“For Peace”

“For Peace”

by Michael Copeland

“For peace to reign in the land, all Christians must convert to Islam. Allah has tasked all Muslims in Quran 9:29 to continue to attack Jews and Christians who refuse to believe in him and his messenger, Prophet Mohammed.”

Thus spoke the Nigerian Abu Qaqa, of “The People of the Prophet’s Tradition For Preaching and Jihad”, the Muslim group locally nicknamed Boko Haram, meaning “Western education is forbidden”. Is he mistaken about Islam’s task? No. This is no “distortion”, or “warped interpretation”. Here is the verse he cited, Koran 9:29:

“Fight those who do not believe in Allah or in the Last Day and who do not consider unlawful what Allah and his Messenger have made unlawful and who do not adopt the religion of truth [Islam] from those who were given the Scripture [Jews and Christians] — [fight] until they give the jizyah [extortion tax] with willing submission.”

The word translated “fight” means “fight to the death, kill”, Arabic speaker Ashraf Ramelah, of Voice of the Copts, explains. Abu Hamza, late of Finsbury Park mosque, confirms that “When you fight, you fight to kill, you kill” (BBC News, 7 Feb. 2006).

About fifty Christians in the fearfully persecuted Jos region took refuge in the home of their pastor. This was in July 2012. Armed members of “People… for… Jihad” came, entering the home and opening fire: then they burnt the house. The death toll later rose to sixty-three. The Rev. Dachollom Datiri, vice president of the Church of Christ in Nigeria, said:

“Fifty of our church members were killed in the church building where they had fled to take refuge. They were killed alongside the wife of the pastor and children.”

“It’s been a long-term thing planned by the Boko Haram. This is a jihadist movement with the agenda to Islamise the country. It is a jihad, a religious war against Christians for refusing to embrace Islam. So, they are using terrorism as a weapon. That is the reason you see that the target of their attacks are Christians and our churches.”

As both aggressor and victim make quite clear, Islamic Jihad is the motivation. The Koran, which is part of Islamic Law, commands (8:12):

“Strike terror into the hearts of those who disbelieve.”

Ragab Hilal Hamida, Egyptian MP, said in the Egyptian Parliament, January 2006:

“The Quran directly commands us to commit terrorism, so why are we afraid of it?” (www.americanthinker.com/2009/06/nonie_darwish_an_Arab_for_isra.html)

Yusuf al Qaradawi, spiritual adviser to the Muslim Brotherhood, explained:

“No peace can be made between us [Muslims] and the non-believers. This what our holy book says. This what Allah says.” (www.watson37.com)

Ali Gomaa, Grand Mufti of Egypt, the highest Muslim religious authority in the world, makes the obligation clear:

“Muslims must kill non-believers wherever they are unless they convert to Islam.” (Citizen Warrior, October 2010)

The commentator below, however, seeks to deflect attention away from Islam’s command to strike terror. He is Muslim, and as such is authorised by Islam’s “Permissible Lying” to use deception in its cause (Manual of Islamic Law r8.2). The deflection is a ploy, but one eagerly bought by Western press and leaders: he clouds the issue with a whole flock of Bedouin-approved fashionable scapegoats. This is standard practice, and predictable. Here is Prince Ghazi bin Muhammad of Jordan, chairman of the Royal Aal al-Bayt Institute for Islamic Thought (RABIIT):

“From what we have witnessed, it seems to me that the primary causes of the current tension and conflict in Nigeria are not inherently based in religion but rather, rooted in a complex matrix of political, social, ethnic, economic, and legal problems, among which the issue of justice — or the lack of it — looms large as a common factor.”

These are no goats. They are red herrings.

From well before these events, and since, there has been a stream of bombings, shootings, church burnings, and night attacks on Christian villages, with a huge death toll. The “People… for… Jihad”, evidently with external funding, are extremely well-armed, mobile, and supplied with military uniforms to deceive their victims. Some ten Nigerian generals have been exposed as colluding with them, hence the pitifully inadequate defence measures. Boarding schools have been attacked by night after their soldier guards “melted away”, boys killed, and hundreds of girls taken captive, to be sold as slaves. Bombs have been detonated at crowded bus stations and markets. Atrocities continue week after week. Nigeria is the worst area for persecution of Christians. Deborah Peter, 15, a survivor of one of these massacres, explained:

“My family was targeted by Boko Haram because we are Christians. My dad was a pastor. …. My dad refused to deny his faith and rebuilt his church. That is why they killed him — because he is a Christian.” (www.ibtimes.com/boko-haram-survivor-deborah-peter-describes-militants-attack-her-home-they-told-me-be-1588204)

The Jihad continues. It is ongoing, not just in Nigeria, but Sudan, Ethiopia, Burma, Thailand, the Philippines, and so on. Six centuries ago scholar Ibn Khaldun wrote, concerning Jihad:

“Holy war is a religious duty …. because of (the obligation to) convert everybody to Islam either by persuasion or by force.” (berkleycenter.georgetown.edu/resources/quotes/ibn-khaldun-on-holy-war-as-religious-duty?q=conflict)

“Peace,” said Sayeed Qutb, the co-founder of the Muslim Brotherhood, “is when the whole world is Muslim”. That is the objective. George W. Bush assured everyone that “Islam is peace”. As Nigeria’s “People… for… Jihad” explain, this Jihad is “for peace to reign in the land”.

References:

For previous essays by Michael Copeland, see the Michael Copeland Archives.

3 thoughts on ““For Peace”

  1. You’ve got it wrong Mr Copeland. Islam is the religion of peace, the British Parliament said so.

  2. Africans killing other africans is never going to arouse much indignation in the West, regardless of their religion or nationality. It is sad that innocents get slaughtered in their wars but this is a problem they need to sort out for themselves. Eventually the african christians might realize that their fight with islam is existential and they will then do whatever is necessary to de-islamize the continent. But I am not holding my breath waiting for that to happen.

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