Islamic Mural – tile 10 – the verses of London Suicide Bomber, Shehzad Tanweer
7 July 2005 – the Islamic Perspective
The verses of London Suicide Bomber, Shehzad Tanweer
The Sources
Reference: |
Quote |
Qur’an 9:111 |
Verily, Allah has purchased from the believers their lives, and their property, for the price that they shall be in Paradise. They fight in Allah’s cause, so they kill and are killed… |
Qur’an 4:076 |
Those who believe fight in the cause of Allah, and those who disbelieve fight in the cause of Satan. So fight you against the friends of Satan. Ever feeble indeed is the plot of Satan. |
Qur’an 2:216 |
Fighting was ordained for you, though you dislike it. It may be that you dislike a thing which is good for you, and you like a thing which is bad for you. And Allah knows, but you do not know. |
Qur’an 4:075 |
What is wrong with you that you fight not in the cause of Allah, and for those weak, ill, cheated, and oppressed, among men, women, and children, whose cry is: ‘Our Lord, rescue us from this town whose people are oppressors, and raise for us from among you one who will protect, and raise for us from you one who will help. |
Qur’an 9:24 |
Say, if your fathers, your sons, your brothers, your wives, your kindred, the wealth that you’ve gained, the commerce in which you fear decline, and the dwellings in which you delight, are dearer to you than Allah, and His messenger, and striving hard in fighting His cause, then wait until Allah brings about His decision, His torment, and Allah guides not those people who are fasiqun (the rebellious, disobedient to Allah). |
Qur’an 9:038 |
Oh you who believe, what is the matter with you, that when you are asked to march forth in His cause, you cling heavily to the earth. Are you pleased with the life of this world rather than the Hereafter? But little is the enjoyment of this world as compared to the Hereafter. |
Qur’an 5:054 |
Oh you who believe, whoever from amongst you turns back from his religion, Allah will bring a people whom He will love, and they will love Him. Humble towards the believers, stern towards the disbelievers, fighting in the cause of Allah, never fear the blame of the blamers, that is the grace of Allah, which He bestows upon whom He wills, and Allah is All-sufficient for His creatures’ needs. |
The Theology
“Fight against the disbelievers, for it is but an obligation made on you by Allah,” says Shehzad Tanweer in a film released a year and a day after the atrocities. His attack on Aldgate tube station killed seven people and himself. He quotes the above verses from the Qur’an as religious justification. Al-Zawahiri, the Al-Qaeda second-in-command, features in the film too.
In his statement, Tanweer listed multiple complaints against, and demands of, the UK Government and people, referencing Baghdad to Belmarsh prison (London) and ‘other concentration camps.’ ‘And know that if you fail to comply…this war will never stop, and that we are ready to give our lives, one hundred times over, for the cause of Islam.’ This idea of repeated killing and dying is pure Islam.
Mohammed, the founder of Islam, and Tanweer’s mentor and muse, said here and here (1294): “By the One in whose hand my soul is, I would love to be killed in the way of Allah and then be brought to life, and then be killed and then be brought to life, and then be killed and then brought to life, and then be killed again.” Of course, the phrase ‘to be killed’ is in the context of killing others ‘in (Holy battles) in Allah’s cause.’ [e.g. Q 8:39]
Most Muslims do not sign up to Allah’s “cause” in the same way or to the extent that Tanweer did. But the obligation to support such activity or to actually fight, kill and dominate is part and parcel of Islam. A lazy, ignorant, cowardly, or mendacious media refuses to highlight these verses and the Islamic motivation to murder: The Independent, four years after these attacks: ‘Two hundred school children in Britain, some as young as 13, have been identified as potential terrorists by a police scheme that aims to spot youngsters who are “vulnerable” to Islamic radicalisation,’ (28th March 2009). And so the danger persists and grows.
In 2006, Vicar Julie Nicholson, mother of Jenny, a victim of 7/7, resigned from her parish because she believed her duties required her to forgive the killers of her 24 year old daughter but she could not. In 2008, on a BBC TV programme on the subject of forgiveness Nicholson’s great honesty and integrity was uplifting; however, intertwined with this was her anguish and painful bewilderment, which was heartbreaking to see; she asked: Why was Jenny murdered; how could anyone do this? She deserves an answer.
Kinana: iiarop[at]googlemail[dot]com