British Imans declare anti-ISIS Fatwa

[frigidmagi]

The Article is here

text of the fatwa itself

FATWA ON THE SO-CALLED “ISLAMIC STATE”
(FORMERLY “ISLAMIC STATE IN IRAQ & SYRIA”)

Praise be to Allah, Lord of the Worlds. Peace and blessings be upon His final messenger Muhammad.
Due to recent events in the Middle East and their impact on some people in Britain, we as imams
and scholars based in the UK, would like to issue the following clarifications in the form of a fatwa:

1. There is no doubt that President Assad’s regime in Syria is oppressive, unjust and brutal, and
has committed numerous atrocities against its own people.

2. The same is true of the so-called “Islamic State” (IS) or self-styled “Caliphate,” formerly
known as “The Islamic State in Iraq and Syria”: it is an oppressive and tyrannical group.

3. By murdering prisoners of war, journalists and civilians, including mosque imams who
refused to endorse their campaign, and by enslaving the women and children of their
opponents, ISIS has violated international agreements such as the Geneva Conventions and
conventions on slavery that everyone, including Muslims, have signed up to. God says in the
Qur’an, “Believers, fulfil your covenants!” (5:1)

4. The IS persecution and massacres of Shia Muslims, Christians and Yazidis is abhorrent and
opposed to Islamic teachings and the Islamic tolerance displayed by great empires such as
the Mughals and Ottomans.

5. Based on all of the above: IS is a heretical, extremist organisation and it is religiously
prohibited (haram) to support or join it; furthermore, it is an obligation on British Muslims to
actively oppose its poisonous ideology, especially when this is promoted within Britain.

6. British and other EU citizens are bound by their duties to their home countries according to
Islamic theology and jurisprudence: it is therefore prohibited (haram) to travel to fight with
any side in Syria, including non-state actors, since this is forbidden by laws in EU countries.

7. It is a moral obligation upon British Muslims to help the Syrian and Iraqi people without
betraying their own societies: “If they ask for your help in religion, you must help, except
against a people with whom you have a treaty.” (Qur’an 8:72)

[rhoenix]

So, here's a layman's question regarding the state of Islamic politics: my interpretation is that different Muslim groups are viewing how their faith applies differently. Given the different factions of the Islamic faith right now as it is (Shia, Sunni, and Sharia, if I remember right, given that Internet resources are restricted at work), could things like this lead to further factionalization of those three as time goes on?

[Lys]

The two major branches of Islam are Sunni and Shia, the split between them can be likened to that between the Western and Eastern Churches of Christianity. Then there are a number of smaller sects such as the Druuze in Syria and Lebanon, and the Ibadi in Oman. Then within the major branches you basically have sub-branches based on prevailing opinions of holy texts, judicial precedent, and all that jazz. This particular case is the last category, one group of Sunnis is saying another group of Sunnis are heretics. Sharia is just Islamic religious law, it's not a sect as all sects have their own interpretations on Sharia.

Now to answer your question, we're already seeing factionalization within the Sunnis, who are the largest group. The ultrareactonaries such as the Salafists (Islamist State) and Deobandi (Taliban) are effectively incompatible with more moderate groups such as the British Imams who issued this fatwa. They are extreme by any standard save their own, and would have been considered as such even during the golden era of Islam. This why I refuse to call them conservatives, because they are not conserving anything, they are merely particularly extreme right wing radicals who have proven themselves willing to raze the past and the present so that they may build their future upon the ashes. I expect as time goes on the contradictions between the extremists and the moderates will make it difficult to consider them part of the same group, effectively splitting off the Salafists into their own branch of Islam, even if they will no doubt continue to consider themselves the true Sunni.

[General Havoc]

I've always found that "Reactionary" befits these groups more than "Conservative" does.

[Lys]

It indeed does, that is why I've been using it.