I have just completed my article ''Refuting ISIS'' in my new blog https://hadaytana.wordpress.com. I am pleased to share my work with this community which may benefit someone if God wills
Refuting ISIS
There are several elements in the ideology of ISIS which takes root to its extremist approaches and practices. It may have got its foundation from Sayyid Qutbs work and the Muslim Brotherhood movement. There is also roots to the salafi movement which has contributed to the neo Jihadi Salafism ideology. Salafism is of two types: (1) Salafism in Dogma, which is an independent theological school with Ibn Taymiyya as its leading ideologue (2) Salafism in Law (Fiqh), which rebels against the four schools of Sunni Islamic Law (Madhabs) by calling people to consider Quran and prophetic tradition as the only source of legislation by disrespecting and disregarding the countless scholarly work done by the four schools for centuries by some of the greatest classical scholars. It goes to an extent of ridiculing their adherents. The salafi movement was muscled by Muhammad Abuduh and Rashid Rida (from the late 19th century to the early 20th century). Currently Saudi Arabia strictly follows the Hanbali School, so its Salafism is limited to theology while recognizing the other three schools of law.
ISIS, on the other hand rebels against all four schools of Islamic Law and even against most salafi interpretations. While adhering to Ibn Taymiyya in his theological views. This lack of an authority in legislation mixed with the isolation of major reference or manual of law in the hands of ISIS judges and Sharia personals has led into every fighter and sympathizer (the people that support ISIS with their keyboard/ Keyboard Jihadist) placed in charge of a situation to present a contrived legal ruling based on his own understanding of the Quran and Tradition. As a result you get keyboard Jihadists who haven’t even spent a good part of their life out of the computer to learn Arabic giving their own Explicit judgment’s which seemingly validate their vengeful ill will. Today they are trying to own a status which even great figures such as Al-Ghazali and al-Nawawi could not claim by giving ignorant fanatics the authority to do the job of the great independent legal authorities (Mujtahids).
Therefore it’s important to understand that the extreme practices of ISIS are a direct result of the breaking of the undeclared authority of the Sunni doctor of law.
The Khawarij
First of all, I personally do not encourage anybody to even make takfir on even the worse of Muslims because only Allah can judge a person’s heart and intention, there could be devout young teens that are supporting ISIS not because they lack Faith in Allah but because they were misguided by evil propaganda. Anyhow, that being said lets focus on this ‘’agenda’’ and its similarities to the historical khawarij sect which will give us an idea from what is apparent. The khawarij are a sect of extremist that appeared in the early first century of Islam and have manifested throughout the centuries since. It deviated from mainstream Islam and was known for killing Muslims under allegations of ‘’TAKFIR’’, which means accusing a Muslim of becoming an apostate. According to the words of Prophet Muhammad SAW, the followers of the Khawarij are described as ‘’the dogs of Hell,’’ and ‘’the worst of both men and animals.’’
Although the historical khawarij does not exist today, we have clear proofs in the prophetic traditions that it will emerge at various times throughout the world. Are ISIS the modern-day Khawarij? Although I am not willing to make an exclusive statement here because some of their young followers have been brainwashed (we should not make individual judgements instead we can make a judgement on their ‘’agenda’’ from what’s apparent). At the end of the article I would ask you to be the judge on this case. ISIS uses Islam and a fanciful notion of neo-Jihadism to attract the youth and deceive Muslims around the world who feels oppressed by conjuring dreams of establishing an Islamic State from China to the Atlantic that would protect their interests. Provoking the west against the Muslim world on one side while offering a mirage to the oppressed Muslims on the other side with a false utopia dreamland. They come with idealized dreams of an Islamic state that are abruptly shattered when they behold a contemptible gang of criminals.
Did you know? : Prophet (saw) pardoned his enemies after 13 years of oppression and eight years of wars, including the pardoning of Wahshi, the killer of his own paternal uncle Hamza, and the pardoning of Hind, the lady who chewed Hamzas liver upon his martyrdom. (1)
Abu Salama (ra) once asked Aisha (ra) regarding the actions that necessitate a ritual bath (ghusl). She responded by saying, ‘’Do you know what you are like, O Abu Salama? You are like the chick who hears the roosters crowing and starts crowing with them.’’ She said this either because he was young or because he delved into something unsuitable for him. So, how is it then that we are confronted by a group of youth who are less than beginners in knowledge? Doesn’t the actions and interpretations of the ISIS teens sound like a chick who hears the roosters crowing and starts crowing with them?
Although I personally do not encourage people to make explicit conclusions on an entire group it’s still fascinating to see a strong parallel between ISIS and the Khawarij of the early days of Islam. The khawarij adopted extremist tendencies and anesthetized any Muslim including companions of prophet SAW who did not adopt their beliefs. They also took advantage of the political instability at that time culminating in a revolt against Caliph Ali ra.
