Ali Khan [Washburn University School of Law]: In his latest 9/11 (2007) video message, Osama bin Laden has supposedly said: "O' Americans, Muslims will continue to kill you unless you embrace Islam." Even if this message is authentic, which I doubt, Islam allows no such notion of jihad. This is the worst possible way to invite non-Muslims to Islam, contrary to the Quran's commandment: Sura an-Nahl (The Bee) 16:125.

Islam rejects all conceptions of holy war. Muslims are not allowed to engage in any aggressive war to spread Islam or to impose its faith or laws on others. Muslims do not believe that God is at war with Satan, nor that He needs human help to win this battle. Any such belief is contrary to God's Unity and Sovereignty. God is above all human conflicts, and He has no conflict with Satan or any other force in the universe. God is Supreme and in complete control of all things that exist or belong to the world of the unknown. Wars occur when human beings shun the path of peaceful spirituality and pursue their inclinations for warfare. Muslims are permitted to enter the battlefield to fight oppression and occupation. While a religion of peace and spiritual submission, Islam is also a pragmatic religion that recognizes the existence of nations with corrupt ideologies of shahawaat and predation. Against such nations, Muslims are utmost vigilant. But coercive or coerced faith is no part of Islam. Americans are free to live according to their own values.

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