ISIS Just Proved It Has Nothing To Do With Islam
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It isn’t Islam that recruits for the Islamic State.
Photo from abcnews.go.com
By: Claire Bernish / (ANTIMEDIA)
United States — While the terrorist group known as the Islamic State
(or ISIS, ISIL, or Daesh) might be a formidable and abhorrent foe, one
mischaracterization of these terrorists — repeated far too often by
politicians and many in the media — must be put to rest. The Islamic
State has nothing to do with Islam — no matter what the group chooses to
call itself.
For nearly perfect evidence of this fact, consider
how many brutal massacres occurred during the Islamic holy month of
Ramadan — a period of spiritual reflection, peace, and restraint during
which Muslims fast from dawn until dusk and are encouraged more than
ever to refrain from behavior that would be considered sinful. Islam, as
many major religions, already teaches peace as a rule — and the Qur’an
states that killing one person would be akin to slaying all of humanity.
Yet the so-called Islamic State has slaughtered
thousands over the two years since it declared itself a caliphate — and
Ramadan certainly didn’t halt its murderous rampage.
On June 21, Daesh claimed responsibility for a
suicide car bombing just across the border from Jordan in Syria, which
killed six Jordanians — four border guards, a national security
official, and a civil defense worker. Called a “cowardly terrorist
attack” by the government of Jordan, CNN reported, the bombing led to border closures with Syria in the north and northeast.
A series of suicide bombings in Lebanon on June 27
left six people dead and at least 19 others injured, and also forced
border closures. After one terrorist blew himself up outside a home in
the village of Qaa, three others waited at the scene for help to arrive
and then detonated themselves in the gathering crowd.
According to a statement by the Lebanese Army, cited by CNN, “the four suicide belts used by the terrorists contained 2 kg of explosives material and metal balls (ball bearings).”
Though Daesh hasn’t officially claimed responsibility for the attack, security analysts reportedly claimed it bore the hallmarks of the group.
At least 43 people were killed — among them, a child —
and more than 30 wounded in four suicide bombings in Mukalla, a major
port city in Yemen, on June 28. Though the attackers targeted military
and government buildings, the child happened to be passing by as one of
the bombs detonated. Amaq, the unofficial media agency for Daesh,
claimed the group had specifically targeted a “joint security base,” CNN
reported.
According to
the Associated Press, “officials said two suicide bombers and other
militants carried out at least seven simultaneous attacks in Mukalla
targeting intelligence offices, army barracks and checkpoints. In one of
the attacks, a bomb was concealed in a box of food brought to soldiers
at a checkpoint to break their dawn-to-dusk Ramadan fast.”
Also on the 28th, Istanbul’s Ataturk Airport came
under attack when at “least three people with guns and suicide vests
targeted the arrivals and departures areas, where they sprayed travelers
with bullets and then detonated their explosives in a rampage that
lasted just a few minutes but killed dozens and injured more than 250
more,” as the Guardian described.
Though Daesh hasn’t officially claimed responsibility, Turkish officials believe
the group was behind it — particularly since one attacker began
shooting and blew himself up, while others waited for the ensuing chaos
and mass exodus to do the same, which is a typical tactic of the Islamic
State.
After intense investigations, Turkey today charged
17 more people in connection with the massacre, bringing to 30 the
total number now in custody. Akhmed Chatayev, a Chechen believed to be a
recruiter for Daesh, has been named by Turkish officials as the attack’s primary organizer.
Beginning Friday night, gunmen in Bangladesh stormed
Holey Artisan Bakery, a cafe popular with expats, taking more than 30
hostages before Bangladeshi troops performed a rescue operation.
Attackers managed to kill two police officers and 20 hostages during the
11-hour ordeal before authorities shot all six, saving at least 13
hostages in the process.
“Everyone else ran away but you couldn’t make it,” one of the gunmen told
a store employee known simply as Miraj the Baker, before strapping him
with explosives and gas canisters to be used as a human shield. “That
means God wants you to die.”
Daesh claimed responsibility for the attack.
On Saturday night, a suicide truck bomb in a busy
marketplace in Baghdad’s Karrada neighborhood killed 200 people and
injured at least 175 more — and again, Daesh claimed responsibility.
Considered one of the worst single attacks in the
wartorn country in years, Daesh chose the marketplace as Muslims would
be preparing for Eid al-Fitr — the day marking the end of Ramadan.
“As people congregated, shopped and watched soccer matches,” CNN described, “the bomb-laden truck plowed into a building housing a coffee shop, stores and a gym. Firefighters rescued wounded and trapped people in adjacent buildings.”
Yet another wave of attacks occurred in Saudi Arabia over the weekend, and though at least two failed, one attacker detonated his explosive belt and killed four people at one of Islam’s holiest sites, Al-Masjid an-Nabawi Mosque — the place where the Prophet Muhammad is buried.
Officials believe Daesh carried out the attacks, though no one has yet claimed responsibility.
It is imperative to note Daesh purposefully chose
Ramadan to unleash its hellish fury on scores of innocent victims — who,
incidentally, were mostly Muslim. These terrorists do not hold to the
tenets of the faith they boastfully — laughably — co-opted to name
themselves. Islam is not a hateful, murderous religion, no matter what
ignorant politicians and their ilk would have you believe — but that’s
also precisely what Daesh wants you to think.
If we blame Islam and its adherents for giving rise
to Daesh — instead of geopolitical wrangling carried out by the United
States — then Muslims become victims of scaremongering, prejudice, and
bigotry, leaving them alienated among a society normally leaving them in
peace. Too much abuse from the ignorant masses forces some to
radicalize and search out groups sharing those frustrations.
It isn’t Islam that recruits for the Islamic State. It’s ignorance.
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