| Author | Topic |
atifrafi
PAKISTAN
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 Topic initiated on Friday, February 7, 2014 - 7:58 AM 
Are Taliban Justified in Taking Human Life?
The Qur'an claims there is no contradictions in its text. What it says in one part of the book must agree with the other part. If that is not the case, it cannot be claimed that the book is authored by God. Humans have contradictions because, unless they are stubborn, they learn, unlearn, and relearn all the time. God is perfect; there is no learning curve in His case. The Qur'an challenges the reader to reflect upon its verses carefully and see the evidence of this reality. "Do they not ponder over the Qur'an? Had it been from anyone other than God, they would have found in it a lot of discrepancy." (4:82)
The Qur'an categorically states that taking life of one human is as big a crime as killing the entire humanity. "The one who kills a soul -- not as a punishment for murder nor for mischief on earth -- it is as if he has killed the entire humankind." (5:33) War is a game of killing. People enter a battlefield to kill others. Soldiers don't participate in battles to just shave off the mustaches of their enemies.
How can the facts mentioned in the first two paragraphs be reconciled? How can the sanctity of life and legitimacy of war be simultaneously acceptable to Islam? The answer can be inferred from the exception stated in the Qur'anic verse (5:33) quoted above: A state can engage in a war to kill those who are guilty of killing or to crush mischief on earth. And if the Qur'an allows war for a reason other than killing or mischief on earth, it would contradict itself, which the book of God would never do. War can be undertaken only for these two reasons and for no other purpose. If it is undertaken for a purpose other than these two, it would tantamount to killing the entire humanity each time a human is killed. This conclusion brings us to the important question: What is mischief on earth?
Mischief of on earth is a crime caused by criminal activities of those individuals or groups of them who do not commit crimes at their ordinary level. They commit them in a way that their criminal inclination becomes a threat to the life, wealth, and honour of the ordinary citizens. When murder takes the form of serial killing, depriving of their wealth rises from the level of theft to that of robbery, and extra-marital sex reaches the extent of raping, what is happening is no ordinary crime: It is mischief on earth which is a constant threat to all members of the society. In Pakistan, indeed it is Taliban are the most obvious example of a group that is involved in the crime of creating mischief on earth.
Taliban, however, believe that refusing to establish God's law (the Shari'ah) in Pakistan is mischief on earth which justifies their policy of killing people. Quite aside from the question whether this argument is justifiable or not, how could killing of innocent people who have nothing to do with the question of implementing the Shari'ah be justified by Taliban even by their own logic? Even though the ordinary Pakistanis in the streets have no say in deciding the question of implementing the Shari'ah, Taliban keep killing them with impunity. Going by a clear verdict of the Qur'an, Taliban are guilty of believing in one part of the book (implementing the Shari'ah) but rejecting another part of it (ensuring sanctity of human life). The verdict of the Qur'an for practicing such double-standards is that people who indulge in it deserve "... insult in the worldly life and on the day of judgment they shall be assigned to an even more grievous penalty. And God is not unaware of what you do?" (Qur'an; 2:85) Is failing to implement God's religion in the society by Muslim rulers mischief on earth? There could be several possible scenarios, only one of which can be claimed to come close to a case of creating mischief on earth: The Muslim rulers know clearly what God's law is but they are stubbornly resisting the possibility of implementing it because of their vested interests despite being presented with a clear understanding of it. In that case indeed they can be described of being guilty of preventing God's verdict to get implemented.
The other possibilities could be wherein the Muslim rulers are either not fully aware of or are not convinced that what is being presented to them is in reality God's law. There could also be a possibility that the rulers are aware of what the Shari'ah law is but they have put in place a system which will enable the law to get gradually implemented exactly in accordance with what they think is God's requirement of doing it by mutual consultation.
The truth is that no human can conclude that the rulers of his time are stubbornly rejecting the possibility of implementing God's law despite knowing it to be from Him. Only God can tell if a certain ruler is arrogantly rejecting His law and therefore He deserves to be killed for creating mischief on earth. And God has chosen to make such disclosures only when He sends His messengers; and He has decided to not send them anymore.
