It is quite obvious that the militants of ISIS are nothing more than Kharijites, which are a fanatical and violent offshoot of Islam that dates back to the early years after the death of the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh). The Prophet (pbuh) predicted their advent, and his descriptions of them are extremely accurate.
In one such saying, the Prophet (pbuh) said (emphasis added):
There would arise from my Ummah (i.e., followers) a people who would recite the Qur’an, and your recital would seem insignificant as compared with their recital, your prayer as compared with their prayer, and your fast, as compared with their fast. They would recite the Qur’an thinking that it supports them, whereas it is an evidence against them. Their prayer does not get beyond their collar bone; they would swerve through Islam just as the arrow passes through the prey.
This is quite frightening. These young people who join ISIS think they are joining a group of believers, but they are in fact joining rebellious barbarians who the Prophet (pubh) said would “swerve through Islam just as the arrow passes through the prey.” The Qur’an that they recite, thinking it supports their claims, actually refutes their claims.
Take this verse, for example, which accurately describes those young Muslims who are joining ISIS:
Say: “Shall we tell you who are the greatest losers in whatever they may do? [It is] they whose labor has gone astray in this world’s life, and who nonetheless think that they are doing good works. It is they who have chosen to deny their Lord’s messages and the truth that they are destined to meet Him.” Hence all their [good] deeds come to nothing, and no weight shall We assign to them on Resurrection Day. (18:103-105).
These young people think they are joining the only “true believers” in the world. But they are mistaken; gravely mistaken. These savages of ISIS do everything that Islam and the Qur’an speak against: murder of innocents, mayhem, public corruption, and savagery. The fact that they continue to do these things, despite Islam’s prohibitions, clearly show that they have “chosen to deny their Lord’s messages.”
Moreover, the fact that they kill innocent people – with savage brutality – also shows that they are not concerned with the fact that they are going to account one day for their actions. Thus, they also “deny…the truth that they are destined to meet Him.” And as a result of all this, “all their [good] deeds come to nothing, and no weight shall [God] assign to them on Resurrection Day.”
How can these young people not see this? How can they be so naive? It is a manifest tragedy. But, it is our job – all of us Muslims – to continue to speak out and show our youth that following the savages of ISIS is following a path of destruction. Not only will they be aiding and abetting barbaric criminals, but they are also putting their very eternal salvation at great risk.
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