Al-Maqdisi:: The Obligation of Supporting the Muslims in Gaza
and the Impermissible act of Deserting Them
The
Obligation of Supporting the Muslims in Gaza and the Impermissible act of
Deserting Them
by Shaykh Abu Muhammad Al-Maqdisi
(Arabic Link:
http://www.tawhed.ws/r?i=gazalove)
Question: Shaykh Abu Muhammad
Al-Maqdisi, there are some people who attack Hamas and curse it, thinking that
there is no point in fighting in Gaza because it is Hamas who is leading the
fight, citing various of their known deviancies. They think that any fruits of
Jihad will be picked by them, and that it is not proper that this deviant
organization pick the fruits of the Jihad made by the Mujahidoon. What is your
opinion about this, especially in these times in which the Jews have launched
their vicious attack on our fellow Muslims in Gaza? Is this not considered
deserting the weak and oppressed in their time of need and from fighting the
Jews?
Answer: All praise is due to
Allah, and may Peace and Blessings be upon the Messenger of Allah. I ask Allah,
the Magnificent, the Lord of the Noble Throne to give victory to his Muwahhid
(monotheist) army, and to save his weak and oppressed slaves in Gaza and
everywhere else.
To proceed:
There is no doubt that coming to the aid of our
Muslim brothers in Gaza and other places are from the clear-cut obligations upon
the Muslims.
[فَلْيُقَاتِلْ
فِي سَبِيلِ اللَّهِ الَّذِينَ يَشْرُونَ الْحَيَاةَ الدُّنْيَا بِالآخِرَةِ وَمَن
يُقَاتِلْ فِي سَبِيلِ اللَّهِ فَيُقْتَلْ أَو يَغْلِبْ فَسَوْفَ نُؤْتِيهِ أَجْرًا
عَظِيمًا (74) وَمَا لَكُمْ لاَ تُقَاتِلُونَ فِي سَبِيلِ اللَّهِ
وَالْمُسْتَضْعَفِينَ مِنَ الرِّجَالِ وَالنِّسَاء وَالْوِلْدَانِ الَّذِينَ
يَقُولُونَ رَبَّنَا أَخْرِجْنَا مِنْ هَـذِهِ الْقَرْيَةِ الظَّالِمِ أَهْلُهَا
وَاجْعَل لَّنَا مِن لَّدُنكَ وَلِيًّا وَاجْعَل لَّنَا مِن لَّدُنكَ نَصِيرًا]
Let those (believers) who
sell the life of this world for the Hereafter fight in the Cause of Allah, and
whoso fights in the Cause of Allah, and is killed or gets victory, We shall
bestow on him a great reward. And what is wrong with you that you fight not in
the Cause of Allah, and for those weak, ill treated and oppressed among men,
women, and children, whose cry is: “Our Lord! Rescue us from this town whose
people are oppressors; and raise for us from You one who will protect, and raise
for us from You one who will help.” [Surah Al-Nisaa (4)74-75]
As long as this is the case, it is not
permissible to desert Muslims by not coming to their aid in their time of need
or to prevent others from doing so, whether it be in Gaza or anywhere else.
Rather, deserting the Muslims by not coming to their aid in their time of need
is from the characteristics and mannerisms of the hypocrites, something which is
not befitting of Muslims. Allah warned us from these mannerisms in Surah Al-Tawbah,
saying:
لَوْ خَرَجُواْ
فِيكُم مَّا زَادُوكُمْ إِلاَّ خَبَالاً ولأَوْضَعُواْ خِلاَلَكُمْ يَبْغُونَكُمُ
الْفِتْنَةَ وَفِيكُمْ سَمَّاعُونَ لَهُمْ وَاللَّهُ عَلِيمٌ بِالظَّالِمِينَ]
Had they marched out with
you, they would have added to you nothing except disorder, and they would have
hurried about in your midst (spreading corruption) and sowing sedition among
you, and there are some among you who would have listened to them. And Allah is
the All-Knower of the wrong-doers. (Surah Al-Tawbah (9):47]
The deviancies of Hamas mentioned by the
questioner can never justify deserting our brothers in Gaza or preventing people
from aiding them. It is possible for the Muwahhid to aid the believers there and
everywhere else without soiling himself, or without the fruit of his Jihad being
lost under the leadership of deviant groups. Let him have his own clear and pure
flag, and let his Jihad be clean and distinguished, paying no attention to those
who oppose this. If necessary, he is rewarded even if he fights alone to repel
the attacker.
