On November 13, 2015 a group of terrorists mounted unprecedented attacks on several sites in and around the French capital, killing about 150 people and seriously injuring scores of others. Without doubt, an attack of this kind is highly condemnable. A witness to one of the shootings at a concert hall, where at least 110 people were killed, said that one of the gunmen shouted ‘Allah Akbar’ as he indiscriminately fired at the crowd gathered for the concert. These self-styled mujahideen were practically saying, ‘Violence is great’, but used ‘God is great’ as their slogan. This incident reminded me of a saying of the Prophet of Islam, who one said to his companions that a day would come when Muslims would commit unlawful acts. His companions asked with surprise how this would happen. He replied: ‘They would give it a name other than its real name and thus make it lawful.’ The present-day violence in the name of jihad is a clear example of the above Hadith. These so-called mujahideen have given their acts of violence the name of ‘jihad’ and are thus engaged in perpetrating terror. This kind of violence can be termed ‘justified violence’. Since these people have sought justification for their violence, their conscience does not refrain them from killing others. Taking the lives of innocent people is an act for which there is no excuse whatsoever. In the Quran, killing an individual is regarded as the most heinous crime: ‘Whoever killed a human being—except as a punishment for murder or for spreading corruption in the land—shall be regarded as having killed all mankind.’ (5:32) This verse certainly applies to people who went on a killing rampage in Paris. Those engaged in this self-justified violence should know that no self-styled justification can make an unlawful act lawful. To those who, based on such incidents, form an opinion that Islam is a religion of violence, I will say that Islam should not be judged by the acts of Muslims. Islam should be judged through its scripture and not through the practice of Muslims