The psychopaths who burnt to death a Jordanian Muslim pilot are themselves the very opposite of Muslims.
The Islamic faith that we cherish has nothing to do with acts of extreme violence. We are not brought up to enjoy inflicting pain; to gain pleasure from acts of barbarism and torture; or to use extreme violence to instill terror and disgust among others.
So we contest here that these terrorists based in Iraq and Syria are the very opposite of Muslims and that they have inverted and perverted the teachings of Islam. For this reason, we will insist here on calling them the Satanic State.
For all religions, with religious teachings written down more than 1,000 years ago there are always elements that we struggle to reconcile with the (usually) more humane modern world. However there is not a word in the Quran about throwing people off buildings, burning them alive or many other of the atrocities committed by the Satanic State. So let’s once-and-for-all reject this association of Islam with violence that the Satanic State and other barbarians have tried to create in the minds of non-Muslims.
Many of the most senior Islamic scholars around the world have written lengthy responses refuting the Satanic State’s words and actions point for point and showing how they contradict the Quran. So we will not – with our much more limited understanding of such matters – attempt the same thing here. However, the Islam that we know is about thanking God for the beautiful world he has given us, living in peace with one-another and seeking to make the world a better place.
Clearly the use of extreme violence by the Satanic State – as well at trying to provoke extreme responses from its enemies – aims in part to recruit like-minded people to their cause. However, by behaving like psychopaths, torturers and savages they will only recruit psychopaths, torturers and savages. Our societies will be well rid of such people and we applaud the decision by the Bahraini Government to withdraw their citizenship so that they can never return and be a plague on our society.
Today our thoughts are with the Jordanian people and the family of First Lieutenant Muadh al-Kasasbeh. We hope that the effect of this tragedy is to strengthen resolve in confronting the Satanic State by all means.
These terrorists, along with Bashar Al-Assad, Hezbollah and Iran-backed militias have been responsible for terrible suffering in Syria and Iraq.