Reflections on an Execution...

In the Name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful...the Best Knower.

The following was originally written Tuesday, November 10, 2009, at around 10:40 pm.


Well, it's done. The man who was convicted of the 2002 "DC Sniper" killings -- John Allen Muhammad -- was executed by lethal injection a little more than an hour ago.

My heart is heavy.

My heart is heavy over all of the suffering connected with this ordeal:

...the suffering of his ex-wife -- Mildred -- who spent so many years in fear for her life and for the well-being of her children.

...the suffering of his children, who were denied the blessing of a stable family life and have now lost their father.

...the suffering of his victims and their families, whose pain I can't begin to imagine.

...and the suffering of the people who live in the area of the killings, who lived day after day in the inescapable fear that simply going about their normal routines could easily prove fatal.


But...if I am going to be completely honest -- with myself, first -- I have to admit that my heart is also heavy over the suffering of the man who was put to death; not just the suffering of "being put to death", but over the suffering he must have endured from the time he returned ill-affected from Saudi Arabia as a soldier in the U.S. Army, to the moment of his last breath.

In the Bible, we read that God created man in His(God's) own Image and Likeness, and that God formed man of the dust of the earth, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of Life, and then Man became a Living Soul.

In the Qur'an, we read that Allah(God) says, "So set thy face for religion, being upright -- the nature made by Allah in which He has Created Man. There is no altering Allah's Creation."

Thus, the fundamental inclination of Man, by Nature, is toward "uprightness", or, toward Oneness with his Creator; for he is a manifestation of his Creator.

Therefore, Man's greatest joy and satisfaction is derived from his acting in accord with the Will of his Creator, which is his Nature. Likewise, Man's greatest pain and dissatisfaction is derived from his failure (or refusal) to act in accord with the Will of his Creator.

What must John Allen Muhammad have experienced in his life that would remove him so thoroughly from the Divine Nature and Purpose of his creation, which is "uprightness", that he would think it rational to murder people who had done nothing to him?

What could possibly drive a Divine Being to think that he would be "helping" his children by "murdering" the Mother of his children?

And, how could he have had a moment's peace within himself, in the knowledge of what he had done...and what he planned to do?

It must have been pure "hell" on earth for him, and I can't help but wonder if there was a part of him that viewed his immanent execution as a welcomed relief from his torment.

Now that the cries for "justice" and "revenge" have been answered, I pray that we all will study this tragedy, learn from it, and use the lessons learned to help prevent a repeat of such an unfortunate series of events. Only then will Justice be truly served.

Thoughtfully,

RM