{"id":128471,"date":"2019-04-04T02:16:48","date_gmt":"2019-04-04T02:16:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news.iium.edu.my\/?p=128471"},"modified":"2019-04-04T02:16:51","modified_gmt":"2019-04-04T02:16:51","slug":"an-anatomy-of-murder","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.iium.edu.my\/?p=128471","title":{"rendered":"An Anatomy of Murder"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

By Spahic Omer<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The dignity and honour of man are undisputed. That is because Almighty Allah, the Creator, explicitly affirms that He has honoured the children of Adam, and has conferred on them special favours, over a great part of creation (al-Isra, 70).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Everything especially on earth has been created in order to serve man as Allahs vicegerent, and to facilitate the execution of his noble terrestrial mission and purpose. Similarly, everything that man himself creates, as part of his continuous cultural and civilisational functioning, is to resonate the same meaning and aid the same objective.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In other words, man stands at the centre of creation with all other dimensions and aspects of life existing primarily to validate, constantly uplift and sustain the nobility and excellence of man. The foremost criteria for evaluating a civilisation revolve around what type of human beings it produces, and to what extent it is disposed to the preservation of human life, dignity and the inherent distinction of man.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is on account of this that the Quran warns that whoever killed an\ninnocent soul or a human being, it would be in the sight of Allah as if he\nkilled all mankind. But whoever saved one, it would be as if he saved all\nmankind (al-Maidah, 32).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Moreover, about killing intentionally an innocent believer, the Quran\ncategorically states that \u0153his recompense\nis Hell, wherein he will abide eternally, and Allah has become angry with him\nand has cursed him and has prepared for him a great punishment\u009d (al-Nisa, 93).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Indeed, there is nothing that can sanction and justify taking an\ninnocent human life. No clause in a legal framework can accommodate such an\ninhuman act, nor can a sound mind have any capacity to dwell on such a matter, let alone agree to it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Murder is heartless, merciless, barbaric and most disgraceful. It is an anomalous act, incompatible with any rationality, morality, and the intended cultural as well as civilisational wellbeing of people. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

That is why when a murder occurs, the best form of justice is that a murderer publicly pay with his own life as a form of general deterrence, so as to prevent others who may have identical intentions from committing identical crimes in the future. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

And that means protecting and cherishing the true meaning of life:\n\u0153And there is for you in legal retribution or qisas<\/em> (saving of) life, O\nyou (people) of understanding, that you may become righteous (restrain\nyourselves)\u009d (al-Baqarah, 179). <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Indeed, being firm and unyielding towards murder and murderers\nmeans respecting life and those who want to live it responsibly and nobly. All human initiatives and rules must\nreflect that and be totally in support of the truth, justice, righteousness and\npeace. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to Maududi: \u0153It is essential for the preservation of\nhuman life that everyone should regard the life of the other as sacred and help\nto protect it. The one who takes the life of another without right, does not\ncommit injustice to that one alone, but also proves that he has no feeling for\nthe sanctity of human life and of mercy for others. Hence he is most surely the\nenemy of the whole human race, for if every individual suffered from the same\nkind of hard-heartedness, the whole human race would come to an end. On the\ncontrary, if one helps to preserve a single human life, he is indeed a helper\nof all mankind for he possesses those qualities upon which depends the survival\nof the whole human race.\u009d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Qabil (Cain) versus<\/em> Habil (Abel)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

All these principles have been clearly displayed in the course of the incident\nof the first murder on earth, when Qabil (Cain) killed Habil (Abel)\n(al-Maidah, 27-31). Both were the sons of Prophet Adam.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Prior to the incident, the two men had presented their sacrifices to\nAllah. However, the sacrifice of Habil was accepted, while the one of Qabil\nwasnt.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That alone in no way could be a reason for Qabil to take the life of his\nyounger and blameless brother. But then, he was older and filled with pride,\negotism and envy, which eventually blinded him and his cognitive abilities. He\nwas no longer in a position to make sound judgements.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

With his rationality impaired, and recognizing no outside source of\nmoral authority, Qabil was left to the mercy of his raging nafs<\/em> (selfish\nsoul that only urges evil, desire and passion). Being thus in control of his\nentire being, the monstrous spiritual, along with emotional, state of Qabils\npersonality prompted and facilitated to him the slaying of his brother.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u0153And his (selfish) soul permitted to him the murder of his brother,\nso he killed him and became among the losers\u009d (al-Maidah, 30).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Facing his vicious and hard-hearted brother, Habil tried to bring him to\nhis senses by evoking the supreme authority of the heavenly regulatory moral program\n\u201c which had been revealed by Allah to their father, Prophet Adam. Habil told\nQabil: \u0153Indeed, Allah only accepts (sacrifices\nand other meritorious deeds) from the righteous (who fear Him)\u009d (al-Maidah,\n27). <\/p>\n\n\n\n

