Shakh Tahir Qadri’s Fatwa Against Suicide Bombing and Terrorism

(Conclusion of series–part five)

Chapter 1: The Meanings of Islām

1.    Islām is a Religion of Peace and Security
2.    Three grades of Islām
i.    Research on literal meanings of Islām
ii.    Research on literal meanings of Īmān
iii.    Research on literal meanings of Ihsān

Chapter 2: Forbiddance of the Muslims’ Massacre

Section 1: Honour of the Muslims’ Life and Property

1.    The dignity of a believer is greater than Ka‘ba’s
2.    Merely pointing a weapon towards a believer is prohibited
3.    The forbiddance of the Muslims’ mass killing and violence
4.    Prohibition of killing someone accepting Islām while fighting
5.    Becoming an accomplice to terrorists too is crime
6.    Those attacking mosques are the greatest wrongdoers

Section 2: The Punishment of torturing and killing Muslims

1.    Killing a Muslim is a greater sin than destroying the whole world
2.    Killing a human is like disbelieving
3.    The massacre of Muslims is a blasphemous act
4.    Like polytheism, murder too is the greatest wrong
5.    Bloodshed is the greatest of all crimes
6.    Those burning the Muslims by explosions and other means belong to Hell
7.    Those burning the Muslims are debarred from the fold of Islām
8.    No act of worship by the murderer of a Muslim is acceptable
9.    Those who torture the Muslims will face the torment of Hell

Section 3: Suicide is a Forbidden Act

1.    Forbiddance and prohibition of suicide
2.    Paradise is forbidden to a suicider
3.    Gist of the discussion

Chapter 3: Forbiddance of the Non-Muslims’ Massacre and Torturing

1.    Killing the non-Muslim citizens is forbidden
2.    Forbiddance of killing foreign delegates and religious leaders
3.    Retribution of Muslims and non-Muslims is the same
4.    Avenging a wrong done by a non-Muslim from others is forbidden
5.    Forbiddance of looting non-Muslim citizens
6.    Humiliating non-Muslim citizens is forbidden
7.    Protection of non-Muslim citizens from internal and external aggression

Chapter 4: Forbiddance of Terrorism against the Non-Muslims even during War

1.    Prohibition of the killing of non-Muslim women
2.    Prohibition of the killing of children of non-Muslims
3.    Prohibition of the killing of the aged non-Muslims
4.    Prohibition of the killing of non-Muslim religious leaders
5.    Prohibition of the killing of non-Muslim traders and the growers
6.    Prohibition of the killing of non-Muslim service personnel
7.    Prohibition of the killing of non-Muslim non-combatants
8.    Night Offensive against non-Muslims prohibited
9.    Burning of the inhabitants of non-Muslim war areas prohibited
10.    Breaking into the enemy houses and looting forbidden
11.    Damaging the enemy cattle, crops and properties forbidden

Chapter 5: Protection of the Non-Muslims’ Lives, Properties and Worship Places

Section 1: Protection of non-Muslim citizens during the Prophetic period and the Rightly Guided Caliphs’ Era

1.    The non-Muslim citizens’ protection in the days of the Holy Prophet (blessings and peace be upon him)
2.    The legal status of the protection of non-Muslims in the days of AbÅ« Bakr Siddiq
3.    The legal status of the protection of non-Muslims in the days of ‘Umar
4.    The legal status of the protection of non-Muslims in the days of ‘Uthmān
5.    The legal status of the protection of non-Muslims in the days of ‘Ali
6.    The legal status of the protection of non-Muslims in the days of ‘Umar ibn ‘Abd al-‘Aziz

Section 2: Forbiddance of Enforcing One’s Belief and Annihilating Worship Places

1.    Complete freedom of holding fast to one’s religion and its practice
2.    Killing a non-Muslim and destroying his property due to religious differences is forbidden
3.    Safeguard of non-Muslims’ worship places is a practice of the Holy Prophet
4.    Safeguard of non-Muslims’ worship places is obligatory
5.    Annihilation of the non-Muslims’ worship places located in Muslim majority areas is prohibited

Section 3: Rules Concerning Basic Rights of the non-Muslim Citizens in an Islamic State

Chapter 6: Rebellion against the Muslim state, Administration and Governance Forbidden

Section 1: What is rebellion and who is a rebel? (terminology, definitions and signs)

1.    Lexical definition of rebellion
2.    Technical definition of rebellion
i.    Rebellion according to Hanafi school of thought
ii.    Rebellion according to Māliki jurists
iii.    Shafi‘i’s definition of rebellion
iv.    Rebellion in view of Hanbali school of thought
v.    Ja‘fariyya definition of rebellion
vi.    The view of contemporary scholars about defining rebellion
3.    Technical definition of fight and fighters
4.    Signs of rebels

Section 2: Gravity of the crime of rebellion and its punishment

1.    Why mutiny is a grave crime?
2.    The Holy Prophet condemned development of armed grouping against the Muslim majority
3.    Warning of the torment of Hell to the agitators of rebellion
4.    Judgment against biased slogans of miscreants
5.    Killing due to sectarian differences condemnable

