QandO: Feeling a little frustrated and oppressed? Blow something up!

March 17, 2004

Feeling a little frustrated and oppressed? Blow something up!
Posted by McQ

Dale Franks points us to a fascinating web site, Ask-Imam.com. Being relatively ignorant of the details of Islamic faith, I became hooked immediately reading through dozens of questions in a short period of time. They cover every aspect of life and believe me, there's plenty to discuss. These are questions posed by “believers” and the curious asking for clarification and/or validation, but also instruction.

Speaking of instruction, I ran across this one:

If it is haraam to commit suicide bombings?
How can suicide bombings be accepted, knowing that palestinians can use other methods to hurting the enemies without killing themselves?

Kindly refer below our standard reply to similar queries.

Mufti Ebrahim Desai
FATWA DEPT.

Q: What is your opinion on the suicide bombers in Palestine?

A: If a community is oppressed and denied its basic human rights, it is permissible for them to fight against the oppressors and free themselves from such oppression. It is permissible for them to engage in Jihaad - risking their lives in the hope of saving themselves from oppression.

The people of Palestine are the most oppressed people and live in constant fear by the rule of the Jewish oppressors. Their extreme frustration and hardships have led them to behave likewise - to resort to suicide bombings.

Assuming the suicide bombing is evil but this evil is opposed by a greater evil for which there is no adequate substitute, therefore, their act will also be justified as lesser of the two evils in terms of the Shari'ah

Note a few things in the answer. To “justify” suicide bombing, all that is required is “oppression” and a feeling of ‘frustration’. Frustration from not getting what you’ve determined to be your just due, obviously (aren't we all frustrated then, since few of us have what we feel to be our just due?). Oppression, I suppose, then as the result of that frustration (seems fairly easy to become oppressed, doesn't it?).

So now that you’re frustrated and obviously oppressed, you are granted the right, by this religion, to “resort to suicide bombing”. And its justified, because it is the “lesser of two evils” ... oppression and frustration being much more evil.

A religion that justifies murder as the lesser of two evils?

Am I missing something here?

Extend the logic, now, to Spain. The west is oppressive. Iraq has frustrated the faithful.

BOOM!

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Comments

I'll try not to break my arm patting myself on the back, but I pointed Dale to it:

Here
and here
and here.

And yes, the 'read random fatwa' button rules.

Posted by: Chris at March 19, 2004 04:47 PM