COMBATING TERRORISM

I just invoked the prayer of Prophet Moses as quoted in the Qur’an. Prophet Moses was one of the great Messengers of Almighty GOD. The English rendering of his prayer is, “O my Sustainer, enlighten me. And make my task easy. And give clarity to my expressions, so that they may comprehend fully what I convey.” I hope my prayer is granted.

A person who is programmed and prepared to give away his life can rarely be prevented from causing his desired damage. The terrorist functions in that frame of mind. He is a disillusioned and a disgruntled element of the society who wants to prove his worth. His programmer or the motivator is cunning and a heartless brute whose sole aim is to seize power and wealth for his personal gain. He is able to sell the rubbish to his follower that for his ‘sacrifice’ he will be rewarded after death with even greater pleasures than the ones he was deprived of in this life. He is anointed with the titles of a holy warrior and a martyr to give it a gloss of righteousness. Today alas, this programmer is invariably a person who claims to be a Muslim. He misuses Islam to brainwash his victims by misquoting and misinterpreting the scripture.

Meeting this menace with force may work temporarily or to some extent. But when force is used, it also creates conditions for further recruitment of terrorists. The cycle could be endless. The only effective way I believe, is to deprive the motivator the use of his most successful tool - religion.

All Scriptures preach righteousness and piety but history is evident that invariably at some time or the other, religion has been used as a tool of oppression for temporal gains of individuals. Although, the authors and perpetrators of the ‘INQUISITION’, (over half a million were tortured to death) were high priests of the church, they could not be the followers of Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ was undoubtedly the epitome of love and compassion. Similarly, it is inconceivable the perpetrators of Beslan and 9/11, or for that matter any other heinous acts of violence could be the followers of - “Mercy for all the worlds,” Prophet Mohammed (PBUH).

Today we can say with certainty that the church has outlived its violent past. This has happened not because force or violence won the battle; rather it is the triumph of reason. The modern Christian world is reasonable enough to understand that violence and the doctrine of Jesus Christ are poles apart. Let me assure you that Prophet Mohammed’s preaching are no different from that of Jesus Christ because they emanate from the same source.

“Declare O Mohammed: ‘My GOD has guided me on to a clear and righteous, most firmly straight path, based on the Doctrine of Abraham, the monotheist. And Abraham did not subscribe to superstition, (Shirk).”

(From Holy Qur'an 6/161-162)

What I am about to suggest could raise a chuckle of disbelief and skepticism among those who are unaware of the preaching of Prophet Mohammed or know about Islam only from the conduct and actions of a large section of present day Muslims. I quote two verses of the Holy Qur’an to give a glimpse of the commandments of the Final Testament, chapter 2 verse 62:

“Those who are Muslims, and who are Jews, and the Christians, and the Sabeans – all who worship the One and Only GOD, and are conscious of accountability, and conduct themselves righteously, shall have their reward with their Lord and on them shall be no fear nor shall they grieve.”

(From Holy Qur'an 2/62)

“Almighty GOD commands justice (and to be impartial), and behave kindly, and generosity towards fellow-men, and HE forbids all that is shameful and all that runs counter to reason, as well as envy. HE exhorts you repeatedly so that you might bear all this in mind.” (The Holy Qur’an, Chapter 16 verse 90)

(From Holy Qur'an 16/90)

The verse quoted above invariably forms the concluding part of the Friday sermon in all the mosques of the world. How could the adherent of this commandment be even remotely connected to terrorism?

What I am proposing is that the powerful West with its tremendous resources should give sufficient exposure to the Final Testament – the Holy Qur’an in the spirit in which it was conveyed by Prophet Mohammed. It shall have a two fold outcome. One, a large section of the Muslims will get an exposure of the doctrine free from the biased interpretations of the so called many religious heads who are at par with the high priests of the church of the era of “inquisition.” This shall not only wean away the potential recruit but increase the ranks of those who confront terrorism. Secondly, the walls of prejudice against Islam will get lowered amongst the non Muslims who happen to be targets of the terrorists.

I am confident that confronting the terrorist with religion – his most effective tool – will prove decisive in the war against terrorism. I conclude with a prayer,

“O LORD, you are the fountain of peace, peace is from YOU, peace returns to YOU, let us live in peace, let us enter the abode of peace. YOU are Sublime, Exalted, Full of Majesty and Full of Glory.”