Beheading in Islam

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Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found. Beheading is a formerly widespread execution method that has gradually been banned throughout the world. Wahhabism is the only Islamic branch that is cited by both state and non-state actors to legitimize beheadings.[1][verification needed]

Beheading in Islamic scripture

Instructions regarding decapitation can be found in both the Quran, the Hadith as well as the Siras. The Quran itself mentions decapitation twice, including a verse concerning fighting unbelievers, in which it implores Muslims to "strike off their heads until you have crushed them completely; then bind the prisoners tightly."[2][3][non-primary source needed] Much of the justification for beheading however, comes from the Siras and Hadiths rather than the Quran itself. The Siras, the number of traditional biographies of Muhammad, speak of decapitation on numerous occasions, several of which portray beheadings ordered directly by Muhammad himself.[citation needed]

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The Jews were made to come down, and Allah’s Messenger imprisoned them. Then the Prophet went out into the marketplace of Medina, and he had trenches dug in it. He sent for the Jewish men and had them beheaded in those trenches. They were brought out to him in batches. They numbered 800 to 900 boys and men. The affair continued until the Messenger of Allah had finished with them all.

— Al-Tabari, Vol. 8, p. 35

[full citation needed]

Beheading in Islamic law

During the development of Islamic Law or Sharia, the majority of scholars supported beheading as a valid form of punishment within Islam. Influential medieval Muslim scholars such as Al-Zamakhshari and Muhammad ibn Jarir al-Tabari considered beheading to be sanctioned by God as the punishment for unbelievers and blasphemous Muslims.[4][5]

Currently, Saudi Arabia is the only country in the world which uses decapitation within its Islamic legal system, although it is also a legal form of punishment in Iran,[6][7] Qatar and Yemen. Numerous non-state actors, including Islamic organisations such as ISIL, Al Qaeda, and other Jihadist groups use or have used beheading as a punishment.

Beheading is a legal form of execution in Iran,[6][7] Qatar and Yemen, but the punishment has been suspended in those countries. The majority of executions carried out by the Wahhabi government of Saudi Arabia are public beheadings, which usually cause mass gatherings but are not allowed to be photographed or filmed. Since 2002, however, jihadist groups such as al-Qaeda and the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant have been mass circulating beheading videos as a form of terror and propaganda.[8]

Historical occurrences

Numerous occasions of beheadings by Muslims of non-Muslims have been recorded. Especially among the Ottoman military, who routinely decapitated captive enemies or those unwilling to convert to Islam. Only a few are listed below.[9]

Modern occurrence

Modern instances of Islamist beheading date at least to the First Chechen War (1994–96), and to the beheading of Yevgeny Rodionov, a Russian soldier who refused to convert to Islam, whose subsequent beheading has led some within the Russian Orthodox Church to venerate him as a martyr.[14]

The 2002 beheading of American journalist Daniel Pearl by Al-Qaeda member Khalid Sheikh Mohammed in Pakistan drew international attention enhanced by the release of a beheading video.[15]

Beheadings have emerged as a terror tactic in Iraq since 2003.[16] Civilians have borne the brunt of the beheadings, although U.S. and Iraqi military personnel have also been targeted. After kidnapping the victim, the kidnappers typically make some sort of demand of the government of the hostage's nation and give a time limit for the demand to be carried out, often 72 hours. Beheading is often threatened if the government fails to heed the wishes of the hostage takers. Frequently the crude beheadings are videotaped and made available on the Internet. One of the most publicized murders of an American was that of Nick Berg.[17][18][19]

Since 2004 insurgents in South Thailand began to sow fear in attacks where men and women of the local Buddhist minority were beheaded.[20] On 18 July 2005 two militants entered a teashop in South Thailand, shot Lek Pongpla, a Buddhist cloth vendor, beheaded him and left the head outside of the shop.[21]

According to Peter R. Neumann, Director of the International Centre for the Study of Radicalisation and Political Violence at King's College London, viral beheading videos are intended, and are at least somewhat effective, as a recruiting tool for jihad among both Western and Middle Eastern youth.[22][23] Other observers argue that while Al Qaeda initially used beheading as a publicity tool, it later decided that they caused Muslims to recoil from Islamism and that although ISIS/IS is enthusiastically deploying beheading as a tactic in 2014, it, too, may find that the tactic backfires.[24]

See also

References

  1. Beheading in the name of Islam, T. Furnish. Middle East Quarterly Spring 2005, pp. 51-57
  2. Quran, Surah 47:3
  3. Quran, Surah 8:12 "When your Lord revealed to the angels: I am with you, therefore make firm those who believe. I will cast terror into the hearts of those who disbelieve. Therefore strike off their heads and strike off every fingertip of them."
  4. Jami' al-Bayan fi Tafsir al-Qur'an (Beirut: Dar al-Ma'rifah, 1972), p. 26.
  5. Mahmud b. Umar az-Zamakhshari, Al-Kashshaf'an Haqa'iq at-Tanzil wa-'Uyun al-Aqawil fi Wujuh at-Ta'wil, vol. 3 (Beirut: Dar al-Ma'arif, n.d.), p. 530.
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  9. Cyril Mango. The Oxford History of Byzantium. Oxford. 2002
  10. 10.0 10.1 10.2 10.3 10.4 10.5 10.6 Paul Fregosi, Jihad in the West: Muslim Conquests from the Seventh to the Twenty-first Centuries (Amherst, N.Y.: Prometheus Books, 1998).
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  13. Byron Farwell, Prisoners of the Mahdi (New York & London: W.W. Norton & Company, 1989), pp. 156-7.
  14. [1] "Boy soldier who died for faith made 'saint'", The Daily Telegraph, 24 January 2004.
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  16. "The Terrorist as Auteur"
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  21. Beheadings Raise Tensions in Thailand
  22. [2] From Daniel Pearl to James Foley: The modern tactic of Islamist beheadings, Adam Taylor, 21 August 2014, Washington Post/Chicago Tribune.
  23. [3] Islamic State steps up propaganda videos, beheading another captive, Videotaped atrocities in an attempt to spread fear are nothing new for IS. But it appears to be stepping up its propaganda as world powers start to engage in halting its spread, Dan Murphy, 29 August 2014, Christian Science Monitor.
  24. [4] Why Beheading Videos Are Back With ISIS, and Why They Went Away, Katie Zavadski, 21 August 2014, New York Magazine.