"If anyone slew a person" Verse 5:32?

From WikiIslam

Many Muslims and non-Muslims alike, will present you with the following verse which they claim appears in the Qur'an that denounces killing, and equates the slaying of one human life to that of genocide against the entirety of mankind.

This verse (along with the "No Compulsion" verse) is one of the most often-quoted verses purportedly taken from the Qur'an, thus proving the incompatibility of Islam with all forms of terrorism. For example; this verse has made appearances on (among others) The American Muslim^[1] CNN,^[2] and Wisdom Today^[3] websites and blogs. This verse has become so popular among the Islamic apologists and sympathizers that the President of the United States, Barack Hussein Obama, even quotes it in his speech delivered at Cairo University in June 4, 2009.^[4] Visiting the countless pro-Islamic websites, forums and blogs on the net, you are almost guaranteed to be confronted with this verse. But try as you might, you will not find it in a Qur'an, regardless of whether or not you're reading it in its original Arabic or in one of its many English translations. The reason for this is quite simple: the verse in question does not exist. Yes, it may surprise some but deception is permitted in Islam. Therefore the most pious of Muslims can lie with a clear conscience. What you are actually presented with by Muslims is a distorted, out-of-context and wholly misleading paraphrasing of the following verse:

Firstly, this verse clearly does not apply to Muslims but to "the Children of Israel" i.e. the Jews. When read in context with the following two verses, what first appeared on the surface to be a peaceful message, is in actual fact a chilling warning to non-believers:

Also, we find in the highly respected Qur'anic exegesis of Ibn Kathir:

Secondly, the Qur'an is extremely vague in what actions deserve such harsh punishments as execution, crucifixion, the cutting off of hands and feet from opposite sides, or exile from the land. Putting aside the fact that in Islam, no Muslim is allowed to be killed in Qisas (equality in punishment) for the killing of a non-Muslim,^[5] "Murder" is quite straight forward, but what does it mean to "spread mischief"? We can learn the true meaning of "Mischief" as understood by Muslims, by looking to other verses found within the Qur'an. Verse 7:103, for example:

Clearly "mischief" which is also equated to "waging war against Allah and His Messenger" in the very next verse, can and does apply to someone who simply refuses to accept Islam. So what was first offered to us as the hight of moral teachings found in the Qur'an, turns out to be an extremely intolerant call to violence. It is teachings like this which compel 'extremist' Islamic clerics to preach what they preach and Islamic terrorists to kill as they kill. Also in the Islamic world, those who dare propagate their non-Islamic faiths or publicly criticize Islam are usually executed or imprisoned by their governments, under laws against "spreading disorder [mischief] through the land" and apostasy. On the 20th of July, following the 7/7 terrorist attacks on London, Islamic cleric Omar Bakri Mohammed publicly stated "I condemn the killing of innocent people." only to explain two days later "Yes I condemn killing any innocent people, but not any kuffar." One of his followers, Islamic preacher Anjem Choudary, also explained in a BBC interview "when we [Muslims] say 'innocent people' we mean 'Muslims'. As far as non-Muslims are concerned, they have not accepted Islam. As far as we are concerned, that is a crime against God."^[6] Regardless of what the feel-good apologists will tell you, the slaughter of innocent lives is quite blatantly considered by many Muslims as a very pious Islamic practice.

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Can Infidels be Innocents?
• Killing of Non-Muslims is Legitimate - Anjem Choudary on HardTalk (video)

[edit] See also

• Mischief
• Doublespeak
• Forced Conversions - The "No Compulsion" Verse
• Parallelism: Sanhedrin 37a