[فَقَاتِلْ
فِي سَبِيلِ اللَّهِ لاَ تُكَلَّفُ إِلاَّ نَفْسَكَ وَحَرِّضِ الْمُؤْمِنِينَ عَسَى
اللَّهُ أَن يَكُفَّ بَأْسَ الَّذِينَ كَفَرُواْ وَاللَّهُ أَشَدُّ بَأْسًا وَأَشَدُّ
تَنكِيلاً]
Then fight (O Muhammad) in the Cause of Allah,
you are not tasked (held responsible) except for yourself, and incite the
believers (to fight along with you), it may be that Allah will restrain the evil
might of the disbelievers. And Allah is Stronger in Might and Stronger in
punishing. (Surah Al-Nisaa (4):84]
Also, what reasoning or evidence dictates that
deserts the weak and oppressed by not fighting their defense or prevents others
from doing so, whoever they are and whatever group they follow? As long as the
Muwahhideen and their Jihad is distinguished from others, then their fighting
will be considered to be in the Cause of Allah, that which is fought in order to
make the Word of Allah (Tawheed) superior. Others may be fighting for whatever
reason they may, even if it be for some un-Islamic concept, their desires,
money, or anything else – as long as they are fighting to repel the attacker
from the weak and oppressed, neither sound reasoning nor the religion dictate
that they be prevented or deserted in this fight. Rather, all people are called
to repel the attacker, whether they be strong believers or sinners, and each
person will fight for his own goal for which Allah will hold him to account.
It is a well-established fact that if the fight
was one to repel an invader, the obligation is stronger, and the obligation is
more general and the conditions are more lax. The evidence is the saying of
Allah:
[وَلْيَعْلَمَ
الَّذِينَ نَافَقُواْ وَقِيلَ لَهُمْ تَعَالَوْاْ قَاتِلُواْ فِي سَبِيلِ اللَّهِ
أَوِ ادْفَعُواْ قَالُواْ لَوْ نَعْلَمُ قِتَالاً لاَّتَّبَعْنَاكُمْ هُمْ
لِلْكُفْرِ يَوْمَئِذٍ أَقْرَبُ مِنْهُمْ لِلإِيمَانِ يَقُولُونَ بِأَفْوَاهِهِم
مَّا لَيْسَ فِي قُلُوبِهِمْ وَاللَّهُ أَعْلَمُ بِمَا يَكْتُمُونَ]
And that He might test the hypocrites, it was
said to them: “Come, fight in the Way of Allah or (at
least) defend yourselves.” They said: “Had we known that fighting will take
place, we would certainly have followed you.” They were that day, nearer to
disbelief than to Faith, saying with their mouths what was not in their hearts.
And Allah has full knowledge of what they conceal.” [Surah Aali Imran
(3): 167]
Think about how Allah reprimanded the
hypocrites for not repelling the invaders, even though their act of fighting
would not have been for the sake of Allah. The hypocrites do not fight for the
sake of Allah to start with. For this reason, Allah mentioned two types of
fighting in this verse:
1. The first is the more superior type,
which is the believer’s fight for the sake of Allah. This is the noblest types
of fighting: the fight to make the Word of Allah, which is Tawheed, superior.
This is how the Muwahhid fights. He fights for a great and noble cause, which is
to bring people to the worship of Allah Alone - to remove them from the worship
of creation to the worship of Allah Alone, and to make the pure religion of
Allah the supreme law of the land and to obliterate the lowly man-made laws. He
also fights in order to aid the weak and oppressed believers under the shade and
banner of this Word, for this Word, its goals and its ends.
2. The second type of fighting is that
done to repel the enemy, “or defend yourselves.” This is more general, and as
mentioned in the verse, all people who wish to defend their women, family,
wealth, honor, and land are to participate with the believers and they are to be
called to it, even if they were from the hypocrites, as mentioned in the verse.
So no sound reasoning or evidence dictates that
people are to be prevented from this type of fight, no matter who they are. I
took this stance and mentioned something similar many years ago in an
introduction I wrote for a book of our brother, Abu Qatadah Al-Filistini, may
Allah free him from prison, entitled Ju’nat Al-Mutayyabeen. In those days, those
who did not understand the details of this matter criticized me for it. The case
is that when the matter and question is about the banner under which the
Muwahhid fights, the answer is only one - the banner of Tawheed. As for other
sins, they are overlooked as long as they are of those types which do not cause
the banner to be one other than that of Tawheed. This is the case even if the
leader or the soldiers committed sins, and this is according to what is
established as a tenet of Ahl Al-Sunnah Wal-Jamaa’ah: that it is permissible to
fight along a sinful leader as long as the sin is restricted to himself.
But when the matter is more general, dealing
with the masses, organizations, and other groups fighting in order to repel an
invader, in light of these verses, the matter is more inclusive.
This understanding and ability to distinguish
between the two types of fighting is one of the most pressing of needs in these
difficult and trying times for our fellow Muslims in Gaza. For this reason, I
advise my brother Muwahiddoon, the adherents to this trend, to broaden their
perspectives in this matter, and that they do not petrify or confine something
which Allah has left broad, especially if you are speaking to the general folk.