Prophet (PBUH) described them as ‘’the worst of mankind and animals’’ (2). He also mentioned that ‘’they shall pass out of the religion just as an arrow passes of the prey’’ (3) and ‘’they shall call to the book of Allah though they do not belong to it’’ (4). Ali ra mentioned in Bukhari and Muslim that ‘’there shall emerge a people in the end of time, adolescent, dim-witted, recounting the best words of creation, reading the Quran but their faith does not pass their throats. They shall pass out of the religion just as an arrow passes out of the prey. So wherever you meet them, kill them for truly killing them is a great reward with Allah on the day of judgement.’’ (5)
The Self-claimed Caliphate
The official spokesperson of the self-claimed ISIS caliph Muhammad Al-Adnani mentioned 5 leaders as a comparison to the life of Prophet Muhammad SAW. They were Usama Bin Laden, Abu Musab Al-Zarqawi, Abu Umar al-Baghdadi, Abu Hamza al-Muhajir and Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi. Our prophet SAW prohibited the killing of innocent civilians which none of the above mentioned 5 puppets have followed. ISIS is making Osama Bin Laden its idol or role model but Bin Ladens own group Al-Qaeda are killing ISIS. How can ISIS follow Bin Laden when his followers are killing ISIS? The foundation of their ideology alone is enough proof to understand their confusion.
ISIS in their own source Dabiq (the English publication) mentions that its endangerment began with the blessed operations of September 11th. Just when you think things can’t get any worse they go beyond foolishness and claim that Bush spoke the truth when he said, ‘Either you are with us or you are with the terrorists’. By saying that Bush (Former US president that’s responsible for millions of innocent lives) was right, ISIS is effectively following the neo conservative methodology of Bush. (6)
Did you know? The terrorist group GIA in Algeria appointed their own Caliph which did not last for too long though. ISIS is not the first criminal group that used the sensitive word caliph for their own agendas.
Let’s go through a simple side by side comparison between the self-claimed GIA caliph and ISIS caliph to understand the strategies terrorists use to promote their agenda.
- The Algerian war started as an uprising against dictatorship
- Like ISIS, the GIA were also not prominent in the early stage of war
- As the turmoil continued GIA started to gain more fame
- GIA declared a Caliphate
- GIA also began to make Takfir on other rebel groups
- Just like in Syria this started wars between rebel groups
- The popularity for the caliph started to die once people understood their evil takfir ideology
- Eventually they started to fight among themselves
- Finally as a result of the ‘’caliphate’’ people turned away from Islamic groups totally and left the dictatorship with no challenge
Using our common sense it’s not hard to see the similarities between GIA and ISIS. As we know history always repeats itself, so keep a sharp eye on the 9 points above. I would say that currently ISIS is in the 7th stage and within no time they will experience the 8th and 9th stage just as GIA vanished into dust with their self-claimed caliph.
Allah SWT describes the believers as ‘’those whose rule is done by consultation among themselves (Quran 42:38) which is referring to the leaderships, governments and other forms of rulerships. Al-Bukhari narrates in his sahih hadith that ‘Umar ra said, ‘’Whoever swears allegiance to a man without consulting the Muslims is not to be given allegiance to, nor the one whom he gave allegiance to, in fear they both may be killed.’’ (7)
The Caliphate is a public affair personal linked to the ‘’entire’’ Muslim nation/community which clearly should not be settled by a few juveniles, nor can the ignorant engage in discussing it. Dignitaries who exert authority within the Muslim nation are the ones who have the sole right to it and these dignitaries already chose a king, emir, sultan or president for their countries who are responsible for economic, social, political and other affairs. Therefore, allegiance to the leader of ISIS is fundamentally impermissible and ultimately void, bearing no legal consequence as the local Muslim authorities were not consulted, neither in Syria nor in Iraq. They even ignore and refuse theological debates especially the recent letter sent to Al-Baghdadi signed by over 120 prominent Islamic scholars. Al-Baghdadi is far from qualified for this position which is proven from non-other than his own teacher Abu Abdillah Muhammad Al-Mansur (Al-Isawi), the commander of Mujahidin Army in Iraq. Al-Baghdadi was his former student who gave him allegiance and then subsequently defected to form his own group. Al-Mansur in his book entitled ‘’The Islamic State between Reality and Illusion,’’ describes this self-proclaimed caliph as being villainous, ignorant and deviant. He further states that ‘’He did not master one single book in theology or jurisprudence’’ further validating that this group does not operate based on any Islamic understanding or principles. It is telling that, even to a Jihadi leader, Al-Baghdadis extremism and ignorance are unrivalled.
Muslims killing Muslims
ISIS makes takfir look so simplistic where for them a simple opinion/mistake of a scholar or person that goes against ISIS makes him/her easily qualified to be a kafir/Munafiq. They call scholars such as Hamza Yusuf and Yasir Qadir as Murtadd (8). Recently they officially announced in their online magazine to kill Yasir Qadir for opposing the barbaric acts of ISIS. As a respond Yasir Qadir invited them for a theological debate which as usual was ignored by ISIS. Putting a price on a fellow Muslims head without even accepting a theological debate alone proves their true color. In the eyes of ISIS Muslim countries such as Turkey, Bahrain, Kuwait, UAE, Egypt, Jordan, Morocco, Senegal, Bangladesh, Sudan, Pakistan and Somalia are all tawaghit (crossed the limit). The order of the ISIS Khalifah is that either one should perform Hijrah (join ISIS by moving from their current home) or if he/she is unable to do so, he/she must attack the crusaders, their allies, the rafidah, the tawaghit and pretty much whoever is not ISIS (9). ISIS believes that real Muslims are those who are ISIS supporters or affiliates and Muslims that do not become a part of them are one of the following categories:
Apostates (Murtaddun), Disbelievers (Kuffar), Idolaters (tawaghit), Shiites (Rafida) and Polytheists (Mushrikun)
They even treat non-Muslims including Yazidi slaves better than Muslims who don’t become part of them. In the online keyboard jihadi propagandas they use terms such as ‘’coconut Muslims’’ to whoever that reject their version of Islam. ISIS feel comfortable on Revolting against the Muslim community, rulers and public while anathematizing the majority of sunni Muslims while spreading injustice and corruption across the land by killing innocent.
