Jihad
Jihad and Terrorism Confusion:-
The most misunderstood concept in Islam is Jihad, the root of the word Jihad is the Arabic verb “Jahada”, which means “struggle”.
At the individual level, Jihad refers to the inner struggle of being a person of virtue and submitting to Allah in all aspects of life.
Jihad does not mean “holy war”, Jihad is to defend Islam, Muslims, or to liberate land where Muslims are oppressed is certainly allowed and even encouraged in Islam. However any such activities must be done according to the teachings of Islam, on the battlefield, the Islamic perspective is that Jihad is the last resort and it is subject to stringent conditions like (no harming the non-combatants, no killing of prisoners, no cutting down corps, no demolishing buildings)
Islam, a religion of mercy, does not permit terrorism, Allah says in the Holy Quran chapter 60 verse 8:” Allah does not forbid you from those who have neither combated you over religion nor evicted you from your homes-that you deal with them very kindly and equitably. Indeed Allah loves the equitable.”
Islam also clearly forbids “taking the law into your own hands”, trial and punishment must be carried out by a lawful authority and a knowledgeable judge.
Terrorism is a hateful act, it has no religion and no homeland, terrorism kills Muslims and non-Muslims, civilians and non-civilians.
Due to a twisted mixture of biased in the media, it generally portrays any Muslim who fights as a terrorist, regardless of whether they fight justly or unjustly, or whether they are oppressing others or being oppressed, the word “Islam” has become almost synonymous with “terrorism”, when one analyzes the situation, the question that should be asked is: Do the teachings of Islam encourage terrorism? The answer: Certainly not!
It is a distressing fact that many great crimes have been committed by individuals, groups, and countries in the name of Islam, when these atrocities occur, it has somehow become the norm to blame the religion of Islam instead of the perpetrators themselves.
In war, targeting innocent non-combatants is a despicable act that Islam clearly prohibits. Muslims are not allowed to destroy plants and animals, let alone innocent humans.
It is important to distinguish between terrorism and legitimate resistance to occupation, as the two are very different.
Allah demonstrates the seriousness of killing an innocent person and emphasizes the value of human life in clearly the Holy Quran chapter 5 verse 32: “Whoever kills a (human) self-unless it is for (murder of) another self or corruption in the land- it is as if he has killed mankind, all together. And whoever saves a life, it is as if he saves the lives of all mankind, all together.”