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Peshawar attacks: If Taliban are Muslims, I am not. If I am a Muslim, Taliban are not

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Md Hussain Rahmani
Md Hussain RahmaniDec 18, 2014 | 16:00

Peshawar attacks: If Taliban are Muslims, I am not. If I am a Muslim, Taliban are not

Dear Tehreek-e-Taliban,

I am a Muslim. But I do not belong to your idea of Islam. I also believe that you are not Muslims. This is for the simple reason that you just killed the idea of humanity by killing those innocent schoolchildren.

I won't mind facing a fatwa for making this blasphemous statement in the wake of what happened in Peshawar today. More than 100 children have been massacred by you who claim to be the followers of real Islam. I have grown up listening to a Quranic verse that says, "If anyone slays a person, it would be as if he slew the whole people: and if anyone saved a life, it would be as if he saved the life of the whole people."

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You terrorists, by aiming your guns at those children, you have wiped out a whole generation. Neither do you follow the Quran nor are you any follower of the last prophet Mohammad (PBUH). Do you recall that during the invasion of Banu Quraiza, conducted by the Prophet himself, around 600 people were beheaded, but women and children were spared?  Remember, that was a war. An invasion that happened over 1200 years ago. This only goes to show that killing of children and women even in war situation is forbidden in Islam. Wait, have you even read the Quran properly? Then, which religion do you claim to serve? Certainly not the Islam I have grown up with and follow. How else would you justify this mindless massacre? You can't even boast that you eliminated the non-believers, which often you do misquoting from religious texts to justify the killings. If there is one Quran and one Islam, I am dead sure you butchers are not the true followers of Islam.

Not yours truly,

An angry and hurt Muslim

A few points beyond this dastardly act against the humanity.

Problem is while as an individual we term this an act of terror, we are seeing the rising influence of violent groups like ISIS. The fact is that like other religions, radicalisation is happening in Islam too and the volatile political situation in the Arab world and Afghanistan-Pakistan regions serve as breeding grounds for the most violent narratives of the religion of peace.

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What is more worrisome is that there has not been enough collective voice against the ISIS and the Taliban's narratives of jihad. Though moderates agree that jihad is not what these terror groups are preaching, there has not been a definitive definition of jihad from any credible Muslim organisation of popular school of thoughts.

This killing could be a result of Pakistan's failure as a state but it has been done by the people who are seen as the true believers. Muslims of the world, please come forward and declare them anti-Islamic. Let us say that we do not follow them.

 

Last updated: January 20, 2016 | 13:06
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