They also ignorantly anathematize any Muslim that calls into democracy without understanding the context of the term and situation. Majority of Muslims who call for democracy intend by the principles of justice and consultation and the right of their people to choose their ruler. It’s important to understand that it’s a principle in the shariah that if customary meanings are established, they are taken into account in legal rulings and given precedence over linguistic definitions. For example, the majority of rulings in jurisprudence pertaining to oaths are based on customary meanings. It is well known that the customary meaning of democracy as established and understood by the public is consultation and justice. Likewise, this is the meaning a number of Muslim preachers have adopted. The vast majority of those in Muslim lands who call for democracy do not intend rejection of Islamic law or denial of the existence of Allah Almighty. The Muslim majority do not consider anything else to be superior to the laws of Allah Almighty. Therefore, the propaganda of ISIS to excommunicate the vast majority of Muslims on the grounds of their desire for democratically elected governments are completely baseless.
Indiscriminate Killing and Brutality
ISIS and Brutality is a match made in hell. One article might not be enough to highlight the brutality of their actions but let’s try to summarize their transgressions under a few categories.
- Killing innocent based on fabricated accusations and inconsistent claims.
The video above shows ISIS stopping 3 truck drivers in order for inquiry. The drivers clearly identify themselves as Muslims by declaring the Kalima (there is only One God and Muhammad PBUH is the final messenger). Anyhow the lunatic ISIS leader refuses to accept the kalima of the truck drivers and starts to bring up fabricated accusations in order make their blood halal. The poor truck drivers were brutally executed on the spot even after they identified themselves as Muslims. Now imagine will Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) ever execute a fellow Muslim who declares the kalima? Why were they not taken to an Islamic court for further inquiry? This is just one out of many thousands of barbaric unislamic acts performed by the ISIS.
Killing foreigners under treaty or those who have entered our land under the security of Muslims are among the other barbaric acts performed by these thugs. What sin have some of the innocent foreigners that ISIS executed done other than belonging to a specific nationality? Isn’t this hypocrisy when many of the ISIS recruiters themselves belong to other nationalities? ISIS with their school boy mentality did not take into consideration that they were either aid workers or journalist working to report the suffering inside Syria to the world. This is one of the filthiest form of deception. The ruthless beheading of American Journalist James Foley (10) is one out of many examples of such criminal acts.
- Killing prisoners even after they embraced Islam
- Mass murder and revenge attacks under ISIS controlled areas
- Burning Muslims alive
Also in the words of Allah SWT ‘’If you punish, then punish with the like of that wherewith you were afflicted’’ (Quran 16:126). Retributive justice is legal in the fighting itself, not with respect to how it is implemented and therefore in doing so, one is only allowed to employ the means permitted by the sharia. ISIS have taken retributive justice (Qisas) to their own level by showing a blind eye to the true context of it. They say if the west did something insane we Muslims also should do the same insane act as a respond. Does this mean if a western soldier homosexually rapes a Muslim, we Muslims also have to do the same to the western civilians? In the ISIS version of Islam even this could be permissible. Prophet (PBUH) said burning a fellow Muslim is Haram but ISIS says it’s allowed because of retributive justice. Allah (SWT) says killing one innocent life is Haram but ISIS says it’s allowed because of retributive justice. Isn’t it clear that ISIS have their own version of retributive justice and even the words of Allah SWT and nabi SAW cannot stop them from following their own version of Qisas.
Just when you thought that their ideology cannot get any worse, they have not only made their own version of Qisas by going beyond the commands and limitation of Quran and Sunnah, they have also gone another step further by even breaking ‘’their’’ own version of Qisas. The best example for this is the execution by tank video they recently released. It was a violent and barbaric scene where an 18 year old Muslim Iraqi soldier was run over while alive by a tank. The victim was blamed for running a tank over the dead bodies of ISIS criminals, so they made it halal to run a tank over him while he was ‘’alive’’ under retributional justice.
ISIS stated that,
” This apostate dirty Nusayri ran over our brothers who were dead in a tank so it was decided that he will be run over by the tank while he is alive” (13)
Even under the barbaric ISIS version of Qisas this does not make sense because if the Iraqi soldier ran over ISIS dead bodies, according to the ISIS version of Qisas they should run over his ‘’dead’’ body. But instead they ran over him while he was alive.
ISIS not only contradict the teachings of Islam, they have also started to contradict their own teachings.
- Killing scholars, Imams and Friday speakers in Syria and Iraq for no reason
- Torturing of Prisoners resulting in their death and disrespecting dead bodies (15)
Even a doctorate in Shariah does not produce a judge, just as reading a book regarding the jurisprudence of the Sunna does not produce a jurist. Judgement, as the scholars have noted, is a precise skill which is not possessed by every jurist. The method of implementing rulings according to context and actual events is not acquired through books, but rather by accompanying the judges or muftis and studying the nuances of giving legal verdicts.
Ibn Qayyim al-Jawaziyya said regarding the Shariah, ‘’the bedrock and foundation of the shariah is wisdom and benefit for people in this life and the next. It is all justice, mercy, benefit and wisdom. Every ruling that leaves justice for injustice, that leaves mercy for its opposite, that leaves benefit for corruption, that leaves wisdom for folly, is not from the shariah, even if it is inserted through interpretation (18).
