Shah Rukh Khan is like many Muslims around the world who see that jihad terrorist acts are being carried out by Muslims in the name of Islam and in reference to Islamic teachings, but because they themselves are nominal and/or cultural Muslims who have no deep acquaintance with the teachings that the terrorists invoke, they assume that the jihadists are incorrect about Islam or operating in bad faith.
His heart is in the right place. Unfortunately, his assertion will make little headway in convincing his fellow Muslims that today’s jihads are illegitimate, since it is based on a statement that is technically true but false in a larger sense.
Says Khan: “There’s nothing Islamic about terrorism. I am a Muslim, I read the Koran, but nowhere in the holy text does it say you can get ‘jannat’ (paradise) from ‘jihad.'” This is strictly accurate — but there is a verse in which Allah promises Paradise to those who “fight” (here, a form of the word qitaal, combat) in his cause, and “slay and are slain.”
“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…” — Qur’an 9:111
“Bollywood star says Mumbai attackers un-Islamic: report,” from AFP, December 7 (thanks to Steve):
MUMBAI (AFP) — Bollywood legend Shah Rukh Khan said the extremists who attacked Mumbai were un-Islamic, as his fellow Muslim actors announced they would not celebrate an upcoming religious festival.
“There’s nothing Islamic about terrorism. I am a Muslim, I read the Koran, but nowhere in the holy text does it say you can get ‘jannat’ (paradise) from ‘jihad’,” he was quoted as saying by the Sunday Times of India.