Letter to the BBC World Service:
Would your reporter Nicky Thareek (sp?) please explain to her listeners in what way Faisal Shahzad “distorted” Islam, when he explained why he attempted to bomb Times Square?
In her very next sentence she says that Shahzad “quoted from the Koran”. The Koran is the uncreated, inerrant, word of God. Is she suggesting that the Koran is somehow “distorted”?
Perhaps she believes that Islam is the “Religion of Peace”, and therefore, by definition, any violent actions taken in its name are “distorted” (in this belief, she would, of course, be wrong).
Shahzad has explained his motives. He says,
"... jihad, holy fighting in Allah's course, with full force of numbers and weaponry, is given the utmost importance in Islam....By jihad, Islam is established....By abandoning jihad, may Allah protect us from that, Islam is destroyed, and Muslims go into inferior position, their honour is lost, their lands are stolen, their rule and authority vanish. Jihad is an obligation and duty in Islam on every Muslim."
In this he is correct, for Jihad — including violent Jihad — is often known as the “Sixth Pillar” of Islam.