But Qabil did not listen, as he did not recognise such an authority.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Habil then tried to appeal to common sense and his brothers\nintelligence, making clear how dire the consequences of the intended evil\naction would be, saying: \u0153If you should\nraise your hand against me to kill me \u201c I shall not raise my hand against you\nto kill you. Indeed, I fear Allah, Lord of the worlds. Indeed I want you to\nobtain (thereby) my sin and your sin so you will be among the companions of the\nFire. And that is the recompense of wrongdoers\u009d (al-Maidah, 28-29).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But again, Qabil did not listen, nor did he heed the warnings. The\nvoices of his selfish and wicked soul were deafening. He could not hear, nor\ndiscern, anything else, as a result of which he capitulated to the pressure of\nhis desires and passionate determination. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thus, Qabils killing of his brother Habil was not due to his\nsacrifice having been rejected, but rather due to the intensity and\ninsatiability of his malevolent spiritual and emotional state.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Qabil thus became the father and progenitor of murder as a concept\nand lifes reality. Whoever unjustly kills, follows in his footsteps. Prophet\nMuhammad (pbuh) accordingly once said that \u0153no human being is killed unjustly\nbut a part of responsibility for the crime is laid on the first son of Adam who\ninvented the tradition of killing (murdering) on the earth\u009d (Sahih al-Bukhari).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Habils \u0153crime\u009d, on the other hand, was that he stirred and\nagitated his brothers madness by his righteousness and purity, resisting it\nafterwards with his sanity, sound judgment and determination. His \u0153crime\u009d\nfurthermore was simply his status which Qabil did not like, that is, being of\nthose who are righteous and pious and so, better than him, as well as his being\nan obstacle for Qabils immoral inner self to freely express itself and thrive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That means, Habils \u0153crime\u009d was his sheer existence, which could\nsignificantly get in the way of Qabils. Therefore, he had to go. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

For Qabil to be, Habil needed to be no more.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Muslims and the legacy of Habil<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

This can explain the nature of all murders, be they individual,\nmass, state-sponsored or state murders. They are all the results of what could\nbe called premeditated insanity or – to quote Prof. Michael Huemer – rational\nirrationality.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to Yusuf Ali, among the the Christians, Cain (Qabil) was the type of\nthe Jew as against Abel (Habil) the Christian. The Jew tried to kill Jesus and\nexterminate the Christian. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the same way, as against Prophet Muhammad\n(pbuh), the younger brother of the Semitic family, Cain (Qabil) was the type of\nthe Old Testament and New Testament people, who tried to resist and kill\nMuhammad (pbuh) and put down his people (Yusuf Ali).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And the narrative goes on. Muslims continue to epitomise the example and legacy of Habil, while their older Jewish and Christian brethren in the family of Abrahamic religions \u201c in particular their extremist segments – continue to epitomize the example and legacy of Qabil. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The bloody pages of history continue to be inscribed at the expense of Muslims and their cultures in Palestine, Bosnia, Kosovo, Chechnya and several other post-Soviet states, just as they were inscribed during the Crusades, the fall of Andalus (Islamic Spain) and Western colonisation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The same trend, unfortunately, continues unabated today in the era of globalisation. It is becoming yet more serious and more disastrous. It generated the notions and phenomena of islamophobia, Islamic fundamentalism and terrorism, making them some of the most widespread and most feared, as well as distorted and abused, concepts. Consequently, Muslims suffer today more than ever before, both in their own lands and beyond. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Many followers of other leading non-Abrahamic\nreligions, such as Hinduism and Buddhism, became also emboldened and took a\nleaf out of the Jews (specifically Zionists) and Christians book. Some of\nthe greatest recent genocide drives against Muslims have been committed and\norchestrated by the followers of those two religions and their offshoots. The\ngovernments of India, Myanmar and China are most culpable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In all cases, Muslims \u0153crime\u009d is that they\nare Muslims and practice Islam, that they belong to \u0153them\u009d or \u0153others\u009d and not\n\u0153us\u009d, and that they are turning somewhat into a hindrance for governments to achieve and\nimplement extreme nationalism, certain nativist ideologies and authoritarian\ntendencies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To be exact, Muslims \u0153crime\u009d is that they are there and live freely. They should be either completely neutralised or dispensed with altogether. Often, Muslims are seen as a necessary evil.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Following the pattern set by Qabil, rational\nthinking and just legal frameworks are the last to be consulted in the process.\nThat makes those recent genocide drives against Muslims very difficult to control and\nhandle internationally. No negotiations or international interventions could\nyield any significant and sustainable improvements on the ground. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

One doubts they ever will, for the rule of sound reason, incontrovertible logic and just laws have long disappeared from the international scene saturated with mistrust, deceit and double standards. The world is ruled by the wrong people. There is so much power in the wrong hands, that is, in the hands of Qabils associates. ***<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Spahic Omer The dignity and honour of man are undisputed. That is because Almighty Allah, the Creator, explicitly affirms that He has honoured the… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":128563,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,20],"tags":[],"nelio_content":{"isAutoShareEnabled":true,"autoShareEndMode":"never","automationSources":{"useCustomSentences":false,"customSentences":[]},"followers":[12,124,5],"suggestedReferences":[],"efiUrl":"","efiAlt":"","highlights":[],"permalinkQueryArgs":[]},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/news.iium.edu.my\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/1970-01-01-07.30.00-1.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.iium.edu.my\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/128471"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.iium.edu.my\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.iium.edu.my\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.iium.edu.my\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.iium.edu.my\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=128471"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/news.iium.edu.my\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/128471\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":128537,"href":"https:\/\/news.iium.edu.my\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/128471\/revisions\/128537"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.iium.edu.my\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/128563"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.iium.edu.my\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=128471"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.iium.edu.my\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=128471"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.iium.edu.my\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=128471"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}