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Introduction

 

On February 23rd 1998, a document called The Declaration of the World Islamic Front for Jihad on Jews and Crusaders was published in the London-based, Arabic-language newspaper, al-Quds al-Arabi. Fewer than five and a half months later, in the morning of August 7th, simultaneous attacks on the US embassies in Nairobi, Kenya, and in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, resulted in over 4,000 injured and over 224 deaths. Only twelve of the dead on that day were Americans, and 32 were Kenyans employed in one embassy. The rest were local Muslims and Christians. Since then there have been a number of other attacks, the most deadly of which was the attack on the Twin Towers of the World Trade Centre in New York on September 11th 2001. That was followed by explosions at three train stations across Madrid on March 11th 2004, and in this country by the suicide bombings on the London Underground and a double-decker bus on July 7th 2005.
 

The stark reality of these attacks mean that it no longer matters whether the Declaration really was issued by Al-Qaeda's leadership in 1998 or whether it was an elaborate hoax by cynical enemies of Islam. The damage to the image of our faith as a peaceful religion has been done. The Qur'an teaches us (Q. 6:108): {Do not insult those who call to other than God, so they then insult God out of malice and ignorance. That is how We have made the action of every nation attractive to them; then their return is to their Lord, and He will inform them as to what they used to do.} However, as time passes, people are increasingly unclear which came first, the killing of civilians in the name of Islam, or the high-profile publication of anti-Islamic cartoons and films, which insult our Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) and the Pious Predecessors as a bigoted warmongers and terrorists, not to mention frequent stories of the desecration of copies of the Qur'an and mosques. In addition, each of us, as Muslims, are already likely to have experienced mistrust, suspicion, hatred or discrimination justified on the grounds of the attacks on civilians which match the ruling it contains: “to kill the Americans and their allies, civilian or military, is an absolute obligation on every Muslim who is able, and in whatever country he finds it easy, so to do.”

As a result, we need to know whether or not what the fatwa says is true. Fortunately, this task is made easier because whoever wrote the Declaration records the names of certain highly respected scholars of the Golden Age of Islam, on whose well known books the fatwa is supposed to be based. This pocket guide therefore reproduces the Declaration in full accompanied by extracts from works by the four scholars it mentions: (a) Bada'i' al-Sana'i' fi Tartib al-Shara'i', a compendium of law by the Hanafi scholar, 'Ala' al-Din al-Kasani (d. 587/1191); (b) al-Mughni, a multi-volume commentary by Muwaffaq al-Din Ibn Qudamah (d.620/1223) on al-Mukhtasar fi al-fiqh, a manual Hanbali law by Umar ibn al-Husayn al-Khiraqi (d.334/945); (c) al-Jami' li-Ahkam al-Qur'an, a commentary by Imam al-Qurtubi (d.671/1273) focusing on legal issues found in the verses of the Qur'an; and (d) the Ikhtiyarat of Ibn Taymiyah (d.728/1328), referred to in the fatwa simply by his honorific title, Sheikh al-Islam.

It is not clear why these particular books were chosen. However, the last title, Ikhtiyarat (i.e. Selections), suggests that whoever wrote the Declaration had access only to a small library, including a few limited excerpts from Ibn Taymiyah, from which to research their own fatwa.

The Prophet (PBUH) taught that “The believers, in their love, mercy and affection for each other, are like a body, if one organ complains, then the rest of the body suffers from fever and restlessness.” It is perfectly natural therefore that we should feel deep hurt at the killing of tens of thousands of innocent Muslims in recent and on-going wars. Yet, as God has told us in the Qur'an (Q. 5:8): {O you who believe, stand up for God as even-handed witnesses; and let not the hatred of a people cause you to deviate from being just. Be just, that is closest to God-fearing; and fear God. God is fully aware of what you do.} The aim of this booklet is to help us reach a just view on the Declaration.
 

If you find any mistakes, please let me know so the text may be corrected and improved. And lastly, pray that Muslims may find unity.

RV