The Islamic State (ISIS) terror group rebuked Pope Francis’ claim that the ISIS war is not a religious war and that it is in fact sanctioned by Allah in the Qur’an. In the latest issue of Dabiq, the Islamic State propaganda magazine, ISIS chastises Pope Francis for his “naivete” in his belief that Muslims want peace and that acts of radical Islamic terror are “economically” motivated.
The ISIS author(s) state in the article titled, “By The Sword,” specifically addressing Pope Francis with the following:
“This is a divinely-warranted war between the Muslim nation and the nations of disbelief. Francis continues to hide behind a deceptive veil of ‘goodwill,’ covering his actual intentions of pacifying the Muslim nation [when he states that] authentic Islam and the proper reading of the Quran are opposed to every form of violence. Many people in Crusader countries express shock and even disgust that Islamic State leadership uses religion to justify violence. Indeed, waging jihad – spreading the rule of Allah by the sword – is an obligation found in the Quran, the word of our Lord. The blood of the disbelievers is obligatory to spill by default. The command is clear. Kill the disbelievers, as Allah said, then kill the polytheists wherever you find them. The gist of the matter is that there is indeed a rhyme to our terrorism, warfare, ruthlessness, and brutality. The fact is, even if you were to stop bombing us, imprisoning us, torturing us, vilifying us, and usurping our lands, we would continue to hate you because our primary reason for hating you will not cease to exist until you embrace Islam. Even if you were to pay jizyah [tax for infidels] and live under the authority of Islam in humiliation, we would continue to hate you.”
The Islamic State also reacted to Pope Francis’s description of recent acts of Islamic terror as “senseless violence,” insisting that there is nothing senseless about it. In a recent press conference, Pope Francis told journalists that the world is at war and said,
“…[I]t’s a real war, not a religious war, it’s a war of interests, a war for money. A war for natural resources and for the dominion of the peoples. Every religion wants peace.”
Pope Francis denouncing religion as the reason for Islamic State’s war is somewhat of a double-edged sword. On the one hand, the pontiff alludes that the Islamic State terror group is not representative of all Muslims and to claim this is a “religious” war would denote all Muslims engaging in this level of extremism in regards to radical Islam. On the other hand, the pontiff not recognizing this religious war, according to Islamic State, could also mean these barbarians could solely single out only Christians as a means of retribution against Pope Francis and his reducing Islamic State’s war to mere greed sans religion (ISIS nearly executed every Yazidi Christian in one of ISIS’ worst cases of genocide during its reign of terror).
Do you think Pope Francis was strategic in his wording regarding the reason for Islamic State’s war by not validating it with the “religion of peace?” Sound off in the comments below.
[revad2]
