Just How Islamic Is The Islamic State - Really?

Every day you hear more about the brutality, it seems.

They seem to think up new things that are more evil and sinister constantly - things like
throwing people overboard on a ship, setting them on fire, crucifixion, murdering
children who break fasts, putting severed heads on posts etc.
They seem to try to outdo themselves - to get the world's attention.
They are, of course, the Islamic State. And they are getting people's attention.
However, with a name like that (Islamic State), one would think they would base what
they do mostly on Islam's beliefs, including their Holy Book, the Qur'an.
But, do they?
This post examines how the Islamic State perverts Islam, and goes against what Islam
believes.
This is significant because of they are not acting in accordance to Islam, then they are
mostly just a barbaric group that should be defeated. False Prophets should not be
followed, as they are leading the masses astray.
This post asserts the Islamic State goes outside of the boundaries of Islam, and
should not legitimately be called an "Islamic State."
What should Islam represent?
Islam has five pillars, including a declaration of one God, prayer, fasting, tithing and a
pilgrimage to Mecca. Muslims are supposed to "submit to the Will of God" and put what
God wants first in their lives.

So, why does the author think the Islamic State falls short of that standard?
Outside of the examples above, the assertion is that the Islamic State is not following
what Islam prescribes. What they do is either outdated, misinterpreted, or just done to
get attention.

Here are some of the ways the "Islamic State" is actually, in fact, unIslamic:
1. Allah is supposed to be All-Merciful and Forgiving
In the widely-accepted 99 Names Of Allah the third one is listed as "All-Merciful."
While "merciful" can be a relative word, it is not clear what this means in Islam. Does it
mean if you make one mistake you should be physically tortured?
Allah gives people a chance to repent, and so should the Islamic State, if they are
following Islam.
According to this post, Allah "calls out to his servants with forgiveness, mercy and
compassion. He knows that man was created weak and is prone to falling into sin."
Is that what the Islamic State goes by?
For a theoretical example of mercy, immediately following the verse some Muslims use
as a call to violence - Qur'an 9:5 - is this verse:
"And if any one of the polytheists seeks your protection, then grant him protection so
that he may hear the words of Allah . Then deliver him to his place of safety. That is
because they are a people who do not know."
- Qur'an 9:6

And, by the way, Qur'an 9:5 is largely believed to be instructions for fighting
polytheists in the Arabian Peninsula during Muhammad's time. It is not a call to
murder innocent civilians now, as explained in this post and this post.
Notice it reads, "any one of the polytheists." (Jews and Christians aren't polytheists,
they are monotheists. These verses refer to Pagans).
Also, in regard to mercy, honor killings go against Islamic teaching.
The lack of forgiveness is un-Islamic.

2. According to the Qur'an, killing one person is like killing all

humankind
Qur'an 5:32 reads,
"We decreed upon the Children of Israel that whoever kills a soul unless for a soul or for
corruption [done] in the land - it is as if he had slain mankind entirely."
Qur'an 6:151 reads,
"And do not kill the soul which Allah has forbidden [to be killed] except by [legal] right.
This has He instructed you that you may use reason."
Legal right means things like the death penalty, which should be done by the proper
officials in the proper legal proceedings.
If this is how Islam views human life, (as precious) then what do Islamic terrorists
represent? They even murder people of their own faith - Shi'ite Muslims.
In the Islamic State there seems to be little, if any, regard for taking human life. This is
despite the Islamic belief that non-combatants shall not be harmed.

In fact, Muslims themselves are the largest victims of Islamic terrorism.

They also seem proud of it.
But how do their actions line up with that verse in the Qur'an?
Killing innocents is un-Islamic.

3. Suicide is forbidden in Islam, and so is killing innocents

Number 2 mentioned this briefly. But, with things like suicide bombings, the Islamic
State is even more egregious. Islamic teaching strictly forbids suicide.
Here is a take on this, from ascertainthetruth.com:
"God is the author of life and it is only He who could take life or tell human beings under
what conditions a life should be taken."
"Suicide is disrespecting God and being ungrateful for the life He has given us."
And some of the common missions of the Islamic State could be considered suicide, or
martyrdom missions. For example, the Charlie Hebdo shooting in France was expected
to end in death for the perpetrators, and they knew it.
So, things like the recent suicide bombing of a Mosque in Kuwait go against Islamic
teaching.
Suicide is not a legitimate way to do anything pertaining to Islam, as that is clear. Qur'an
4:29 says in part, "Do not kill yourselves."
And the innocents they kill in suicide bombing is also forbidden is Islam.
Suicide bombing is un-Islamic.

