The proof Isis are not true Muslims – Dr Azeem Ibrahim

Attacks on Christians – like those on churches in Sri Lanka over Easter – demonstrate that Isis fighters are against Islam, writes Dr Azeem Ibrahim.

Attacks on Christians – like those on churches in Sri Lanka over Easter – demonstrate that Isis fighters are against Islam, writes Dr Azeem Ibrahim.

The Easter attacks against Christians in Sri Lanka by a group who swore allegiance to Isis were carried out in the name of Islam. This is nothing new, back when Isis was still expanding into the multi-ethnic and religiously diverse northern Iraq, not just Yazidis but also the country’s one million Christians were some of their main targets. They were asked to either convert or leave. Otherwise they would be killed. All along, churches were being bombed or burnt to the ground.

Most of the Christians who used to inhabit those areas of the Levant where Isis took control were displaced, in an act of religious/ethnic cleansing more thorough than any that Saddam Hussein ever achieved. To Isis, destroying churches and killing Christianswas secondary only to their top priority of killing other ‘apostate’ Muslims – Shia Muslims in particular.

Muslim scholars have stated that such actions are completely un-Islamic, strictly against Sharia and a blasphemy against the Prophet Muhammad more serious than any they can think of from history. The Qur’an commands Muslims to follow Muhammad and his example: “O you who believe! Obey God and obey the Messenger” (4:59)

This and dozens of other verses in the Qur’an compel Muslims to obey Muhammad. And this is why Sharia law is based not just on the Qur’an, but also on the Sunnah, the words, the life and the practices of the Prophet. And the Prophet Mohammad was very clear about how Muslims should treat Christians. He entered into a treaty with them which deserves to be quoted in full here.

The Prophet issued the following declaration in 628 CE: “This is a message from Muhammad ibn Abdullah, as a covenant to those who adopt Christianity, near and far, we are with them.

“Verily I, the servants, the helpers, and my followers defend them, because Christians are my citizens; and by God! I hold out against anything that displeases them.

“No compulsion is to be on them. Neither are their judges to be removed from their jobs nor their monks from their monasteries. No one is to destroy a house of their religion, to damage it, or to carry anything from it to the Muslims’ houses. Should anyone take any of these, he would spoil God’s covenant and disobey His Prophet. Verily, they are my allies and have my secure charter against all that they hate.

“No one is to force them to travel or to oblige them to fight. The Muslims are to fight for them. If a female Christian is married to a Muslim, it is not to take place without her approval. She is not to be prevented from visiting her church to pray. Their churches are to be respected. They are neither to be prevented from repairing them nor the sacredness of their covenants.

“No one of the nation (Muslims) is to disobey the covenant till the Last Day (end of the world).”