Those who believe and do not mix up their belief with any wrongdoing, they are the ones who are safe… (Qur'an, 6:82)
All these examples reveal that organising acts of terror against innocent people is utterly against Islam and it is unlikely that any Muslim could ever commit such crime. On the contrary, Muslims are responsible for stopping these people, removing "mischief on earth" and bringing peace and security to all people all over the world.
It is not possible to talk about "Christian terror", "Jewish terror" or "Islamic terror". Indeed, an examination into the background of the perpetrators of these acts reveal that the terrorism in question is not a religious but a social phenomenon.
Crusaders: Barbarians Who Trampled Their Own Religion
As mentioned earlier, the true message of a religion or a system of belief can be at times distorted by its own pseudo-adherents. The Crusaders, whose period constitutes a dark episode in Christian history, are an example of this type of distortion.
The Crusaders were European Christians who undertook expeditions from the end of the 11th century onwards to recover the Holy Land (Palestine and the surrounding area) from the Muslims. They set out with a so-called religious goal, yet they laid waste each acre of land they entered spreading fear wherever they went. They subjected civilians along their way to mass executions and plundered many villages and towns. Their conquest of Jerusalem, where Muslims, Jews and Christians lived under Islamic rule in peace, became the scene of immense bloodshed. They massacred all the Muslims and Jews in the city without mercy.
In the words of one historian, "They killed all the Saracens and the Turks they found... whether male of female."15 One of the Crusaders, Raymond of Aguiles, in his own eyes boasted of this violence:
Wonderful sights were to be seen. Some of our men (and this was more merciful) cut off the heads of their enemies; others shot them with arrows, so that they fell from the towers; others tortured them longer by casting them into the flames. Piles of heads, hands and feet were to be seen in the streets of the city. It was necessary to pick one's way over the bodies of men and horses. But these were small matters compared to what happened at the Temple of Solomon, a place where religious services are normally chanted ... in the Temple and porch of Solomon, men rode in blood up to their knees and bridle reins.16
In two days, the Crusader army killed some 40,000 Muslims in the barbaric ways just described.17
Under Muslim rule, Muslims, Jews and Orthodox Christians had lived together in peace in Jerusalem. When the Crusaders invaded Jerusalem (as seen above) they carried out terrible acts of slaughter. The Crusaders continued to ransack many more towns and murdering civilians as they went.
The Crusaders' barbarism was so excessive that, during the Fourth Crusade, they plundered Constantinople (present-day Istanbul), a Christian city, and stole the golden objects from the churches.
On September 12, 1204, the Crusaders entered Constantinople, which was held by their fellow Christians. They ransacked and looted the city even to the extent of ripping the gold out of the churches.
Of course, all this barbarism was utterly against the essence of Christianity. Christianity, in the words of the Gospel, is a "message of love". In the Gospel according to Matthew, it is said that the Prophet Jesus (pbuh) said to his followers, "Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you" (Matthew, 5:44). In the Gospel according to Luke, it is said that the Prophet Jesus (pbuh) said, "To him who strikes you on the cheek, offer the other also." (Luke, 6:29) In no part of the Gospels is there any reference to the legitimacy of violence; thus murdering innocent people is unimaginable. You can find the concept of "murdering the innocent" in the Bible; but only in the cruel King Herod's attempt to kill the Prophet Jesus (pbuh) while he was a baby.
If Christianity is a religion based on love that accommodates no violence, how did Christian Crusaders carry out some of the most violent acts in history? The major reason for this was that the Crusaders were mainly made up of ignorant people who could better be defined as "rabble". These masses, who knew almost nothing about their religion, who had probably never read or even seen the Bible once in their lifetime, and who were for the most part completely unaware of the moral values of the Bible, were led into barbarism under the conditioning of Crusaders' slogans which presented this violence falsely as "God's Will". Employing this fraudulent method, many were encouraged to commit dreadful acts strictly forbidden by God.
