Should ISIS Be Burning Captives? (David Wood)
On January 3, 2015, the Islamic State (ISIS) set fire to Jordanian pilot Muath Safi Yousef al-Kasasbeh. ISIS released a video of the execution a month later. Since al-Kasasbeh was already dead when ISIS was negotiating his release, the negotiations were a sham.
Following the execution, many politicians, reporters, and Muslim spokesmen have condemned ISIS for burning a captive to death. According to Ibn Abbas, Muhammad at some point ordered his followers not to put people to death by burning them:
Sahih al-Bukhari 6922—Some Zanadiqa (atheists) were brought to Ali; and he burnt them. The news of this event reached Ibn Abbas who said, “If I had been in his place, I would not have burnt them, as Allah’s Apostle forbade it, saying, ‘Do not punish anybody with Allah’s punishment (fire).’ I would have killed them according to the statement of Allah’s Apostle, ‘Whoever changed his Islamic religion, then kill him.’”
We know from Muslim sources, however, that Muhammad, Abu Bakr, and Ali all punished people with fire. So how can we make sense of this?
In this video, David Wood discusses what Islam teaches about burning captives.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v9KZU_ZgwMI
David, In comparing ISIS to Islam, how do you explain that most of their killing is that of other Muslims. That seems to be un-Islamic. This seems to be a major point for those who claim that ISIS doesn’t represent Islam.