On Islam Online, Maria from Australia asks the following question:
I was really shocked to hear about the wide debate that occurred during the sessions of the Fiqh Council affiliated to the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) concerning the legality of martyr operations. I heard that there was a wide debate among some member scholars there, and some of them said that martyr operations are an illegal practice done by the Palestinians, and with such operations they give Sharonís government a chance to shed more blood.
Please correct me, as I am really confused and there is much ado everywhere concerning this issue. I would very much appreciate it if you would mention the decisions taken by the Conference concerning martyr operations and the definition of terrorism they reached. May Allah reward you for your efforts in serving the Muslim Ummah. Ameen.
And now for the answer..
In the Name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful.
All praise and thanks are due to Allah, and peace and blessings be upon His Messenger.
Dear questioner, thank you very much for having confidence in us, and we implore Allah to guide us all to the best way through which we can serve the Muslim Ummah.
Actually, when it comes to the Palestinian issue, we need to focus on certain important points that we have reiterated in many occasions: injustice breeds contempt and violence; oppression calls for brutal reaction; peace and security should be an aspired goal for all parties to the conflict; Justice represents the rights of all people whatever their race, color and religion.
Issuing a judgment or ruling on a certain case should be done in light of all the facts that surround it. As regard the case at hand, we all see what happens daily in the occupied territories in the sense of atrocities committed daily against the innocent civilians, houses demolished, in addition to all forms of humiliation, which all culminated into a gloomy state of affair, filling the mind with utter despair. These are some of the facts taken into consideration when eminent Muslim scholars describe the resistance operations carried out by the Palestinians as a form of a legitimate Jihad against the usurpers and occupiers. This is not a matter of issuing a license to kill. Rather it echoes voices of people crying for justice.
This is the same principle that serves as a basis for the recent resolution issued by The Islamic Fiqh Council affiliated to the OIC in its fourteenth session, held in Duha (Qatar) 5ñ13 Dhul-Qi`dah 1423 A.H., 11ñ16 January 2003 C.E.,
Following is the text of the resolution:
1- Islam dignifies man as a human being, safeguards his rights and protects his honor. Fiqh or Islamic jurisprudence is the first jurisprudence all over the world which really presents local and international legislative codes for human relations both in war and peace times.
2- Terrorism equals illegal aggression, terror, threatening both in material and abstract forms which is practiced by states, groups or individuals against man, his religion, soul, honor, intellect or his property via all means, among which is the spread of corruption on earth.
3- The Islamic Fiqh Council asserts that jihad and martyr operations done to defend the Islamic creed, dignity, freedom and the sovereignty of states is not considered terrorism but a basic form of necessary defense for legitimate rights. Thus the oppressed peoples who are subjected to occupation have the right to seek their freedom via all means possible.
4-The Islamic Fiqh Council stresses that martyr operations are a form of jihad, and carrying out those operations is a legitimate right that has nothing to do with terrorism or suicide. Those operations become obligatory when they become the only way to stop the aggression of the enemy, defeat it, and grievously damage its power.
5-It is not allowed to use terms such as ìjihadî, ìterrorismî, and ìviolenceî, which have become frequently used by todayís mass media as scientific terms, to mean other connotations beyond their basic well known meanings.
In light of the above, there is no change concerning the Islamic ruling regarding martyr operations as such operations are considered true jihad in the Cause of Allah.
Methinks this is another job for Internet Haganah.
