Post by Admin on Sept 29, 2014 20:46:28 GMT -5
allafrica.com/stories/201409292520.html
Islamic insurgent groups such as Boko Haram use the Qur'an to justify their actions. This has led many non-Muslims to see Muslims - especially those with full beards and dressed in hijab - as terrorists.
But in fact, the vast majority of Muslims, including devout youth from across Nigeria, are united in condemning the nefarious acts of religious extremists. Our correspondent Immanuel Afolabi spoke to young Muslims in the Nigerian province of Oyo State who feel that Boko Haram does not equal Islam.
Concepts such as 'terrorism', 'insurgence' and 'extremism' are often associated with Islamic jihad. But it is erroneous to equate this term with violence, according to Toyeeb (20), a Muslim student in Oyo in south-west Nigeria.
"Non-Muslims who want to know about Islam should ask from the right source. People have misconceptions about jihad because they don't understand Islam. In the Qur'an, jihad does not mean you have to fight people and kill them because they've failed to accept Islam. Jihad means striving in the course of Allah. If you help someone out of debt, you've strived in the course of Allah."
Toyeeb's view is substantiated by another Muslim student, Adebayo Fatai (17), from Ogun State. "It is wrong for writers of the dictionary to translate jihad simply as 'holy war' - that's not wide enough."
Right to self-defence
"Islam provides guidelines for people who intend to go to war. When you're fighting, you don't fight aged people, young men, youths, children, people in monasteries and churches - except if they attack you," says Adebayo.
Zaharat Kadiri, an undergraduate from Ibadan, calmly opines that "every reasonable Muslim knows that the ideology of Boko Haram started as a misconception that has escalated into terrorism, radicalism and insurgency."
She also questions why Boko Haram employs Western technology, in spite of the group's anti-Westernisation beliefs, to disseminate information and fight innocent Nigerians.
Corroborating Zaharat's stance, Mustapha Ridwan (24), a Muslim based in Lagos, confirms that "Boko Haram is not in line with the tenets of Islam. There's no such compulsion in Islam. You can only preach [to non-Muslims] with wisdom".
Islamic insurgent groups such as Boko Haram use the Qur'an to justify their actions. This has led many non-Muslims to see Muslims - especially those with full beards and dressed in hijab - as terrorists.
But in fact, the vast majority of Muslims, including devout youth from across Nigeria, are united in condemning the nefarious acts of religious extremists. Our correspondent Immanuel Afolabi spoke to young Muslims in the Nigerian province of Oyo State who feel that Boko Haram does not equal Islam.
Concepts such as 'terrorism', 'insurgence' and 'extremism' are often associated with Islamic jihad. But it is erroneous to equate this term with violence, according to Toyeeb (20), a Muslim student in Oyo in south-west Nigeria.
"Non-Muslims who want to know about Islam should ask from the right source. People have misconceptions about jihad because they don't understand Islam. In the Qur'an, jihad does not mean you have to fight people and kill them because they've failed to accept Islam. Jihad means striving in the course of Allah. If you help someone out of debt, you've strived in the course of Allah."
Toyeeb's view is substantiated by another Muslim student, Adebayo Fatai (17), from Ogun State. "It is wrong for writers of the dictionary to translate jihad simply as 'holy war' - that's not wide enough."
Right to self-defence
"Islam provides guidelines for people who intend to go to war. When you're fighting, you don't fight aged people, young men, youths, children, people in monasteries and churches - except if they attack you," says Adebayo.
Zaharat Kadiri, an undergraduate from Ibadan, calmly opines that "every reasonable Muslim knows that the ideology of Boko Haram started as a misconception that has escalated into terrorism, radicalism and insurgency."
She also questions why Boko Haram employs Western technology, in spite of the group's anti-Westernisation beliefs, to disseminate information and fight innocent Nigerians.
Corroborating Zaharat's stance, Mustapha Ridwan (24), a Muslim based in Lagos, confirms that "Boko Haram is not in line with the tenets of Islam. There's no such compulsion in Islam. You can only preach [to non-Muslims] with wisdom".