The Terrorist Groups' Interpretation Of The Koranic Verses Regarding Jihad

Tufail Ahmad*

The following report is a complimentary offering from MEMRI's Jihad and Terrorism Threat Monitor (JTTM). A page from the Koran Table of Contents I) Introduction II) Jaish-e-Muhammad's Teaching Of Jihadist Verses In Pakistani Towns III) Pakistani Militant Maulana Masood Azhar's Interpretation Of Verses On Jihad IV) The Interpretation Of The Koranic Verses Regarding Battle V) The References To Koranic Verses On Suicide BombingsVI) The Justifications For Bombings Of Churches, Synagogues, And Mosques VII) The Verses Regarding Moderation/Compulsion In ReligionVIII)  The Targeted Killings Of Shi'ite Muslims In The Name Of Islam IX) The Interpretation Of Verses On Media Jihad X) The Interpretation Of Verses Regarding Financial Jihad I) Introduction This paper examines how jihadi organizations are using verses from the Koran to advance the cause of jihad and influence Muslim youth. In doing so, it sheds light on how liberal arguments regarding Islam, jihad, and Prophet Muhammad's historical role are being countered by the jihadi organizations, which cite verses from the Koran and early Islamic traditions in their support. In an editorial published in July 2013, Daily Outlook Afghanistan, a Kabul-based newspaper, warned that the Taliban are using Koranic verses to influence and prepare child suicide bombers. It observed: "Over the last decade, children, who are as innocent as angels, have increasingly been used for executing terror attacks in Afghanistan, mainly for suicide attacks. The trend, which was actually initiated by Al-Qaeda, has gained greater focus of the Taliban in the recent years. The Taliban insurgents in Afghanistan are bribing starving children as young as eight-years-old to plant deadly roadside booby traps, be decoys in ambushes, and even act as suicide bombers… "There are 224 children in prisons in just Helmand and Ghazni who were arrested by government forces for planning or carrying out attacks. Here is another example of how the Taliban brainwash the children to use them in launching suicide attacks: they are given amulets containing verses from the Koran by Taliban commanders, who tell them they will be protected from the explosion."[1] In April 2013, the Al-Saadiqeen Production Center of the Toora Bora Front, a constituent of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (the Taliban umbrella organization led by Mullah Mohammad Omar), released a video of jihadi commander Ustad Khwaja Maqsood Mukhlis, who urged Muslims to take part in "jihad against Jews and Christians."[2] He stated: "Allah Almighty has ordered us [in the Koran], as for prayers, fasting, and Hajj, to be ready to fight against enemies of Islam, and get knowledge of every technique [in fighting] more than the infidels, because the war between Islam and kufr [unbelief] will continue until doomsday…"[3] Mukhlis added: "There are many Muslims who have not seen weapons and have not fired a shot… It is such a shame, especially when all the infidels, particularly the Jews and Christians, are united and have come against us. They know the use of all kinds of weapons to wipe out Muslims. But mercy on the condition of a Muslim who is afraid to even see a weapon," Mukhlis said, adding: "[A Muslim] will ask us about the Koranic verse on jihad. My message is particularly for those clerics who deliver Friday sermons and prayers at funerals and recite these [jihadi] verses of the Koran, but are afraid to take up arms."[4] The Afghanistan Islami Tehreek Fidayee Mahaz (the Martyrdom Front of Afghanistan's Islamic Movement) is a splinter group of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, the Taliban umbrella organization. The Islamic Emirate doesn't recognize the Mahaz but the latter does exhort its fighters to follow Mullah Omar. In April 2014, Haji Omar Khattab, the emir of the Mahaz, urged his followers to wage jihad in the light of the Koran and Hadiths (sayings and deeds of Prophet Muhammad). In a Pashtu-language statement, he cited the Koran's Chapter Al-Tawbah, Verse 111: "Surely, Allah has bought from the believers their souls and wealth in return for Paradise for them."[5] He explained the meaning of the verse: "The aforementioned verse shows that those waging jihad for the supremacy of Kalmat-ul-Allah [the word of Allah] will be given paradise. Entering paradise is a big success which can only be achieved through jihad. A Muslim who wages jihad is bestowed with two titles - hero or martyr. Both positions are esteemed."[6] To finish reading, click here