...with God's name [bi-smi-l-lah(i)]
The Cherishing Cherisher [l-rahmaani l-raheem(i)]
Maker of the skies and the earth [faatiru l-samawaati wa-l-ard(i)]
Knower of the unseen and the seen ['aalimu l-ghaybi wa-l-shahaada(ti)]
Nurturing-Lord of every thing and His angels [rabbi kulli shay'in wa-maleeku-h(u)]
I testify that (there's) no god but You [ash'hadu an la ilaha illa ant(a)]
Alone; You have no partner [wahdu-ka la shareeka la-k(a)]
and I testify that Muhammad [wa-sh'hadu anna Muhammada(n)]
is Your servant and Your messenger ['abdu-k wa-rasoulu-k]
God's greetings (be) on him [salla l-lahu 'alay-h(i)]
and his family and companions [wa-ahli-hi wa-sahbi-h(i)]
and peace [wa-sallim(u)]
I'm taking refuge with God [a'udhu bi-l-lah(i)]
from the evil of my ego [min sharri nafsi-y]
and the evil of satan [wa-sharri shaytan(i)]
and his polytheism [wa-shirki-h(i)]
(There's) no mental or physical strength [la hawla wa-la quwwa(ta)]
except with God the High and Mighty [illa bi-l-lahi l-'aliyu l-'adheem(i)]
Your Question:
Why is Caliph al-Baghdadi labeled as a terrorist in contrast to Muhammad (s.a.a.s) who is revered as a Prophet, despite their similar ideology and actions?
My Answer (extracts from: “Refuting ISIS” by Shaykh Muhammad al-Yaqoubi’s)
Do ISIS represent Muslims?
But won't every Muslim become like ISIS if they had their way or could impose their Shariah? Don't ISIS simply represent the Original teachings of Islam?
- ISIS does not represent Sunni Islam, and by their deviant beliefs they are already outside Islam.
- the extreme practices of ISIS are a direct consequence of the breaking of the authority of the Sunni doctors of law. …It is in these schools (of law) that we find the principles and the precedents to counter the extreme practices of ISIS which it attributes to the Shariah
- ISIS’ actions are in complete contradiction to the Shariah, and their crimes cannot be justified in Islam. Islam’s teachings clearly prohibit the killing of women, children, and civilians and prohibits burning and torture.
- Attacks against civilians and places of worships in the Muslim world are crimes, and the suicide bombers who commit these crimes are not martyrs.
- It is forbidden to kill non-Muslim citizens or visitors, because they are under contract and are protected.
- Muslims living in any non-Muslim country must abide by its laws and regulations
- Enslaving the Yazidis is an act of treachery against innocent people who lived side-by-side with Muslims for centuries; it is therefore invalid. Slavery is now forbidden due to international treaties which bind Muslims as well as the rest of the world.
- Joining ISIS is forbidden and is a crime against God and contradicts Islam, and one cannot be a true Muslim and an ISIS member at the same time.
- ISIS, despite calling itself a state, is not a state from a Shariah point of view, and despite its claim to belong to Islam it is acting against it and is destroying it.
- ISIS’ claims to a caliphate are null and void, and their declaration of a caliphate has no legal consequences and it does not give them the status of a legal state; rather, they should be treated as a group of thugs
- Islam is nothing but a cloak worn by this group to fulfill ulterior motives, thereby distorting the image of Islam in the public conscience and portraying it as a barbaric religion far removed from civilization, humanity, mercy, and justice.
- Their followers are destroying Islam from within, striking at the hearts of Muslims, taking the corpus of knowledge, jurisprudence, and principles of legal judgments that have reached us and replacing them with the words of ignorant men. Such men have never smelled the scent of knowledge, have not embodied even the lowest level of piety, and have not tasted humility in obedience towards God Almighty. There is a huge distance between them and the noble qualities of the Messenger of God (PBUH).
- There is no scholar amongst these criminals who is an authority, whether in theology, exegesis, Tradition, jurisprudence, legal judgments or international Islamic law. There is not even a qualified student of knowledge amongst them who has taken his learning from trustworthy experts following the required curriculum; so how can they embark on issuing fatwas and giving legal verdicts? They pass judgment about killing without a second thought, as though slaughtering humans is easier than slaughtering livestock
- we are confronted by a group of youth who are not even beginners in knowledge, yet they readily threaten Muslims with excommunication and arbitrarily pass judgments to kill, imprison, kidnap, and loot. To describe them as ignorant is an understatement,
- Unsurprisingly, testimonies have been uncovered that disclose the extent of al-Baghdadi’s ignorance of Islamic law, his extremism, and his incompetence.
