by Raymond Ibrahim
After much equivocation designed for Western consumption, the Grand Imam of Al-Azhar lays bare Islam’s rules governing jihad against non-Muslims.
Even while trying to show how moderate Islam is, the sheikhs of Islam cannot help but prove the opposite—how radical it is.
Much of the Muslim world recently celebrated its prophet Muhammad’s birthday (which fell on August 25 this year per the lunar calendar). During a high-profile celebration in Egypt, which was attended by President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi, Sheikh al-Tayeb, the Grand Imam of Al Azhar—arguably the most prestigious Islamic institution in the world—extolled the many virtues of Muhammad.
At one point, however, and according to a Coptic Solidarity Exclusive,
Al-Tayeb contrasted what he described as the ethics governing warfare in the Prophet’s time with the wars of the twenty-first century. Humanity today, he said, is suffering from a continuing succession of wars and bloodshed, the destruction of homes and hospitals, the targeting of children, women and the sick, and the breaking of pledges and agreements. He maintained that there was no comparison between the brutality of contemporary wars and what he described as the justice governing warfare in the Prophet’s era.
Turning specifically to the ethics of war in Islam, the Grand Imam stressed that fighting in Islam is not intended to force people to embrace the religion or compel them to adopt a particular social or economic system. Its purpose, he said, is solely to repel aggression.
He then proceeded to cite the same handful of Koran verses that all apologists for Islam cite, including “Fight in the cause of Allah those who fight you, but do not transgress” (2:190), and “There is no compulsion in religion” (2:256).
In short, the entire gist of the Grand Imam’s message was that Islam is a religion of peace, and that it only engages in war when forced to—that is, in self-defense.
So far there is hardly anything remarkable here.
But the imam continued by providing, in detail, the rules of war that govern Muslims once war is upon them. The Coptic Solidarity Exclusive continues: