By Agaju Madugba
The French translation of Chinua Achebe’s
epic novel, “Things Fall Apart,” may well be
the most appropriate depiction of the current
state of world affairs. The world does not only
seem to be falling apart, the world has begun
to melt, under the fire power of terrorist shells
and bombs. The overall implications may be
even more devastating as, according to
Akintola Ishaq, a Professor of Islamic Studies
at the Lagos State University, the possibility of
a third world war may not be ruled out.
According to him, “there are so many
conflicting interests plaguing the Middle East,
Europe and America and, just how long is it
going to take to reconcile these interests in
order to have global peace? A third world war
is not impossible. The West is divided between
Communism and Capitalism. There is no love
lost today between Russia and American or
France. The cold rivalry is there.There is half-
hearted reconciliation between Cuba and
America. France has started bombing Syria
and ISIS strongholds but Russia is equally in
Syria defending Bashar Assad. America
wants Assad killed or removed. People are
talking about peace but nobody is talking
about justice. You cannot be unjust and enjoy
peace. Those who want peace must be
prepared to be just and handle the issue of
human rights delicately.”
Whatever the case may be, the threat appears
to be real as terrorism has taken the centre
stage in many cities across the world. In
Nigeria, in spite a certain level of international
collaboration, government has not been able
to effectively tackle the murderous activities of
insurgents in parts of the country. It may no
longer be possible to keep track of the number
of their indiscriminate bombing campaigns
and attacks just as it may also be virtually
impossible to know the actual figure of the
deaths arising from these attacks.
And, as in previous attacks in other parts of
the world, the coordinated terrorist assault on
Paris on November 13, 2015 was as
devastating as they were apparently designed
to be. A total of about 129 persons were
reported killed and about 380 others injured
after gunmen attacked seven isolated
locations in the French capital. An Islamic
group, the Islamic State (ISIS) based in Syria
and Iraq claimed responsibility for the act
which has continued to receive world-wide
condemnation.
Over the past few months the acronym has
become synonymous with violence, terror and
bloodshed as the group continues to advance
its cause in the Middle East and even beyond.
Earlier in January, ISIS praised two gunmen
who reportedly killed 12 persons at the Paris
offices of a newspaper, Charlie Hebdo.
And, on October 31, a Russian passenger
Metrojet Flight 9268 departed the Egyptian
resort of Sharm el-Sheikh and later crashed
over the Sinai, killing all the 224 persons on
board. ISIS has since equally claimed
responsibility for the downing of the aircraft
with reports indicating that terrorists planted
explosives in it before take-off.
Way back on September 11, 2001, there were
four coordinated attacks across the United
States of America as suicide bombers hijacked
four passenger aircraft and crashed them into
high rise buildings including the twin towers
of the 110-floor World Trade Centre in New
York City. The attacks claimed the lives of
2,296 persons. Then there was the attack in
London. The list is endless.
Attacks un-Islamic
At the wake of the attacks in Paris, a Nigerian
non-governmental organization, Muslim
Rights Concern (MURIC), also joined various
other groups and individuals from across the
world in condemning the incident which it
regretted may fuel universal chaos. According
to the group in a statement, “the Muslim
Rights Concern (MURIC) strongly condemns
these attacks. They are despicable, vicious
and barbaric. They take humanity back to the
Stone Age, grant unfettered licence to
lawlessness and fuel universal chaos.
“It is becoming more glaring that the main
preoccupation of the Islamic State of Iraq and
Syria (ISIS) is the shedding of innocent blood
and the precipitation of religious war,
particularly between Christians of the West
and Muslims of the Middle East. “We
dissociate ourselves from the violent
propensity of ISIS and its blood-thirsty
associates in Al-Qaedah and Boko Haram
whose stock-in-trade is the misinterpretation
of the peaceful message of Islam. We reject
the hate messages of messengers of death
who ask Muslims to kill Westerners. We affirm
clearly and unequivocally that Islam neither
teaches racism nor does it endorse terrorism.
“MURIC calls on Muslim youths all over the
world to save Islam from an implosion
induced by extremism. This they can do by
distancing themselves from radical and violent
groups.”
Motivation for terrorism
In virtually all the attacks, persons considered
to belong to extremist Muslim groups have
always claimed responsibility, justifying their
actions by citing certain religious ideologies.
But according to Ishaq, “we do not believe
they are Muslims. These people are
bastardizing the religion of Islam. They are
masquerading under the guise of a divine
religion to perpetuate their diabolical agenda.
Islam is a religion of peace. It does not allow
you to attack people. The Koran says in
Chapter 5 verse 32 that if you kill a single
person, it will be as if you have killed the
whole humanity. And, if you save the life of a
single person, it will be as if you have saved
the whole of humanity.
Koran chapter 1 verse 51, forbids the killing of
innocent lives, it pronounces the sanctity of
human life and refers to those who take the
lives of other people, without due process (by
government), as criminals. The excuse they
give, that they want to kill non-Muslims so
that they can go to Paradise is an illusion. It
is an empty excuse to satisfy their homicidal
tendencies. “The Prophet of Islam said that a
Muslim is one who does not hurt anyone with
his hand or with his tongue.
So, how can these people be killing people,
destroying churches, attacking people who
have gone to worship God their way, and
saying that they are doing it on behalf of
Almighty Allah? You cannot fight for Allah and
you cannot fight for religion. The attacks are
acts of aggression and an infringement on the
verses of the Koran. These people are further
justifying certain view of some people who
regard Muslims as extremists especially in the
West where some people do not want to see
Muslims at all. There are extremist Muslims
and there are extremist Christians.
