But who will define 'transgress'

Submitted by Rajeev (United States), Aug 25, 2010 at 01:31

Dear Dr Pipes:

Your reader Sarah quotes from quoran ("Fight in the cause of Allah those who fight you, but do not transgress limits; for Allah loves not transgressors." Qur'an, Chapter 2, verse 190) to say that Jihad does not mean the violence that the terrorists are involved in. But Sarah failed to notice that the quoted verse allows individuals to kill and die in the cause of Allah as long as they do not transgress.

The problem is that there is nothing in this verse to disallow what the 9/11 attackers did at ground zero in New York and what other terrorists did in Mumbai and elsewhere in the world. The verse does not define what is meant by 'fighting for Allah's cause' and transgression. In fact the verse allows each and every human to pick a violent fight if he deems fit.

Other societies have moved beyond descriptions such as the above. First, most societies require an overwhelming majority of responsible adults to agree before a war is waged and these societies impose checks and balances so rules are not misinterpreted and abused. Second, most modern people do not believe any more that God's cause needs their defence. The wars that Islamists wage do nothing for Allah. These wars at best are for the self-defence of the Islamic societies and at worst are for Islamic expansionism.

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