Fatwa on the Islamic State - Dawlat al Islamiyy fi Iraq

Dawlat al-Khawaarij

I hearby join others and issue the following verdict regarding the group calling itself Dawlat al Islamiyy, and known in the West as ISIS or ISIL.

بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم

All praises are due to Allah.  We praise Him and seek His help, and ask for His forgiveness.  We seek refuge in Allah from the evil in our own souls and from our sinful deeds.  Whoever Allah guides, no one can mislead, and whoever Allah misguides, no one can guide.  I bear witness that there is no one worthy of worship except Allah.  He is one, having no partner.  And I bear witness that Muhammad is His servant and messenger. 

O believers, have taqwa of Allah according to His right and die not except as Muslims.  O mankind, have taqwa of your Lord, the One who created you from a single soul, and from it He created his mate, and from them both, He spread many men and women.  And fear Allah from who you demand your mutual rights, and do not cut off familial ties.  Surely, Allah is ever an all-watcher over you.

O believers, have taqwa of Allah and always speak the truth.  He will direct you to do righteous deeds and will forgive you your sins.  And whosoever obeys Allah and His messenger has indeed achieved a great achievement. 

To Proceed:

Currently, a group calling itself Dawlat al Islamiyy has arisen in Western Iraq and Syria.  Western analysts hold that this group grew out of a insurgent movement among the Sunni Arabs of Western Iraq.  Led by the mysterious Abu Mu’sab az-Zarqawi, this group began a campaign of terror, and beheadings of Westerners.  After the killing of az-Zarqawi by the US forces in Iraq, the group floundered until the US withdrew its forces.  Then the group continued its insurgency against the US-installed government of Nuri al-Maliki, dominated by ethnically Shia politicians.  They then renamed themselves the Dawlat al Islamiyy fi Iraq or Islamic State of Iraq. 

After the beginning days of the civil war in Syria, between the Baathist atheistic socialist regime of Bashar al Assad, and the joint resistance of both Sunnis and Shia in Syria, the Dawlat decided to take advantage of the disorganization and instability, and moved into Syria, renaming itself Dawlat al Islamiyy fi Iraq wa Suriyya.

Gaining strength from the free flow of arms into disrupted Syria and the inflow of mujaahideen from all over the world, including the West, the Dawlat became quite proficient in warfare and in training and commanding troops.

However, the group, now under the leadership of the also mysterious Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi (Edward Snowden claims he was trained by the Mossad), began to promote ideological positions.  Although originally viewed as a Sunni insurgency, the pro-Dawlat, sometimes called Al-Qaeda in Iraq by Western analysts, never really promoted a religious position.  Jihaadists, in general, sometimes promote a pseudo-Salafi doctrine, claiming that their activities are based on the Qur’an, Sunnah, and teachings of the Salaf.  In particular, such groups follow a dhahiri or literalists approach favored by Shaikh Albani, the modern hadith scholar.  They use not only hadith as binding proofs, but also athaar of the Sahabi and reports of the sayings of scholars, especially the Hanbali scholar, Ibn Taymiyya. 

However, as noted by the great Salafi mujtaheed, Shaikh Ibn Uthaimeen, such groups have a very poor understanding of the sources, and often distort them to their own ends. 

“The Shaikh (Ibn Uthaimeen) replied: "Those who make takfir, they are the inheritors of the Khawaarij, those who rebelled against Ali bin Abi Taalib (radiallahu anhu). The kaafir is the one whom Allaah and His Messenger have declared a kaafir, and takfir itself has conditions, amongst them, ilm (knowledge) and amongst them iraadah (will, intent).”

Shaikh Ibn Uthaimeen: "There is an athar (narration) from Ibn Abbaas concerning this verse, which explains that the intent is the kufr which does not expel from the religion, as occurs in the saying of the Messenger (sallallaahu alaihi wasallam), "Reviling Muslim is sin (fusooq) and fighting him is kufr (disbelief).

This last hadith is very important.  One of the greatest fitnahs in the history of Islam centered around this; the fitnah between Ali and the Khawaarij.