- The pious predecessors of the first generations provided the most superior and relevant example for all posterity: spreading Islam, opening the way for humanity to embrace it, and establishing a civilization—not by force, compulsion, or oppression, but rather by showing good character. Their excellence in conduct was rooted in being truthful in their interaction with non-Muslims, fulfilling their promises, establishing justice even when challenged, threatened, or defeated, and showing mercy to enemies before showing it to friends. In their example we find the culmination of sincerity, God-consciousness filling their hearts, mercy dwelling in their chests, and justice governing their intellects.
- The foundational ethics of Islam are based on mercy and justice …as time passed and true faith became diluted, some of these principles were forgotten, thus paving the way for small fanatical groups, which claimed a monopoly on true Islam, to emerge. Many grew disillusioned and followed a course of violence, partly due to the cultural shock of the West and its ideals, and therefore abandoned their history and neglected their heritage, portraying Islam as a barbaric religion incompatible with modernity.
Why do Western Muslims run off to join ISIS then?
- There is a myriad of proofs to destroy the allegations made by ISIS and expose their manipulation of the Shariah, but knowledge of these proofs is confined to scholars who are familiar with the classical texts and is generally not accessible to the average reader
- the propagation of a takfīr mentality amongst the young;
- ignorance that has spread amongst Muslims;
- the scarcity of scholars who defend Islam with wisdom and moderation;
- the domination of a religious discourse based on hate in place of wisdom, and on fanaticism in place of tolerance;
- and reliance of the young upon the internet and television for their religious knowledge,
- replacing scholars who are the primary source of knowledge
- ISIS uses Islam and the fanciful notion of jihad to recruit young people and to deceive Muslims who feel oppressed; ISIS lures them by convincing them that the current Muslim states are un-Islamic and therefore an Islamic State must be established and they must migrate to it.
- idealized dreams of an Islamic state that are abruptly shattered when they behold a contemptible gang of criminals.
- ISIS is instigating a vast propaganda campaign and justifying the heinous crimes it is committing under the pretext of supporting Islam and implementing the Shariah
If the teachings of Islam are against ISIS, what are Muslims doing to stop them?
- Due to the gravity of the subject and my obligation to expound upon the ruling of God Almighty concerning it, I have compiled this concise book and made it a detailed fatwa explaining the legal ruling of fighting ISIS, proving that they are Khawārij, or deviators, and outside of the fold of Islam. I conclude that fighting them is necessary.
- Muslims must fight against ISIS and bring about its defeat. It is a legal obligation for those in the region in order to dismantle this criminal entity.
- One of my intentions behind this book is to clarify the position of the Shariah in contradistinction to the distortions made by the extremists and the ignorant, just as God Almighty obligates us, as religious scholars, to do. For this reason, I have endeavored to dispel any ambiguities by presenting appropriate arguments in every instance from the Holy Quran, the Prophetic Tradition, and the words of the great jurists.
- Every imam, speaker, and teacher of faith in Islamic institutions and colleges carries a responsibility before God Almighty to rescue his audience from the clutches of unbelief, misguidance, death, and destruction. Likewise, I urge the media and the educational institutions to spread this fatwa, to communicate its contents, and to hold seminars to discuss its contents. Furthermore, I suggest that this book be added to the curricula of Muslim schools and faculties of Shariah around the world.
- We advise readers of this book to thank God for the blessing of safety and security in the land where they live; to hold to the middle way of Islam away from fanaticism and extremism; to look upon their own faults; and to be concerned with improving themselves, purifying their hearts, establishing good relations between themselves and God, and between themselves and mankind, in order to achieve true belief, sincerity in worship, reliance on God and good conduct. The perfect Muslim, as defined by the words of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH), is the one who does not harm anyone either by his tongue or by his hand.
Thank God [l-hamdu li-lah(i)]
Nurturing-Lord of the (seen and unseen) Worlds [rabbi l-'alameen(i)]
No comments:
Post a Comment