Osama bin Laden Quotes
Nothing is more sacred than belief except repulsing an enemy who is attacking religion and life.
This quotation illustrates how irrational this terrorist had been. He actually said that religious faith and belief is less important than the repulsing an enemy who is attacking that faith. The result is that he and his followers used methods that were immoral and hateful to the very religion he was “defending”. There is a logical parallel with those in the West who would give up Constitutional Rights to defend the Constitution from enemies.
Osama bin Laden, 1957-2011, International terrorist, Islamic Extremist, Fatwah Urging Jihad Against Americans, February 23, 1998
Sourced by: Eigen's Political and Historical Quotations
This sura is interpreted in two ways. For many modern Muslims it means that in discussions and debates on religion with non-Muslims, do not back off, and if you do it is a religious transgression. Defend the faith. For the fundamentalists and extremists, they interpret the same sura in physical warlike terms. So if there is a fight or battle with disbelievers, retreating from the battlefield is not only cowardice and perhaps a crime under military regulations as it is in the West, but it is in Christian terms a mortal sin for which there one will go to hell. So the most religious of Muslims will fight to the death using this sura as their guidance. On the other hand, Muhammad himself as the military and civil leader of Islam made strategic retreats. In the history of almost all warfare between the West and Muslims—especially the Arabs—courage on the battlefield has been lacking and the Israelis, British, French, Americans, and Hindus of India all observe this military weakness and accounting for this is built into their military doctrine.
This is the type of person who suicide bomber recruiters seek out.
This sura is interpreted by some Islamic fundamentalists as absolution for the killing of a non-Muslim by a Muslim. It was Allah who did it. In a greater sense, critics of Islam observe that many Muslims and Islamic nations have a double standard of responsibility for crimes. If the victims are Muslims, the normal standards of morality hold; but if a non-believer there can be no crime. Terrorism, torture, beheading, mass murder can all be done with a clean conscience if a Muslim takes this interpretation of this sura. Many Muslims however take an opposite point of view. These people do not have the concept of fatalism and lack of free will that others believe. There is a parallel to this problem in Judeo Christian countries although it is less common statistically. But the murder of physicians who perform abortions, and the Jewish radical fundamentalist who killed innocent Arabs at worship are examples of people who viewed themselves as instruments of God in their heinous activities.
This verse has been one of the bases of Muslim theocratic states like Iran’s claim to legitimacy. The word “govern” is sometimes translated as “judge.” In the context of the 6th century, there were no separation of powers as we know them and judging, governing and legislating were melded.
It was a custom for suicide bombers in the Middle East to write or video record last words to loved ones.
Martyrs to most Muslims are people who die when defending Islam, which includes under the definitions of the Muslim Fundamentalists murdering innocent civilians including women and children. In addition to ascending directly to heaven, the male martyr gets 72 virgins in Paradise.
This sura has justified major discrimination against non-Muslims so that they should never appear “preeminent” over the faithful. See for example, {617157} and {617160}.
This is another of the passages from the Koran which critics of Islam point to as the support for terrorism in general and suicide bombing in particular.
Osama bin Mohammed bin Awad bin Laden /oʊˈsɑːmə bɪn ˈlɑːdən/, also rendered Usama bin Ladin, was a founder of the pan-Islamic militant organization al-Qaeda. The group is designated as a terrorist group by the United Nations Security Council, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), the European Union, and various countries.
