Religion and Terrorism (AQA GCSE Religious Studies A (8062))

Muslim teachings on Just War make it hard to justify terrorism

Although Muslims believe in the 'Lesser Jihad' this never justifies the killing of innocent people

All Muslims believe in the sanctity of life meaning that life should be protected and not ended

Muslim scholars like Hamza Yusuf have made the following points:

• Terrorism attacks innocent civilians which is forbidden by Muhammad (pbuh) who said, 'Do not kill women or children or non-combatants and do not kill old or religious people'

• Suicide is haram, so a suicide bomber is going against Islam by killing himself as well as bringing harm to innocent people

• During the Crusades, Muslims did not allow the killing of civilians

• Murder is haram and killing civilians is seen as murder

• Muhammad (pbuh) said that there are people who kill in the name of Islam, who will go to hell because 'they weren’t fighting truly for the sake of God'

The vast majority of Muslims are against terrorism and work to prevent it happening. The Muslim Council of Britain who represent a large number of Muslims in Britain has,

• Paid for adverts to condemn terror attacks

• Works closely with the police to develop counter-terrorism policies

• Puts on events to educate the public about Islam

Most Christians are against terrorism and prefer more peaceful ways of resolving issues

One of the Ten Commandments is 'Do not kill' and terrorism involves killing, and often innocent people

Jesus said, 'Blessed are the Peacemakers' (Matthew 5: 9) meaning that God blesses those who avoid war and conflict and look for peaceful resolution

Jesus said, 'love your enemies and pray for them' and so Christians should not try to destroy their enemies but instead should seek to love and understand

Some Christians are pacifists, and follow the teachings of Jesus about 'turning the other cheek' meaning that they would avoid violence, even against those who were aggressive to them

All Christians believe in the sanctity of life and so they should not throw away the gift of life that God has given

Most people believe that any form of terrorism is a bad thing because innocent people get killed

Some people who commit terrorist acts claim to do it for religious purposes but this could be to try and justify their actions

As well as religious reasons, terrorism can occur due to social, political or economic reasons, or because of racial hatred

Sometimes, opposing groups will label the other as a terrorist to justify their own actions in attacking the other group

Organisations like the United Nations have counter-terrorism departments who work globally to try and prevent terrorism, and to support victims of terrorist attacks

Humanists are a group who base their worldview and ethics on reason, experience and empathy rather than religious belief

Humanists believe that It is fundamentally wrong for civilians to be directly targeted by violence to achieve political, social or religious ends

A humanist would believe that 'the end can never justify the means' meaning that regardless of the intended goal, it is never acceptable to terrorise a civilian population

Some Humanists would believe that religion encourages some of the fanatical beliefs that lead to terrorist activities

Most religious people would deny that those who commit terrorist activities represent their religion