N.C. Asthana is a retired Indian Police Service officer and a writer on many topics. Here he gives us the usual denials, deflections, detours and deceptions. He claims that “had there been any religious sanction for terrorism as we understand it today, someone was bound to have discovered it sometime in the past.”

Oh, they did, they did! Asthana should consult The History of Jihad, which provides abundant evidence that Islamic jihad terrorism has been practiced for 1,400 years. Technology has changed, but not the underlying ideology.

He also claims that “terrorism as we find it today simply did not exist in the early days of Islam when its religious concepts were crystallized for posterity. Hence, there is no question of there being any support for the modern phenomenon of terrorism in the Qur’an or the Hadis, a record of the words, actions, and the silent approval of the Prophet.”

That depends on how one defines the “modern phenomenon of terrorism.” Yes, there weren’t the weapons and explosives we have now. But the Qur’an is quite clear about the imperative to strike terror in the hearts of the enemies of Allah.

“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…” (8:60)

“When your Lord was revealing to the angels, ‘I am with you; so confirm the believers. I shall cast terror into the hearts of the unbelievers; so strike the necks, and strike every finger of them!” (Qur’an 8:12)

“We will cast terror into the hearts of those who disbelieve for what they have associated with Allah of which He had not sent down authority. And their refuge will be the Fire, and wretched is the residence of the wrongdoers.” (Qur’an 3:151)

“And kill them wherever you find them, and drive them out from where they drove you out; persecution is worse than slaughter. But fight them not by the Holy Mosque until they should fight you there; then, if they fight you, kill them — such is the recompense of unbelievers, but if they give over, surely Allah is all-forgiving, all-compassionate. Fight them until there is no persecution and the religion is Allah’s; then if they give over, there shall be no enmity save for evildoers.” (Qur’an 2:191-193)

“They wish that you should disbelieve as they disbelieve, and then you would be equal; therefore do not take friends from among them, until they emigrate in the way of Allah; then, if they turn their backs, seize them and kill them wherever you find them; do not take for yourselves any one of them as friend or helper.” (Qur’an 4:89)

“This is the recompense of those who fight against Allah and His Messenger, and hasten about the earth to do corruption there: they shall be killed or crucified, or their hands and feet shall be struck off on opposite sides, or they shall be exiled from the land. That is a degradation for them in this world, and in the world to come awaits them a mighty chastisement.” (Qur’an 5:33)

“Fight them, till there is no persecution and religion is all for Allah; then if they give over, surely Allah sees the things they do.” (Qur’an 8:39)

“Then, when the sacred months are over, kill the idolaters wherever you find them, and take them, and confine them, and lie in wait for them at every place of ambush. But if they repent, and perform the prayer, and pay the alms, then let them go their way; Allah is All-forgiving, All-compassionate.” (Qur’an 9:5)

“Fight those who believe not in Allah and the Last Day and do not forbid what Allah and His Messenger have forbidden, and do not practice the religion of truth, even if they are of the People of the Book — until they pay the jizya with willing submission and feel themselves subdued.” (Qur’an 9:29)

“Allah has bought from the believers their selves and their possessions against the gift of Paradise; they fight in the way of Allah; they kill, and are killed; that is a promise binding upon Allah in the Torah, and the Gospel, and the Koran; and who fulfils his covenant truer than Allah? So rejoice in the bargain you have made with Him; that is the mighty triumph.” (Qur’an 9:111)

“O believers, fight the unbelievers who are near to you; and let them find in you a harshness; and know that Allah is with the godfearing.” (Qur’an 9:123)

“When you meet the unbelievers, strike their necks, then, when you have made wide slaughter among them, tie fast the bonds; then set them free, either by grace or ransom, till the war lays down its loads. So it shall be; and if Allah had willed, He would have avenged Himself upon them; but that He may try some of you by means of others. And those who are slain in the way of Allah, He will not send their works astray.” (Qur’an 47:4)

“Terrorism Is a Political Phenomenon. To Blame it on Islam is Wrong: Scholars have shown that there is no evidence that Islam has ever preached the use of terror, yet this narrative doesn’t stop.” by N.C. Asthana, The Wire, October 1, 2021:Ever since the victory of the Taliban in Afghanistan, Islamophobia in the world in general and India, in particular, has received a fresh impetus. A common refrain, which you are quite likely to hear even from those who are not self-proclaimed anti-Muslims is, “All Muslims are not terrorists but all terrorists are Muslims.”

The insinuation implicit in this belief is that there is something such and fundamentally wrong with Islam per se, which predisposes Muslims towards becoming brutal terrorists. In fact, even the brutal beheadings of captives by ISIS terrorists like Jihadi John are, in popular Islamophobic perception, attributed to them being Muslims and not to the individuals’ perversity.

Indiscriminate use of a term like ‘Islamic terrorism’ has created an impression in the minds of a large number of people that terrorists who happen to be Muslims exist because Islam, somehow ‘approving’ of terrorism, drives them inexorably towards it.

The notion is so widespread that even scholars are not immune from it. An Israeli scholar Shmuel Bar, for example, while admitting that terrorism is not an Islamic phenomenon, still provocatively and misleadingly titled his study ‘The Religious Sources of Islamic Terrorism.

This is a dangerous misconception – a vicious myth that is rooted as much in ignorance as in prejudice. Terrorism as we find it today simply did not exist in the early days of Islam when its religious concepts were crystallized for posterity. Hence, there is no question of there being any support for the modern phenomenon of terrorism in the Qur’an or the Hadis, a record of the words, actions, and the silent approval of the Prophet.

Had there been any religious sanction for terrorism as we understand it today, someone was bound to have discovered it sometime in the past. There is no reason to believe that some people discovered them only in the 20th century and have gone berserk….