“But in some of these happenings, some things
may be responsible because, as they say,
there is no smoke without fire. When people
are provoked or pushed to the wall, then they
react. In these acts of terrorism, we are saying
that, some of them may be due to provocation
of Muslims and acts of injustice against
Muslims to which the terrorists react. But that
does not mean we support terrorism.
Islam does not support killing of people. If you
are provoked, there are ways and measures
you can take including dialogue and you can
speak out against those who terrorize you.
The press should speak out against the
injustice in the world, otherwise, the reactions
of extremists will continue unabated. Look at
the way Muslim women are being embarrassed
all over the world. In France, the authorities
there enacted a law banning Muslim women
from wearing hijab.
I think dressing is a matter of culture and it
should be a matter of freedom. The world
believes in freedom of religion, freedom of
movement and these are recognized by the
United Nations. If Muslims say they want to
dress in a particular way, why must they be
forced to dress in another way or in the
European way?
“We believe our women are being molested
and embarrassed. Unfortunately, Muslim
extremists react in a different way. Britain
also enacted a similar law but not as harsh as
that of France. Obama described Islam as part
of America and that there is no way anybody
can marginalize Muslims and enact laws
against them. We are happy with what is
happening in America but unfortunately
Muslim extremists attacked America. The Bin
Laden group of Al-Qaida issued a statement
asking Muslims to attack Americans and
Westerners and we regard such statements as
hate speeches, they are inconsistent with the
message of love from the Prophet of Islam,
Prophet Muhammad. They contradict the
peaceful teachings of Islam enshrined in the
glorious Koran.
“We reject the messages of Al-Qaida because
Islam is not a native religion as there are
Muslims in America, in Great Britain. Islam is
the fastest growing religion in the West today.
So, we reject such messages and we call on
Muslims all over the world to continue to live
in peace with their neighbours, regardless of
where they come from.
The motivation for terrorism comes from
provocation. Muslims are being provoked and
the provocation has been building up over
several decades. Injustice against Muslims
tends to recruit fanatical Muslims as
terrorists. The world must unite against unfair
treatment of Muslims. If Muslims are
maltreated anywhere, the world should speak
out against it.
“These extremist groups have their hidden
agenda, they want to rule the world with iron
fist but the good people of the world must
come together, from all the continents, and
reject this intimidation from terrorists.”
The role of ignorance
Another Muslim cleric, Sheikh Haliru Maraya,
a former Special Adviser (Religious Matters) to
the Kaduna state governor, believes that those
he describes as being ignorant of the true
teachings of Islam are responsible for the
current global terrorism initiatives. According
to him, “absolute ignorance is responsible for
the attacks by some people claiming to be
Muslims. Islam cherishes the sanctity of
human life.
The Prophet said that we should have the
same love for mankind as you have love for
yourself and by so doing, you become a true
Muslim. The people currently perpetuating
these devilish acts are not true Muslims.
Retaliation is also a transgression against the
Almighty Allah. Islam does not permit an
individual to take the laws into his hands.
That is why the Koran says that it is an
excellent virtue to use good to pay back
somebody who may have wronged you. You
cannot begin to kill people because some
Muslims are being killed elsewhere in the
world as form of retaliation which is also a
transgression in Islam. Islam does not permit
you to take the laws into your hands. If you
are aggrieved, you are expected to take your
case to a court of competent jurisdiction. This
is what Islam says. If your brothers are killed
in destination A, then you begin to kill people
in destination B, it is wrong and it is anti-
Islam.
“Allah says that somebody who worships Allah
ignorantly is a disadvantage to the religion.
Such people may have love for Islam but they
do not know the tenets of the religion. They
do not know Islam’s view on how to live
peacefully with other people in the society.
Relationship between Muslims and non-
Muslims in society as far as Islam is
concerned is always expected to be cordial.
The right to life, the right to own property, the
right to live anywhere one wishes to live, the
right to practice any religion one chooses to
practice are sacrosanct as far as Islam is
concerned. You are not expected to kill or
antagonize anyone for the simple reason that
the person does not practice your religion.
Allah says in the Koran that there is no
compulsion in Islam and this verse was
revealed to the Prophet when he established
the Muslim community in Medina.
He lived cordially with the Jews in Medina and
Christians in suburbs of Medina. “A true
Muslim is not expected to act at variance with
how the Prophet acted or behaved. What is
currently happening is very unfortunate. It is
not Islam and those people doing it do not
represent Islam because the Koran does not
say so and the Prophet who established the
religion of Islam did not say so. There was
never a time that the Prophet attacked a non-
Muslim community or a church or a
synagogue.
In fact there was a time somebody in Medina
killed somebody and ran away and the
relations went to the Prophet to complain and
that they wanted to kill the son of the
runaway murderer. The Prophet told them that
they should not kill the son because he did
not commit the crime. You cannot punish
somebody else for an offence he did not
commit and this is the position of Islam.
“I have never subscribed to the opinion that
poverty pushes the youth to become
extremists. During the time of the Prophet,
some of his companions were not rich but
they did not embark on such devilish acts,
killing innocent people. And, there is nowhere
in Islam where it says that if you are poor, you
should go on rampage.
In Nigeria here, if you go to the South-West,
there are a lot of Muslims there and some of
them are also poor but we have never heard of
something like Boko Haram over there. I have
always attributed this to the fact that a
majority of the Muslim community in the
South-West are enlightened as far as Islam is
concerned. They know the religion and they
also have Western style education.
So, one can say that what is happening is
attributable to ignorance of the religion by
some of people who claim to be Muslims.”
http://www.vanguardngr.com/2015/11/third-world-war-looms-as-global-terrorism-spreads/

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