4. The Islamic State exploits children

They use children, such as the mentally challenged and disabled, in training for suicide
missions, according to this post.
http://www.christianpost.com/news/isis-slaughters-over-3000-men-women-and-childrenin-first-year-of-islamic-caliphate-part-of-apocalypse-ideology-141125/
Is that would God would want?
Brainwashing children into "Jihad" is considered a waste of life by some. The children
might not know any better, and they are not given the chance to use what God gave
them for good.
(For the record, "Jihad" was not even the original term for the concept. It was skewed
from its' original meaning, which is an inward, spiritual battle).
Even Osama bin Laden said one of his biggest regrets in life was spending so much
time destructing things, instead of buiding things up.
The report in the post above showed children aged 8 and under being trained to fight for
the Islamic State.
As another guide of how children should be treated in Islam, the Prophet Muhammad
was known to be fond of children and had seven of his own.
Muhammad played many games with children, joked with them and befriended them.
Muhammad also showed love to children of other religions, as he visited his
Jewish neighbor's son when the child was sick. (Yust)
This should be a guide for how Muslims view children, and not to reduce them.
Exploiting children is un-Islamic.

5. The Qur'an instructs believers not to spread mischief (fear,

coercion, etc..)
Qur'an 2:11 reads,
"And when it is said to them, 'Do not cause corruption on the earth,' they say, 'We are
but reformers.'"
This can be interpreted a lot of ways, but let's think of this:
Some say terrorism is mischief. For example, what is killing innocent civilians and
children in Israel who have nothing to do with public policy? They live in fear of
corruption on a daily basis.
The principle of forbidding the spreading of terror in the land is based on the Quran
(Surah al-Maida 5:3334). Prominent [pdf] Muslim legal scholar Sherman Jackson
writes, The Spanish Maliki jurist Ibn `Abd al-Barr (d. 464/ 1070)) defines the agent of
hiraba as Anyone who disturbs free passage in the streets and renders them unsafe to
travel, striving to spread corruption in the land by taking money, killing people or
violating what God has made it unlawful to violate is guilty of hirabah."
The Islamic State uses criminal activities as a large source of their funding, directing
violating this. The Islamic State wouldn't be able to continue controlling territory without
hirabah.
The idea of terrorism is to spread fear to civilians, which falls under "mischief." This
goes against Islam.
The terror they spread specifically to Christians also goes against Islam.
The Prophet Muhammad himself, in his Promise To Christians, referred to Christians as
"my citizens and my allies against all they hate." He outlined how Christians should be
treated, which was recognized by Caliphs and signed with the Prophetic Seal.

Muhammad goes on to say that ill treatment of Christians is violating God's Covenant.
Thus, burning down churches and beheading Christians are un-Islamic.
Furthermore, in Qur'an 5:82, it states,
"you will find the nearest of them in affection to the believers those who say, 'We
are Christians.'"
Things like these should be used as guidelines for how Muslims treat non-Muslims, and
not terrorism, which is spreading mischief. They are based on Islam's Prophet and
Islam's accepted Holy Book.
Outside of the Islamic State, other Muslims heed this call - the call of how things should
be. The Muslim groups in this post are helping raise money for destroyed black
churches in America. This shows how Muslims can work constructively, as they are
aware of.
In Muhammad's Promise To Christians he states,"their churches are to be respected."
The killing of people because they are Christians goes against what the Qur'an says
and it goes against what the Prophet Muhammad said.
Revenge is not necessarily reforming.
What the Islamic State does appears blasphemous, as well as morally wrong in
spreading mischief.
The spreading of mischief and terror is un-Islamic.

6. Summary
There is an informative post, written by Muslim scholars, that outlines some of the
offenses of Islamic State against Islam. It can be found here:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/09/24/muslim-scholars-islamicstate_n_5878038.html
Some Muslims are so offended by the Islamic State they started a website. It is called
Isisnotinmyname.com
These are everyday people around the world, who are Muslims, that resent the name
terrorists give Islam and they want to speak out. They know, just like others do, that
Islam is meant to be about peace. They are outraged, and they should be.
Islam is not meant to be about violence toward non-Muslims either, according to their
Holy Scripture. Qur'an 2:256 states,
"there shall be no compulsion in acceptance of the religion."
Compulsion means being forced to do something.
In other words, Islam forbids violence to force people to convert to islam. Islams holy
book forbids coercing people into adopting any religion. They have to willingly choose it.
In addition to that the concept of the punishment for apostasy (abandonment of a
religious belief) is deceiving. According to Islam, the punishment is in the next world, not
in this one.
These 5 things above do not seem to accurately represent the five pillars that Islam
represents. And there are certainly more that are not mentioned here.
If you want more reasons the Islamic State is Islamic, it goes on.
Here is how the Prophet Muhammad is believed to have summarized Islam and how
Muslims should behave, according to islamreligion.com:

1)

Actions are judged by the intention behind them.

