The passage below is a problem I have been struggling to articulate. From Aziz:
What is needed is a generalized principle under which both opposition to terrorism and opposition to torture can be articulated. From a religious perspective, muslims have been arguing (usually defensively) that terrorism (ie, hirabah) goes against Islamic teachings for quite some time – see my own ongoing articles on hirabah here on beliefnet and my earlier hirabah posts. Recently, several muslim organizations issued a joint statement against torture (to which I also signed). Many of the same religious arguments that are made can be applied equally to both concepts, but are being used on a case-basis rather than as one general philosophy. How do we integrate these moral arguments into one cohesive framework?