The Mumbai attackers were doing their religious duty

(A Mumbai policeman treats a young victim of Jihad. You may have to reload the page for the image.)

To understand Islamists, who are basically practising muslims who take what is written in the Kuran and Hadith seriously, we must understand the world through their eyes. Why do they want to kill us? Well, quite simply, because that is what Islam instructs them to do.


In Islam, there are two types of obligations:
1. Fard Kiffaya, meaning communal obligation. This is an obligation that a community of muslims, as a whole, must fulfill, otherwise it displeases Allah. In particular, a muslim state (such as Pakistan, in this case), would be obliged to perform its Fard Kiffaya.

2. Fard Ayn, meaning individual obligation. This is an obligation that each muslim must fulfill, where ever he lives.

Now, as per Islam, Jihad to terrorise Kafirs who are not bothering you in any way, is Fard Kiffaya. While Jihad against Kafirs who have invaded muslim lands is Fard Ayn. I am quoting from a very influential Islamist writing - Defence of muslim lands, by Abdullah Azzam - one of the most famous of Mujahideen in Afghanistan:

Jihad Against the Kuffar is of two Types:

Offensive Jihad (where the enemy is attacked in his own territory).

Where the Kuffar are not gathering to fight the Muslims. The fighting becomes Fard Kifaya with the minimum requirement of appointing believers to guard borders, and the sending of an army at least once a year to terrorise the enemies of Allah. It is a duty of the Imam to assemble and send out an army unit into the land of war once or twice every year. Moreover, it is the responsibility of the Muslim population to assist him, and if he does not send an army he is in sin.- And the Ulama have mentioned that this type of jihad is for maintaining the payment of Jizya. The scholars of the principles of religion have also said: " Jihad is Daw'ah with a force, and is obligatory to perform with all available capabilities, until there remains only Muslims or people who submit to Islam."

Defensive Jihad

This is expelling the Kuffar from our land, and it is Fard Ayn, a compulsory duty upon all. It is the most important of all the compulsory duties and arises in the following conditions:

1) If the Kuffar enter a land of the Muslims.

2) If the rows meet in battle and they begin to approach each other.

3) If the Imam calls a person or a people to march forward then they must march.

4) If the Kuffar capture and imprison a group of Muslims.



Now, the Jihad that is relevant to the Mumbai Attacks is the offensive Jihad - the Fard Kiffaya. Note that it is a religious obligation upon a muslim state to "send out armies once or twice a year to terrorize the kuffar (infidels)." That is exactly what Pakistan does - we Hindus are hit at least twice a year with a big terror attack, and almost every month with a significant terror attack. This is exactly how Islam says neighboring Kafirs must be treated, even if they do not bother you in any way. This of course follows the example of Muhammad, who himself led about 80 raids on Meccan caravans after he had moved to Medina and the Meccans had nothing more to do with him, and simply wanted to continue their trade as they had done for centuries.

So how effective has this constant harassment of Hindus, in accordance with Islamic teachings, been?
I quote the Times of India on how much India has been bled over these past years:


In fact, India has since 2004 lost more lives to terrorist incidents than all of North America, South America, Central America, Europe and Eurasia put together. All of these vast swathes of the globe lost a total of 3,280 lives in terrorist incidents between January 2004 and March this year. India alone lost 3,674 lives over the same period of three years and three months.


Remember that the Pakistani army and ISI are both headed by Islamists since the time of General Zia-ul-Haq. Hamid Gul, the former head of the ISI, says quite emphatically

"I am an Islamist. Islam is the final destiny of mankind... Islam is everything that man needs."


Islamists take their Fard Kiffaya very seriously. They are only following their religion. It is absolutely stupid of us to expect that any sort of treaty will change things. Solve Kashmir, but the Fard Kiffaya to terrorize Kafirs at least twice a year still remains. This is how the masterminds of Jihad think.

The footsoldiers of Islam - the actual terrorists who carry out these attacks devised by the masterminds - are total believers in this doctrine. As Amir Qasab - the lone terrorist captured by Mumbai police - said, he had been told that the faces of Jihadis glow after their death as Allah is extremely pleased with them. It is only when he was shown the faces of his dead comrades (not glowing, of course), he realized that this is not the bargain he had sought.

Let us understand how these people think. Then we are in a better position to deal with the threat. Here is what I would like readers to understand - these people will continue to try to kill us for no reason other than that we are Kafir Hindus, because that is their religious obligation.

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