The religion of peace strikes again 4: Happy New Year from New Orleans
Barely two days into 2025, we were greeted by yet another terror attack.
As usual, the FBI initially did not declare it to be a terror attack and who knows, it perhaps was not religiously motivated. The guy in question, Shamsud-Din Jabbar, was after all an American ex-Military. However, we learnt he had recently converted to Islam which may or may not have anything to do with the act he carried out. He was also carrying an ISIS flag which may or may not be related to what he did.
Remember the Quran and the Hadith expressly command those who adhere to the religion of peace to strike terror into the hearts of the unbelievers. Allah himself promises to strike terror in the hearts of unbelievers,
“[Remember] when your Lord inspired to the angels, “I am with you, so strengthen those who have believed. I will cast terror into the hearts of those who disbelieved, so strike [them] upon the necks and strike from them every fingertip.”
(Surah 8:12)
And again he commands his followers to strike terror in the hearts of unbelievers,
“And prepare against them whatever you are able of power and of steeds of war by which you may terrify the enemy of Allah and your enemy and others besides them whom you do not know [but] whom Allah knows.”
(Surah 8:60)
The prophet Muhammad himself said,
“Narrated Abu Huraira:
Allah’s Messenger (ﷺ) said, “I have been sent with the shortest expressions bearing the widest meanings, and I have been made victorious with terror…”
(Sahih Bukhari Book 56 Hadith 186)
Now, this not radical or fundamentalist Islam, this is just vanilla Islam. Unless people want to say Muhammad is a radical Muslim. So this had the trappings of Islam from the word go.
However, the NY Times released a video where Shamsud’s house was “toured” for want of a better word and on the top of his shelf, you would never what guess what book was found open on an elevated platform. The Quran! High and lifted up.
What is more interesting is the verse the Quran was opened to, it is a verse I have referred to over and over again like a clanging cymbal or a beating drum,
“Verily, Allah has purchased of the believers their lives and their properties; for the price that theirs shall be the Paradise. They fight in Allah’s Cause, so they kill (others) and are killed. It is a promise in truth which is binding on Him in the Taurat (Torah) and the Injeel (Gospel) and the Quran. And who is truer to his covenant than Allah? Then rejoice in the bargain which you have concluded. That is the supreme success.”
(Surah 9:111)
This tells you all you need to know. Furthermore, Shamsud was living in a rented apartment as a tenant, he moved out on the day he carried out the attack and told the Landlord he would not need to take any of his stuff with him because his new apartment “was already furnished”. In all likelihood, this guy was referring to the paradise Allah would give him in exchange for killing and being killed. This is why he came out shooting at people after his act of terror.
Now there would still be ostriches out there burying their heads in the sand about terrorism being integral to Islam. There would still be people going “Every religion has its extremists!”, “This is not the true Islam!” the question for those people would be why does this religion keep being misinterpreted in the exact same way? From Syria to Hamas to Hezbollah to ISIS to Boko Haram, why? I say no more to those people..
To Muslims however, there is a teachable moment, even from Surah 9:111. The verse claims that Allah made that same promise (Paradise in exchange for killing and being killed in the name of God) in the Torah and in the gospel, my question to my Muslim friends is,
“Where exactly is this promise in the gospel? Where are Christians promised that they will inherit the kingdom of God if they kill people in the name of Christ?”
On the contrary, Jesus said to Pilate,
“Jesus answered, “My kingdom is not of this world. If My kingdom were of this world, My servants would fight, so that I should not be delivered to the Jews; but now My kingdom is not from here.”
(John 18:36)
Jesus specifies that it is precisely because His kingdom is not of this world that He is against those who follow Him imposing it with violence.
Now if we do not find this promise of Allah (Kill for me in exchange for paradise) in the gospel, it would mean that Allah is either incorrect or he is flat out lying to you/deceiving you.
If this is the case, the million dollar question is,
“What else has Allah been incorrect or deceiving you about?”
