reason and understanding. After all, faith is a gift given by God to those He thinks deserve it. . One hundred and twenty-four thousand prophets were sent by God and showed, by their teaching and example, that the bearers of the divine message are the oppressed, not the oppressors. The prophets won over hearts by moral and spiritual strength, not by physical force. It is a great tragedy that the ordained priests and the turbaned Mullahs with their flowing robes of ‘piety' became the tormentors of the innocent in the name of oppressed prophets. They monopolised religion, yet they knew nothing of it. They claimed to protect the honour of their prophets by maligning others, by spreading malicious lies and, above all, by perpetrating crimes of violence which shamed humanity. They did it before the birth of the Holy Prophetsa. They do it still. . In medieval Europe, the so-called followers of Christ* - the popes and the prelates, cardinals and canons, and the elders of the Church - wrote a chapter of terror into the history books. St Augustine called it 'righteous persecution which the Church of Christ inflicts upon the impious'. ¹. Today's Christian historians admit that this 'righteous persecution', inflicted in Christ's as name, was a disgrace to the Church. 8