I also advise them not to be pessimistic in the likes of these times, and that
they refrain from cursing Hamas or to always criticize them for no reason,
especially in these times which will make it seem as if doing so is deserting of
Jihad and preventing people from coming to the aid of the weak and oppressed,
while the Muwahidoon are the most deserving of people to make Jihad and aid
their weak and oppressed brothers. There is a huge difference, however, between
advice, warning, and clarification, and cursing, pointless criticism, seeking
revenge and the likes of which is not from the manners of the believers.
So our brothers must take the situation and
predicament into regards, and they must avoid problematic issues which the
majority do not understand, those which require clarification and explanation
which the times do not allow, especially if it is something which the opponent
and secular media may use for their own advantage, those who do not seek excuses
for the people of Truth, or if it is something the general masses and the
ignorant may misunderstand. So in addressing people and the general masses in
the likes of these times, the focus should be encouraging people to come to the
aid of the Muslims of Gaza, to stand with them in their times of difficulty, to
encourage all efforts spent in this cause, to refute those who cease to do so
and prevent others, to motivate people and encourage them to make Jihad and
Shahaadah, and to spend all efforts in support of the Religion and honor.
The whole Ummah should be encouraged to repel
the invaders and not some certain group. Groups which stand to fight Jihad due
to some un-Islamic reason (such as nationalism) should not be impeded from doing
so, for when Allah mentioned encouraging to fight Jihad in His Cause, which is
the most noble types of fighting, He did not leave aside encouraging those who
were not honored with this high level of Jihad to fight to repel the enemy, even
if they were from the hypocrites and their likes from those weak in faith, as
the situation is one in which the prerequisites of Jihad are laxer and its doors
are wider. Allah mentioned this type of fighting to which none are in
opposition, the type which is in defense of one’s womenfolk, family, land,
honor, and wealth, and He mentioned encouraging people towards it.
For this reason, it is not from wisdom in this
situation that one prevents people from fighting the Jews or repelling them from
the Muslims, even if the one participating in this defense were a hypocrite, a
Rafidite (Shia), or a person fighting for unIslamic or nationalistic reasons.
The important factor is that the people of Tawheed have their own pure and
distinguished banner and they themselves do not fight under unIslamic banners.
As for others, let them fight however they please. We do not say like some of
the youth do: “Who are you addressing when you call to aid Gaza? Are you
addressing the deviant, the sinners, or those who misguide others?”
We say that we are addressing the Ummah as a
whole, its righteous and its sinners, whether they rise to our call or to
someone else’s call, whether they be sinners, Rafidites, apostates, or others
who fight the Jews… let them do so. We will not prevent them from the likes of
this, and this will not harm us. The important point is that we do not fight
under their deviant banners or melt into their ranks. Rather, we should have our
own unified ranks and pure banner.
I ask that Allah give success to my brother
Muwahhideen all over the world, and to guide them to what He loves and is
pleased with, and that he uses us and them in the cause of His Religion.
O Allah! Save the weak believers!
O Allah! Save our brothers in Ghazza, Palestine, Iraq, Somalia, Chechnya,
Afghanistan and everywhere else!
O Allah! Give them victory over their enemies!
O Allah! Cure their sick and heal their injured, free their prisoners,
strengthen those of them who are broken, feed their hungry, clothe their naked.
O Allah! Unify their ranks, guide their bullets, accept their martyrs, and give
them victory over the tyrannical people.
O Allah! Revealer of the Book! Mover of the clouds! Destroyer of the hosts!
Destroy their enemies!
O Allah! Revealer of the Book! Mover of the clouds! Destroyer of the hosts!
Destroy their enemies!
O Allah! Repel their enemy and destroy them with their own plans! Make their
plotting against themselves!
O Allah! Deal with their enemies from the Tawagheet and their armies, the Jews,
Christians and Communists and those who aid them!
O Allah! Do not raise their flag nor fulfill their goals, and make them a sign
for those after them.
O Allah! Divide their ranks!
O Allah! Take all of them, kill them all, and do not leave any one of them! Make
what is in their hands spoils for the Muslims!
O Allah! Raise the flag of Tawheed and topple the flag of Shirk!
O Allah! Give authority over the Muslims to the best of them, and do not give
authority to the most evil of them!
O Allah! Do not punish us for the acts of our foolish! Relieve us from your
hatred and anger! Make this a guided Ummah in which your beloved slaves are
honored and your enemies are humiliated, one in which the good is enjoined and
evil is forbidden, one in which You Book is given rule!
And may the peace and blessings be on our
Prophet Muhammad, as well as all his family and companions.
Written by: Abu Muhammad Al-Maqdisi, on the
Day Allah saved Musa from the Pharaoh, (10th Muharram) 1430 |
