A couple of weeks ago, the entire world was deeply shocked by the terror attack against Al-Rawdah Mosque in Egypt wherein more than 305 persons were slain in what is described by the international press as the “deadliest attack” ever in Egypt’s modern history up till now. Throughout its history, Mosques in Egypt were never the targets of any terrorist attack, which points out the serious shift in the ideology of terror group, and that the counterfeit cloak of commitment to Faith has been taken off from them. According to the Egyptian official, 27 children were among the causalities in a clear message to the entire world that terrorism does not differentiate between faithful worshippers and what they mistakenly believe as “apostate”.
Even if we, for the sake of presumption, accept their unfounded allegation that those worshippers were apostate, which is actually not, what is the sin of those children who were mercilessly massacred???!!! In reality, this barbarian crime reminds us of the pre-Islamic era when the disbelievers of Quraysh used to bury their infant females, for none reason but the total ignorance that they would bring them shame and dishonor, for which Allah, the Almighty, bitterly criticized them in the Quran: “And when the female infant buried alive is asked (8) For what sin she was killed, (9)” (The Quran, 81:8-9)
This, in reality, tells that there is a common factor between those people of Quraysh and today’s terrorist groups, which is ignorance. Here arises the very important question: “Where did those terrorist groups get their so-called knowledge from?!!!”
In fact, the frequent various barbarian attacks of those terrorists targeting all- Muslims and non-Muslims alike- clearly show their total ignorance of the teachings of Islam. The latter massacre of Al-Rawdah Mosque is a case in point, for while killing the innocent worshippers, including children in one of Allah’s Houses of Worship, they themselves intentionally forget that they did not perform the Friday Prayer- an individual obligation upon every true Muslim.
Highlighting the murder of the children in particular, the following question should be offered “How does Islam view children with regard to the accountability of deeds?”
The mainstream Sunni Islam firmly believes that children are born as true Muslims, a ruling deduced from the hadith of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) in which he said: “Every child is born with a true faith of Islam (i.e. to worship none but Allah Alone) …” (Al-Bukhari) That is to say that they are sinless until they attain their maturity- a particular point of time at which they will be held accountable for their deeds. The question now is: “If Allah, the Almighty, will not hold them accountable for their deeds, why do the terrorist groups thus contradict the Rulings of Allah, the Almighty, appointing themselves as judges in the Divine Name?!” This actually exposes their total ignorance and their deviation from the Divine Way of Guidance