It is worth mentioning that in that period, Eastern Christians – the people of Byzantium, for instance – who were culturally far ahead of Western Christians, espoused more humane values. Both before and after the Crusaders' conquests, Orthodox Christians managed to live together with Muslims. According to Terry Jones, the BBC commentator, with the withdrawal of the Crusaders from Middle East, "civilized life started again and members of the three monotheistic faiths returned to peaceful coexistence."18
The example of the Crusaders is indicative of a general phenomenon. The more the adherents of an ideology are uncivilised, intellectually underdeveloped and ignorant, the more likely they are to resort to violence. This also holds true for ideologies that have nothing to do with religion. All communist movements around the world are prone to violence. Yet the most savage and bloodthirsty of them were the Red Khmers in Cambodia. This was because they were the most ignorant.
In the same way ignorant people can carry every idea espousing violence to the point of madness, so they can also involve violence in the Divine religions, which are absolutely opposed to violence. Examples of this have also taken place in the Islamic world.
The Bedouin Character in the Qur'an
In the period of the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh), there existed two basic social structures in Arabia. City-dwellers and Bedouins (desert Arabs). A sophisticated culture prevailed in Arab towns. Commercial relations linked the towns to the outer world, which contributed to the formation of good manners among Arabs dwelling in cities. They had refined aesthetic values, enjoyed literature and especially poetry. Desert Arabs, on the other hand, were the nomad tribes living in the desert who had a very crude culture. Utterly unaware of arts and literature, most of them developed an unrefined character.
Islam was born and developed among the inhabitants of Mecca, the most important city of the peninsula. However, as Islam spread to the rest of the peninsula, all the tribes in Arabia embraced it. Among these tribes were also desert Arabs, who were somehow problematic: their cultural background prevented some of them from grasping the profundity and noble spirit of Islam. Of this God states the following in a verse:
The desert Arabs are the worst in disbelief and hypocrisy, and more fitted to be ignorant of the limits which God has sent down to His Messenger. But God is Knowing, Wise. (Qur'an, 7:97)
Some among the desert Arabs who were "worst in disbelief and hypocrisy" and prone to disobey God's commands, became a part of the Islamic community in the Prophet's (pbuh) time. But in subsequent periods, due to erroneous interpretations and attitudes, some of them have given rise to bodies incompatible with the moral values of Islam.
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The sect called "Kharijis" that emerged among the Bedouins was an example. The most distinctive trait of this perverse sect (which was called "Kharijis", the "rebels", because they greatly deviated from Sunni practices), was their wild and fanatical nature. The "Kharijis", who had little understanding of the essence of Islam or of the virtues and the values of the Qur'an, waged war against all other Muslims basing this war on a few Qur'anic verses about which they made distorted interpretations. Furthermore, they carried out "acts of terrorism". Hazrat Ali (ra), who was one of the closest companions of the Prophet (pbuh) and was described as the "gate of the city of knowledge", was assassinated by a Kharijite.
In later periods, "Hashashis", another brutal organisation, emerged; this was a "terrorist organisation" made up of ignorant and fanatical militants bereft of a profound understanding of the essence of Islam and thus who could be readily influenced by simple slogans and promises.
In other words, just as the Crusaders distorted and misinterpreted Christianity as a teaching of brutality, some perverted groups emerging in the Islamic world misinterpreted Islam and resorted to brutality. What is common to these sects and the Crusaders was their ignorant, unrefined and uncultivated nature, lacking a true understanding of their religion. The violence they resorted to resulted from this lack of understanding, rather than from the religion they claimed to espouse.