The Khawaarij were a group that separated themselves (Kh-R-J) from the Muslim Ummah.  They held they were better than everyone else and that only they had the truth.  They were the only “saved sect.”  They based their entire creed on the verse “There is no command except that of Allah.”  They ignored all other evidence for the permissibility and role of human judges and the fact that the Prophet SWT had appointed governors and judges to different communities.  They reviled Umar, Uthman and Ali as kaafirs, and one of them, Ibn Muljam, assassinated Ali, in a plot intended to kill all the major Muslim leaders, including Mu’awiyyah. 

The essence of their distorted beliefs is;

1. Making Takfir of other Muslims.
2. Renouncing obedience to the leader or government.
3. Declaring the blood of other Muslims lawful to spill.

This is precisely the methodology of the Khawaarij. Even if a person were only to believe any of these things with his heart, yet he may not actually speak or do anything of them, he is still one of the Khawaarij in his baseless belief and opinions.

http://www.salafitalk.net/st/viewmessages.cfm?Forum=31&Topic=10964

Other characteristics of this group are:

1. shaven heads
2. appearance of great piety
3. adherence to personal opinion as to the letter of the law
4. twisting meanings of hadith and Qur’anic verses
5. thinking the Qur’an supports their views while it actually refutes it
1. The reason for this ignorance of theirs is that they abandon and avoid the genuine scholars. They conceitedly consider themselves higher than the scholars, and discourage others from attending their lectures. All this because they think they are the ones responsible for scrutinizing and monitoring the scholars. This is what ignorance does to a person.    http://www.salafitalk.net/st/viewmessages.cfm?Forum=31&Topic=10964
6. Prophet (salallaahu 'alaihi wa sallam) described them: Young in age, having reckless and deficient intellects.   (Ibid.)

The Rise of Takfiri Dogma – the First Step to Kharajah

For several years now we have seen the rise of takfiri groups, groups who claim anyone who does not follow their particular interpretation of Qur’an and Sunnah are Kaafirs. They based this belief on the following hadith:

1) أخبرنا أبو العباس قاسم بن القاسم السياري بمرو ثنا أبو الموجه حدثنا أبو عمار : ثنا الفضل بن موسى عن محمد بن عمرو عن أبي سلمة عن أبي هريرة : أن رسول الله صلى الله عليه و سلم قال : افترقت اليهود على إحدى و سبعين فرقة أو اثنتين و سبعين فرقة و النصارى مثل ذلك و تفترق أمتي على ثلاث و سبعين فرقة (المستدرك) 

“Abu Hurayrah (RadiyAllahu Anhu) relates that Rasulullah (Sallallahu Alayhi Wasallam) said: ‘The Jews were divided into 71 or 72 sects as were the Christians. My Ummah will be divided into 73 sects.”   (Al-Mustadrak)

The hadith of our beloved Prophet is in Hadith book Abu Dawood:

In this hadith the prophet (pbuh) is reported to have said, “My community will be split up into seventy-three sects.”

(Sunan Abu Dawood Hadith No. 4579)

2) Another Hadith is there in Hadith book Tirmdhi Hadith no 171 Narrated byAbdullah ibn Amr, Allah's Messenger (peace be upon him) said: There will befall my Ummah exactly (all those) evils which befell the people of Isra'il, so much so that if there was one amongst them who openly committed fornication with his mother there will be among my Ummah one who will do that, and if the people of Isra'il were fragmented into seventy-two sects my Ummah will be fragmented into seventy-three sects. All of them will be in Hell Fire except one sect. They (the Companions) said: Allah's Messenger, which is that? Whereupon he said: It is one to which I and my companions belong.

http://aqeedahinislam.blogspot.com/2013/01/hadith-about-73-sects-of-muslims.html

Name Calling and Distortion of Texts

 So, in their arrogance, that ugly sin first committed by Shaytan, these groups began to elevate themselves by name calling.  They called followers of other madhdhaahibs, kafirs.  So Hanafis, Malikis, Shafiis were kafirs.  They called Ja’afis and Shia kafirs too.  They began to create fitnah in our masaajids, fighting adherents of the Hanafi madhdhab in the mosques, especially the Tablighi Jamaat.  However, because the Salafi madhdhab grew out of Hanbali madhdhab, they did not criticize them, until more recently. 

