In a world already stained with enough blood, there is no greater moral catastrophe than the celebration of innocent lives lost. When civilians and soldiers endure being the targets of violence, and the aftermath is received with glee rather than sadness, it signifies not only an infringement of ethics, but also the breakdown of the commonality of humanity. This is more than just a tragedy; it is a violation of conscience. It is at this point when neutrality turns into culpability.
This is most evident in the horrifying jubilation of violence carried out by extremist groups like TTP. Their behavior and language are in sharp contrast to the faith that they claim to preserve. Islam, the faith of over a billion people worldwide, is currently being hijacked by individuals and factions who twist its sacred scriptures for political gain and ruthless objectives. The world has to determine a clear line: killing the defenseless is not honorable, and applauding murder is not faith-based.
Islam is fundamentally a religion of compassion and mercy. The Qur’an expressly declares that “whoever kills an innocent person, it is as if he has slain all of humanity” (Qur’an 5:32). This unequivocal condemnation of immoral violence is not open to interpretation or contextual manipulation. It is a divine affirmation of the value of human life. As a result, any claim that Islam promotes or even endorses the murder of innocent people is not only false, but also an affront to the faith’s very core.
Violence, in particular when targeted at civilians, is hardly a feat of valor. It is cowardice disguised as revenge. TTP and similar groups use religious rhetoric to conceal their actions, which undermine Islam’s essential principles of peace, justice, and empathy. They do not signify resistance, but rather signifies ruin.
This corrosive ideology aims to reframe murder as martyrdom and horror as success. Among their most heinous weapons is suicide bombing, which is an act of desecration rather than devotion.
Suicide is outright forbidden in Islam, let alone suicide as a means of destroying others. There is no martyrdom in self-destruction combined with mass slaughter. These do not represent the actions of the believers; they are those of radicals motivated not by conviction, but by revenge and power.
The global community must acknowledge that using religion to rationalize terrorism constitutes not a struggle for faith, but rather a betrayal of it. The fundamental conflict does not lie between Islam and the West, or between one country and another. The fundamental conflict exists between humanity and hatred, truth and deception. It is a sacred obligation of all who respect life, Muslim and non-Muslim alike, to condemn these atrocities unambiguously and oppose the normalization of such brutality.
Celebrating civilian or soldier deaths, regardless of ethnicity or beliefs, poisons the soul of humanity and society alike. It is as to laugh at mothers’ suffering, applaud at orphans’ tears, and dance on the graves of the innocent. This does not appear as faith. This is madness. Fanaticism must be met with truth rather than quiet.
Bloodshed is not honored in Islam; rather, it is condemned. The Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) consistently emphasized mercy over reprisal, patience over fury, and forgiveness over vengeance. He wasn’t modelling his followers to be terrorists. He taught them how to serve as peace ambassadors. Perverting his teachings in the name of jihad is both academically deceitful and spiritually wicked.
No flag, philosophy, or distorted doctrine can ever justify the killing of unarmed individuals. The notion that violence against the innocent is a form of resistance is a lie perpetuated by those who benefit from instability. TTP is not a liberation movement; it is a murderous cult of destruction. Its narrative is based on wrath rather than faith. Its deeds are not spiritual, but political. And its victims are not enemies; they are human beings.
It is time to speak out about the hypocrisy that hides itself in sacred discourse. True belief is evaluated by the number of lives saved rather than the number of enemies killed. True faith is found not in the reverberation of bullets, but in the tranquilly of empathy. A religion’s strength is demonstrated not via battle cries, but by the dignity of its followers in the face of hardship.
The world media, governments, and civil society must be careful in separating Islam from those who exploit it. Just as Christians are not defined by the Crusades and Jews are not defined by political extremism, Muslims should not be defined by atrocities committed by groups such as the TTP. We must elevate voices of peace and drown out the sirens of hatred.
Let the world remember: every innocent life lost is a world undone. Every celebration of such a loss is a betrayal of our collective humanity. And every silence in the face of such horror is an invitation for it to repeat.
Violence will never be our salvation. Peace is not just the absence of war; it is the presence of justice. And justice begins when we stop honoring the destroyers and start honoring the lives they took.
