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Mawlid an-Nabi is an important day for all Muslims. Joyful celebration of the birth of the Prophet of Islam is something all Muslims have in common. Yet even this unifying element has now become a sign of division and fragmentation. Indeed, it has become an opportunity for mutually hostile Muslim groups to attack one another.
All Sunnis and Shiites celebrate Mawlid an-Nabi. Indeed, Houthis in Yemen arrange various activities within the celebrations of the Mawlid. Houthis wishing to hold a celebration in the capital’s al-Sabin Square last week were not allowed to do so, and the celebration was postponed to yesterday. It has been announced that the celebrations in Sana’a will last for a week, with various activities planned.
Members of the Ansarullah Movement, made up of Houthis, perpetrated a suicide attack in the Ibb Governorate the other day because of the Mawlid celebrations: Thirty-three people lost their lives in this attack, aimed at a culture center.
Strapping a bomb to oneself, infiltrating a group regarded as the enemy and blowing oneself up has sadly become equated with Islam. Not a day goes by without suicide attacks in a wide expanse of territory from Afghanistan to Iraq and from Israel to Yemen.
So what is the reason for this increase in suicide attacks? The instability in the countries in the region may represent the primary answer to that question. Attacks are perpetrated either against members of what is regarded as an occupier, such as in Israel, or against Islamic groups that are inimical to one another, such as in Iraq and Yemen.
Thirty-two percent of suicide attacks take place in countries occupied by foreign armies. The other 68% represent attacks by Muslims against one another.
Restaurants, markets and public transport facilities - public places with large civilian populations in other words - are deliberately chosen in suicide attacks. Indeed, attacks can even be perpetrated as Muslims are worshiping during the Friday prayers, as we've seen in Iraq, or while religious celebrations are going on, as in Yemen.
Many Muslim groups condemned Israel for sending its troops into a mosque in Jerusalem, and even denounced it as a foe needing to be destroyed. Interestingly, however, those same groups have remained utterly silent in the face of a suicide attack against a mosque where Muslims were praying, and some have even encouraged such attacks.
If one of those who intended to carry out a suicide attack were to be asked, “Why have you chosen this path?” he would probably say that he was doing this in the name of Islam, since he has been educated with false information and was ignorant of true Qur’anic values such as forgiveness, peace and love.
Yet committing suicide, and thus taking part in suicide attacks - and particularly taking the lives of innocent people in the process - is a blatant violation of the values of Islam; indeed, it is no secret to anyone that suicide is explicitly forbidden in the Qur'an (Surat an-Nisa’, 29). It is therefore impossible for someone who says he believes in Allah and that he abides by the verses of the Qur’an to do such a thing. This is an outrage that only someone wrongly acquainted with the faith, ignorant of true Qur’anic moral values, unable to use his mind and conscience and who has been brainwashed with feelings of hatred and revenge could perpetrate. Everyone, Muslim or not, must oppose such actions.
Allah makes it obligatory in the Qur’an for Muslims to strive to spread goodness across the world and to put an end to evil. However, the means that Muslims are shown in order to bring this about is not “fighting.” On the contrary, they are told in the Qur’an to respond to evil with good and to encourage love, affection, tolerance, patience and goodness. Muslims have a responsibility to call on all mankind until peace, well-being and compassion reign across the world. In other words, Muslims’ struggle must be an intellectual one, not one involving bloodshed, killing or encouraging the taking of life. All Muslims who know the true values of the Qur’an are aware of this and preach the values of the Qur’an in this way. They tell people of the values of the Qur’an and summon them to live in peace by using all the means of modern technology, through books, magazines, films and conferences.
There is absolutely no room for hatred or terror in the moral values of Islam. It is unacceptable in Islam for suicide bombers to perpetrate such treacherous outrages against anyone, for any reason. People who commit such actions and claim to do so in the name of Islam are ignorant fanatics who act in the light of non-Qur’anic nonsense and misinterpretations and who have no idea of what it means to be a true Muslim.
In one verse from the Qur’an Almighty Allah says:
“…if someone kills another person – unless it is in retaliation for someone else or for causing corruption in the earth – it is as if he had murdered all mankind. And if anyone gives life to another person, it is as if he had given life to all mankind…” (Surat al-Ma’ida, 32)
Adnan Oktar's piece on National Yemen:
http://nationalyemen.com/2015/01/04/suicide-attacks-are-incompatible-with-islam/
