Here we go again. From The Brainerd (MN) Daily Dispatch via MSNBC, with thanks to Nicolei:
Mick Scott, comparative religion instructor at Central Lakes College, said the Muslim extremists who strap bombs to their chests do not represent the true Islamic faith.
“Islam can be compared to the Muslim terrorists as Christianity can be compared to the KKK,” Scott said.
Very well, Mr. Scott. Can you then please explain to me why Muslim proponents of those who “strap bombs to their chests” invoke this verse of the Qur’an: “Allah hath purchased of the believers their persons and their goods; for theirs (in return) is the garden (of Paradise): they fight in His cause, and slay and are slain” (9:111)?
Is this not, Mr. Scott, a clear promise of Paradise to those who “slay and are slain” in the cause of Allah? Is it not, then, reasonable for Muslims to believe that if they “strap bombs to their chests” and explode them in crowds of infidels, that they will be rewarded with Paradise?
Please note, Mr. Scott, that I did not originate this exegesis. The venerable Qur’anic commentator Ibn Kathir, whose writings are widely read in the Muslim world, says that this verse means “that whether they were killed or they kill the enemy, or both, then Paradise will be theirs.” He quotes a Hadith: “Allah has made a promise to the person who goes out (to fight) in his cause; ‘And nothing compels him to do so except Jihad in My Cause and belief in My Messengers.’ He will either be admitted to Paradise if he dies, or compensated by Allah, either with a reward or booty if He returns him to the home with he departed from.” (Fath Al-Bari 6:254 and Sahih Muslim 3:1496).
So who are Muslims and what do they believe?…
Scott said the original Islamic concept of Jihad is to promote Islam, no matter what obstacles stand in the way. Extremists have taken that further to say anyone who is a non-believer must be killed.
“That is not what Muhammad intended,” Scott said.
Correct, Mr. Scott! He intended that they either be killed or “feel themselves subdued” (cf. Qur’an 9:29) as dhimmis, subject to all the discrimination and harassment mandated by Islamic law for the subject peoples.