Radical Islamic activist Anjem Choudary proclaimed on Thursday that the barbaric execution of a Jordanian pilot could be "acceptable behavior" under the rules of jihad.
Appearing on "The Steve Malzberg Show" on
Newsmax TV, Choudary — a London-based lecturer in Sharia law recently arrested for allegedly "encouraging" terrorism — said of the Islamic State (ISIS) terrorists who burned the hero pilot alive in a cage and released a video of it:
"If you want to look at this from an Islamic perspective, what they are arguing is that it is qisas, in other words, reciprocation.
"The fact is that the pilots — not just this Jordanian one but many others via drones and other bombing campaigns — have burned a lot of men, women, and children, and indiscriminately.
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"Obviously we don't see the pictures or images of those because they're not available, but hundreds of thousands of Muslims have been killed, most of them by Arab bombardment in Syria and Iraq.
"What these people are saying is this is a reciprocation. So they have a juristic argument to retaliate in a similar manner. This is what Allah said in the Quran — fight them back the way that they fight you."
Choudary is well-known for making incendiary statements. During his last interview on the Malzberg show, he pointedly asked the host if he is Jewish.
The Islamic State has been condemned by world leaders after they released a graphic video of Muath al-Kaseasbeh's execution, in which the Jordanian pilot can be seen in agony as he is consumed by flames.
"In having seen the clip for the first time this morning, I can see that it has several intended effects," Choudary said.
"One of them, of course, is to terrorize the enemy and it's had that effect. It's had a huge propaganda effect all around the world."
Asked by Malzberg whether the savagery was warranted because the Prophet Muhammad would have wanted it, Choudary said the host's criteria for civilized "means Hiroshima, Nagasaki. Two thousand killed in Gaza is civilized for you."
"But for Muslims this is not civilized. We don't adopt the Geneva Convention, we don't adopt the United Nations, which gave away the land of Palestine to the Jews," he said.
"We worship Allah, we don't worship the messenger, Muhammad. But, of course, his sayings and actions are evidence for us and I will say to you that there are different rules depending on the type of jihad that you're fighting.
"Sometimes [with] the war policy, the fatwa can be given … to do certain things which you might not find palatable.
Asked again by Malzberg if the burning of a man is acceptable, Choudary skirted on an answer.
"Let me tell you what is not acceptable and then we can narrow it down. Raping people is not acceptable — you know what the CIA did with Guantanamo Bay … " he said.
Further pressed by Malzberg, who said Choudary was "incapable of answering a question," the lecturer shot back:
"You are not listening to the answer. If you listen to the answer, maybe you will understand something. Allah gave you two ears and one mouth. Listen before you speak. I'm trying to give you the answer but you're just not interested."
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