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Qaradawi, al-Azhar denounce Islamic State as un-Islamic

Jul 7, 2014 5:04 am By Robert Spencer

Qaradawi2014The title of caliph, Qaradawi said, “can ‘only be given by the entire Muslim nation’ not by a single group.” Yet that is completely ahistorical. The title of caliph has never in Islamic history been “given by the entire Muslim nation.” Caliphates have always been established by a single group that had the military might to force a large segment of the Muslim community to accept its claim. And Sheikh Abbas Shuman of al-Azhar says: “The Islamic caliphate can’t be restored by force.” Yet historically, every caliphate has been established by force. If the Islamic State can survive and become a viable state, it will be recognized by more Muslims. In the eyes of many, its survival will establish its legitimacy, and its early demise will show it to be un-Islamic.

“Sunni cleric says Iraq caliphate violates Sharia,” AFP, July 5, 2014:

DOHA: Sunni Muslim religious scholar Yusef al-Qaradawi said on Saturday that the declaration of an Islamic caliphate by militants fighting the governments in Syria and Iraq violates Sharia law.

Last Sunday, the militants declared an “Islamic caliphate” in areas they control in Iraq and Syria and ordered Muslims worldwide to pledge allegiance to their leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi.

Qatar-based Qaradawi, seen as a spiritual guide of the Muslim Brotherhood in his native Egypt, said in a statement that the declaration “is void under Sharia“.

“We look forward to the coming, as soon as possible, of the caliphate,“ Qaradawi said, of the form of pan-Muslim government last seen under the Ottoman Empire.

“But the declaration issued by the Islamic State is void under Sharia and has dangerous consequences for the Sunnis in Iraq and for the revolt in Syria,“ he added.

The influential cleric said the declaration and nomination of Baghdadi by a militant group “known for its atrocities and radical views” fail to meet strict conditions dictated by Sharia.

The title of caliph, he said, can “only be given by the entire Muslim nation” not by a single group.

Since last Sunday, other leading Muslim figures have denounced the announcement by the Islamic State, which was previously known as the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant.

A caliphate is fundamentally a universal Islamic state ruled by a single leader with both political and religious authority.

Many Sunnis associate the caliphate with a golden age of Islam, but the declaration made by the Islamic State has triggered indignation among those who see it as heresy.

Al-Azhar, the top authority of Sunni Islam, “believes that all those who are today speaking of an Islamic State are terrorists,” senior representative Sheikh Abbas Shuman said earlier this week.

“The Islamic caliphate can’t be restored by force. Occupying a country and killing half of its population … This is not an Islamic state, this is terrorism,” he said.

In Saudi Arabia, bastion of Sunni Islam and home to the religion’s holiest places, Al-Riyadh daily ripped the caliphate as being “no more than one person heading a terrorist organisation“. Rebels in Syria, who have been battling the militants who have infuriated many by their brutality, have branded the caliphate announcement as “null and void”.

Jordanian Al-Qaeda cleric Issam Barqawi, known as Abu Mohammed al-Maqdessi, also denounced it, warning it will lead to more bloodshed.

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Filed Under: caliphate, Islamic State (aka ISIS, ISIL, Daesh)


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Comments

  1. Gardener says

    Jul 7, 2014 at 5:13 am

    For what it’s worth, which may not be much, Hizb ut-Tahrir has also denounced the ISIS caliphate on its Khilafah website.

  2. duh_swami says

    Jul 7, 2014 at 5:43 am

    I suspected the big shots wouldn’t go for it. They are not against a Caliphate but they want to run it, not some upstart. Of course Allah knows best, so if he want’s a Caliphate, he will get a Caliphate.

    • gravenimage says

      Jul 7, 2014 at 6:03 pm

      Duh Swami wrote:

      I suspected the big shots wouldn’t go for it. They are not against a Caliphate but they want to run it
      ………………………..

      That’s *exactly* it, Swami. They can posture and denounce this Caliphate as supposedly “un-Islamic” all they want, but what they really are complaining about is that *they* aren’t running it.

      But—as you know, of course—the idea that all Muslims cheerfully obeyed the Caliph in times past is nothing more than a Muslim myth. In the last Caliphate, the Arabs *couldn’t wait* to rebel against the Ottoman Empire. They had never liked the idea of Turks as Caliphs, in any case, and Constantinople ignored and exploited them (although not nearly as much as they did Christians and other Infidels, of course…).

      Now, some of the descendants of those same Arabs are now happily setting up this Caliphate and declaring that all Muslims obey the new Caliph.

