ISIS VICTIM’S BROTHER OPPOSES EXTREMISM WITH INTEGRITY AND AL-QUR’AN
ISIS victim’s brother opposes extremism with integrity and the Quran
by Dan Bloom
The brother of beheaded aid worker David Haines has read from Al-Qur’an in an impassioned plea for the world to ‘repel evil with something better’.
Mike Haines said extremism, not Islam, was to blame for the on-camera butchering of his brother, a married 44-year-old with two children who devoted his life to helping victims of war.
David Haines was beheaded in a gruesome video released last night by the British Islamic State terrorist who has been dubbed ‘jihadi John’.
Speaking to the BBC, Mr Haines said: ‘My first reaction could be one of hatred. But my brother’s life wasn’t about hatred. It was about love for all men.
‘Radicalisation remains the biggest threat to the wholesale safety of every person in the world. Increasingly we are seeing more and more radicalisation in every walk of life.
‘It is not a race, religion or political issue – it is a human issue and it is in our everyday lives.
‘I have become aware of a number of verses in the Koran that I feel are particularly apt at this time, if I may.
‘”‘Since good and evil cannot be equal, repel thou evil with something that is better.”‘
The quote comes from Chapter 41, Verse 34 of Al-Qur’an.
بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ
In the name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful.“The good deed and the evil deed cannot be equal. Repel (the evil) with one which is better (i.e. Allâh orders the faithful believers to be patient at the time of anger, and to excuse those who treat them badly), then verily! he, between whom and you there was enmity, (will become) as though he was a close friend.” (Al-Qur’an, Surah Fussilat, Verse: 34)
He added: ‘The Muslim faith is not to blame for Isil [Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant], nor is it the fault of people of Middle Eastern descent.
‘The attraction of complete control and the use of terror as an implement of operational control has a widepsread appeal to many disenfranchised people throughout society, as you can see by the amount of foreign nationals – not just British – that are fighting for Isil.
‘My family and I agree with the government that we need to identify those travelling to fight with Isil and hold them responsible for their actions.’
Mr Haines was abducted in March last year while working in the Atmeh refugee camp for the French aid group Agency for Technical Cooperation and Development (ACTED).
It followed more than two decades of travelling with aid agencies through Syria, Libya, the former Yugoslavia and South Sudan.
Mr Haines, described by the Prime Minister today as a British hero, dedicated his life to promoting peace in places of violent conflict and oversaw projects to save civilians from land mines.
He was born in Holderness in East Yorkshire and brought up in Perth by his parents Herbert, 77, and Mary, 79, who now live in Ayr.
He had a teenage daughter in Scotland from a previous marriage with his first wife, and a four-year-old daughter, Athea, in Croatia from his second wife.
His brother added: ‘We hoped, we prayed in our own way. Unfortunately it was not in our hands. It was in the hands of terrorists.
‘We have been in constant contact with the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, the police and other authorities.
‘We have, as a family, received all the support and cooperation that could under the circumstances be given.
‘We can only praise and give our thanks to the agencies who have helped us during our time of need.
‘We agree with the Government in that Isil are extremely dangerous, and pose a threat to every nation, every religion, every politics and every person.’
Mr Haines was forced to recite a diatribe against the British government in the video, blaming David Cameron for his own execution.
Mr Cameron responded by saying: ‘They claim to do this in the name of Islam. That is nonsense. Islam is a religion of peace. They are not Muslims, they are monsters.’
Today the Prime Minister vowed to hunt down Mr Haines’ killer, who paraded a second British aid worker before the camera and warned he would be murdered next.
Alan Henning, a 47-year-old taxi driver from Greater Manchester, was a volunteer on his second aid convoy to Syria despite having little experience because he felt a ‘pull’ to return and help refugees. (T/P3/R01)
Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA)
Sources:
2.http://muslimvillage.com/
