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Oh dear, another argument in which I am made to feel like a traitor for defending the ethics of our own tradition.

I say that Islam prohibits targeting civilians. That we are not allowed to mutilate, torture or take vengeance on the defenceless. That taking civilians as hostages feels like hirabah (banditry) to me. That our Prophet, peace be upon him, warned us repeatedly not to become like those we fight.

The response? From fellow Muslims, and close companions? An all out assault for bringing this up in such testing circumstances, when the political environment requires that we do whatever it takes to defend the defenceless.

Now is not the time for quoting the Messenger, peace be upon him. At this moment, remembering divine boundaries is betrayal. It is as if to say that the commands of Allah are naïve, outdated and cowardly. They are ideals, yes, but not for this war.

So here we are. I am a heretic for holding to the very teachings we claim to defend. For saying that even in war, we are not free to do as we please. We are bound not by the actions of the enemy, but by the guidance of our Lord.

“Do not transgress. Indeed, God does not love the transgressors.”
— Quran 2:190

This doesn’t mean that we don’t see the horrors, or burn with grief and fury. How can any soul not be moved by what they see? Even so, we’re not permitted to let that fire consume the line between justice and vengeance.

The Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, forbade the killing of women and children, monks in their monasteries, the elderly, and those not engaged in the fighting. He told his armies not to destroy crops or poison wells. He prohibited causing death by fire. He laid down rules not because war was ever clean, but because restraint was the mark of a believer.

“And do not let the hatred of a people prevent you from being just. Be just; that is nearer to righteousness.”

— Quran 5:8

Yet today, restraint is framed as betrayal. As if calling for limits makes you complicit. As if shariah is too delicate for the real world. As if the deen needs to be adapted to match the ruthlessness of its enemies.

But that is not the Islam I know. This deen does not fold under pressure. It doesn’t compromise because the oppressor has no rules. Islam is firm, even when it bleeds.

We cannot become so consumed with outrage that we lose ourselves. That we mistake cruelty for strength. That we shame the very ethics which once made our way a moral light in a dark world. If we throw away our principles because we’re angry, then the enemy has already won, because they have changed who we are.

Be firm, yes, but not cruel. Brave, but not reckless. Let your resistance be righteous. Let our hearts remain clean. Because victory, in the end, is not just in defeating the enemy but in standing before God with our integrity intact.