Part 4
By Osama Haqqani
Although Daesh presents itself to Muslims as an Islamic movement committed to jihad, its actions tell a very different story.
From the earliest days of Islam, mosques have stood at the heart of the Muslim Ummah’s religious, educational, and social life, and they remain so today. Throughout history, the enemies of Islam have repeatedly met defeat because of these very places. From their pulpits and through Friday sermons, scholars have called people to Islam, to jihad, and to defend the truth. America’s defeat in Afghanistan also began from this same front, the mosque and the madrasa. The call to resist the occupation and the religious legitimacy of that struggle echoed from mosque minarets every Friday. Those same mosques and madrasas helped turn Afghanistan into the graveyard of the British Empire, shattered the Soviet Union’s military ambitions in Afghanistan’s mountains, and brought America’s military prestige crashing down. Today, by the grace of Almighty Allah, Afghanistan lives under the protection of a fully Islamic system.
Yet Daesh, instead of protecting and strengthening these religious and educational institutions, has turned them into targets. It plants bombs inside mosques, seeks to destroy them, and leaves worshippers living in fear. Preventing the worship of Allah Almighty and attempting to destroy His houses are among the gravest sins in Islam.
Allah Almighty says:
﴿وَمَنْ أَظْلَمُ مِمَّنْ مَنَعَ مَسَاجِدَ اللَّهِ أَنْ يُذْكَرَ فِيهَا اسْمُهُ وَسَعَىٰ فِي خَرَابِهَا ۚ أُولَٰئِكَ مَا كَانَ لَهُمْ أَنْ يَدْخُلُوهَا إِلَّا خَائِفِينَ ۚ لَهُمْ فِي الدُّنْيَا خِزْيٌ وَلَهُمْ فِي الْآخِرَةِ عَذَابٌ عَظِيمٌ﴾
“And who are more unjust than those who prevent the name of Allah from being mentioned in His mosques and strive toward their destruction. It is not for them to enter them except in fear. For them in this world is disgrace, and they will have in the Hereafter a great punishment.” (Surah Al-Baqarah, 2:114)
This raises a question. Why does Daesh target mosques when hundreds of thousands of Muslims learn their faith and become familiar with the teachings of Islam through them? The mosques of Afghanistan bear no resemblance to the Masjid al-Dirar built by the hypocrites. That mosque was founded for four corrupt purposes: to plot against Muslims, sow division among the believers, support the enemies of Islam, and harm the faithful.
The mosques of Afghanistan are the opposite. They are places of faith, unity, and guidance. From them rise the call to obey Allah, follow the Messenger of Allah (PBUH) and strengthen the bonds of Islamic brotherhood.
So let us judge Daesh by the standard of Islamic Sharia.
Do its actions reflect the commands of the Sharia brought by Prophet Muhammad (PBUH)? Never.
What Daesh does has nothing to do with Islamic Sharia. That is why it is a deviant movement that has strayed from the true path of Islam and departed from the pure path of the Prophet’s Sharia.
