Members of the Muslim Student Association say a war against Iraq would cause further suffering for the Iraqi people and, if innocent lives are lost, would bring Muslim countries and people together in an effort to protect those lives.

“In Islam, if you kill one person without a reason, it’s like killing all of humanity — it doesn’t matter if you’re a Muslim or not,” said Saddam Khattak, media secretary for the Muslim Student Association and senior in computer engineering.

The Quran, the holy scriptures in the Islamic faith, and the Sunnah, or the tradition of how the prophet Muhammad acted that is emulated by Muslims, are the ultimate sources of authority for life in Islam, said Ahmed Hashim, president of the Muslim Student Association and graduate student in electrical engineering.

Hashim said the Quran teaches that Muslims are brothers and sisters in their faith, and that Muslims are to support each other. The Islamic faith teaches that Muslims are to aid one another whether they are the transgressor or the transgressed upon, adding if a Muslim is the transgressor, the proper way of aiding them would be in keeping them from transgressing, he said.

Since the Gulf War, more than one million children have died because of sanctions put on Iraq by the United Nations, Hashim said. While Hashim said he believes Saddam Hussein is an evil man, he said that he’s more concerned with the people of Iraq and their welfare.

“Even if he’s the most evil person in the world, the Iraqi people would still suffer in a war,” Khattak said.

Both Hashim and Khattak said as long as there is still hope for a peaceful solution, that solution should be sought.

Robert Baum, associate professor of religious studies, said religion would play a role in the event of a war against Iraq, but it would be hard to distinguish between actions that are driven by religion and those that are by nationalism. He said the two would likely be intertwined.

Khattak said the death of innocent Iraqi people resulting from a war would result in the people of Muslim countries becoming even more opposed to the war than the governments of those countries.

Baum said he would not be surprised if the governments of Egypt and Morocco were overthrown in reaction to an attack on Iraq.

Baum said President Bush’s policies are seen throughout the world as anti-Arab and anti-Muslim, and some Muslims interpret the war on terror as an attack on Islam. In 1990, most Arab states supported the United States’ military action; since Iraq has not attacked another state since that time, the timing of the United States’ desire to disarm Iraq is viewed with suspicion among Muslims, he said. Adding to Muslims suspicion, Baum said Bush has made fewer proclamations that the war on terror is not an attack on Islam.

Since troops have been in the region since the Gulf War keeping the area under close watch, Hashim said he is skeptical about Iraq’s capability of posing a threat to the world community and questioned the sudden nature of the U. S. interest in disarming Iraq.

“What’s the evidence for a change in status and how did it happen?” Hashim said.