"And thou wilt find the nearest of them in affection toward those who believe to be those who say, 'We are Christians.' That is because among them are priests and monks, and because they are not arrogant."
Quran, 5:82
Since it's Easter I was planning on focusing on this passage anyway, but then I woke up to the terrible tragedy in Sri Lanka. Like 99% of Muslims my first two thoughts were: 1) heartbreak at the horrific and unjustifiable loss of life, and 2) please don't let this be the result of Muslim terrorists acting on some incredibly misguided reading of the faith. It's sad that we live in a world that our thought process as Muslims is so predetermined. Now, it's way too early to know exactly what is going on in Sri Lanka, and that is a complex country with a long history of terrorism. It could be a resurgence of the Tamil Tigers, although that would be an odd reappearance after a decade of quiet, or Buddhist extremists or, sadly, yes, even Muslim extremists. Whenever there is a terrorist bombing anyplace in the world caused by a Muslim extremist, or even if it's only suspect of being caused by a Muslim extremist, you will hear someone from inside the faith point out that they couldn't really be Muslims. It seems like a hollow argument, but there are definite rules inside of Islam that delineate when you can take action to defense of what is right (and doubtless this will inspire posts in the future) which make it clear that a Muslim can only act in defense, essentially, if directly and violently provoked, and it cannot be an attack on the innocent and it can never be carried out as an act of suicide (again, we'll revisit this in the future). So, when the point is made that the act could not have been carried out by a Muslim it's more than simply wishful thinking, it's based on the logic that it is an act in direct opposition to the Quran. That said, the victims are still dead or damaged. Beyond the rules of fighting, however, there are passages like the one above that reminds Muslims that Christians are not our enemies; that even if we disagree with them we can only contest with them in excellence, that is, we should only compete with them in devotion to our faith, in performing righteous deeds (and that never includes terrorist acts).
Quran, 5:82
Since it's Easter I was planning on focusing on this passage anyway, but then I woke up to the terrible tragedy in Sri Lanka. Like 99% of Muslims my first two thoughts were: 1) heartbreak at the horrific and unjustifiable loss of life, and 2) please don't let this be the result of Muslim terrorists acting on some incredibly misguided reading of the faith. It's sad that we live in a world that our thought process as Muslims is so predetermined. Now, it's way too early to know exactly what is going on in Sri Lanka, and that is a complex country with a long history of terrorism. It could be a resurgence of the Tamil Tigers, although that would be an odd reappearance after a decade of quiet, or Buddhist extremists or, sadly, yes, even Muslim extremists. Whenever there is a terrorist bombing anyplace in the world caused by a Muslim extremist, or even if it's only suspect of being caused by a Muslim extremist, you will hear someone from inside the faith point out that they couldn't really be Muslims. It seems like a hollow argument, but there are definite rules inside of Islam that delineate when you can take action to defense of what is right (and doubtless this will inspire posts in the future) which make it clear that a Muslim can only act in defense, essentially, if directly and violently provoked, and it cannot be an attack on the innocent and it can never be carried out as an act of suicide (again, we'll revisit this in the future). So, when the point is made that the act could not have been carried out by a Muslim it's more than simply wishful thinking, it's based on the logic that it is an act in direct opposition to the Quran. That said, the victims are still dead or damaged. Beyond the rules of fighting, however, there are passages like the one above that reminds Muslims that Christians are not our enemies; that even if we disagree with them we can only contest with them in excellence, that is, we should only compete with them in devotion to our faith, in performing righteous deeds (and that never includes terrorist acts).
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