2)

God is Pure and does not accept anything unless it is pure and God has

commanded the faithful with what He commanded the prophets.

3)

Part of a persons good observance of Islam is to leave aside what does not

concern him.
4)

A person cannot be a complete believer unless he loves for his brother what

he loves for himself.

5)
6)

One should not harm himself or others.

Dont let your focus in this life be to amass worldly gain and God will love you.

Dont be concerned with what people have, and they will love you.
The Islamic State offends number 4 and 5 here is ways that should bring condemnation.
Muhammad also said in a Hadith: It is keeping peace and good relations between
people, as quarrels and bad feelings destroy mankind (Al-Bukhari)
Notice it does not read,"keeping peace and good relations with only Sunni Muslims."
Muhammad also is believed to have said,
Do not be people without minds of your own, saying that if others treat you well you will
treat them well, and that if they do wrong you will do wrong to them. Instead, accustom
yourselves to do good if people do good and not to do wrong (even) if they do evil. (AlTirmidhi)
But Muhammad himself spoke of a day in which people would speak in the name of
Islam, while being False Prophets.

Is the Islamic State who he was referring to?

One other side note: when Islam refers to "fighting the infidels" a number of
scholars have asserted this does not necessarily mean physical combat. An
intellectual or a spiritual fight is still a fight.
Even the term Jihad primarily refers to an inward spiritual battle. It is not primarily about
combat, especially against civilians.
Did you know Islam even prohibits sneak attacks?
What they should do is take a page from their predecessors in the realm of
Islamic States - the Ottoman Empire. That Empire rightly had a tolerance for nonMuslims, as is laid down by Islamic tradition.
And - if that is not enough - this doesn't even count the obvious inhumane, uncivilized
actions of the Islamic State; things like forced pregnancies, human smuggling, slavery,
theft, ransom, etc.
Outrageous.
These actions should not be tolerated. These are crimes against what God created, and
criminal activities are largely their source of income.
As for the accusations they are preparing for the Apocalypse: even bin Laden himself
did not emphasize this and the Islamic State thought their Messiah (Mahdi) would come
within a year of the founding of the "Caliphate." (They were founded in June 2014).
(Interestingly Jesus Christ - or "Isa" - plays a significant role in helping their Mahdi).
Also, it is believed there would be 12 Major Caliphs before the Apocalypse. If you count
the Islamic State and Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, he would be the eighth one.

Other predictions have swarmed about the Apocalypse; nations like the United States
would apparently be defeated near this time.
Indeed, some have called the Islamic State's Apocalyptic mentality "delusional."
Others think their so-called "purifying" of the world before the end times is the work of
God, and not people.
For a group that claims to operate based on Islam they seem to be doing a poor job.
Based on things like Qur'an verses in this post, the islamic State has to go against what
they believe to make a point and that reduces their credibility.
Keep in mind these terrorists will have to face God and account for their actions,
according to both Christianity and Islam. How will they explain what gave them the right
to judge and harm God's Creation, when Allah speaks of forgiveness?
Qur'an 46:9 reads, in part, "I (Muhammad) only follow that which is revealed to me. God
is the only one who can judge humans."
The Islamic State disobeys the Qur'an and the Prophet Muhammad.
Politicians in the United Kingdom have even urged a ban on using the term "Islamic
State."
So, when you hear the Islamic State is based on Islam, it is wise to analyze the facts for
yourself, and not just listen to the media.

How Islamic do you think the Islamic State is?

Related posts:
Muslim Scholars Blast The Ideology Of The Islamic State
Inconsistencies And Contradictions In The Qur'an
Not In My Name
Core Values Of Islam
Top Ten Ways Islamic Law Forbids Terrorism
Muhammad's Promise To Christians
Debunking The Myth That The Qur'an Endorses Violence
What You Ought To Know About Islam
Comments are welcome