Extremists Misinterpret Teachings Of Islam, Too
By: Sardar Atik Ahmad

Critics often blame Islam for influencing extremists. Yet those very critics who criticize Islam have themselves been cited by Anders Breivik as influences for his recent attacks in Norway. Breivik has cited numerous quotations from Robert Spencer, Pamela Geller and Geert Wilders in his manifesto, but they insist that their works have been misinterpreted.

Let us assume they are correct. Why then, do such critics never consider that extremists have misinterpreted Islam in the same manner?

The Quran explicitly states, “There is no compulsion in religion” (2:257) and “Whosoever killed a person — unless it be for killing a person or for creating disorder in the land — it shall be as if he had killed all mankind” (5:33).

Any verse can be taken out of context. For example, the Quran (2:191) does say to fight the infidel — however the preceding and succeeding verses show that fighting is permitted against such people who attack first and transgression is not allowed.

While such critics do not condone the killing of innocents, Breivik did cite their works as an inspiration. If they defend themselves against such allegations, they must afford the same respect when assessing Islam.