Al-Tusuli mentions in his commentary on Tuhfat al-Hukkam, ‘’the science of judgement may be from the branches of jurisprudence but it differs by matters that not every jurist will master. Perhaps one of the people is well-versed in the chapter of disputes but has no expertise in other than that. It is not difficult to distinguish the science of judgement from other branches of jurisprudence, but the difficulty is in using and implementing the general principles of jurisprudence on the minutia of actual events. That is difficult. You may find a man who has memorized much of knowledge and teaches others, but when questioned by the public about an incident relating to oaths or something similar, he is not able to properly respond.’’
- Destruction of Sites
And who are more unjust that those who prevent the name of Allah from being mentioned in his mosques and strive toward their destruction? (Quran 2:114)
They also hold pride in destroying churches and other houses of worship although the Shariah has obligated Islamic leadership to protect churches, synagogues, temples and other houses of worship under its dominion. Allah (SWT) says in the glorious Quran,
Had it not been that Allah checks one set of people by means of another, monasteries, churches, synagogues and mosques wherein the name of Allah is oft-mentioned would surely have been demolished (Quran 22:40)
When the caliph Umar entered Jerusalem after the conquest in year 637 CE and the time for prayer had come, he refused to pray in a nearby church, despite being offered to do so by the head priest Sophoronius, for fear that the Muslims may interpret the action as a precedent to convert the church to a mosque (19). Compare this to the actions of ISIS who have freely destroyed churches including St.Markorkous church in Mosul which is one of the oldest in the city (20). Recently they tried to use dolls to bomb mosques and children (21) which shows their limitless evil mindsets which will even use kids as bait for their propaganda. Not even an evil Drug lord from Mexico will think of setting bombs in dolls that are used by kids, anyhow for the ISIS thugs there is no limitation in evil because they are the companions of the Devil.
- Enslaving non-Muslims (22)
Allah (SWT) says in Quran,
O you who believe! Fulfil all contracts (Quran 5:1)
- Raping women and kidnapping children to promote violence (24,25)
Despite there being no justification for kidnapping of children, they have turned many young into criminals and forcibly separated them from their families to train them for the ISIS version of lunatic Jihad. Using children to perform and view executions and also sending execution videos to view to everyone around world including victim’s family and women has been a normality for these devils. (28, 29)
- Promoting Muslim girls to leave family and marry strangers without parents’ permission
- Other rebel groups such as Boko Haram who declared allegiance with ISIS have killed thousands of civilians
- Promotion of Suicide bombing and child brainwashing
“And do not kill yourselves” (Quran 4:29).
And the Prophet (PBUH) said, “Whoever kills himself with a piece of iron will have that iron in his hand, thrusting it into his belly in the Fire of Hell for ever and ever.” (Narrated by al-Bukhaari, 5442; Muslim, 109.)
Child Executioners and Suicide bombers have played a major role in ISIS propaganda. Suicide bombing or suicide attacks were popular among the Japanese pilots in the World War 2 where they decided to even give their own life for the emperor. Years before Al-Qaeda introduced their version of Suicide bombing, other terrorist groups such as the Tamil Tigers of Sri Lanka were known for suicide bomb attacks. (32) Evil people always found their ways to justify their acts and a simple comparison between the LTTE (Tamil Tigers) child recruitment strategies to ISIS child recruitment strategy shows that barbaric groups have allot in common regardless of the religious ideology which they pretend to hold. LTTE pretended to represent Tamil Hindus while ISIS pretend to represent Sunni Muslims but in reality the only thing they hold is evil and violence. In the Aljazeera Featured Documentary ‘ISIS and the Taliban’ (33) ISIS recruiters train children to fire weapons while also teaching them to scream ‘’Allahu-Akbar (God is great)’’ when pulling the trigger, So don’t be surprised to hear these animals scream the beautiful name of Allah (SWT) because even that part of their agenda has been programmed into the heads through child brainwashing. As shown in the documentary most of their suicide bombers just as LTTE (34) are young teens and children whose brain frontal lobe are still under development which makes it easy for them to be brainwashed.
The above lists are only a small part of the full story, there are several reports where they have executed Muslims for simplest reasons such as their wives not wearing the Afghan Hijab. Five Iraqi men were publicly executed in Mosul by the ISIS terrorist after their wives did not comply with orders to wear a new "Afghan-style" hijab. (35) The executions were reportedly carried out on January 12 in the Al-Muthanna area of Mosul, according to the Alhurra website. The only contribution that ISIS has done to Islam is harming Muslims around the world and distorting the image of the prophetic message. Allah SWT said regarding the seal of all Prophets,
We sent you not, but as a mercy to the worlds (Quran 21:107)
ISIS is not concerned with harm befalling Muslims across the world as a result of their actions, nor are they concerned about people turning away from Islam. There is hardly a place under its control that is void of unjustly slaughtered victims and innocent prisoners.
Stay in the safe side
Don’t drift to the Extremist west and don’t drift to the Extremist Jihadis. Joining a Takfiri group is no different to joining the western Islamaphobes because they both have something in common which is that they both believe majority of Muslims are ‘’coconuts’’ that deserve to be terminated with no mercy. Just as ISIS agreed with Bush today we see in online forums ISIS sympathizers cheering for the victory of Donald Trump as the next US president, so that they finally can have a leader from the west who fits into ISIS agendas.
Despite the fact that they claim to be Salafis, they anathematize the majority of Salafis, and despite the fact that they call for jihad, they are the ghastliest enemy of the Muhajidun. As Ibn Umar described, those who ‘’rushed to the verses regarding the disbelievers and applied them to the believers’’. Asharq Al-Awsat reported from a Tunisian who defected from ISIS, saying, ‘’If you don’t work with ISIS and profess allegiance to it then you are ignorant of the religion and you should be killed even if you are unaware of the gravity of your position. (36) It is enough of a proof of the extreme ideology of ISIS that the top leaders of salafi-Jihadism have disclaimed it. (37)
Did you know? Prophet SAW said ‘’Beware of saying to your brother ‘disbeliever’ because it will apply to one of you. If it is, he will be it and if it is not, it returns to you.’’ Ibn Abd Al-Barr says in his book al-Istidhar, ‘’The meaning of ‘it returns’ is that he bears the burden of its sins.’’ (Sahih Bukhari Volume 8 Book 73 Number 125)
Anathematizing the Muslims is the foundation of ISIS ideology because the easy claims of apostasy they make towards other Muslims makes innocent blood lawful to spill.
ISIS believe that every corner of the earth is a land of war so that they can easily make the blood of innocent halal (lawful) under the label of ‘’Darul Ahab (land of the enemy)’’. The recent Russian passenger airline attack was justified by ISIS under the label of ‘’Darul Ahab’’ or in other words they believe any citizen that belongs to a country or regime that does not support ISIS are permissible to be killed. What they fail to understand here is that unlike the early days ruled or controlled by small tribes, today the world has a population of over 7 billion people. One government with a few leaders do not represent the whole of population anymore. Almost every government has its own opposition party. Especially the developed countries have shown lower rates of voters in presidential elections (In USA more than half of the population avoid voting) which indicates that most of the civilians that are born to a land do not actually represent its leaders foreign policies. When G.W Bush bombed Iraq, many Americans protested against it and campaigned against the violent Bush administration.
In the Russian passenger airline takedown ISIS justified killings of 20 kids and women who were not directly involved in war (38), some Russian citizens alone are against the war and Putin is not supported by 100% of their population which means majority who died in the passenger plane might have been people who were against Russian involvement in the war itself. It’s crazy and insane to find justification for civilian killings without understanding the context of a situation. Today ISIS have made the blood of every American, British, Russian etc to be justifiable without understanding the context and facts. Can the blood of every American be justified based on the actions of G.W Bush or Obama? ISIS would say ‘’yes’’ but in reality a simple check on facts will give you the true context. Let’s take the Bush era for an example:
- George W. Bush was re-elected with a narrow 50.74% majority of the vote in the presidential election of November 2004.
- An August 2004 poll showed that two-thirds (67%) of the American public believe the U.S. went to war based on incorrect assumptions
- A Washington Post/ABC poll found that almost 60% of Americans thought the war should not have been fought in the first place. For the first time since the war started, over half of Americans polled believed the war had not made America safer
- On July 4, 2005 the National Council of Churches officially took a stand against the Iraq War calling it dishonourable and urging a change in U.S. policy (39, 40)
According to a prominent legal opinion, a land would be classified as “land of war” or “land of unbelief” if Muslims living there were not free to practice their religion and were subjected to persecution. In contrast, a land in which Muslims enjoined security would be classified as “land of peace” (dar as-sulh) or “land of security” (dar al-aman). (41)
Almost all of the countries that ISIS have declared as ‘’lands of war’’ allow Muslims to practice their faith and build masjids. A person with the common sense with the size of a mustard seed will understand that it’s insane to declare war on a whole nation that has already allowed us to freely practice our faith.
According to the famous publication by Al-Azhar University:
The division of countries into the land of unbelief and Islam is a matter for judicial reasoning (ijtihad) based upon the reality of conditions in the time of the distinguished jurists. There are not any texts from the Quran and Sunnah about it. (Source: Bayan lin-Nas 1/248)
Abu Hanifa, may Allah have mercy on him, said:
The purpose of referring to a place as the land of Islam or the land of unbelief is not specifically due to Islam or unbelief. Rather, the purpose is only due to security or danger. (Source: Bada’ia Sana’ia, Al-Kasani 7/131)
Likewise, Al-Bayhaqi from the school of Ash-Shafi’ee said:
Emigration was not an obligation for those who embraced Islam in Mecca after it was liberated. Mecca had become the land of Islam and security, for no one feared he would be persecuted for his religion. Likewise, lands besides Mecca become so if they achieve similar security. (Source: Sunan Al-Kubra 17210)
Therefore, the legal classification of “land of war” reflected a very practical concern to protect Muslims from suffering injustice by hostile regimes.
Today, some anti-Muslim writers and even Muslim extremists have misinterpreted these terms as having an unchanging theological meaning, by which they imagine Islam has labelled the entire non-Muslim world as the land of war, implying that Muslims must wage war until all countries are brought under the rule of Islamic law. This is a foolish mistake that interprets these terms outside of their historical and literary context.
Rather, peaceful relations with neighbouring countries is the most desirable situation in Islam, as this was commanded by Allah and His Messenger.