      But the rifts in the Muslim world are wide and bloody—time will tell whether the idea of the Caliphate outweighs Muslim naysayers’ antipathy for accepting *someone else* as Caliph.

      In the end, it will probably depend on whether or not Al-Bagdadi is “successful” in gaining turf, booty, and Jihad terror hits on the hated Kuffar.

      If he does, he will probably find plenty of thuggish followers eager to declare him the ‘true Caliph’…

  3. Michael Copeland says

    Jul 7, 2014 at 7:02 am

    “By persuasion or by force” Islam should be spread, said ancient scholar Ibn Khaldun. The self-proclaimed Caliph employs force. What could be the objection?

  4. Abu Emo says

    Jul 7, 2014 at 7:03 am

    Hahaha! The new Ayetolla stole the caliphate from the existing ayetollas!
    Game of thrones!!!

  5. Slobbering fits says

    Jul 7, 2014 at 10:00 am

    Of coarse they are squealing the rug is being pulled out from under them by the real muslims and they know it .The media should encourage fighting them as the good jihad .

  6. Angemon says

    Jul 7, 2014 at 10:22 am

    “DOHA: Sunni Muslim religious scholar Yusef al-Qaradawi said on Saturday that the declaration of an Islamic caliphate by militants fighting the governments in Syria and Iraq violates Sharia law.”

    Pffft. I won’t believe it unless he publicly and unequivocally declares Al-Baghdadi to be takfir.

  7. Jack Diamond says

    Jul 7, 2014 at 11:56 am

    Saying it violates sharia is not telling the whole truth of how Caliphs are made.
    Becoming caliph by force is legitimate in Islam and saying the caliphate cannot be restored by force is a bald-faced lie.

    IslamQA on “How the caliph of the Muslims is appointed”
    http://islamqa.info/en/111836
    “The imam (ruler) or caliph was appointed to lead the Islamic state by one of three methods: 1-He was chosen and elected by the decision makers (ahl al-hall wa’l-‘aqd). For example, Abu Bakr al-Siddeeq became caliph when he was elected by the decision makers, then the Sahaabah unanimously agreed with that and swore allegiance to him, and accepted him as caliph.

    ‘Uthmaan ibn ‘Affaan (may Allaah be pleased with him) became caliph in a similar manner, when ‘Umar ibn al-Khattaab (may Allaah be pleased with him) delegated the appointment of the caliph to come after him to a shoora council of six of the senior Sahaabah, who were to elect one of their number. ‘Abd al-Rahmaan ibn ‘Awf consulted the Muhaajireen and Ansaar, and when he saw that the people were all inclined towards ‘Uthmaan, he swore allegiance to him first, then the rest of the six swore allegiance to him, followed by the Muhaajireen and Ansaar, so he was elected as caliph by the decision makers.

    ‘Ali ibn Abi Taalib (may Allaah be pleased with him) became caliph in a similar manner, when he was elected by most of the decision makers.

    2-Appointment to the position by the previous caliph, when one caliph passes on the position to a particular person who is to succeed him after he dies. For example, ‘Umar ibn al-Khattaab became caliph when the position was passed on to him by Abu Bakr al-Siddeeq (may Allaah be pleased with him).

    3-By means of force and prevailing over others. When a man becomes caliph by prevailing over the people by the sword, and he establishes his authority and takes full control, then it becomes obligatory to obey him and he becomes the leader of the Muslims. Examples of that include some of the Umayyad and ‘Abbasid caliphs, and those who came after them. This method is contrary to sharee’ah, because it is seized by force. But because great interests are served by having a ruler who rules the ummah, and because a great deal of mischief may result from chaos and loss of security in the land, the one who seizes authority by means of the sword should be obeyed if he seizes power by force but he rules in accordance with the laws of Allaah.

    Shaykh Muhammad ibn Saalih al-‘Uthaymeen (may Allaah have mercy on him) said: If a man rebels and seizes power, the people must obey him, even if he seizes power by force and without their consent, because he has seized power.

    The reason for that is that if his rule is contested, it will lead to a great deal of evil, and this is what happened during the Umayyad period when some of them seized power by means of force and gained the title of caliph, and people obeyed them in obedience to the command of Allaah.”
    Sharh al-‘Aqeedah al-Safaareeniyyah (p. 688).

    http://www.2muslims.com/directory/Detailed/225505.shtml
    One way the Khalifa may be chosen is through the use of force. Many Muslim scholars say that if a person has already seized power, then to avoid Muslim bloodshed that person should be accepted if he upholds his duties as the Khalifa of the Muslim ummah.