Even in case if some people are convinced that their rulers are hypocritically blocking the process of implementing the Shari'ah law, they have no right to fight against the rulers, because that would tantamount to resorting to one form of mischief on earth to remove another form of it. In no case Islamic law allows individuals or non-state agents to resort to arms for getting their demands implemented because in doing so they will resort to killing humans which individuals cannot be allowed to do under any pretext.
If the rulers are not fully aware of what the Shari'ah law is or are not convinced that what is being presented to them is God's law, those who are interested in getting the Shari'ah implemented in Pakistan should use their pens and tongues and not bullets and guns to help the rulers and masses know the truth. As followers of the last messenger of God (pbuh) they should consider themselves in the Makkan period when the prophet (pbuh) preached and invited people to understand and accept God's message. Despite being God's messenger, he did not resort to Jihad for getting God's will implemented.
And if the rulers have already taken the path of introducing the Shari'ah law gradually through mutual consultation, allowing debate and getting implemented what is agreed upon by the majority, as indeed is the case in Pakistan, then it is an excellent opportunity for Taliban to grab with both hands and convince the majority that their understanding of what constitutes God's law is the right one. And if they would not avail this opportunity and kill innocent people instead, they will not only be guilty of killing the entire humanity but also of killing the only available opportunity of implementing the true Islamic Shari'ah. Who then should be considered a more deserving candidate for being described as perpetrator of mischief on earth: Pakistani rulers or Taliban?
To conclude, the Qur'an is categorical in its condemnation of the crime of killing. The book presents only two acceptable justifications for taking a human life. Both make it allowable only for rulers to kill after proper measures are adopted to ensure that the extreme decision is correct. An ordinary citizen is not allowed to take human life under any pretext. If he kills, it is as if he has killed the entire mankind. And that is the volume of sin Taliban are accumulating for themselves. It is they who are the biggest criminals in the eyes of the Islamic law. They are very likely to face its consequences on the judgment day. |
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student7
UNITED KINGDOM
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Posted - Sunday, February 16, 2014 - 1:58 AM 
| My question is that does Islam allow us to have political negotitations with Talibaan? Is the government of Pakistan correct religiously speaking in undertaking negotiations with Talaibaan? |
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atifrafi
PAKISTAN
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Posted - Monday, February 17, 2014 - 3:38 AM
| In my opinion, According to Shariah Laws.... Government cannot Ignore Family Members of the Victims. Taliban has killed many people and government cannot pardon the killers without Family's consent. Same goes for Every killer |
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atifrafi
PAKISTAN
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Posted - Monday, February 17, 2014 - 4:23 AM
| On the matter of National conflict and peace, government may do the negotiations |
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saba2
Moderator
PAKISTAN
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Posted - Sunday, February 23, 2014 - 11:06 AM
| Governments don't negotiate with terrorists. They have to establish the Ritt of the government in every corner of the State. It is only politics on the government's part and lack of education in religious matters from the masses that negotiation is even considered. |
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atifrafi
PAKISTAN
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Posted - Monday, February 24, 2014 - 8:37 AM
| Agreed with the Moderator's comments |
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student7
UNITED KINGDOM
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Posted - Monday, February 24, 2014 - 10:53 AM
quote" Governments do not negotiate with terrorists"
Any government in any situation? America has tried to negotiate with taliban
What about the definition of terrorists, freedom fighters for a country for example Kashmir may be called terrorists by some.
Again the question is whether religion has a say in this issue or not.
Treaty of Hudeibiyah was accepted by Prophet pbuh with the idolaters of Makkah. They were not strictly terrorists but responsible for religious persecution of Muslims and forcing them to leave Makkah. |
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atifrafi
PAKISTAN
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Posted - Tuesday, February 25, 2014 - 8:15 AM
| Idolaters of Makkah, were the "Rulers of a State"... State do negotiate with other State.... We cannot negotiate with the Terrorist Groups |
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karime
PAKISTAN
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Posted - Friday, May 2, 2014 - 4:46 PM
Taliban do not know much about Islam and They do not also want to implement Shariah in the state in real sense. They misunderstand basic concepts of Principals of Islam e.g Khailafat, Jihad, Parda, Shahadat, Hell, Paradise etc through generation to generation. And some of them make terror deliberatly or used by foreign hands.
Moreover, we and the ruler authorities are also guilty of not applying Islami Sharia in the state. Because we are not sincere to Islam and God. |
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