A Terrorist is Without Pity, Whose Only Purpose is to Destroy
The founder of Russian Anarchism, Michael Bakunin and his disciple Nechayev define an ideal terrorist in this way:
Michael Bakunin
The whole work of his [a revolutionist's] existence, not only in words, but also in deeds, is at war with the existing order of society, and with the whole so-called civilized world, with its laws, morals and customs, he is an uncompromising opponent… He knows only one science; the science of destruction. (The Alarm Newspaper Article, "Bakunin's Ground-Work for the Social Revolution," 1885 Dec. 26, p. 8)
As understood from these words of Bakunin and Nechayev, terrorists are people who sever their relationship with every material and spiritual institution thereby rejecting every moral value, and who view these institutions as impediments to their designs. Bakunin also said, "Day and night dare he [a revolutionist] have only one thought, one aim: the unmerciful destruction; while he, cold-blooded and without rest, follows that aim, he himself must be ready to die at any time and ready to kill with his own hands any one who seeks to thwart his aims." In his Ground-Work for the Social Revolution, there is this description of what kind of person a terrorist must be:
Stringent with himself he must also be to others. All weak sentiment towards relation, friendship, love and thankfulness must be suppressed through the only cold passion of the revolutionary work. (The Alarm Newspaper Article, "Bakunin's Ground-Work for the Social Revolution," 1885 Dec. 26, p. 2)
These words lay bare the dark face of terrorism and show that it is completely opposed to the religion of Islam which is founded on peace, compassion and love. In this verse, God reveals that peace is the real salvation of humanity and that pursuing the opposite, that is war and conflict, is to walk in the steps of Satan:
O You who believe! Enter absolutely into peace (Islam). Do not follow in the footsteps of Satan. He is an outright enemy to you. (Qur'an, 2:208)
The Mass Psychology of Terrorism
Another important characteristic of terrorists is that they act with a collective spirit. Within this spirit, individual ideas and personal choice are disregarded as everyone is directed toward one single goal. Those who act within this collective spirit may do things they would never do in their right mind and commit acts without using their own will and consciousness. In many countries of the world, terror groups composed of a few unintelligent and uneducated people get caught up in the emotional hysteria of mass meetings, slogans, and without even knowing what they are doing or why, they get involved in committing mass atrocities. In one moment, such people can turn into killers with blood on their hands, and even terrorists who are able to commit inhumane acts. A person may seem quiet and calm when he is alone, but when he becomes a part of a terrorist group, he may become capable of committing acts of arson and assault for no apparent reason. Such spells are cast over individuals that they are even willing to be killed for their cause. The majority of those who take part in acts of terror often have weak wills and consciences, and they become like a flock of sheep under the influence of mass psychology. Good sense and judgment are substituted by excessive and extravagant emotionalism and a tendency toward violence and aggression. Such people are easily provoked, cruel and know no limitation set by any law.
The error of this mass psychology is revealed in the Qur'an where it says that human beings must act according to their own will and intelligence:
Do not pursue what you have no knowledge of. Hearing, sight and hearts will all be questioned. (Qur'an, 17:36)
One of the Sources of Terrorism: Third World Fanaticism
These examples from history may help us gain better understanding of the present phenomenon, the so-called "Islamic terror", which is nowadays at the top of the international agenda. That is because those who emerge and carry out acts of terrorism in the name of Islam and those who back such acts, representing a tiny minority in the world of Islam, stem from this "character peculiar to Bedouins" and Darwinist, atheist and materialist ideologies, not from Islam itself. Failing to understand the essence of Islam, which is essentially a religion of peace and justice, they try to make it a tool of barbarism, which is simply an outcome of their social and cultural structure. The origin of this barbarism, which may well be called "Third World Fanaticism", is the benighted initiatives of people who are devoid of love for their fellow human-beings.
It is a fact that, for the last few centuries, Muslims in all corners of the Islamic world, have been subjected to violence by some of the Western forces and their allies. Some European states with colonialist understanding, local colonialists backed by some Western forces or local oppressive regimes have caused great suffering to Muslims at large. However, for Muslims, this is a situation that has to be approached and responded to from a purely Qur'anic stance.
In no part of the Qur'an does God command believers to respond to violence with violence. On the contrary, God commands Muslims to "respond to evil with goodness":
A good deed and a bad deed are not the same. Repel the bad with something better and, if there is enmity between you and someone else, he will be like a bosom friend. (Qur'an, 41:34)
It is no doubt a legitimate right of Muslims to react against this cruelty. However, these reactions should never turn into a blind hatred, an unjust enmity. God warns about this in the following verse:
... Let not the hatred of a people [who once] obstructed you from the Sacred Mosque lead you to transgress. Help one another in benevolence and piety, and help not one another in sin and transgression… (Qur'an, 5:2)
Consequently, carrying out terrorist acts against the innocent people of other nations under the pretence of "representing the innocent nations in the world", is by no means compatible with Islam.
