By Ayatollah Abdolhamid Masoumi Tehrani

Where is the compassion in Islam? And how is Islam a merciful religion? How can you defend Islam in the face of groups like Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL)?

Let us ponder the words of Professor Richard Dawkins: “Many of us saw religion as harmless nonsense. Beliefs might lack all supporting evidence but, we thought, if people needed a crutch for consolation, where's the harm? September 11 changed all that.”

As a Muslim who has studied religion, I ask Muslims: if the one and only religion that is acceptable to God is Islam (Koran 3:85) and if He has promised that Islam will prevail over all other religions (Koran 9:33), then the inevitable question is, “on what basis should we not join groups such as ISIL who strive to fulfill His promise?”

Let us first find out why such fundamentalist groups consider themselves “Islamic” and “Muslims”.

Muslim fundamentalists consider themselves the followers of the true religion that God revealed to the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH), in Koran 47:2: “but those who believe and work deeds of righteousness, and believe in the (revelation) sent down to Muhammad — for it is the truth from their Lord — he will remove from them their ills and improve their condition;” and Koran 47:5: “soon will he guide them and improve their condition;” and Koran 47:6: “and admit them to the garden which he has announced for them”. Like many of their co-religionists, they believe that the world today has become a world plundered by Western nations, a materialistic and hedonistic, world separated from God and religiosity, a world of disbelief and unbelief, of a permissive and promiscuous society, of moral laxity, in which homosexuality and sexual acts out of marriage are acceptable, and a world of humanism and secularism. They see a world of blasphemies and false deities.

They consider the “fighting” verses of the Koran more important than the verses that teach “compassion and mercy”. They have learned from the Koran: “fight in the cause of Allah, and know that Allah heareth and knoweth all things” (Koran 2:244); “O prophet! Rouse the believers to the fight. If there are twenty amongst you, patient and persevering, they will vanquish two hundred. If a hundred, they will vanquish a thousand of the unbelievers. For these are a people without understanding” (Koran 8:65); “O prophet! strive hard against the unbelievers and the hypocrites, and be firm against them. Their abode is hell, an evil refuge indeed” (Koran 9:73, and 9:66); “O ye who believe! fight the unbelievers who gird you about, and let them find firmness in you. And know that Allah is with those who fear him” (Koran 9:123); “And slay them wherever ye catch them, and turn them out from where they have turned you out; for tumult and oppression are worse than slaughter” (Koran 2:191); “And fight them on until there is no more tumult or oppression, and there prevail justice and faith in Allah” (Koran 2:193). Thus it has been that for years Muslim fundamentalists have busied themselves to do battle, citing God’s command: “Against them make ready your strength to the utmost of your power, including steeds of war, to strike terror into (the hearts of) the enemies, of Allah and your enemies, and others besides, whom ye may not know, but whom Allah doth know. Whatever ye shall spend in the cause of Allah, shall be repaid unto you, and ye shall not be treated unjustly” (Koran 8:60).

Muslim fundamentalists believe they are fighting in the cause of Allah. Their strategy is apparent in the video of the barbaric murder of James Foley and others. They propagate the audacity of their butchery and cruelty far and wide on social media to instill fear in the hearts of their enemy.

Fighting with non-conformists and dissenters, and demonstrating religious intolerance towards non-Muslims living in their lands is a byproduct of an absolutist and exclusivist culture of religious interpretation that has been unable to modify itself. This culture has perpetuated itself through the transmission of a non-critical mode of learning between and within generations. I ask this question from the Muslim world: What reason do you have for your claim that ISIL or the Taliban or Boko Haram is un-Islamic? They are doing things that have been done routinely and frequently in the history of Islam: stoning to death, amputating fingers and hands, slave trading, enforcement of the full hejab, fighting manifestations of modernity amongst the youth, harassing non-Muslims to compel them to accept Islam, destroying the holy places of non-Muslims, and most importantly, reviving the command to fight infidels and unbelievers.

The violence and crisis now facing the Muslim world are signs of a critical historical trend. All Muslims and, more specifically, all Muslim thinkers and scholars, must reflect on this trend. Instead of blaming others, they must look for the causes of the current crisis, and for the roots of the sectarian wars in Islamic societies. If the foundational principles of a religion are love of the human race, peace, and good deeds, then shouldn’t the fundamentalist followers of such a religion be known more for their philanthropy? Shouldn’t they be at the forefront of peace movements, tolerance, and peaceful co-existence? Shouldn’t their beautiful and kind deeds be a testament to their beliefs? What is it in “religion” or its meaning that makes extremists become violent and makes them believe that cruelty is something spiritual or Divine? They murder innocent people to get close to God! Why is it that the conduct of all fundamentalist Muslim groups and governments, whether Shia or Sunni, are pretty much alike?

As religion enters society, it becomes a historical phenomenon. Its teachings and laws find meaning and truth in the context of time. We have no choice but to accept that the severe laws of Islam pertain to a place and time in the past, and strive to promote the spirit of peace and reconciliation that is prevalent in the manifold compassionate and merciful aspects of Islam. Islam stresses the importance of reason, and does not allow imitation (taqlid) in the principles of faith. It accepts change and evolution in society and emphasizes reform and innovation. Muslim clerics have a moral obligation to demonstrate to the youth that it was adherence to science, to the principles of reason, firm belief in the brotherhood of the human race, and actions in sync with the exigencies of time that led to the glorious advances of Muslims in the past.

