Refuse to Humanize Islam and You’ll Get a Thousand Mar Elias Massacres
In the aftermath of the terrorist attack targeting St. Elias Church in the Dweila neighborhood of Damascus, on the morning of Sunday, June 22, 2025 /carried out by a suicide bomber affiliated with a jihadist organization an overwhelming wave of anger, sorrow, and revulsion swept over me. I had to postpone writing until I could regain enough composure to approach the tragedy with the professionalism the subject demands, without losing the emotional truth or the depth of the central question.
The attacker entered the church wearing an explosive vest, his face covered, and opened fire on the worshipers during the Mass. He then removed the cover and detonated his suicide belt. Reports also indicated that he used a hand grenade, and that a second individual may have been present, potentially coordinating the attack on the ground.
While Syrian authorities initially blamed the attack on ISIS, a group calling itself “Saraya Ansar al-Sunna” quickly claimed responsibility.
The bombing resulted in the deaths of at least 25 people and injured dozens more including women and children in one of the deadliest sectarian attacks Damascus has seen in recent years.
Faced with this carnage, I cannot simply condemn the act or denounce the violence. I feel compelled to raise the fundamental question loudly and clearly:
Was the attacker acting on his own warped reasoning?
Was it a case of personal extremism or religious misinterpretation?
Or was it a literal execution of texts found in the Quran, the Hadith, and centuries of jurisprudence and traditional Islamic scholarship?
It pains me to say this, but the attacker neither distorted, nor invented, nor misinterpreted anything. He acted precisely in accordance with what is written in the core religious texts, texts that have been interpreted, codified, and enforced over centuries.
Those who keep preaching to us about the “tolerance” and “pluralism” of Islam especially among non-Muslim commentators are either uninformed, dishonest, or flattering apologists.
Or perhaps all of the above.
This debate must not rest on emotion, but on knowledge. The arbiter is not sentiment, but scripture and the final judge is the informed, free-thinking reader.
What follows is only a selection I repeat, only a selection of verses, hadiths, and juristic precedents that jihadist groups use ideologically to justify violence, excommunication, and mass murder.
First: Quranic Verses Used to Declare Christians as Infidels
1. Surah Al-Ma’idah (72)
“They have certainly disbelieved who say, ‘Allah is the Messiah, the son of Mary.'”
A direct denunciation of the foundational Christian belief in the divinity of Christ.
2. Surah At-Tawbah (29):
“Fight those who do not believe in Allah or the Last Day… from among the People of the Book…”
Used to justify violence against Jews and Christians (People of the Book).
3. Surah Aal ‘Imran (85):
“Whoever seeks a religion other than Islam it will never be accepted of him…”
A rejection of the salvation of non-Muslims.
4. Surah Al-Bayyinah (6):
“Indeed, those who disbelieve among the People of the Book and the polytheists will be in the fire of Hell…”
A core reference for eternal condemnation of Jews and Christians.
Second: Three Authentic Hadiths Commonly Used
1. “Do not greet the Jews and Christians before they greet you… and when you meet them on the road, force them to the narrowest path.”
(Sahih Muslim)
2. “Expel the polytheists from the Arabian Peninsula.”(Sahih al-Bukhari)
3. “Two religions shall not coexist in the Arabian Peninsula.”(Reported in Bukhari, attributed to Umar ibn al-Khattab)
Third: From the Prophetic Biography and Classical Jurisprudence
Under the caliphate of Umar ibn al-Khattab, both the Christians of Najran and the Jews of Khaybar were expelled, enforcing the principle:
“Two religions shall not coexist in the Arabian Peninsula.”
In traditional Maliki and Hanbali jurisprudence, the ruling:
“Fight the dhimmis if they do not pay the jizya” was used to legitimize systematic discrimination and forced displacement of non-Muslims.
Fourth: The Most Dangerous Verse in the Ideological Arsenal of ISIS and Its Peers
Surah Al-Ma’idah (51):
“O you who have believed, do not take the Jews and the Christians as allies… whoever is an ally to them then indeed, he is one of them.”
Why is this verse particularly central?
1. Takfir through association:
Used to excommunicate any Muslim who befriends or aligns with Christians or Jews.
2. Rejection of coexistence:
Interpreted as a divine prohibition of peace, partnership, or even goodwill toward Christians.
3. Pretext for mass violence:
This verse has been cited in hundreds of jihadist communiqués released before attacks on churches in Iraq, Syria, and beyond.
In simple terms, this means that Christians and Jews anywhere in the world are considered “legitimate targets,” according to the material I referenced. They are potential victims of “religiously justified terrorism,” perpetrated by those who act strictly upon what their scripture demands: the spilling of blood, the execution of innocents, and then their own self-destruction believing they will ascend to paradise and enjoy the company of the houris, celestial women whose beauty, they are told, is beyond human imagination.
So what is the solution?
I have written about this repeatedly in essays and academic articles. I’ve also said it in numerous interviews, the most recent of which was just a month ago with Israeli journalist Zvi Yehezkeli on his i24 program, where I stated clearly:
“There must be a global project to humanize the Islamic religion a project that removes every verse that calls for the killing of non-Muslims, that declares their blood permissible, that legitimizes violence against them so that we can have a humane Quran.”
The same must apply to the Hadith and Sunnah.
I have been working on this project individually for quite some time and I will continue. But this effort is larger than one person. Larger than a team.
It is an intellectual battle that requires conscious souls who won’t run, and pens that will not tremble.
There can be no salvation without confronting the texts that sanctify murder.
Only truth however painful has the power to liberate.
