Understanding The Role Of Revenge In Islam

It is claimed that the horrific recent bombings in Paris had been in revenge for the role of France in bombing ISIS fighters in Syria. The cycle of revenge goes on and on but few people know the significance of revenge to Islamic fanatics.

Few know that revenge is an old Arab custom that has unfortunately become a part of the Muslim tradition worldwide. It had been a necessary survival custom in the precarious times when small tribes of Arab Bedouins had to protect themselves from bigger or more powerful tribes who, without the fear of revenge, could loot or molest them. Life in the desert was always very tenuous and there was fierce competition over the scarce sources of food or water. Individuals could not survive except with the protection of the bonds of blood within their tribes.

This was expressed in the Arab ideology of Muruwah that not only meant manliness, pride and courage but endurance in suffering, avenging each and every injustice and unflinchingly defying stronger enemies regardless of the consequences. This philosophy also glorified the most generous hospitality to friends and equally intense hatred to enemies.

Oppressors had to therefore be very careful for this well- established tribal code made it certain that any injustice would be avenged at some future date. Regardless of power and position no one could ever be absolutely safe from attack and had to tolerate lesser tribes and be very careful not to incite serious animosity.

The American cowboy glorification of revenge also arose out of similar compulsions among numerous isolated ranchers who, far from legal remedies, had to protect themselves from their bigger oppressors.

This revenge philosophy has plagued Islam from its earliest days. The early Caliphs Umar and Usman as well as the prophet’s own son in law Ali were all assassinated by vengeful factions. The predominantly Bedouin Kharajite faction, who were unhappy that Ali had not avenged the assassination of Usman, mainly caused the split into Sunni and Shia sects that was to cause so much bloodshed over the centuries. These Kharajites, or Salafis, had a very narrow and extremist view of the words of the prophet. Their successors especially the Wahhabis after the late 18th century were to gain great importance when the Al- Saud family captured Medina and Mecca in 1924 and then gained the huge power of oil riches in 1938 to export their extreme brand of Islam that was later an intrinsic part of Taliban thinking.

Actually, many Wahhabi ideas were a heresy to the words and actions of the prophet. Few know that his conquest of Mecca had been achieved without shedding a drop of blood through a year long, almost Gandhian, campaign of patience and moral principles. Muhammad preached peace, except in times of actual combat.

The word Jihad is rarely found in the Quran but is referred to 199 times in the Hadith that was written two centuries after the death of The Prophet. The Wahhabis interpreted Jihad to mean a holy war even though there were two Jihads according to Muhammad. The greater Jihad meant a struggle against one’s own weakness while a lesser Jihad was to fight against injustice. Both enjoined adherents to struggle on regardless of the odds with the certain faith that Allah would come to the aid of the sincere devotee. But there were strict rules and Jihad could not be declared by anybody but only by an authority of widely accepted repute.

The Quran very clearly says that killing in the name of Islam was the opposite of Jihad and had expressly forbidden harm or the killing of women and children. It was also forbidden to take hostages or to torture or kill prisoners. Even suicide was forbidden. Muhammad had also said that anyone who sets another… even an ant… on fire commits the greatest sin and is destined to the fires of hell.

There was no need for such a philosophy of revenge in more affluent pastoral or urban communities and was thus unknown in the philosophies of China, India, Europe or in many other societies. In fact mature cultures understood that accommodation was much preferable to violence. This was so well enunciated by Buddha who had preached that hatred can never be appeased by hatred but only by love and that the only lasting victories were the conquest of the heart because victories in the battlefield only caused the defeated to lie down in sorrow and wait for revenge making future peace impossible. 

The seemingly endless cycle of violence will only end when people learn that violence is the childish recourse of the weak and immature and that lasting peace can only be achieved by finding 'win-win’ solutions where the fears and concerns of all the opposing factions can be accommodated.

Muslim clerics should understand that the philosophy of revenge has caused Muslim communities viewed to be with great suspicion worldwide. They should lead their followers to go back to the words of their prophet instead of following the words of the many revisionists who have hijacked the faith.

Bedouins and cowboys had little claim to wisdom and their philosophy of revenge is unsuited to mature societies. The Muruwah spirit will ensure that Islamic terrorism will not surrender to brute military force. But it can be eroded when the terrorists believe that, far from serving their religion, they are disobeying the sacred words of their prophet and will go to hell instead of the promised paradise. Evil things are never committed with such enthusiasm, pride and joy as when they are done out of revenge and especially if they are done in the name of religion.