What the Koran Really Says

Sept. 14 -- For years Islamic terrorists have justified their actions as being compelled by their faith. Osama bin Laden reportedly thanked Allah when he heard the news of this week's attack.

Other terrorist groups invoke Islam as well. Hezbollah, the name of one militant group, is the Arabic word for Party of God; Hamas is the Islamic Resistance Movement.

Are the terrorists who cite the Islamic holy book distorting the spirit of the religion or depicting its emphasis accurately? Here are several of the Koran passages most frequently cited, and analysis from Islamic scholars.

On Jihad or 'Holy War'

Chapter 2, Verse 190: Fight in the cause of Allah those who fight you, but do not transgress limits; for Allah loves not transgressors.

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This portion of the Koran was written in about A.D. 606, when the Prophet Muhammad and his followers were under attack in the city of Medina, says Imam Yahya Hendi, a Koran scholar who is the Muslim chaplain at Georgetown University.

There, they had established their own state. But various coalitions of non-Muslim tribes — including Christians, Jews, atheists and animists — continued to go to war with them. This portion of the Koran explains their reasoning behind striking back.

The passage actually refers to a defensive war, says Hendi: "You fight back. You go as far as it takes to stop the aggression but you do not go beyond that. So if you have to, you go as far as fighting verbally to get someone out of your home — but you don't shoot him after he is out. You don't keep going on with it — only if you are attacked, if there is an oppression applied to you. The idea is that justice prevails. You don't fight because you enjoy fighting, but because there is an oppression.

"It could be military force or [in today's world] it could be media force, writing against you. But when the hostilities are over and the enemy offers a peace treaty, you should submit. Muslims are obliged to submit to a peace treaty offered by the enemy. You don't keep fighting."