ABSTRACT
This chapter examines a Muslim debate over the legitimacy of “suicide” attacks in the State of Israel, analyzing the ways in which the Qur’an is invoked by some modern Muslim scholars to support a construction of “suicide” attacks as heroic acts of martyrdom, and by others to portray them as prohibited acts of suicide. It explores how the Qur’an has been invoked by different interpreters to construct “suicide” attacks as praiseworthy acts of martyrdom or as prohibited acts of suicide. The chapter begins to gauge the ways in which the Qur’an is invoked in modern Muslim discourses to support or condemn specific forms of violence. It illustrates how modern Muslims on both sides of the debate – those who support violent “suicide” attacks and those who condemn such acts – invoke Qur’anic passages superficially, with almost complete disregard for their original historical context or historical debates in order to support their political and ideological arguments.
