Islam denounces terrorism part 2 or Dhimmi's Contextomy of the Qur'an part of 1

Submitted by Keith Williams (United States), Dec 15, 2008 at 23:22

Hi,

I think you are taking this ayah out of context. I pray that God leads you to the straight path. Please try to do your best to keep your heart and mind pure when you read the Qur'an or any Holy Scriptures for that matter and, God willing, he will enter your heart, mind and soul and help you to understand. If you read the Qur'an with the level of disbelief and having no faith in God that you have shown then yeah, you will be one of those lead astray and one of those who has his heart hardened each and every time you read or hear it.

>> You wrote: "Islam denounces terrorism" Really? I did not know that. How about: wa aa3iddu wa alahum ma istata3tum min quwatin (i3rab) wa min rubati al-khayl turhibuna biha 3aduwa allah

Oh no I do not translate transliterated Arabic for wannabe Arabs like you that cannot even tell the difference between al-bakistaniya (she Pakistani) and al-bakistani (he Pakistani) but I will only translate the last four words and they are:

1. turhibuna means (you plural) terrorize (the root here is RHB and Irhab means terror. Oh I fotgot that you will find such a stable Arabic word in boht Lisan al-3Arab as well as any modern Arabic dictionary)

2. biha means with it

3. 3aduwa or the enemy (of)

4. Allah or Allah

So your Allah is saying that Muslims must terrorize the enemies of Allah

<< I saw your straw man when you said, "I will only translate the last four words and they are:" You tried to take this small piece out of the context that it is in to try to justify your belief that Islam is calling believers to commit terrorism and criminal acts that the terrorist are committing against God and mankind and innocents. This is not what this ayah is telling us to do. Let's see if we can shed a little light on this and see if we can unravel the straw man that you were trying to build with your false logic.

Here is the complete ayah of Qur'an 8:60 with the part that you took out of context highlighted in yellow.

سُوۡرَةُ الاٴنفَال

وَأَعِدُّواْ لَهُم مَّا ٱسۡتَطَعۡتُم مِّن قُوَّةٍ۬ وَمِن رِّبَاطِ ٱلۡخَيۡلِ تُرۡهِبُونَ بِهِۦ عَدُوَّ ٱللَّهِ وَعَدُوَّڪُمۡ وَءَاخَرِينَ مِن دُونِهِمۡ لَا تَعۡلَمُونَهُمُ ٱللَّهُ يَعۡلَمُهُمۡ‌ۚ وَمَا تُنفِقُواْ مِن شَىۡءٍ۬ فِى سَبِيلِ ٱللَّهِ يُوَفَّ إِلَيۡكُمۡ وَأَنتُمۡ لَا تُظۡلَمُونَ (٦٠)

Wa a9iddu alahum ma istaTa9tum min quwwatin wa min rabaTi al-khayl turhibuna bihi 9aduwwa allahi wa 9aduwwakum wa 9aakharina min dunihim la ta9lamunahum allahu ya9lamuhum wa ma tunfiqu min shaii9n fi sabil allahi yuwaffa ilaikum wa antum la tuDhulamuna. (60)

"Against them make ready your strength to the utmost of your power, including steeds of war, to strike terror into (the hearts of) the enemies of Allah and your enemies and others besides whom ye may not know but whom Allah doth know. Whatever ye shall spend in the cause of Allah, shall be repaid unto you, and ye shall not be treated unjustly. (60) "

As you can see, this is a clear example of contextomy as I've ever seen. I don't even have to bring anything else to the table. It is clear that you are using a fallacy to try to say that this ayah is telling Muslims to as you said, "terrorize the enemies of Allah". But when you put this little nugget back into the proper context that it was in you see that the believers are told to make ready and be prepared to defend against the enemies of Allah and that preparation as seen by the enemies will strike fear of God into them and deter them not to aggress. In order to deter the enemy you have to be prepared for war. For example, we are spending double of what all the countries in the world spend on their defense put together on our defense. That preparation deters our enemies with our military might, technology and especially with our chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear deterrents. Don't you want our armed forces strong enough show that we are able to strike fear, shock and awe into the hearts of our enemies? I hope so. That doesn't mean to terrorize innocents as the terrorist are doing. It means what it means. Bring the enemy to justice or bring justice to the enemy. We call it counter-terrorism for our offensive measures and anti-terrorism for our defensive measures. Innocents are never the enemy. Freedom is never free. This ayah is calling on the believers to stand up for peace and justice. The prophet Muhammad (PBUH) is depicted inside the U.S. Supreme court building overhead the chief justices because of the many just laws that he brought to the world and some of which our country and constitution are based and was founded and still stands upon. This ayah is just one of the mainstays that was founded upon by many good Islamic, Christian, and Israelite traditions and laws. Standing for peace and justice is commanded by God when he says in the Quran,

"O You who have attained to faith! Be ever steadfast in upholding equity, bearing witness to the truth for the sake of God, even though it be against your own selves or your parents and kinsfolk. Whether the person concerned be rich or poor, God's claim takes precedence over [the claims of] either of them. Do not, then, follow your own desires, lest you swerve from justice: for if you distort [the truth], behold, God is indeed aware of all that you do! (Quran 4:135)"

"... Be ever steadfast in your devotion to God, bearing witness to the truth in all equity, and never let hatred lead you into the sins of deviation from justice .... (5:8) "

Here is some Tafsir as well as the ayat after 8:60 to give more context.

Al-Bukhari recorded that `Urwah bin Abi Al-Ja`d Al-Bariqi said that the Messenger of Allah said,

«الْخَيْلُ مَعْقُودٌ فِي نَوَاصِيهَا الْخَيْرُ إِلَى يَوْمِ الْقِيَامَةِ، الْأَجْرُ وَالْمَغْنَم»

(Good will remain in the forelocks of horses until the Day of Resurrection, (that is) reward, and the spoils of war.)

Allah said next,

[تُرْهِبُونَ]

(to threaten), or to strike fear,

[بِهِ عَدْوَّ اللَّهِ وَعَدُوَّكُمْ]

(the enemy of Allah and your enemy), the disbelievers,

(61. But if they incline to peace, you also incline to it, and trust in Allah. Verily, He is the All-Hearer, the All-Knower.) (62. And if they intend to deceive you, then verily, Allah is All-Sufficient for you. He it is Who has supported you with His help and with the believers.) (63. And He has united their (believers') hearts. If you had spent all that is in the earth, you could not have united their hearts, but Allah has united them. Certainly He is All-Mighty, All-Wise.)

peace

---

Note: Opinions expressed in comments are those of the authors alone and not necessarily those of Daniel Pipes. Original writing only, please. Comments are screened and in some cases edited before posting. Reasoned disagreement is welcome but not comments that are scurrilous, off-topic, commercial, disparaging religions, or otherwise inappropriate. For complete regulations, see the "Guidelines for Reader Comments".