After the late loss and deterioration of the so called Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) on the ground, the group adopted a new strategy, which was announced by its spokesperson Mohammed Adnani in 2014, by calling on sympathizers with the group “to kill nationals of states anywhere, using any available weapon without consulting ISIS or being officially organized under its umbrella.” This bloody strategy is the only manifestation of the claimed achievement of ISIS after the intensification of the campaign against it and its loss of large parts of the territory it held under its control in Iraq and Syria. As a result of this situation suffered by ISIS, the frequency of run-ins and stabbing attacks in European cities by ISIS has increased, at the hands of young people, whose long criminal records and previous crimes and addiction, have been proved by investigations, as in the July 2016 attack in France, an accident that claimed the lives of 84 innocent people, committed by a Muslim youth named Mohammed Salman Lahwij Buhallal, who was suffering from the consequences of his parents’ separation in addition to the accumulation of financial problems that led him to commit five criminal offenses prior to committing this heinous incident. The same is applicable to the perpetrator of Orly airport, Ziad Ben Belkacem, who was chanting, “Allah is great!” as he was carrying out his attack and who carried a copy of the holy Quran in his bag. According to the testimony of his friends, he smoke tobacco, drank alcohol and cocaine. The same is applicable to the London attackers, who were young people with a long record of committing immoral offenses.

In light of this madness that is sweeping European cities, which is undermining the ABCs of public security, that is now shaking the world, as the acts of murder and run-ins are continue to being carried out, which are planned and implemented quickly, and while it became impossible to predict tools used in these attacks, I would like to remind you of a set of points:

– The human soul in Islam is considered to be the holiest sanctuary created by God. Islam is keen in all its legislations and its five major goals to preserve and secure the human soul. The Holy Quran has expressed the extent it is forbidden to violate the human soul in Quran: “whoever kills a soul unless for a soul or for corruption [done] in the land – it is as if he had slain mankind entirely. And whoever saves one – it is as if he had saved mankind entirely.” (Maida Chapter, verse 32). The verse is clear and inclusive of every human soul, whether Muslim or non-Muslim. The Prophet (PBUH) expressed this in a narration while he was circling the holy Kaaba. He said: “”O Kabaa” How good are you and how sweet is your scent. How great are you and how great is your sanctity. By the One who the soul of Mohammad is in His Hand the sanctity of a believer is greater with Allah than your sanctity; their blood and their money, and their goodness.”

Islam forbids the abuse of non-Muslims who live among Muslims. The Prophet (PBUH)  stressed the punishment for those who harm non-Muslims in many narrations, such as when he said: “Who he kills a non-Muslim will not even smell heaven and its smell will be 40 years away from him.”  In another narration he said: “Whoever kills a non-Muslim will not smell heaven.” If Islam forbids the killing of non-Muslims who live among Muslims, what about the non-Muslims whom the Muslims are living among them as refugees, residents or citizens? Killing a non-Muslim in a non-Muslim country is more severe, because the implications would be greater for Muslims living there. Especially when Muslims are subject to any harm, harassment or aggression in Europe because of these attacks. Anyone who attacks French, British or German nationals, for example, in the name of Islam, is like attacking all Muslims, who would be harmed by his attacks.

– One of the deepest meanings that Islam is keen to establish is the concept of a good citizen or a good Muslim, which many narrations by the Prophet (PBUH) have explained its virtues and ethics in a very large number of social conversations he had that came to establish the dimensions governing the normal society, such as the narration by the prophet (PBUH) who said: “A real Muslim is the one who people don’t get harmed by his hand or words.” The narration was general and it included Muslims and non-Muslims. Faith realization here involves the safety of Muslims and non-Muslims from words and hand. The books of the prophetic tradition is full of such analogies.

– It is of the greatness of Islam that it forbids the killing of non-Muslims even in times of war unless they carry a weapon and fight. It even stressed keeping the lives of non-fighters. The commandments of the Prophet (PBUH) to Muslims who were going to defend the prophet’s city were, “I recommend you to be pitiful to Allah. Do not disobey. Be moderate. Do not be cowards. Do not cut palms. Do not burn trees. Do not cut a tree with fruits. Do not cage an animal. Don’t kill elders or young boys.” Islam has also forbidden the torture of non-Muslims fighters who are captured by Muslims. When Muslims took Suhail Bin Amr captive, who was outspoken in Quraish and always-attacking Islam in his speeches, during Badr Day battle, the Prophet’s companion, Umar Bin Al-Khatab said, “If I take out his lower jaw, so that he does not speak bad of you and Islam anywhere again.” The Prophet (PBUH) said: “I will not mistreat him, even if I am a prophet. ‘O Umar’ He might become a good Muslim one day.” This was the case of a person who was at war with Muslims. Then, why do ISIS and its followers kill innocent people in countries, which are not at war with Muslims, such as Germany, Sweden, and Netherlands etc.

– The sanctity of the human soul in Islam is not limited to the living humans only, but it also includes the dead. Islam ordered to honor the body of the deceased and to bury them, both Muslims and non-Muslims. Omar Bin Ali Bin Murra narrated from his father: “I traveled with the Prophet (PBUH) once. He ordered the burial of every single dead body he crossed by, without asking wither he was Muslim or not.” Qais Ibn Sa’ad and Sahil Bin Hanif narrated that they were at Al-Qadisyia, when a funeral crossed by them. They stood and asked about the dead and they were told he was Christian. They said, funeral passed by the Messenger of Allah (PBUH) and he stood up as an expression of his grief and respect. It was said to him, “It is a Jew.” The Prophet said, “Was he not a human soul?”.

 – The absurdity of these attacks and run-ins and the naivety of the justifications made by the followers of ISIS on one hand and its claimed advantage to serve their agenda on the other makes me raise questions about their real intentions. What does it mean when someone loses his life and put his family in misery for years in order to shed the blood of a passer-by or two. What is the size of loss caused by these attacks to the state attacked? Will this not lead these states to engage more in the fight against terrorism and to take more part in the international campaign to fight it, as the case of France and its role in the international coalition after the series of attacks that targeted French soil. The more terrorist attacks take place, the more these countries would be engaged in the fight against ISIS, which leads us to think carefully about the real motives behind these attacks, which can’t be carried out by people with some basic good reasoning and balanced thinking. It is madness in its worst form. 

*Dr.Tarik Ladjal is Professor of History at Effat University in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia