“Extremist groups have used the Koran to portray Islam as a violent religion intolerant of other faiths. There is nowhere in the scriptures that says you must kill another person to go to paradise.”
Indeed, it doesn’t say that you must kill another person to go to paradise. But that is a straw man. Here are some of the things it does say:
“And kill them wherever you find them, and drive them out from where they drove you out; persecution is worse than slaughter. But fight them not by the Holy Mosque until they should fight you there; then, if they fight you, kill them — such is the recompense of unbelievers, but if they give over, surely Allah is all-forgiving, all-compassionate. Fight them until there is no persecution and the religion is Allah’s; then if they give over, there shall be no enmity save for evildoers.” (Qur’an 2:191-193)
“They wish that you should disbelieve as they disbelieve, and then you would be equal; therefore do not take friends from among them, until they emigrate in the way of Allah; then, if they turn their backs, seize them and kill them wherever you find them; do not take for yourselves any one of them as friend or helper.” (Qur’an 4:89)
“Then, when the sacred months are over, kill the idolaters wherever you find them, and take them, and confine them, and lie in wait for them at every place of ambush. But if they repent, and perform the prayer, and pay the alms, then let them go their way; Allah is All-forgiving, All-compassionate.” (Qur’an 9:5)
“Fight those who believe not in Allah and the Last Day and do not forbid what Allah and His Messenger have forbidden, and do not practice the religion of truth, even if they are of the People of the Book — until they pay the jizya with willing submission and feel themselves subdued.” (Qur’an 9:29)
“Allah has bought from the believers their selves and their possessions against the gift of Paradise; they fight in the way of Allah; they kill, and are killed; that is a promise binding upon Allah in the Torah, and the Gospel, and the Koran; and who fulfils his covenant truer than Allah? So rejoice in the bargain you have made with Him; that is the mighty triumph.” (Qur’an 9:111)
“Two terror suspects seized in Garissa, four weapons recovered,” Hiiraan Online, October 26, 2019 (thanks to The Religion of Peace):
Two people suspected of involvement in terror activities along the Kenya-Somalia border have been arrested at Liboi.
Three assault rifles and a pistol alongside eight magazines, four pouches of magazines and two military water bottles were found on them during the Thursday evening arrest.
Garissa county commissioner Meru Mwangi thanked the public for informing the police of the suspects who had been patrolling the border region.
“This prompted our officers to start pursuing the suspects,” Mwangi said.
Their nationality was not disclosed to reporters. However, a source who sought not to be named told the Star that the two are Kenyans who committed crimes in the border towns of Diif and Khorof Harar before escaping into the lawless neighbouring country.
The suspects were interrogated by police in Garissa before their transfer to Nairobi. The ammunition found on them was handed over to ballistic experts….
Al Shabaab terrorists occasionally ambush security teams and plant IEDs on the routes often used by multi-agency officers….
Meanwhile, a Garissa-based senior Muslim cleric has thanked the government for recognising his advocacy in countering violent extremism.
Sheikh Hassan Abdullahi, who is the chairman of Garissa sub-county peace committee, said his work is defined by what religion demands of the clerics.
Abdullahi was recently awarded a certificate for his peace initiative. He has been at the forefront in ensuring that people understand the Koran.
“Extremist groups have used the Koran to portray Islam as a violent religion intolerant of other faiths,” Abdullahi said….
“There is nowhere in the scriptures that says you must kill another person to go to paradise. I have been giving sermons in the mosque and other public forums against terrorism. I thank the President for recognising these efforts,” he said.
The sheikh, who is a member of the Supreme Council of Kenya Muslims (SUPKEM), said he will continue preaching peace and against terror in the country….