Another point that deserves a special mention here is that all Western nations and communities cannot be held responsible for the aforementioned violence and oppression against Muslims. Actually, the materialist, irreligious philosophies and ideologies that prevailed in the 19th century are in the main responsible for these dismal acts. European colonialism did not originate from Christianity. On the contrary, anti-religious movements opposing the values of Christianity led the way to colonialism. At the roots of the greatest brutalities of the 19th century lies the Social Darwinist ideology. In the Western world today, there are still cruel, mischievous and opposing factors, as well as a culture dominated by peaceful and just elements that have its roots in Christianity. As a matter of fact, the main disagreement is not between the West and Islam. Contrary to the general opinion, it is between the devout people of the West and of the Muslim world on the one hand, and the people opposing religion (materialists, atheists, Darwinists etc.) on the other.
Another indication that Third World Fanaticism has nothing to do with Islam is that, until recently, this fanaticism had been identified with the communist ideology. As is well-known, similar anti-Western acts of terror were carried out in 1960s and 1970s by Soviet-backed communist organisations. As the impact of the communist ideology faded, some of the social structures which gave birth to communist organisations have turned their attention to Islam. This "brutality presented under the guise of religion", which is formulated by the incorporation of some Islamic concepts and symbols into the former communist literature is entirely against the moral values which constitute the essence of Islam.
A last remark about this issue is that Islam is not peculiar to a particular nation or geographical region. Contrary to the dominant Western perception, Islam is not an "eastern culture". Islam is the last religion revealed to mankind as a guide to the true path that recommends itself to all humanity. Muslims are responsible for communicating the true religion they believe in to all people of all nations and cultures and making them feel closer to Islam.
Consequently, there is a unique solution for people and groups who, in the name of Islam, resort to terror, form oppressive regimes and turn this world into a dreadful place instead of beautifying it: revealing the Islamic morality and communicating it so that the masses can understand and live by it.
Conversations with Adnan Oktar, en.a9.com.tr
A Muslim Spreads Beauty All Around
Adnan Oktar: Of course a Muslim will be very tranquil, someone who thinks very deeply, who is forgiving, affectionate, considerate of those around, who strives for their happiness, is clean and well groomed and who makes his surroundings pleasanter. At home, he beautifies his house. He strives to ensure his body is well maintained, that his hair and clothing are well groomed, to speak nicely, to have pleasant facial expressions, to have a pleasant voice, for his home to have a pleasant atmosphere, to have good food and music around, and for everything to be agreeable.Because the believer's soul cries out, "Paradise! Paradise!" It desires it. And it constantly seeks it in this world. When the believer desires that, God makes everywhere a Paradise for him. Constant perfection is a Muslim's ideal. His shoes, for instance, will be immaculate and shiny. They will have not a speck of mud on them. There will be no mud on his trousers; his socks and teeth will be spotless. His mouth, nose, ears and everything will be immaculately clean. His hair will be bright and attractive. His perfume or scent or whatever he uses will be very lovely. It will not be discomforting. But the most important thing is for believers to regard one another with love when they step outside. It is for them to feel delight when they look at one another. That is the ideal thing. But that will happen in Hazrat Mahdi's (pbuh) time, of course. I see that very seldom now, only very rarely. But this will be very powerful and intense in the End Times, in the time of Hazrat Mahdi (pbuh), insha'God. (Cay TV, 4 March 2009)
One of the Methods of Terrorism Is to Cause Fear and Panic In Society
One of the most important characteristics of terrorism is that it selects its targets indiscriminately. The fact that it determines these targets without discrimination is one of the most important reasons for the spread of fear, because no one can feel secure. If people know that they are possible targets for no reasons, no one will feel safe from the terrorists. There is nothing potential targets can do to protect themselves, since terrorists act according to their own rules, in a time and place of their own choosing. Thus acts of terror in society are arbitrary and unpredictable.
Terrorist organizations attack their targets indiscriminately which means that innocent and defenceless individuals are killed or wounded. A typical example of this was the nerve gas attack in the Tokyo Metro on March 20, 1995.
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