From the Qarmatians and the Assassins to ISIS and An-Nusra : Is Islam a religion of love and peace or a religion of terror and war?-Is Islam a religion of love and peace or a religion of terror and wa
Is the violence committed by the militant groups operating under different banners, foremost among which today are the Islamic State and An-Nusra Front, derived from Islam and the Quran or is it a misunderstanding and a misinterpretation of the meaning of Islam?
This question acquires much more significance when we realize that the violence is not something new to Islam, as it was practiced by different groups throughout the Islamic history, particularly by the Qarmatians and the assassins. What is then the position of Islam on violence and who are the Qarmatians and the assassins?
Islam and violence
In order to understand and learn more about Islam, there are two main sources to consult:
- The Holy Quran, which God revealed to Prophet Muhammad and which consists of 114 suras (chapters) and 6236 ayats (verses).
- The Hadith of Prophet Muhammad. Here, the debate widens over the validity of his sayings. Some Islamic sects also rely on the sayings and the seerah of the caliphs that followed Muhammad (Sunni Muslims) or the sayings and seerah of the Imams descending from Ali Bin Abi Taleb (Shia’a Muslims).
If we rely on the texts of the Quran, there does not seem to be any conflict over them. However, sharp disputes emerge upon the interpretation of some verses, thus leading to divides and rifts among Muslims. Although there is one Quran and one text, the more there are sectarian affiliations, the more there are interpretations.
Yet, the majority of Muslim scholars, whatever their inclinations, concur that Islam is a religion of mercy, tolerance and openness to others.
“O mankind, We have created you all from male and female and have made you nations and tribes so that you would recognize each other. The most honorable among you in the sight of God is he who is the most pious of you. God is All-knowing and All-aware,” the Quran reads.
“God is All-merciful and forgiving” along with “God is All-knowing and All-aware” are mentioned in hundreds of verses in the Quran. These verses and others prove the openness of Islam and the inadmissibility of charging others with apostasy, shedding their blood, desecrating them and seizing their funds. God alone is All-knowing and no human is entitled to judge the belief of another fellow human.
Charging the people you disagree with or the people who disagree with groups proclaiming Islam, whether they were Muslims (Sunni, Shia’a, Druze, Alawite, etc) or Christians, with apostasy does not stem from the essence of the tolerant Islamic doctrine; rather, it is the result of a distorted reading and a misinterpretation of the meaning of the verses of Quran and the seerah. All the acts of crucifying, killing, cutting off heads and hands committed amongst many other acts by these groups nowadays, had also taken place at the beginning of the Islamic Daawah against the people who were fighting the Prophet, not against unarmed people even if they held different doctrines and beliefs. However, what happened at the onset of Islam should not be applied today because the circumstances and the situations have changed. Rigidity might have been needed at that formative stage in order to reinforce the pillars of Islam and spread it out. Today though, Islam has become a universal religion professed by over one billion people around the globe and by no means can it be erased or eradicated, for it is not confronting an existential war as was the case during the times of the Prophet. It is noteworthy that the violence practiced in the Arab Peninsula at the time was no worse than that committed in any other corner of the world and Rome is perhaps a perfect example of the brutality that emperors used both among their circles and against others.
The split after the death of the Prophet
Soon after the death of the Prophet, a political-religious dispute arose among Muslims over the question of succession. Some of the followers believed that the succession (caliphate) should fall to the person who, after consultations, was deemed the most fit to lead. Abi Bakr, one of the Prophet’s companions, was the first caliph nominated to handle the affairs of the Muslim caliphate. He was succeeded by Omar Ibn El-Khattab, Othman Bin Affan and finally Ali Bin Abi Taleb. They were called the Rashidun Caliphs.
Other followers (Shia’a) believed that the Prophet willed before his death that his cousin and son-in-law Ali Bin Abi Taleb who was married to his daughter, Fatimah, should take up the mantle, then after him his sons, Hassan and Hussein, and after his sons, in succession, first Ali Zein Al-Abidin, then Mohammad Al-Baqer all the way to Jaafar Al-Sadek who was the sixth imam among the Shia’s. Six other caliphs succeeded after Al-Imam, leading up to Mohammad Ibn Hassan who is believed to be the Mahdi, the ultimate savior of human kind.
Ismailism
After the death of Imam Jaafar Al-Sadek, his followers were divided between two groups: one group, the Ismailis, believed that the Imamate should be passed to Al-Sadek’s son, Ismail; the other group known as the Twelvers, believed that it should be passed to his other son Moussa. When Ismail died, the Ismailis pledged allegiance to his son, Muhammad Bin Ismail Bin Jaafar as their imam and political and religious authority. The Abbasid dynasty challenged the Ismaili Daawah leading Imam Muhammad to go into seclusion and entrust the task of preaching Ismailism to a number of Ismaili missionaries. Foremost among these missionaries in Iraq was Hamdan Qarmat, who was given this name because he used to walk with his legs close to each other, a verb meaning ‘qarmata’ in Arabic. Hamdan Qarmat realized major milestones in spreading the Daawah in Iraq and other regions in the Gulf, particularly in Bahrain where he declared the establishment of the Qarmatian state in 899 AD.
