World Crisis and the Pathway to Peace — Page 142
142 Muslims believe that, in this era, the concept of a violent ‘Jihad by the sword’ is completely wrong and is to be rejected, whilst some other Muslim scholars promote or even practice it. Their beliefs have led to many extremist and terrorist organisations emerging amongst the Muslims in various parts of the world. It is not just groups that are emerging but we also find that certain individuals are taking advantage of and acting upon these false beliefs. The most recent example of this was, of course, the brutal killing of an innocent British soldier on the streets of London. It was an attack which had absolutely nothing to do with the real teachings of Islam; rather, Islamic teachings vehemently condemn such acts. Such evil plots demonstrate the clear differ- ence between the true teachings of Islam and the misconstrued teachings, which some so-called Muslims are practicing due to their ulterior motives. I would also like to say that the reaction of some of the local groups is not correct and can destroy the peace of the society. What evidence is there to support our contention that what we believe with regards to Islamic teachings is correct? The un- derlying point to consider is that the use of the sword or force is only permissible when a religious war is waged against Islam. In today’s world no one, be it a country or a religion, is physically waging war and attacking Islam on the basis of religion. Thus, it is not justifiable in any way for Muslims to attack any other party, in the name of religion, because this clearly violates the teachings of the Qur’an. The Qur’an only permitted force to be used against those who waged war and raised their sword against Islam. Another cru- cial point is that if a citizen seeks to inflict any form of harm on