Oak Ridge,US: There is a profound difference between the teachings of Islam, a peaceful religion that emphasizes harmony, and the militant terrorist group ISIS, also known as Daesh. That was the message brought home to a capacity crowd of about 140 people on Thursday during a lecture by Syrian native and college Professor Rihab Sawah, Knoxville News Sentinel reported.
The event, presented by Roane State Community College’s International Education Department and Oak Ridge Institute for Continued Learning, was so popular that Sawah conducted a second, originally unplanned presentation.
Sawah gave an overview of the tenets of Islam and its origin in the 7th century by Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) as the religion of Muslims.
She contrasted it to the savagery and butchery of ISIS, which has declared a caliphate in northeastern Syria and northwestern Iraq.
ISIS has taken readings from the Qur’an, the central religious text of Islam, out of context to fit its goals, she said.
Even the declaration by ISIS that it has established a caliphate is forbidden under the Islamic Shariah law that decrees that all Muslims must declare such a state, she said.
Other profound differences between the religion and the terrorist group, she said, include: armed insurrection is forbidden in Islam’s Shariah for any reason other than “clear disbelief” in Islam by the ruler, while ISIS fuels uprisings to overturn governments.
The basic meaning of jihad in Islam is an “internal struggle against the ego’s inclination,” but if there is a jihad involving an outside force, it is only in self-defense, and women and children aren’t to be harmed. ISIS uses the term for taking up arms and gaining territory, she said, and ISIS members have slaughtered women and children.
Islam decrees it’s forbidden to harm or mistreat Christians, and Mary, is regarded as the religion’s “most holy woman,” she said, while ISIS members routinely kill Christians.
Punishment under Islamic law is meted out under prescribed procedures, while ISIS members are “killing people because they didn’t pray the ‘right way,’ ” Sawah said.
The quality of mercy, she said, is an essential attribute of Islam.
Sawah said ISIS had been around for years in Iraq and was once affiliated with the terrorist group al-Qaida. ISIS declined between 2006 and 2011 and then mushroomed in 2011 in the chaos that surrounded the unrest in neighboring Syria.
The organization has used elaborate videos to recruit disaffected young people in Europe, particularly residents of Belgium.
Sawah described recent comments about Muslims by Donald Trump and U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz as “over generalizations that don’t really serve a purpose other than news bytes on the evening news.”
Courtesy: Muslim Mirror