Question: Professor Roane, is Islam a rotten
religious system. Are all Muslims evil?
Answer: Let me begin by saying that no, not
all Muslims are evil. As a matter of fact the evil jihadists are in a minority
but nonetheless a very strong minority. The moderate silent majority in Islam,
just like in Christianity, however, does the advancement of freedom and truth
no service by keeping their opinions to themselves—or at best sharing them with
just a few friends or acquaintances.
Unlike,
however, Christian that abhors violence as a method for conversion, the Muslims
have a long history of coercion, and intolerance. This, of course, began with
the founder of Islam, the Prophet Muhammad. The hadith (historical tradition)
is resplendent with violent acts and militaristic motifs. In all fairness,
however, Judaism is also guilty of the same. Christianity, however, took
centuries to even come up with a justifiable war of self-defense—that being St.
Augustine of Hippo (13 November 354 – 28 August 430) in North Africa.
The Great Philosopher’s
website[i]
from Oregon State University is a fairly neutral assessment of St. Augustine’s
theory on a just war which is identified two aspects of war that required moral
justification and guidelines:
—The right to go to war (Jus Ad Bellum)
—The right sorts of conduct in war
(Jus In Bello)
The right to
go to war concerns the justification that a nation must give in order for it to
have a moral right to wage war on another.
Augustine laid the basis for four main criteria:
1. Just Authority - is the decision to go to war based on a legitimate political and legal process?2. Just Cause - has a wrong been committed to which war is the appropriate response?3. Right Intention - is the response proportional to the cause? i.e. is the war action limited to righting the wrong, and no further. When people speak of "mission creep," this condition is the relevant concern.4. Last Resort - has every other means of righting the wrong been attempted sincerely so that no other option but war remains?
The conduct
of war is clearly a matter of moral concern.
Therefore, there are moral limits on what a nation may do in prosecuting
the war. Those limits include,
1. The proportionality of force must be limited to a justifiable goal (no mission creep allowed!);2. Discrimination between combatants and noncombatants must be strictly followed. So, unlike the jihadists Innocent, nonmilitary people should never be made the target of attacks.3. Responsibility - A country is not responsible for unexpected side effects of its military activity as long as the following three conditions are met:a. The action must carry the intention to produce good consequences.b. The bad effects were not intended.c. The good of the war must outweigh the damage done by it.
Later, Thomas
Aquinas in the 13th century expanded the theory, but Augustine’s treatment of
the subject remains the classic work.
Muslims,
too, claim that war is justifiable but on far more inclusive grounds; that
being, primarily, in establishing a theocracy base on Sharia Law (culled as it
were from the Koran, and as interpreted by the mullahs—including the more
recent notorious ayatollahs, such as the Ayatollah Ruhullah Khomeini (1900–1989)
who labeled America the “Great Satan,” and re- incited a Holy War against
Israel and the infidels.
So, when the
strict Quranist speak of peace, such peace is a controlled and submissive
peace stringently along the lines of Sharia Law.
Having said,
all of that, however, most of the silent majority in Islam passively acquiesce
to the rhetoric of radical Islamist.
So, to
answer the question, No, the majority of Muslims, particularly those in the
west are not of evil intent; however, there does seem to be enough fodder in
radical Islamism to fuel the flames of jihadism even among the most moderate.
The one exception may be Sufi Muslims which unfortunately are a small sect in
Islam.
Trust this answers your questions,
JimR__/
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