Allah (SWT) said:
If the enemy inclines to peace, then incline to it also and rely upon Allah. Verily, it is He who is the Hearing, the Knowing. (Quran 8:61)
Ali ibn Abu Talib reported: The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, said:
Verily, after me there will be conflicts or affairs, so if you are able to end them in peace then do so. (Source: Musnad Ahmad 697, Grade: Sahih)
As described by Abu Amina Elias (Imam and Author): In our time, most Muslims enjoy peaceful diplomatic relations with non-Muslim countries and such lands can be properly classified as “lands of peace” in which Muslims enjoy security and freedom to practice Islam. Conversely, there are some conflict zones in parts of the world in which Muslims are not secure, even if there are a majority of Muslims living there. Such lands can be properly classified as “lands of war” to warn Muslims of the dangers of travelling there. However, it is not necessary to use these terms themselves as they derive from legal opinion only and not from divine revelation. Furthermore, it must be understood that classification of specific lands should not be made by ordinary Muslims. Such decisions belong to Muslim authorities, academic institutions, and scholars who are qualified to investigate, research, and deliberate these matters before issuing guidance to the general public. (42)
Shaikh Abd al-Aziz Ibn Baz (Previous Mufti of Saudi) explained very well the difference between seeking assistance and agreement with non-Muslim belief:
‘’Some people think that seeking assistance from polytheist is considered agreement with their belief. It is not, as seeking assistance is one thing and agreement with their belief is another. The prophet SAW, when seeking assistance from Al-Mutim b.Addi, Abdullah Ibn Urayqit or the jews of Khaybar, was not agreeing with the polytheist beliefs or giving them authority over Muslims. Rather, he did that out of need for them, to utilise them in matters that would benefit the Muslims and not harm them. Likewise, his sending the emigrants from Mecca to Abyssinia was not an agreement with the beliefs of the Christians, but rather he did that in the interest of the Muslims, to mitigate harms coming to them. Therefore, it is incumbent on Muslims to distinguish between that which Allah distinguishes and to utilize each roof in its proper place and Allah is the Giver of success.’’ (43)
The sky rocketing world population and the gap between leaders to its citizens makes it impossible to generalize an entire population. On the other hand it’s also important to understand that today almost every country at-least allows us to practice our basic Salah (worship of Allah) so it’s impossible to compare them to the tribes of Quraish or early Kuffar tribes which were small in numbers who were also directly linked to its leadership when it came to decision making.
When it comes to matters of life and death it’s important to consider every single fact in its real context before bringing explicit conclusions because Allah SWT says in the glorious Quran.
‘’Killing one innocent life is equal to killing all of humanity’’
Now take everything we know so far into consideration and tell me if it’s worth it to make explicit statements regarding the rulings of killing civilians which ‘’if goes wrong’’ can be equal to destroying all of humanity? Decision is yours, I would request people to stay in the safe side which is the side that avoids extreme Takfiri groups such as ISIS and Western devils such as Bush or Donald Trump.
To Muslims in Western/Non-Muslim Countries
Be in the middle path, a path which only involves remembrance of Allah (SWT) and does not involve Muslims killing Muslims or Muslims killing non-combatant civilians. Do not get brainwashed by ISIS propaganda videos which promotes the idea that every Muslim who live in a non-Muslim land is a deviant. Seeking assistance is one thing and agreement with their belief is another. Even Prophet (SAW) seeked for assistance with non-Muslims but he never agreed with their belief, so be patient and follow the teachings of Prophet (SAW) while co-existing with others.
You all hold a covenant and contract with the countries you currently live in which is manifested in either Visa or Citizenship documents. Each of these documents that a Muslim holds in a Non-Muslim land contains a signature, agreement and a vow that he/she is a peaceful resident, not a combatant or shall protect the land in which she/he is staying instead of being an enemy of it. Its important to respect the laws of the lands in which a person live just as the companions of Prophet (SAW) when they migrated to Abyssinia and lived for several years under the shade of a Christian king. Despite the fact of having different opposing religious views about the world they still found security with him.
Ala Al-Din Al-Haskafi Al-Hanafi said, ‘’Any Muslim who enters the land of war under the pledge of security cannot kill, loot, or commit fornication with any of them, as Muslims stand by their contact.’’ (44)
There are contracts between Muslims and Western Countries that ISIS wants to wage war on, some of these contracts are exemplified through diplomatic relations such as exchange of ambassadors. It’s important to have a global economic, manufacturing, agriculture, medical and technological corporation among others to gain experience of more advanced nations. Many Muslims today are able to practice their faith without any destruction and the belief in One God with no other partner is not banned in any of the western countries. Vast majority of these countries have directly or indirectly supported Muslim immigrants and accepted them in thousands, so how on earth can a Muslim return the favour by killing, stealing and deceiving his sponsors? Indeed if they find it hard or impossible to practice the religion through government policy changes, they surely should move to a new city or country where full freedom of worship is allowed. The fact that a visa or passport has a covenant tells that if a person is already living there it means he/she has agreed upon it, so later if any disagreements arise after already accepting the covenant its best and better to migrate to a land in which worshipping Allah is allowed. Assad is a bad leader but does this mean we kill all Syrians? Obama might be a bad leader but what gives ISIS authority to say we can kill all Americans?
Did you know? The overall number of mosques in the United States quietly rose from 1,209 in 2000 to 2,106 in 2010, an increase of 74%.