The Salafi madhdhab has two furu’ or branches: 

1. The branch of Shaikh Bin Baz – follows classic Hanbali minhaj with the addition of including the positions of the Salaf as highly persuasive
2. The branch of Shaikh Albani – follow the school of Ibn Hazm, and includes athaar, and reports of the Salaf as binding.

This takfiri group began to exploit the Albani approach by using not Qur’an and Sunnah as proof, but misinterpreted athaar.  For example, a few years ago they created fitnah in our masaajid regarding itikaaf.  They claimed it was haram outside of Three Masaajid.  They based this on one twisted piece of evidence, an athaar from Ibn Masud.  In this athaar, another Sahaba asked ibn Masud a question regarding the practice of the people of Kufa in making itikaaf in the masjid of Kufa during Ramadan.  He asked ibn Masud if the had heard a hadith from Rasulallah stating that it was not permissible to make itikaaf outside of the Three Masaajid.  Ibn Masud replied he did not know that. 

First, we note that this is not a hadith.  It is an athaar.  And Ibn Masud stated he did not know of such a hadith.  So the takfiris have twisted an athaar to appear to be a hadith and then ignored ample evidence in the Qur’an and Sunnah for the permissibility of itikaaf in any suitable masjid. 

Shaikh ibn Baz wrote:  It is valid to observe I`tikaf in any Masjid other than the three Masjids, on condition that congregational Salah (Prayer) is established therein. For, if this condition is not fulfilled, it becomes invalid to observe I`tikaf there.

The reasoning behind this fiqh decision is that Jumuah is fard, and so if one is doing itikaaf, in a masjid where the Jumuah is not established, he would fail to complete this fard and fall into sin.  This is based on a principle of fiqh that fard obligations hold precedence to nawaafil ones.  So Jumuah, the fard, holds precedence over itikaat, the nawful.

Hijacking Jihad – the Culture of the Extreme

These groups also hijacked the meaning of Jihad.  While it is true that this term became first distorted by the “Islamic” empires in their efforts to acquire territory, the takfiri groups hijacked it for a psychotic attraction to adrenalin and violence.  This age we live in is characterized by extremism in everything.  Our youth are attracted to extreme sports, extreme drug taking (crystal meth and Ritalin), extreme sex, extreme partying, extreme everything.  So, they are also attracted to extreme violence.  One American Shabaabi in Somalia stated, “It’s like Disneyland over here.” 

Our kids grow up on a steady diet of violent video games, violent TV shows, and violence on the news.  Many of them have no fear of death because in the movie, the dead guys show up in another movie next week.  Death is not real in the virtual world, where you can “buy” a new life, or just stop the game and reboot.  They do not understand that they cannot reboot their own lives.  This life counts, and it continues to count in the next life.  So, they crave adrenalin, they crave violence, and they are easy pickings for agent provocateurs who are after their souls with doctrines they do not really understand but that sound great. 

So, now we have the Shabaab in Somalia, and the rise of the takfiri Ahbash in Ethiopia.  We also have Salafi-inspired groups rising in Syria and Iraq. All of them preach the doctrine of the “saved sect,” and pursue violence in the name of Islam.

We Have Failed Our Youth

We are to blame for this rise of the Khawaarij.  We failed to learn the deen ourselves, and so we are not able to teach our youth the deen.  The agents come with well packaged dogma, and lure them into that glamorous “Jihadi” lifestyle of constant adrenalin.  And now we have Khawaarij. 

The Khawaarij were the first to execute people through dhabihah, slitting the throat.  This form of killing has never been proscribed in Islam for human beings.  It is only for food animals, for kabsh. To kill a person, a fellow human, in this manner is one step from cannibalism. 