    Ibn Hanbal wrote that if a Khalifa has seized power, it is haram to fight him. However, he must meet his responsibilities under Islam. Ash-Shafi’i believed that a person who seizes power and then is accepted by the people is a legitimate Khalifa. An-Nawawi believed that if someone forces himself on the ummah, but is qualified, then he should be accepted by the people to avoid Muslim bloodshed and to preserve Muslim unity. An-Nawawi also claimed that if the new Khalifa subsequently does not follow the sunnah of the Prophet precisely, it would be still be questionable to fight against him because of the paramount importance of avoiding Muslim bloodshed and disunity. Ibn Khaldun, Al-Asqalani and Al-Juwayni all believed that forceful seizure of power by someone is legitimate as long as he follows Islam as the new Khalifa. Ibn Taymiya wrote that after someone has seized power, he is legitimate so long as he follows the Qur’an and Sunnah.

    All scholars are in unanimous agreement that using force to displace an already established Khalifa who is meeting his responsibilities is forbidden. ”

    Of course Qaradawi and Al-Azhar and the Saudis and the OIC (which has its own pretensions of being the new caliphate) are going to say these things.
    Events are leaving them behind. Qaradawi & Zawahiri are yesterday men.
    “This is not an Islamic State, this is terrorism.” Too funny for words.
    The reality will be decided on the ground not in the repulsive Qaradawi’s television studio.

    • jihad3tracker says

      Jul 7, 2014 at 4:47 pm

      Thank you, Mr. Diamond, for this lengthy elaboration…

      I am very often flabbergasted by the depth at which JW commenters here are knowledgeable about everyone’s favorite pathological creed.

      BTW, if you want to see some sad and worried faces, take a look at CAIR’s July 4 update or whatever they call it. A video should be easily found on the web.

      Absolutely hilarious… Those major treasonous dudes doing their best to report on unimportant stuff with a convincing tone of voice.

      But inconveniently crashing in flames as al-Baghdadi thoroughly f*cks up a carefully planned stealth jihad strategy that was going SO WELL UNTIL ISLAMO-ACTION GRABBED THE STAGE.

    • gravenimage says

      Jul 7, 2014 at 6:09 pm

      Excellent and informative post, Jack.

      Seizure of the reins of power is perfectly Islamic—as long as the pious thug in power rules like a true Muslim—imposing Shari’ah, oppressing and brutalizing Infidels, amputating the limbs of petty thieves, and stoning women to death…

      God, I hate Islam.

      And generally speaking, it looks as though Al-Bagdadi is off to a very islamic start…

      • Jack Diamond says

        Jul 7, 2014 at 8:05 pm

        Thanks j3t and graven. Al-Baghdadi’s ceremony was carefully orchestrated to replicate descriptions of the ceremony of the first caliph, Abu Bakr, even quoting from him: “now, it is beyond doubt that I have been elected your Amir, although I am not better than you. Help me, if I am in the right; set me right if I am in the wrong …” Qaradawi is not going to be able to show that he is ruling contrary to the Qur’an and Sunnah. He is also fully qualified to be caliph, from his PhD in fiqh to his (claimed) line of descent. He is also required to have military experience and have proven his bravery, to protect the ummah from its enemies (unlike Qaradawi who has yet to carry out his stated wish to die fighting the Jews–and he ain’t getting any younger). Like the Rightly Guided Caliphs, Al-Baghdadi leads the worst of the worst and like Muhammad he can claim “I have been made victorious with terror.”

        The caliph might be killed tomorrow, of course, but as of right now he looks a pretty “strong horse.” IS has gained key control of the water highway in Iraq, on both rivers Tigris and Euphrates. They are not dumb. They’ve used the blitzkrieg strategy to great effect. They use social media expertly. At the very least, even in defeat, they are going to present us with thousands of “bombs waiting to go off” soldiers of Allah, with U.S., Canadian, British, French & Belgian passports, many of whom will find their way back one way or another–the Jewish Museum shooter was supposedly on a watch list too. Should their State solidify and continue on, well, it’s going to get very interesting. In a horrific sort of way. May you live in interesting times, was the Chinese curse.

  8. Notta_allah_followa says

    Jul 7, 2014 at 12:23 pm

    Al-Azhar, the top authority of Sunni Islam, “believes that all those who are today speaking of an Islamic State are terrorists,” senior representative Sheikh Abbas Shuman said earlier this week.

    Shuman? You have a Sheikh named Shuman? Me thinks thou doth have a Jew in thy midst! Let’s kill him!

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