Non-Muslims in Muslim Countries
Just as a Muslim enters a Non-Muslim land with a covenant as mentioned in the previous topic, similarly any foreign resident, student, journalist, aid worker and tourist who enters a Muslim with security do so under a covenant and contract. Kidnapping or harming such innocent people is forbidden and unlawful. (45)
According to Al-Bukhari, Prophet SAW said, ‘’whoever kills a non-Muslim under contract will never smell the scent of paradise.’’ (46) He SAW also said, ‘’When a Muslim offers protection to a non-Muslim, it is a covenant and It goes for all. Anyone who breaches this covenant shall have upon him a curse from Allah, the angels and all mankind.’’ (47)
Hafiz Abu Al-Fadl al-Asqalani said when commenting on the former narration, ‘’anyone who has a contract with Muslims, let it be by Tax (Jizya), by a truce from Sultan or by security from a Muslim, is included.’’ (48)
The presence of a leader is not a condition for offering security. If a non-Muslim enters Muslim lands by the security of one Muslim then all Muslims must fulfil that pledge. Anyhow ISIS follow their own version of extremism where they kidnap and murder non-combatant innocent foreign aid workers and reporters who have not committed any crime. To make things worse, they are even proud to globally broadcast such injustice to the mass through Hollywood style video recordings of their brutality.
Al-Nawawi said, ‘’What is meant by ‘dhimma’ (protective custody pact for non-Muslims) here is security, meaning that the security of Muslims for non-Muslims is valid. If a single Muslim gives him security, then it is unlawful for anyone else to expose him to harm as long as he is under the protection of a Muslim.’’ (49)
Imam Kamal Al-Din Ibn Al-Human further clarifies it by saying, ‘’Backbiting him is unlawful just as backbiting a Muslim is unlawful.’’ (50)
Ibn Abdin in his sub-commentary ‘Radd Al-Muhtar’, explains that oppression on non-Muslim citizen is even worse because backbiting is impermissible and we represent our religion to the non-Muslims. (51)
In the book ‘Deterrents from Committing Enormities’ (52), Ibn Hajar al-Haytami mentions the same which gives us an idea of the level of discipline we Muslims need to hold towards the non-Muslims who enter our lands under a covenant. The prophetic statements prohibiting injustice against Non-Muslim citizens are Mutawatir (mass transmitted hadith beyond doubt). (53)
Majority of Scholars Oppose ISIS
In the famous letter to Bagdhadhi which goes unchallenged about 120 reputed scholars challenged ISIS and their extremist ideology which can be found at www.lettertobaghdadi.com. And also Sheikh al-Masry who was previously a member of ISIS but withdrew from them on the basis of their ideology and methodology. He justifies his withdrawal by mentioning ISIS’ defamation of the people of Syria, claiming they were ideologically misguided. (54)
ISIS sympathizers often refer to some of the books written several years ago by Al-Qaeda ‘’scholars’’ in order to justify their killings of innocent children and women. ‘At-Tibyān Fī Istihdāf An-Nisā’i Was-Sibyān’ is one of such texts that are often used to justify the barbaric acts. Anyhow the funny part of such books is that, the authors and scholars who supported those fatwahs before have themselves started to condemn their own past views. Let’s do a simple analysis on the At-Tibyan publication and its sheikh’s current world view.
The screenshot below is the list of Sheikhs in their Fatwah
The First person in the list was some 25 years old and he is not even a Sheikh, the ones with question marks are unknown who will be ignored and the names that I have rounded are the ones I will detail below who themselves later accepted it was a ‘’BIG MISTAKE’’.
The Verdict of Shaykh Nāsir Ibn Hamad Al-Fahd shows that later he felt guilty and shamelessly refutes his own fatwah In a November 2003 interview on Saudi television, al-Fahd withdrew several of his militant fatwas, describing them as "a grave mistake" anyhow later he changed his views once again with extremist views which proves that the person is an ‘’opportunist’’ who will change colors according to agendas. (55)
Ain-al-Yaqeen, in November 2003 interview with Saudi television, al-Khudair "recanted and condemned the suicide bombings which took place in Riyadh" and withdrew the fatwas he had issued declaring them as invalid. (56)
By July 2015 Abu Qatada had re-surfaced in an interview for the al Nusra magazine, "al Risalah" explaining that Abu al-Baghdadi was to be opposed because he "committed great atrocities against the Muslims, and this is why we are forced to speak out against them,” while specifically qualifying that opposition to ISIL did not include distaste for their acts against Americans or westerners: "We don’t oppose ISIS because they oppose the enemies of Allah...only because ISIS makes takfir on the Muslims and kills them do I and others have the right to speak against them, Even if it is an Islamic state. (57)
As you can see the sheikhs that gave FATWAH in that book alone have refuted, repented and refused their own claims and now even condemning ISIS as shown in their statements above. So, will you risk your religion by following Fatwahs issued by people that are guilty of their own crimes? Will you risk your religion by following books that are quoted by ISIS while the authors of the book they quote themselves deny ISIS and its Caliph?
Refer to www.bilalabdulkareem.com/scholars1/ to find a list of scholars that ISIS often quote that have been refuted and debunked.
Leading Islamic scholars and speakers refuting ISIS
Now that we have an idea about the fluke unreliable scholars that ISIS refer for their justifications, let’s look into a list of real and reliable scholars who oppose and refute ISIS. Below is a list of scholars and organizations with their refutation to ISIS.