Moreover, they have killed Muslims.  They killed one man while he recited the Shahadah.  They killed prisoners of war, a haram act in Islam.  Prisoners should be well treated and cared for in a gracious manner.  The Prophet SAW used to random them or free them if they taught Muslims to read and write.  These khawaarij have stripped prisoners to their underwear, exposing their awrahs, and then executed them by mass shooting.  May Allah SWT curse them.  They have also wontonly abused women and children.  The disgusting manner in which they have treated innocent women and children is a horrible crime, punishable only by manner Allah SWT has prescribed in the Qur'an for hiraba. 

And the Khawaarij declared a separate State.  “…after a good deal of deliberation” (the leaders of the Khawaarij) decided “that they should leave Basrah and make the hills the seat of their independent rule…”  (The History of Islam, vol 1, Akbar Shah Najeebabadi, p. 487).  

Our Khawaarij have also created a separate state, without the consensus (shura) of the Ummah, and without any support from Qu’ran and Sunnah for their positions. Moreover, they have appointed people of ignorance and imbecility as leaders.  None of their number is remotely qualified by education or intellect to be called a Khalif or an Imam.

We know the history. TheKhawaarij fought Ali at Nahrawan, and later killed him in Kufa.  And in each generation, they seemed to rear their ugly heads to fight and attempt to kill the very heart of our deen of Islam.  But:

61:7  Their intention is to extinguish Allah's Light (by blowing) with their mouths: But Allah will complete (the revelation of) His Light, even though the Unbelievers may detest (it).

FATWA

The group calling itself Dawlat al-Islamiyy fi Iraq wa Surya is a dangerous enemy of Islam, and is guilty of the same crimes against Islam and Humanity as their evil predecesors, the Khawaarij.  Their dogma is the same and their methodology and acts are the same.  In fact, their resemblance to the Khawaarij is almost total. 

Because they are distorting Islamic Shariah and Aqeedah, we must fight them ideologically with written material, internet websites, facebook, twitter and other social media campaigns.  We must issue press releases condemning their beliefs and acts explicitly – in detail with dalil from the Qur’an and Sunnah.  We must conduct classes for our youth explaining in detail the error and purposeful distortions committed by these takfiri groups.  Our children need to be taught this deen in detail and not just in superficial literal rulings.

We also need to conduct lectures on college campuses to reach our young adults and their friends.  This will also help to combat the rise of evangelical atheism sweeping college campuses and creating a generation of youth from all backgrounds and religions who are stripped of ethics and faith. 

We must support efforts to educate the members of these groups to lead them out of the brainwashing of their handlers and teach them the true deen.  To kill them before attempting to de-program them would mean we are no different then them – calling kafir and killing.

Finally, we need to target those who are funding these groups and who are creating their dogma.  We need to identify the source – be it within our own community, or outside of it, and strike at them.  They are the real shaytans. 

In short, the Dawlat al Islamiyy group are Khawaarij and are enemies of Islam.

Again, Shaikh Ibn Uthaimeen said, in speaking of those who commit takfir and violence:

This act [bombings] of theirs is the act of the Khawaarij. Rather, they are even more violent and extreme than the (original) Khawaarij. The (past) Khawaarij did not use to destroy buildings and residents. The Khawaarij used to show up face-to-face on the battlefield. They used to fight on the battlefield despite what they were upon of ignorance. But they did not used to collapse buildings on everyone inside them - women, children, the innocent, those at peace with Muslims, people with whom Muslims have a treaty, and other people guaranteed safety. The Khawaarij used not to do this. This is worse and more violent than the actions of the (original) Khawaarij. This is more like the actions of the Qaraamitah (a severely violent, misguided sect)...  http://www.salafitalk.net/st/viewmessages.cfm?Forum=31&Topic=10964

(The Qaraamitah were an extreme Ismaili group that believed the Hajj was not part of Islam and attacked pilgrims.  They attacked Makkah itself and stole the Hajr al Aswad.  It was later recovered in the pieces we have today.)