Boreal

Children and The Koran

Killers Keepers

There are no universal moral absolutes in the Koran like not killing or absconding with another person’s property. What we could consider moral absolutes, in that holy book, only apply to believers. Unlike the believers, unbelievers have no inalienable right to life or property. They exist at the pleasure of the believers. A believer who is in a position to do so is expected to deal harshly with unbelievers.

9:123 O you who believe, fight those of the unbelievers who are near to you and let them see how harsh you can be. Know that Allah is with the righteous.

If the unbelievers are People of the Book, i.e., Jews and Christians, he can tax them or kill them if they refuse to submissively pay the Jizya, a poll-tax (a tax levied on people rather than on property) so that their lives might be spared.

9:29 Fight those among the People of the Book who do not believe in Allah and the Last Day, do not forbid what Allah and His Messenger have forbidden and do not profess the true religion, till they pay the poll-tax out of hand and submissively.

Not People of the Book? It is convert or die! The property of the unbelievers, the so-called booty, is the reward in the here-and-now, with expectations of an even greater reward in the Hereafter for a believer who rids the world of unbelievers. Muslim children mouthing the Koran learn that the property of those they may eventually murder in Allah’s Cause is theirs to keep by special dispensation from God for Muslims only.

8:68 But for a prior ordinance of Allah, you would have been afflicted on account of what you have taken (an ordinance which made it lawful for Muslims to take spoils and captives) by a terrible punishment.

What is considered further confirmation of the believers’ preponderant property rights is Muhammad saying, “While I was sleeping, the keys of the treasures of the world were brought to me and put in my hand.” This appeared in a hadith where he endorses terror as a tactic to get people to submit to the god for whom he claimed to speak.

Narrated Abu Huraira:

Allah's Apostle said, "I have been sent with the shortest expressions bearing the widest meanings, and I have been made victorious with terror (cast in the hearts of the enemy), and while I was sleeping, the keys of the treasures of the world were brought to me and put in my hand."

Bukhari 52.220

Booty, the wives and daughters of the unbelievers in particular, played a significant part in attracting young men to Islam. In making war on the unbelievers, Allah reminded the believers not to let the booty distract them from their immediate goal, which is shedding the blood of those who refuse to submit to His Will.

8:67 It is not up to any Prophet to take captives except after too much blood is shed (after the enemy is hard hit and subdued) in the land. You desire the fleeting goods of this world, but Allah desires the Hereafter, and Allah is Mighty, Wise.

When a stranger greeted a Muslim with the expression “As-salam ‘alaykum" ('Peace be on you’), it signified that he was one of them. Some ignored the utterance and killed the greeter to get at his property, assuming he was lying. God warned the believers not to let their lust for booty cause them to kill a believer by mistake.

4:94 O believers, if you journey in the Way of Allah, be discerning and do not say to him who greets you: “You are not a believer”, seeking the fleeting goods of the present life. For with Allah are abundant gains. This is how you were before and Allah has been gracious to you; so discern well. Allah is indeed fully aware of what you do!