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Black Church News in Virginia

The Ink of the Scholar: The Myth of an Islamic State – Pt. 1

By Imam Vernon M. Fareed

Let me begin laying the foundation for our position by making this point, if a state is not true to its claim then it is not in fact that state. Our country lays claim to being, “the United States of America” and we can leave it to the people to judge if America is true to its label. The major consideration in determining whether any entity or government is true to its claim is in knowing the meaning of the identity that they have embraced. In the case of ISIS claiming to be an Islamic State, it’s extremely important for people to know how false and exaggerated this is!

The origin or root of the word Islam is salama, literally meaning “to be peaceful, safe, submissive, secure, etc.” Next we have the word Muslim and this word is from the same root, i.e. salama. So for the sake of clarity Islam is a way of life that promotes peace, safety and submissiveness (to G-d), and Muslim is the one who makes an effort to establish a peaceful and secure life for himself and others. The root of these terms is peace, so one cannot make any legitimate claim to either if they are not truly committed to peace. Ones’ disagreement with another over religion, philosophy, strategy, etc. does not give them the right to pursue violence and war to settle the matter. So let’s be very clear about something and that is this, “ISIS is ICE” i.e. cold and heartless!

I sometimes wonder whether the secret and corrupt schemers created ISIS with a focus on the Egyptian so-called goddess with the same name “Isis.” Those who have been planning for centuries to take control of the world are not beyond creating an entity (so-called goddess) to do so, and then direct that entity to carry out their will. We should also be clear about the fact that there has not been a truly Islamic State on this earth since the time of Muhammad the Prophet himself (the prayers and the peace be upon him). Yes, this includes Saudi Arabia and all of the countries in the middle-east and Asia where Muslims make up the majority of the population. This has not been achieved because of their failure to follow the guidance of the Qur’an and the life example of Muhammad the Prophet!

To offer further evidence that ISIS is not an Islamic State, I direct the reader’s attention to the Qur’an (the sacred scripture of Muslims). There are eight places in the Qur’an where a form of the word Islam is given, and of the eight references six say “Al-Islam.” The other two references are given in the following manner; Islaamihim and Islaamakum respectfully, meaning “their (fabricated version) Islam and your (fabricated version) Islam.” Al-Islam means, this is THE peaceful way of life that Allah revealed for human beings who desire to submit to HIM! If you understand, the point that we are making is that God knew that there would be persons concocting a religion (lifestyle) and call it Islam. The reality is that it’s their fabrication of THE REAL religion (Al-Islam). Some words in Arabic language have a definite article (al) prefixed, and it is placed there to address something in particular or very specific. There have always been hypocrites, doubters and others that have fabricated their own way of life and attempted to hijack the religion of Al-Islam. ISIS is among those leading the way today in attempting to promote their barbaric and twisted way of life as religion.

Muhammad the Prophet is Allah’s Messenger, and he is the model human being for Muslims. There are no examples in his life where he killed or ordered to be killed – innocent human beings. On the contrary we have a tremendous amount of history pointing to his peaceful coexistence with Jews, Christians and even pagans. He was a man so resigned to peace until G-d had to send Revelation to him to say; (Muhammad) it’s okay to fight, but fight those who fight you and when they cease fighting you then you must cease fighting them! The Prophet was not a warmonger as some ill-intended western writers have tried to paint him, and contrary to popular belief, Al-Islam did not seek to conquer by the sword. We have a hadith of the Prophet where he said, “the ink of the scholar is more precious than the blood of the martyr.” In 1839 English author Edward Balwer-Lytton is credited with coining the phrase “the pen is mightier than the sword.” This adage is on the interior wall of the Thomas Jefferson Building of the Library of Congress. Balwer-Lytton is said to have coined a phrase that will stand the test of time, but his adage is eerily similar to Muhammad the Prophet’s saying which predated this Englishman’s by several centuries! In any event, the major point of the Prophet’s saying is to encourage education and communication vs. violence and war!

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