The establishment of the Qarmatian state and its expansion in the Arabian Gulf put it in confrontation against large numbers of Muslims who also followed Ismailism: the Fatimids. The Fatimids established their state in 909 AD (909-1171) and conquered Egypt in 969 AD. The Qarmatians fought whoever disagreed with them. Similar to what is happening today, they killed, slaughtered and executed in the name of religion. It is said that they also cursed Prophet Muhammad. The gravest offence they committed against Islam was their theft of the Black Stone from Mecca, the holiest city in the religion of Islam and their killing of roughly 30,000 pilgrims, which stopped the pilgrimage season for 22 years. The dispute escalated to battles and wars between the Qarmatians and the Fatimids that concluded with the the exhaustion of the Qarmatian state and its dissolution in 1002 AD. With the collapse of the Qarmatian state, a chapter among the many chapters of violence and bloody terrorism that had tinged the Islamic history was closed.
The Assassins
The Assassins- meaning killers or the users of hashish- hashashin in Arabic- who used to massacre and commit heinous atrocities against their rivals when high on the drug- are also a cult of Ismailis who defected from the Ismaili Daawah. Established by Al-Hassan Bin Al-Sabbah who was born in the Iranian city of Qom in 1037 and died in 1124, this cult is based on the Daawah of the eighth Fatimid caliph Al-Moustanser Bellah (1029-1094) and his son Nizar Al-Mostafa Lidinellah. Following the death of the Fatimid caliph, his followers split between those who supported his son Ahmad Al-Mostaali Bellah and those who supported his elder son Nizar, the rightful claimant to the throne. Yet, the imamate was devolved to Ahmad who usurped all power and detained his brother Nizar. Nizar who revolted against Ahmad died in prison but his son Al-Hadi fled to the Fortress of Death by the Caspian Sea headquartered by missionary Hassan Al-Sabbah. Being part of the Fatimid movement, Al-Sabbah launched a military movement to help Al-Hadi reclaim the Fatimid throne. The Assassins were able to establish their state in Iran and the Levant using all forms of violence and atrocities, particularly against the clerics and Muslim scholars who challenged their distorted doctrines.
Al-Sabbah had ultimate power over his followers. They would execute his commands unquestionably, assassinating people, burning towns and their inhabitants to ashes and intimidating rivals in order to achieve his goals, all in the name of Islam. Under the leadership of Hulagu Khan, the Mongols were able to slaughter the Assassins and burn their fortresses in 1256. In the Levant though, it was Baibars, a commander of the Mamluks who inflicted defeat on the Assassins.
The Qarmatians and the Assassins in the past can be compared with ISIS and An-Nusra today. It is eerie how today’s events are a repeat of yesterday’s. Indeed it does seem history does nothing but repeat itself, always in a bloody manner. What the Qarmatians and the Asassins did in the past was alien to Islam and so are the acts committed by ISIS and An-Nusra today.
It is worthy of noting that the media often fails to recognize the well-established historical fact that Prophet Muhammad snatched power from the Sufyan family that may have followed him reluctantly after his victory. Did Muawiyah not regain the glory that his father had lost in Mecca? Wasn’t the conflict political and authoritarian in essence with nothing to do with the so-called Sunni and Shia’a? Isn’t today’s conflict also political? Is the US Sunni? Is Russia Shia’a? One cannot talk about violence in Islam without talking about the causal triggers and the means available for the belligerents, in both historical and current contexts. What were the circumstances that transformed the Caliph in Islam to an absolute ruler bequeathing power and looting Baitulmal (public treasury)? How was religion in general used as a tool to suppress mankind and human thought? Why were dozens of Muslim intellectuals such as Ibn Arabi, Al-Ma’arri and Ibn Rushd persecuted and murdered in the name of Islam? Wasn’t oppression a convenient medium to breed violence and yield movements such as ISIS and An-Nusra? Weren’t these movements supported by different states, organizations and intelligence services? What can never be called into question is the fact that the totalitarian religious thought, like all totalitarian doctrines, is an undisputed incubator of violence, be it in Islam, Christianity or Judaism.
Other followers (Shia’a) believed that the Prophet willed before his death that his cousin and son-in-law Ali Bin Abi Taleb who was married to his daughter, Fatimah, should take up the mantle, then after him his sons, Hassan and Hussein, and after his sons, in succession, first Ali Zein Al-Abidin, then Mohammad Al-Baqer all the way to Jaafar Al-Sadek who was the sixth imam among the Shia’s. Six other caliphs succeeded after Al-Imam, leading up to Mohammad Ibn Hassan who is believed to be the Mahdi, the ultimate savior of human kind.