- Abdul Rahman al Sudais, Imam of the Grand Mosque in Mecca wilsoncenter.org/article/muslims-against-isis-part-1-clerics-scholars
- Ulama Council of Indonesia liputan6.com/read/2087796/mui-tidak-perlu-fatwa-isis-sudah-haram
- Scholars of Al-Azhar University, Egypt al-monitor.com/pulse/politics/2014/07/syria-iraq-isis-caliphate-egypt-azhar-reaction.html
- Association of Muslim Scholars in Iraq in/isis-khilafatnot-in-the-interest-of-iraq-and-its-unityiraqi-sunni-scholars/
- Syrian Islamic Council & Organisation of Syrian Muslim Scholars com/portal/article/show/5529
- Shaykh Abdul Muhsin AlAbbad al-abbaad.com/index.php/articles/125-1435-09-28
- Shaykh Salih Al-Suhaymee youtube.com/watch?v=Dzxyd07C3No
- Shaykh Muhammad bin Haadee posthaven.com/isis-is-a-terrorist-organization-explained-by-shaykh-muhammad-bin-haadee
- Shaykh Muhammad AlYaqoubi joshualandis.com/blog/sheikh-muhammad-al-yaqoubi-interviewed-by-syria-comment/
- Shaykh Abdul Aziz Al-Tarifi youtube.com/watch?v=1qfsQV7wye4
- Shaykh Sālih as-Suhaymī youtube.com/watch?v=G3UVfC5YqZ0
- Saudi Grand Mufti Sheikh Abdul Aziz al-Sheikh alarabiya.net/en/News/middle-east/2014/08/19/Saudi-mufti-ISIS-is-enemy-No-1-of-Islam-.html
- Shaykh Shawqy Allam, Grand Mufti of Egypt ahram.org.eg/News/108319.aspx
- Shaykh Khalid Mulla, Grand Sunni Mufti of Iraq youtube.com/watch?v=rvNupoSw_u8&feature=youtu.be
- Shaykh Zaid bin Abdul Rahman bin Yahya, Head of Al-Noor Centre for Studies and Research and a member of Yemeni Scholars Association al-shorfa.com/en_GB/articles/meii/features/2014/07/03/feature-01
- 47 Saudi scholars com/node/198272
- 80 Muslim intellectuals and leaders in India denounce IS thehindu.com/news/cities/Delhi/isis-action-is-worse-than-genocide-muslim-intellectuals/article6333688.ece
- Yusuf al Qaradawi (head of The International Union of Muslim Scholars) alarabiya.net/en/News/middle-east/2014/07/05/Qaradawi-says-jihadist-caliphate-violates-sharia-.html
- More than 120 top academics and scholars lettertobaghdadi.com/index.php
- Mohamed Hasan (prominent Salafi preacher from Egypt) elwatannews.com/news/details/563907
- World's top Muslim leaders condemn attacks on Iraqi Christians radiovaticana.va/news/2014/07/25/worlds_muslim_leaders_condemn_attacks_on_iraqi_christians/1103410
- Al-Azhar University dailystar.com.lb/News/Middle-East/2014/Aug-13/267022-al-azhar-condemns-isis-as-corrupt-and-a-danger-to-islam.ashx#axzz3B1ymBb5P
- Arab League alarabiya.net/en/News/middle-east/2014/08/11/U-S-weighs-options-to-evacuate-trapped-Yazidis-.html
- Turkey's top cleric reuters.com/article/us-iraq-security-turkey-religion-idUSKBN0FR16120140722
Conclusion
As a layman I am not qualified to issue a Fatwah against a group, anyhow that does not keep me away from reading and sharing the precious work of learned scholars who have debunked, refuted and humiliated the actions of ISIS. Let’s also not forget the oppression that Sunni populations are going under the corrupted governments of Syria, Iraq and Western foreign policies. Extremists generally exploit the suffering of Sunnis to expand in that region and this is why today we see not only ISIS, but many other Sunni rebel groups active around the region claiming authority over each other. The picture below will give you a basic idea of the complicated situation in Syria as a result of corrupted dictators and weak western foreign policies.
Sunni Muslims in Iraq have suffered from the injustice of the Maliki regime and the people of Syria have suffered from the terror of the Assad regime. Then came ISIS to increase the injustice and terror, leaving the innocent citizens of Iraq and Syria stranded between two horrific options. People were desperate for a savior and they had no option but to choose between 2 devils. Firing of the Iraqi Army only strengthened ISIS with more trained killers on the loose with vengeful mindsets. As the whole ISIS project is an attempt to hide political agendas under the disguise of Islamic ideology in order to mobilize forces for purely secular and material objectives filled with exacting revenge, power and territory, it’s important for us to understand the political situation in the region. The actions of ISIS have shown significant similarities to the Khawarij (Although I don’t recommend to make explicit statements on an entire group) and their brutal actions have been justified with Un-Islamic claims. Women, Children, Peaceful Non-Muslims, Innocent Aid-Workers and fellow Muslims have been freely targeted with no mercy under their own version of extremism. Even if one does not feel comfortable with the term Khawarij, there is no doubt that they are indeed a Takfiri group who believe that anyone that don’t join them to be deviant. The followers of ISIS do not care about following the Islamic law but they rather enjoy twisting the Islamic law to fit into their own version of it. From examples such as Burning Muslims alive, attacking Passenger airlines, recruiting children, raping women, breaking covenants and promoting suicide bombing they have twisted the sunna according to their own desires. Finally I would like to draw your attention to a statement made by a famous ISIS figure, Kamal Zarruq who said in a Friday sermon in Syria ‘’If Muhammad was with us he would have joined ISIS.’’ (59) He further stated that ‘’By Allah I’m not bothered about this statement, Indeed I am certain we are upon truth.’’ This is the mindset ISIS have about our Prophet (PBUH) and these are the teachings they feed into their ignorant followers which results in utter chaos and barbaric actions.
Refer to my Blog for the full Reference List
https://hadaytana.wordpress.com/201...-the-extreme-ideologies-and-barbaric-actions/
