The words “Muslim terrorist” are an oxymoron. That’s where you put two words together with opposite meanings; for example: “definite maybe”, or “loud silence”. The words “Muslim terrorist” do not even make sense:

The word “Muslim” means ‘one who submits to God’. The word “terrorist” means “one who spread terror”. So how could a person who submits to God spread terror? It makes no sense. You cannot be a good religious person by killing innocent people. According to the Qur’an, Islam’s Holy Book, it is a great sin to kill an innocent person, and anyone who does so will suffer great torment in the Hereafter:

[…If someone kills another person—unless it is in retaliation for someone else or for causing corruption in the earth—it is as if he had murdered all mankind. And if anyone gives life to another person, it is as if he had given life to all mankind. Our Messengers came to them with Clear Signs, but even after that, many of them committed outrages in the earth.]

(Glorious Qur’an 5:32)

This verse equals the killing of one innocent to slaughtering every single person on Earth! In yet another verse, God issues the following commandments:

[Say: “Come, and I will recite to you what your Lord has forbidden for you”: that you do not associate anything with Him; that you are good to your parents; that you do not kill your children because of poverty—We will provide for you and them; that you do not approach indecency—outward or inward; that you do not kill any person God has made inviolate—except with the right to do so. That is what He instructs you to do, so that hopefully, you will use your intellect.] (Glorious Qur’an 6:151)

Any Muslim who believes in God with a sincere heart, who scrupulously abides by His verses and fears suffering in the Hereafter, will avoid harming even one other person.

One of the many images non-Muslims have of Muslims is of a Muslim saying “convert or die”. Did you know the Qur’an explicitly forbids you to force anyone to convert?

[There shall be no compulsion in religion: the right way is now distinct from the wrong way...] (Glorious Qur’an 2:256)

In Islam, intentions are very important. If a person is forced to convert, they don’t truly believe in what they have been forced to accept; Their heart rejects it. That’s why in Islam, a forced conversion is not only invalid but against the rules of Islam.

There are those, who like to spread fear of Muslims, by quoting verses out of context. But anyone can quote verses out of context. Take a look at this:

[Think not that I have come to send peace on Earth. I came not to send peace, but a sword.]

Doesn’t that sound violent to you? Does that sound like something that can easily be taken out of context? Oh by the way, that verse is not from the Qur’an. It’s from the Bible. Matthew 10:34…………..

As you can see, anyone can pull a verse from any religion and quote it out of context to make it sound violent.

Muslims are absolutely forbidden to use violence at all except in self-defence and war (which almost be in self-defence). A reader may object: “But what about all those Muslims who go around killing innocent people and flying planes into towers?” …Let me give you this example:

If a Christian went to kill my friend tomorrow, does that mean that Christianity teaches terrorism? Nope. In-fact, Christianity teaches peace and love. The same applies to Islam. Just because there are some Muslims who kill innocent people, it doesn’t mean Islam commands murder. It’s those bad Muslims who need to be taught what Islam really means.

And it’s not just people who Islam forbids you to kill. It’s animals too. The prophet Muhammad, peace and blessings upon him,

[A woman was punished because she imprisoned a cat until it died. On account of this, she was doomed to Hell. While she imprisoned it, she did not give the cat food or drink, nor did she free it to eat the insects of the earth.] From the Hadiths [1]

The prophet also said that a man gave a very thirsty dog a drink, so God forgave his sins for this action.

But what about “Jihad”? What’s all that about? Jihad does not mean “holy war”. In-fact, it’s another oxymoron; Remember those? War involves killing, so war by that very definition cannot be holy. The Qur’an says:

[You shall not kill any person - for GOD has made life sacred - except in the course of justice…] (Glorious Qur’an 17:33)

If killing involves taking away life which is sacred, then war cannot be holy. Simple!

So what is Jihad? Well, Jihad means “struggle” in terms of ‘trying to improve your relationship with God’. An example of a real Jihad would be to quit smoking (it’s forbidden in Islam). Another example would be for a Muslim to pray all his/her prayers on time.

Jihad can only ever be applied to fighting terms when you’re being heavily oppressed. If the government or a group of people oppress you and don’t allow you to practice your religion, then the Muslims are allowed to make a lesser type of Jihad where they fight back (metaphorically speaking) to regain their basic human rights so they can practice their religion freely again without being persecuted. Even then, the Muslims are not allowed to fight physically, only in self-defence.

In history, when the prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings upon him) and his Muslim brothers and sisters where being persecuted and oppressed, what do you think the prophet did? Do you think he got up from bed one day and declared “That’s it! I’ve had enough! Let’s kill all those who aren’t letting us worship God!” Nope. Instead, he went to a different city in the hope that he could avoid fighting. (But sadly the Meccans went after him, and so fighting did eventually happen).

The last thing, that will be mentioned in this article, is sucide bombing. Under no situation whatsoever is suicide bombing allowed. The Qur’an says:

[…You shall not kill yourselves. GOD is Merciful towards you.] (Glorious Qur’an 4:29)

In conclusion, there are those who will say “I’ve never heard any Muslim condemn terrorism”. To those, I say “You are never going to say that again. Because I am a Muslim, and guess what? I condemn terrorism!”.

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