Ismailism
After the death of Imam Jaafar Al-Sadek, his followers were divided between two groups: one group, the Ismailis, believed that the Imamate should be passed to Al-Sadek’s son, Ismail; the other group known as the Twelvers, believed that it should be passed to his other son Moussa. When Ismail died, the Ismailis pledged allegiance to his son, Muhammad Bin Ismail Bin Jaafar as their imam and political and religious authority. The Abbasid dynasty challenged the Ismaili Daawah leading Imam Muhammad to go into seclusion and entrust the task of preaching Ismailism to a number of Ismaili missionaries. Foremost among these missionaries in Iraq was Hamdan Qarmat, who was given this name because he used to walk with his legs close to each other, a verb meaning ‘qarmata’ in Arabic. Hamdan Qarmat realized major milestones in spreading the Daawah in Iraq and other regions in the Gulf, particularly in Bahrain where he declared the establishment of the Qarmatian state in 899 AD.
The establishment of the Qarmatian state and its expansion in the Arabian Gulf put it in confrontation against large numbers of Muslims who also followed Ismailism: the Fatimids. The Fatimids established their state in 909 AD (909-1171) and conquered Egypt in 969 AD. The Qarmatians fought whoever disagreed with them. Similar to what is happening today, they killed, slaughtered and executed in the name of religion. It is said that they also cursed Prophet Muhammad. The gravest offence they committed against Islam was their theft of the Black Stone from Mecca, the holiest city in the religion of Islam and their killing of roughly 30,000 pilgrims, which stopped the pilgrimage season for 22 years. The dispute escalated to battles and wars between the Qarmatians and the Fatimids that concluded with the the exhaustion of the Qarmatian state and its dissolution in 1002 AD. With the collapse of the Qarmatian state, a chapter among the many chapters of violence and bloody terrorism that had tinged the Islamic history was closed.
The Assassins
The Assassins- meaning killers or the users of hashish- hashashin in Arabic- who used to massacre and commit heinous atrocities against their rivals when high on the drug- are also a cult of Ismailis who defected from the Ismaili Daawah. Established by Al-Hassan Bin Al-Sabbah who was born in the Iranian city of Qom in 1037 and died in 1124, this cult is based on the Daawah of the eighth Fatimid caliph Al-Moustanser Bellah (1029-1094) and his son Nizar Al-Mostafa Lidinellah. Following the death of the Fatimid caliph, his followers split between those who supported his son Ahmad Al-Mostaali Bellah and those who supported his elder son Nizar, the rightful claimant to the throne. Yet, the imamate was devolved to Ahmad who usurped all power and detained his brother Nizar. Nizar who revolted against Ahmad died in prison but his son Al-Hadi fled to the Fortress of Death by the Caspian Sea headquartered by missionary Hassan Al-Sabbah. Being part of the Fatimid movement, Al-Sabbah launched a military movement to help Al-Hadi reclaim the Fatimid throne. The Assassins were able to establish their state in Iran and the Levant using all forms of violence and atrocities, particularly against the clerics and Muslim scholars who challenged their distorted doctrines.
Al-Sabbah had ultimate power over his followers. They would execute his commands unquestionably, assassinating people, burning towns and their inhabitants to ashes and intimidating rivals in order to achieve his goals, all in the name of Islam. Under the leadership of Hulagu Khan, the Mongols were able to slaughter the Assassins and burn their fortresses in 1256. In the Levant though, it was Baibars, a commander of the Mamluks who inflicted defeat on the Assassins.
The Qarmatians and the Assassins in the past can be compared with ISIS and An-Nusra today. It is eerie how today’s events are a repeat of yesterday’s. Indeed it does seem history does nothing but repeat itself, always in a bloody manner. What the Qarmatians and the Asassins did in the past was alien to Islam and so are the acts committed by ISIS and An-Nusra today.
It is worthy of noting that the media often fails to recognize the well-established historical fact that Prophet Muhammad snatched power from the Sufyan family that may have followed him reluctantly after his victory. Did Muawiyah not regain the glory that his father had lost in Mecca? Wasn’t the conflict political and authoritarian in essence with nothing to do with the so-called Sunni and Shia’a? Isn’t today’s conflict also political? Is the US Sunni? Is Russia Shia’a? One cannot talk about violence in Islam without talking about the causal triggers and the means available for the belligerents, in both historical and current contexts. What were the circumstances that transformed the Caliph in Islam to an absolute ruler bequeathing power and looting Baitulmal (public treasury)? How was religion in general used as a tool to suppress mankind and human thought? Why were dozens of Muslim intellectuals such as Ibn Arabi, Al-Ma’arri and Ibn Rushd persecuted and murdered in the name of Islam? Wasn’t oppression a convenient medium to breed violence and yield movements such as ISIS and An-Nusra? Weren’t these movements supported by different states, organizations and intelligence services? What can never be called into question is the fact that the totalitarian religious thought, like all totalitarian doctrines, is an undisputed incubator of violence, be it in Islam, Christianity or Judaism.
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