In 2006, Pope Benedict XVI gave an insightful and illuminating talk about Faith and Reason at the University of Regensburg. His citation of a conversation between Manuel II and a Persian scholar in the 14th century CE shows the truth of the fact that is now clear to us today. Let me cite Manuel II’s response to his Muslim interlocutor, which the Pope quoted: “Show me just what Mohammad brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached.” He is talking about the followers and successors of a Prophet who failed to understand the true spirit of His struggles and used His battles as an excuse for expansionism and domination, and whose atrocities were credited the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) Himself.

But alas! The leaders and statesmen of Islamic societies and the generality of Muslims failed to tolerate a scholarly critique of their history and culture, and did not learn from it. Instead, they poured onto the streets, yelling and screaming that they had been offended and insulted, and demanded an apology from the Pope. Had they not read that “those who listen to the word, and follow the best [meaning] in it: those are the ones whom Allah has guided, and those are the ones endued with understanding (Koran 39:18)?

Why is it that mainstream Muslims are not insulted and offended by the savagery and the violent atrocities that fundamentalist governments and groups perpetrate against humanity in the Middle East in the name of Islam and God? Why don’t mainstream Muslims rise up against fundamentalism and reject it completely and wholeheartedly? Why don’t they expel the fundamentalists? Is not the killing of thousands of innocent children and the elderly, and the enslavement of women, all in the name of God and Islam, worth lamentation and decrying? Is life and property really so worthless in Islam? It is regrettable that even the president of the Islamic Republic of Iran, himself a Shia Muslim cleric, in stating his government’s opposition to ISIL, draws his red line at ISIL’s desecration of the Shia Holy sites, thereby implying that the slaughter of Christians and Yazidis and the destruction and confiscation of their property is unimportant or less important.

Some consider ISIL a product of the intelligence and security agencies of Western powers. Let us study what the spiritual and political leader of the Islamic Revolution of Iran, Ayatollah Khomeini, said: “The fact that the Koran instructs us to ‘fight them until there is no more tumult or oppression’ is actually God’s greatest mercy to humanity. Those who think that life, eating and drinking, and worldly comfort is mercy; or those who maintain that as Islam is a religion of mercy, it should not kill people or have the law of retribution – such people are mistaken. They should realize that those who have a true understanding of the root causes of misery and misfortune know that the merciful aspects of killing will be made manifest in the next world, after death.”

I am thankful to Pope Benedict XVI for giving such a wonderful gift to all thoughtful Muslims: “The decisive statement in this argument against violent conversion is this: not to act in accordance with reason is contrary to God’s nature”. Isn’t it time for the religious leaders of Muslim societies to resort to reason and wisdom in their crusade, learn the love of mankind from God, and be in the forefront of efforts to build a new world of peaceful co-existence. Let them learn that “if your religion is worth killing for, please start with yourself”.

It is a known fact that there are streaks of violence in all religious societies. The Crusaders of 1097 CE were no better than present day Muslim fundamentalist groups, even though their deeds had no basis in the teachings of Jesus Christ. By the same token, the violent passages in our Holy Book are in need of re-consideration and re-interpretation. As a Muslim believer in the mercifulness of the One True God, I can affirm and confirm that the conquest of Iran, The Levant, Egypt, Ethiopia, and Jerusalem in the early days of Islam after the death of the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) and the forced conversion of the inhabitants to Islam was not grounded in any Divine Writ. It was grounded in Arab racism and their desire for conquest, expansion, and the domination of non-Arab peoples.

The current trend of extremism and violence in the Islamic world has made me weary and frustrated. The silence of Muslim clerics in the face of such atrocities truly frightens me. Why are Muslim scholars, clerics, and jurists silent? How is it that they cry to high heaven for the crimes of Israel against Gaza but they are silent observers of the crimes of Muslim fundamentalist groups and governments? Isn’t this because they have no sound and rational argument against the Muslim fundamentalists? Isn’t it because the Muslim fundamentalists and extremists have learned to behave the way they do from their elders, their clerics, jurists, and scholars? Isn’t it because we Muslims lack the courage and intellectual honesty to critique our own Islamic history and the conduct of our forefathers during the early days of Islam? Isn’t it true that we have always answered criticism with the sword of takfir and accusations of apostasy? Are Muslim clerics ready and willing to accept the critique of their history? Are they ready to enter into a civil discourse and dialogue without resorting to the sword?

Earlier, I cited the killing verses. Muslim clerics cannot escape them. Either these verses pertain to a particular time and place in the distant past, or such verses are for all times and for all places, in which case it is evident that such an understanding is contrary to human dignity and unbecoming of the Divine Providence.

Muslim clerics must realize that respecting the human rights of all human beings is a sublime human virtue. Humanity will judge Islam and the Muslims by our willingness to protect the human rights of all. As a Muslim scholar and a Muslim cleric, I proclaim that Islam and the teachings of Islam have suffered as a result of the conquests of empires and dynasties that have acted in the name of Islam, but buried the spirit of compassion in Islam under the rubble of imperial hubris. Thus it becomes imperative to re-visit and re-explore the real teachings of Islam. If Muslim clerics and scholars do not voluntarily and pro-actively engage in this study, they will eventually be compelled by the force of current trends to do this in a reactive manner.

“Allah commands justice, the doing of good, and liberality to kith and kin, and he forbids all shameful deeds, and injustice and rebellion: he instructs you, that ye may receive admonition” (Koran 5:8).