"Terrorism, Nothing Else": A Owaisi Trashes Bomber's 'Suicide Bombing' Talk

Suicide is haram (forbidden) in Islam, and the killing of innocents is a "grave sin", Hyderabad MP and AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi has said in his response to the viral video of Delhi bomber Umar un-Nabi equating suicide bombing with "martyrdom".

Countering the terrorist's assertion that the concept of suicide bombing is misunderstood, Owaisi said in a post on X, "There is an undated video of Delhi blasts accused Umar Nabi justifying suicide bombing as 'martyrdom,' and that it's 'misunderstood'. Suicide is haram in Islam, and the killing of innocents is a grave sin. Such acts are also against the law of the land. They are not 'misunderstood' in any way. This is terrorism and nothing else."

The AIMIM MP also questioned the Centre over the terror module linked to the Delhi blast and the massive recovery of explosives near the national capital.

"During Operation Sindoor and Mahadev (Union Home Minister) Amit Shah had assured Parliament that no local Kashmiri had joined terror groups in the last six months. Where did this group come from then? Who is accountable for the failure to detect this group?" he asked.

An undated video that has now circulated on social media shows Umar, a doctor, talking about suicide bombing. "One of the very misunderstood concepts is the concept of what has been labelled as suicide bombing. It is a martyrdom operation... known in Islam. Now, there are multiple contradictions; there are multiple arguments that have been brought against it," he is heard saying.

On the evening of November 10, a Hyundai i20 car that Umar was driving exploded near the Red Fort Metro station. The explosion left 13 people dead and 20 others injured. The investigation into the explosion found that Umar was linked to a huge recovery of explosives in Faridabad. He was found to be a member of a new terror module comprising highly educated professionals such as doctors.

Umar's fluency in English and his articulation of ideas in the video are being seen as the new face of terrorism in India: educated, radicalised, and calculative. But his radicalised ideas and convenient appropriation of Islamic teachings have been challenged by the voices from within the Muslim community.

Nasir Khuehami, national convener for the Jammu and Kashmir Students Association, has said suicide bombing is forbidden in Islam. "When suicide is haram in Islam, then suicide bombing is equally; if not more haram. It involves not only taking one's own life but also harming and killing others. Islam strictly prohibits suicide, and suicide bombing adds to this the killing of innocent people, making it an even greater sin in the eyes of God," he said. "There is no legitimacy or justification for suicide bombing in Islam or in the Qur'an. Islamic teachings do not allow targeting civilians under any circumstance," Khuehami added.