Burning people alive is acceptable to Islam, says Islamic cleric. After all, Muhammad did it.

Anjem Choudary, A London-based Islamic cleric who lectures on Sharia law, says that it was acceptable to Islam to burn the Jordanian pilot alive.

“If you want to look at this from an Islamic perspective, what they are arguing is that it is qisas, in other words, reciprocation.

“The fact is that the pilots — not just this Jordanian one but many others via drones and other bombing campaigns — have burned a lot of men, women, and children, and indiscriminately.

“Obviously we don’t see the pictures or images of those because they’re not available, but hundreds of thousands of Muslims have been killed, most of them by Arab bombardment in Syria and Iraq.

“What these people are saying is this is a reciprocation. So they have a juristic argument to retaliate in a similar manner. This is what Allah said in the Quran — fight them back the way that they fight you.”

And he added:

“Sometimes [with] the war policy, the fatwa can be given … to do certain things which you might not find palatable.”

Choudary declared this action acceptable to Islam. Other clerics did not.

Muslim clerics widely denounced Islamist militants in Syria over the burning to death of a Jordanian pilot, saying such a form of killing was considered an abomination under Islam, no matter the justification.

A Quranic verse often cited reads:

‘Do not punish anybody with Allah’s punishment (fire).’

But so you know, the passage reads:

Sahih al-Bukhari 6922—Some Zanadiqa (atheists) were brought to Ali; and he burnt them. The news of this event reached Ibn Abbas who said, “If I had been in his place, I would not have burnt them, as Allah’s Apostle forbade it, saying, ‘Do not punish anybody with Allah’s punishment (fire).’ I would have killed them according to the statement of Allah’s Apostle, ‘Whoever changed his Islamic religion, then kill him.’”

Yet Muhammad himself used fire to punish his enemies. Tabari VIII:122 Ishaq:515:

“The Prophet gave orders concerning Kinanah to Zubayr, saying, ‘Torture him until you root out and extract what he has. So Zubayr kindled a fire on Kinanah’s chest, twirling it with his firestick until Kinanah was near death. Then the Messenger gave him to Maslamah, who beheaded him.”

Ishaq:316:

“Following Badr, Muhammad sent a number of raiders with orders to capture some of the Meccans and burn them alive.”

And then there’s this:

Tabari VII:133 Ishaq:387

“When Muhammad saw Hamzah he said, ‘If Allah gives me victory over the Quraysh at any time, I shall mutilate thirty of their men!’ When the Muslims saw the rage of the Prophet they said, ‘By Allah, if we are victorious over them, we shall mutilate them in a way which no Arab has ever mutilated anybody.”

Fire can be a tool for punishment if you’re even suspected of “sacrilege.”

BAHAWALPUR:
In a harrowing incident of mob justice, hundreds of people accused a ‘deranged’ man of sacrilege, mercilessly beat him and burnt him alive in southern Punjab, police said on Wednesday.

The incident took place in Chanighot area of Bahawalpur on Tuesday evening. Residents saw a man allegedly throwing pages from the Holy Quran onto the street. Local police took him into custody and put him in the lockup.

It seems an awful lot of Muslims haven’t heard about this objection to burning people alive:

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan — A Christian couple were allegedly burned alive in an industrial kiln in Pakistan on Tuesday after angry workers discovered they had set fire to several verses of the Quran, a local activist said. Shahbaz Maseeh, 26, and his wife Shama Bibi, 24, were attacked by colleagues at the brick factory where they worked in Punjab province, according to Mushtaq Gill, chief advocate at Pakistani minority rights group LEAD. He said they had planned to flee their town with their three young children.

Saudi cleric Salman al-Odah:

“Burning is an abominable crime rejected by Islamic law regardless of its causes. It is rejected whether it falls on an individual or a group or a people. Only God tortures by fire.”

Well God and Muhammad. And Muhammad’s messengers.

I find myself perplexed by something. If it’s un-Islamic to punish people with fire, why does Allah do it?

“Verily Allah has cursed the Unbelievers [whom he defines as Christians in the 5th surah] and has prepared for them a Blazing Fire to dwell in forever.”

– Qur’an 33:64

Apparently it’s not so much an objection to punishment by fire as it is an objection to who does it and who gets burned. It was the burning of a Muslim that finally lit the match of Islamic outrage. Suicide bombing seems to be Islamic enough. Beheading seems Islamic enough. Burning by fire? Leave that one to Allah. Or Muhammad, anyway.

So who is right? Who’s Islam is the right one? Obama’s? Or Choudary’s? Islam is a pick and choose religion. Cite whatever verse you want to justify whatever you want to believe. Check out the menu here. There are as many Islams as there are clerics.

That is the problem with Islam.

DrJohn

DrJohn has been a health care professional for more than 30 years. In addition to clinical practice he has done extensive research and has published widely with over 70 original articles and abstracts in the peer-reviewed literature. DrJohn is well known in his field and has lectured on every continent except for Antarctica. He has been married to the same wonderful lady for over 30 years and has three kids- two sons, both of whom are attorneys and one daughter on her way into the field of education.

DrJohn was brought up with the concept that one can do well if one is prepared to work hard but nothing in life is guaranteed.

Except for liberals being foolish.