Tweet
ISLAMIC SCHOLAR GULEN REJECTS BOMBINGS IN THE NAME OF ISLAM
Cihan News Agency (CNA), Turkey
September 26, 2013 Thursday
ISTANBUL (CIHAN)- Turkish Islamic scholar Fethullah Gulen has
unequivocally rejected terrorist attacks and bombings committed in the
name of Islam, adding that a terrorist cannot be branded a real Muslim.
In a speech he delivered to his students at his house in Pennsylvania,
Gulen spoke at length about attacks on behalf of Islam, stressing
that a real Muslim could never commit a terrorist attack. His speech
was published on Thursday on herkul.org, a website that frequently
broadcasts his messages.
Gulen's remarks came shortly after a deadly shooting and hostage
crisis in a Nairobi mall in which more than 60 people were killed.
This week has been particularly bloody across the Middle East,
with church and mosque bombings in Iraq and Pakistan killing scores
of civilians.
"The most brutal scenes are at play in the name of Islam in a wide
geography from Syria to Pakistan and Kenya," Gulen recalled, noting
that perpetrators bomb mosques and churches, slitting throats after
alleging that the Quran, holy book of Muslims, orders it. Gulen said
the picture in the Middle East is also a shame for Muslims and that
it stains the face of Islam.
Gulen, who is commonly known as Hojaefendi by his followers, said the
terrorist attacks attributed to Muslims are sometimes being undertaken
by what he called "raw souls" who fail to fathom Islam with its depth,
sometimes by extreme provocation of feelings of young men, sometimes
by people disguised as Muslims and sometimes by criminals under the
influence of drugs.
Gulen stated that everything is being codified in Islam during both
times of peace and war. He said while individuals cannot declare
war by themselves and decide to kill a person during the peace time,
those during a hot war also cannot kill women, children or the elderly.
According to Islam, he said people also absolutely cannot attack houses
of worship of others even during war. "Considering all these things,
it is never possible to justify suicide attacks, suicide bombers or
similar terrorist attacks," he underlined.
Gulen said the Prophet Muhammad tolerated exceptionally harsh torture
during his 13-year life in Mecca and that he only prayed for those
who stoned him to find the right path. He said the Prophet Muhammad
never resorted to violence despite all the oppression Muslims suffered
and that the battles of Badr, Uhud and Kandaq were only defensive
in nature.
The Islamic scholar, who is well-known for his inspirational speeches
on interfaith dialogue, said the Prophet Muhammad did his best to
solve issues without shedding blood, breaking hearts or causing the
enmity to unfold. He said his way of settling issues transformed
sworn enemies into his companions, citing Ikrimah ibn Abi Jahl, a
companion of the Prophet and a leading Islamic commander, who was
initially one of the chief opponents to the Prophet Muhammad even
during the conquest of Mecca.
Gulen also cited early Islamic scholar Abdullah ibn Abbas as saying
that those who unfairly kill an innocent human will stay in hell
forever and said terrorism is a crime the holy Quran threatens with
the punishment of hell.
"Suicide [bombers] would go to hell forever and they will be called
to account for innocent people they killed," Gulen added.
Saying that conflicts of interest, party and clique rivalry,
anti-democratic implementations and human rights abuses in the Islamic
geography have resulted in many "dissatisfied groups," Gulen said some
of these groups are ignorant enough to be fooled by "certain services"
and use them for their goals.
Gulen said he doesn't see violence perpetrated in the name of Islam
as one-sided, also blaming Muslims for the degradation of values
which are then being used by others for terrorism purposes.
Gulen said lack of spiritual and fundamental humanitarian values are
at the root of ignorance that leads to terrorism and that some youth
are being manipulated and exploited to "be the actors of scenarios
written by others."
He also urged those who have a representative position to be cautious
in their actions and speeches and that calling on people to destroy
churches means inviting others to destroy mosques and bomb mosque
attendants.
"What you sow is what you reap," Gulen said. "People should sow
good things."
Gulen pointed to what he described as "world paranoia" in reference to
Islamophobia, and said it has been renewed due to recent terrorist
attacks. In a moment of self-criticism, Gulen said Muslims also
have made mistakes causing the spread of this problem. Saying that
acknowledging these mistakes and rectifying them will play a very
important role in solving the problems, Gulen recalled the mass
deportation of Armenians from eastern Turkey during World War I as
an example.
Gulen cited a story of Caliph Umar bin Khattab, who asked a patriarch
in Jerusalem to show him a place to perform his prayer. When the pastor
told him he could pray anywhere in the church, Caliph Umar rejected
this and preferred to pray outside the church. After finishing his
prayer, Umar told patriarch that he deliberately avoided praying in
the church because other Muslims may follow the suit and transform
the church into a mosque.
"This was us," Gulen highlighted. "Either from inside or outside, some
spoiled us, our genes, they changed us, they made us savages." Gulen
recalled famous remarks he made earlier -- a terrorist cannot be a
Muslim and a Muslim cannot be a terrorist -- and said it is impossible
for a Muslim who has fully perceived and digested Islam become a
terrorist and that real Muslims would never intentionally commit an
act of terror and a terrorist cannot be considered a real Muslim.
"Can't a terrorist come out of Muslims?" Gulen asked. "There could be
[one] but they would lose characteristics of a Muslim; they cannot be
called a healthy Muslim," Gulen said in response to his own question.
He said even a war has its own rules and that one cannot fight against
those who don't fight. Whenever the Prophet Muhammad prepared his
troops for a defensive war, Gulen said, he ordered them not to do
anything to those who took refuge in houses of worship, or to women
and children.
He said it is impossible to reconcile the rules of the Prophet Muhammad
with the acts of terrorists. (Today's Zaman) CIHAN
Cihan News Agency (CNA), Turkey
September 26, 2013 Thursday
ISTANBUL (CIHAN)- Turkish Islamic scholar Fethullah Gulen has
unequivocally rejected terrorist attacks and bombings committed in the
name of Islam, adding that a terrorist cannot be branded a real Muslim.
In a speech he delivered to his students at his house in Pennsylvania,
Gulen spoke at length about attacks on behalf of Islam, stressing
that a real Muslim could never commit a terrorist attack. His speech
was published on Thursday on herkul.org, a website that frequently
broadcasts his messages.
Gulen's remarks came shortly after a deadly shooting and hostage
crisis in a Nairobi mall in which more than 60 people were killed.
This week has been particularly bloody across the Middle East,
with church and mosque bombings in Iraq and Pakistan killing scores
of civilians.
"The most brutal scenes are at play in the name of Islam in a wide
geography from Syria to Pakistan and Kenya," Gulen recalled, noting
that perpetrators bomb mosques and churches, slitting throats after
alleging that the Quran, holy book of Muslims, orders it. Gulen said
the picture in the Middle East is also a shame for Muslims and that
it stains the face of Islam.
Gulen, who is commonly known as Hojaefendi by his followers, said the
terrorist attacks attributed to Muslims are sometimes being undertaken
by what he called "raw souls" who fail to fathom Islam with its depth,
sometimes by extreme provocation of feelings of young men, sometimes
by people disguised as Muslims and sometimes by criminals under the
influence of drugs.
Gulen stated that everything is being codified in Islam during both
times of peace and war. He said while individuals cannot declare
war by themselves and decide to kill a person during the peace time,
those during a hot war also cannot kill women, children or the elderly.
According to Islam, he said people also absolutely cannot attack houses
of worship of others even during war. "Considering all these things,
it is never possible to justify suicide attacks, suicide bombers or
similar terrorist attacks," he underlined.
Gulen said the Prophet Muhammad tolerated exceptionally harsh torture
during his 13-year life in Mecca and that he only prayed for those
who stoned him to find the right path. He said the Prophet Muhammad
never resorted to violence despite all the oppression Muslims suffered
and that the battles of Badr, Uhud and Kandaq were only defensive
in nature.
The Islamic scholar, who is well-known for his inspirational speeches
on interfaith dialogue, said the Prophet Muhammad did his best to
solve issues without shedding blood, breaking hearts or causing the
enmity to unfold. He said his way of settling issues transformed
sworn enemies into his companions, citing Ikrimah ibn Abi Jahl, a
companion of the Prophet and a leading Islamic commander, who was
initially one of the chief opponents to the Prophet Muhammad even
during the conquest of Mecca.
Gulen also cited early Islamic scholar Abdullah ibn Abbas as saying
that those who unfairly kill an innocent human will stay in hell
forever and said terrorism is a crime the holy Quran threatens with
the punishment of hell.
"Suicide [bombers] would go to hell forever and they will be called
to account for innocent people they killed," Gulen added.
Saying that conflicts of interest, party and clique rivalry,
anti-democratic implementations and human rights abuses in the Islamic
geography have resulted in many "dissatisfied groups," Gulen said some
of these groups are ignorant enough to be fooled by "certain services"
and use them for their goals.
Gulen said he doesn't see violence perpetrated in the name of Islam
as one-sided, also blaming Muslims for the degradation of values
which are then being used by others for terrorism purposes.
Gulen said lack of spiritual and fundamental humanitarian values are
at the root of ignorance that leads to terrorism and that some youth
are being manipulated and exploited to "be the actors of scenarios
written by others."
He also urged those who have a representative position to be cautious
in their actions and speeches and that calling on people to destroy
churches means inviting others to destroy mosques and bomb mosque
attendants.
"What you sow is what you reap," Gulen said. "People should sow
good things."
Gulen pointed to what he described as "world paranoia" in reference to
Islamophobia, and said it has been renewed due to recent terrorist
attacks. In a moment of self-criticism, Gulen said Muslims also
have made mistakes causing the spread of this problem. Saying that
acknowledging these mistakes and rectifying them will play a very
important role in solving the problems, Gulen recalled the mass
deportation of Armenians from eastern Turkey during World War I as
an example.
Gulen cited a story of Caliph Umar bin Khattab, who asked a patriarch
in Jerusalem to show him a place to perform his prayer. When the pastor
told him he could pray anywhere in the church, Caliph Umar rejected
this and preferred to pray outside the church. After finishing his
prayer, Umar told patriarch that he deliberately avoided praying in
the church because other Muslims may follow the suit and transform
the church into a mosque.
"This was us," Gulen highlighted. "Either from inside or outside, some
spoiled us, our genes, they changed us, they made us savages." Gulen
recalled famous remarks he made earlier -- a terrorist cannot be a
Muslim and a Muslim cannot be a terrorist -- and said it is impossible
for a Muslim who has fully perceived and digested Islam become a
terrorist and that real Muslims would never intentionally commit an
act of terror and a terrorist cannot be considered a real Muslim.
"Can't a terrorist come out of Muslims?" Gulen asked. "There could be
[one] but they would lose characteristics of a Muslim; they cannot be
called a healthy Muslim," Gulen said in response to his own question.
He said even a war has its own rules and that one cannot fight against
those who don't fight. Whenever the Prophet Muhammad prepared his
troops for a defensive war, Gulen said, he ordered them not to do
anything to those who took refuge in houses of worship, or to women
and children.
He said it is impossible to reconcile the rules of the Prophet Muhammad
with the acts of terrorists. (Today's Zaman) CIHAN