Here yet again we see Muslims condemning an act of jihad terrorism — in this case, the murder of James Foley by jihadis of the Islamic State — without addressing the Qur’anic case justifying the atrocity. Consequently, it is hard to see how any member or supporter of the Islamic State could watch this video and be convinced that what the Islamic State is doing is wrong on Islamic grounds. Most of it is just platitudes.
There is one scrap of a substantive argument when Maher Hathout says that Islam forbids the killing of innocent people. Islamic State jihadis, however, would almost certainly respond that Foley was not innocent: he was an Infidel and a citizen of a state that the Islamic State has already announced it is at war with. The Islamic State has already warned that it would target American civilians; this would “strike terror into the hearts of the enemies of Allah” (Qur’an 8:60). They can point to this hadith: “It is reported on the authority of Sa’b b. Jaththama that the Prophet of Allah (may peace be upon him), when asked about the women and children of the polytheists being killed during the night raid, said: They are from them.” (Sahih Muslim 4321) “They are from them” — i.e., the women and children of the polytheists are from the polytheists and can lawfully be killed.
Ironically, Hathout warns against people who quote Qur’an verses to show the Islamic State’s justification for their action. He says that people who quote the Qur’an in this way don’t understand the nuances of Arabic or Islam. He does not, however, quote a single Qur’an verse himself to show how the Islamic State is wrong. Nor does he give us any specific explanation of how the Islamic State or the “Islamophobes” who are supposedly all over the media are misquoting the Qur’an and misrepresenting Islam.
The other substantive point comes in a statement from Hamas-linked CAIR: “The Geneva Conventions, the Quran – Islam’s revealed text – and the traditions (hadith) of the Prophet Muhammad all require that prisoners not be harmed in any way.” And yet a manual of Islamic law has this:
As for the captives, the amir [ruler] has the choice of taking the most beneficial action of four possibilities: the first, to put them to death by cutting their necks; the second, to enslave them and apply the laws of slavery regarding their sale and manumission; the third, to ransom them in exchange for goods or prisoners; and fourth, to show favor to them and pardon them. Allah, may he be exalted, says, “When you encounter those [infidels] who deny [Islam] then strike [their] necks” (Qur’an sura 47, verse 4) (Abu’l-Hasan al-Mawardi, The Laws of Islamic Governance).
Hamas-linked CAIR does not explain how Qur’an 47:4 does not justify the beheading of Infidels. Nor do they explain how al-Mawardi and other Islamic jurists got the idea that killing prisoners was an option permissible in Islam. And so here again, there is nothing in CAIR’s statement that would change the mind of a supporter of the Islamic State. And without that, these condemnations are worthless.
Note also that appearing in the MPAC video is Jamal Badawi, an unindicted co-conspirator in a Hamas jihad terror funding case.