Answer
Wa `alaykum as-Salamu wa Rahmatullahi wa Barakatuh.
In the Name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful.
All praise and thanks are due to Allah, and peace and blessings be upon His Messenger.
Dear brother, thank you for the confidence you put in our site. We really commend your question that expresses your concern about the critical matters of the Muslim Ummah nowadays.
We should not link Islam with any violence as Islam rigidly rejects all kinds of violence, blood shedding and oppression. Also, we should view the violent and armed movements as pristine Islamic movements; the world’s political and armed organizations have the biggest responsibility for the appearance, as well as strengthening, such movements.
Moreover, the struggles existing in the Middle East are due to political and military rather than religious reasons.
In his response to your question, Sheikh Ahmad Kutty, a senior lecturer and an Islamic scholar at the Islamic Institute of Toronto, Ontario, Canada, states,
I cannot comment on the survey. But Islam opposes violence and extremism in any shape or form.
There are, however, some Muslims, who are using the name of Islam to justify their political aspirations. It has more to do with the political and social conditions in those countries rather than religious teachings or impulses.
Nor is it something new with the Muslims; rather, it happens in every religious tradition. You should look around. So, we must not confuse it due to the pristine teachings of Islam.
The Middle East today is in utter turmoil. Repeated Western incursions, occupations and wars have left these countries in shambles, utterly destabilizing them.
It was the imperialist agenda to install puppets in those countries who would serve their interests instead of serving the people. ISIS and other extremist ideologies are products of these circumstances.
No Muslim with sound religious education and spiritual values would support attempts to bring about change through bloodshed and violence. Violence would only breed more violence.
Thanks to this age-old wisdom; all of the four schools of jurisprudence in Islam without exception oppose the armed rebellion.