Not in the name of Allah

Outrageous. Immoral. Cowardly. Stupid.

These are the words that entered my mind as soon as I had learned that, yet again, France has been attacked. Yet again, extremist groups with no claim on Islam or Muslims yet who have the temerity to besmirch and befoul the reputation of a religion and way of life of 1.6 billion people are responsible. France has now been at the centre of three distinct and high profile terrorist attacks in the past year alone: the attacks against the base satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo and a kosher store in January; an attack on a French train in Belgium in August; and now this bloodbath in Paris.

I have made it no secret that I abhor Charlie Hebdo and refused to say “Je Suis Charlie” even though I condemned the attacks. Equally, I have been an active critic of the repeated fumbling of the Syrian crisis by the Western coalition, of which France is a member of. However, the work of cartoonists, however insulting, is not an excuse to hold up a Jewish grocery store, kill French police officers (one of whom was a Muslim), and kill people in their workplace. Equally, what do Parisians have to do with French foreign policy, concocted in the Palais de l’Élysée? Nothing at all. There is simply no justification for this violence, and it can only be branded as what it is – murder.

This is murder, and it certainly is not for Allah, let alone representative of His will. Daesh/ISIS would have the world at large, and not just Muslims, believe that it is fighting a war against Western infidels and their puppets in the Middle East so that it can re-establish the Islamic civilisational superpower of yore. The militants would have us all believe that attacks like the mass murder of civilians in Paris are necessary in order to deter Western powers from getting involved in the affairs of Muslim countries and to create the boundaries of the modern “Caliphate”. The irony of this is that almost any Caliph worthy of the title throughout Islamic history would have waged war against Daesh.

Why am I so certain about that? Because Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) was not the savage barbarian that the uncultured and uneducated provocateurs at Charlie Hebdo would have you all believe. The Prophet defined a set of principles for the just application of war long before the Christian “Just War” tradition codified by Thomas Aquinas in the 13th Century. His Sahaba, or Companions, who learned Islam directly from the Prophet himself, were known to have followed these principles after his death. For instance, upon deploying an army against the Byzantines, Abu Bakr Al-Siddiq, Islam’s first Caliph, ordered the army’s commander not to kill civilians, especially women and children, not to burn trees or kill livestock, and not to damage monasteries or kill their inhabitants.

In the modern day, Ibrahim Al-Samarrai, unfortunately better known as Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi, attempts to tarnish the reputation of the first Caliph by taking his name as his pseudonym. Al-Samarrai, for I shall not play his game and call him “Abu Bakr” out of respect for Islam’s greatest Caliph, not only ignores the teachings of the Prophet and his Companions, but he flaunts them and goes against them in bloody fashion. As a result of Daesh terrorism, hundreds of people have died in the past few days alone. The pain, suffering and misery that Daesh spreads has not only affected Europeans – although doubtless their pain will get precedence over that of the other victims – but it has also led to bombings in Beirut and Baghdad, claiming dozens of lives. Let all be certain that, if Abu Bakr Al-Siddiq was alive today, he would not only have denounced Daesh, but also would have made sure that the militants paid for their heinous and evil crimes.

Daesh claims to act in defence of Islam and Muslims, but everything it does is intended to poison the world against Islam and Muslims. Its insidious actions are geared towards one thing, and one thing only – distorting Islam. Questions about the group’s links to the Ba’athists and how its officials are known to the intelligence agencies of the United States aside, what effect will Daesh’s actions have on Islam and Muslims?

First and foremost, Muslims around the world will suffer increasingly as a direct result. France has announced that it considers Daesh’s attacks as an act of war and so, far from deterring Western interference in the affairs of Muslim majority countries, Daesh has now undoubtedly increased such involvement, with more Western bombs likely to rain down on the heads of Iraqis and Syrians. Secondly, Muslims living in the West, already discriminated against heavily with less access to economic opportunities and advancement, will probably face a severe backlash from both state and civil society. Not only will governments now face less resistance to new surveillance laws that will curtail privacy rights for all citizens, but they will now also have further justification for the existence of controversial policies such as Britain’s Prevent strategy. More worryingly, far-right European groups are already seeking to take advantage of the Paris attacks to increase their campaign of hate against Muslims.

Also Read: Turkey in solidarity with France against terror

Finally, Daesh has now really thrown a spanner in the works when it comes to European acceptance of refugees fleeing violence in the Middle East. This latest batch of murderers in France are likely to be “home-grown” terrorists due to the sophistication of the attacks, the smuggling networks required to move explosives and automatic weapons into Western Europe, the timing of the attacks and the selection of the targets. Nevertheless, Europe will be more risk averse and prone to propaganda asserting that refugees are actually Daesh terror cells in disguise. In turn, this could lead to some misguided and easily-influenced Muslims to be radicalised when those who preach hate say, “Look at how the infidels never welcome Muslims fleeing violence.” This terrible, bloody cycle must end, and it must end soon.

I have criticised Western commentary about Islam and terrorism a lot, but this time I think it is important to address my fellow Muslims. Daesh has never done anything good for Islam or for Muslims. Daesh is a plague, a curse and a test to see if we can behave as Muslims should. It is the duty of every Muslim to stand against its crimes, whether in Paris or in the Middle East. It is also important for Muslims to realise that, no matter what crimes are committed against us, the innocent should never be made to suffer, and we should always denounce those who kill and have the disgraceful impertinence to say that their actions are for Allah. Let us all tell them in no uncertain terms: not in our name, and certainly not in Allah’s name.

The views expressed in this article belong to the author and do not necessarily reflect the editorial policy of Middle East Monitor.