Section 3: Legal status of killings against a corrupt government

1.    Forbiddance of rebellion against a government not explicitly idolatrous
2.    Raising arms against Muslims is an idolatrous act
3.    The legal and constitutional way of changing a corrupt government

Section 4: Edicts by the four Imāms and other eminent authorities of Umma against terrorism and rebellion

1.    Edict by Imām A‘zam AbÅ« Hanifa about fighting against the terrorists
2.    Edict by Imām Mālik against the terrorists
3.    Edict by Imām Shafi‘i against the terrorist rebels
4.    Action and edict by Imām Ahmad ibn Hanbal against mutiny
5.    Edict by Imām Sufyān Thawri about rebellion
6.    Imām Tahawi’s edict against armed rebellion
7.    Imām Māwardi’s edict about rebellion
8.    Imām Sarkhasi’s edict: elimination of terrorists is essential
9.    Imām Kasāi’s edict: terrorists must be killed
10.    Imām Murghaināni’s edict: war should continue until the elimination of rebellion
11.    Imām Ibn Qudāma’s edict: the mutineers are disbelievers and apostates
12.    Imām Nawawi’s edict: consensus of Companions on killing the rebels
13.    Tātārkhāniyya’s edict: cooperate with the government against the terrorists
14.    Edict by Imām Ibrāhim ibn Muflih Hanbali: war against rebels is mandatory for the government
15.    Edict by ‘Allāma Zain ad-Din ibn Nujaim
16.    Edict by ‘Allāma al-Jaziri

Section 5: Edicts by contemporary Salafi scholars against rebels

1.    Terrorists are the Khawārij of our times: Nāir ad-Din al-Albāni
2.    Declaring Muslims to be disbelievers is a sign of Khawārij: Shaykh ‘Abdu’llāh ibn Bāz
3.    Terrorists of today are a gang of the ignorant: Shaykh Sālih al-Fawzān
4.    Terroristic activities are not Jihād: Mufti Nazir Husayn of Delhi
5.    Gist of the discussion

Chapter 7: The Khawārij Strife and Contemporary Terrorists

Section 1: The advent of Khawārij strife and their beliefs and ideologies

1.    Lexical and technical meanings
2.    The Khawārij strife in the light of the Holy Qur’ān
3.    The advent of the Khawārij disruption in the days of the Holy Prophet
4.    The ideological formation of the Khawārij disruption in the period of ‘Uthmān
5.    Start of Khawārij as a movement in ‘Alawi period
6.    The beliefs and ideologies of the Khawārij
7.    The psychology and mental state of the Khawārij
8.    How Khawārij would rouse religious sentiments for mind making
9.    The conspicuous innovations of Khawārij
10.    Research work of Imām AbÅ« Bakr al-Ä€jurri

Section 2: The sayings of the Messenger of Allah about the Khawārij terrorists

1.    The terrorists would appear religious
2.    The Khawārij slogan would seem true to common man
3.    The Khawārij would use adolescents for terroristic activities after brainwashing
4.    The Khawārij would appear from the east
5.    The Khwarij would keep coming until the time of False Messiah
6.    The Khawārij will be absolutely debarred from the fold of Islām
7.    The Khawārij will be the dogs of Hell
8.    The religious appearance of Khawārij must not be mistaken
9.    The Khawārij are the worst of Creation

A noteworthy point

10.    The saying of the Holy Prophet: The decree to eliminate Khawārij strife

i.    Total elimination of Khawārij is mandatory
ii.    Important expositions of hadith Imāms
iii.    The underlying reason of resemblance with the people of ‘Ad and ThamÅ«d for the elimination of the Khawārij
iv.    Great reward for killing the Khawārij
v.    Signs of the Khawārij terrorists – collective picture

Section 3: The expositions of Imāms on mandatory killing of the Khawārij and declaring them disbelievers

Edicts of Imāms on two known statements about declaring Khawārij the disbelievers

The first statement: application of the decree of disbelief to Khawārij

1.    Imām al-Bukhāri (256 AH)
2.    Imām Ibn Jarir at-Tabari (310 AH)
3.    Imām Muhammad ibn Muhammad al-Ghazāli (505 AH)
4.    Qādi AbÅ« Bakr ibn al-‘Arabi (543 AH)
5.    Qādi ‘Iyād al-Māliki (544 AH)
6.    Imām Abu’I-‘Abbās al-Qurtubi (656 AH)
7.    ‘Allāma Ibn Taymiyya (728 AH)
8.    Imām Taqi ad-Din as-Subki (756 AH)
9.    Imām Shātibi al-Māliki (790 AH)
10.    Imām Ibn al-Bazzāz al-Kurdari al-Hanafi (827 AH)
11.    Imām Badr ad-Din al-‘Aini al-Hanafi (855 AH)
12.    Imām Ahmad bin Muhammad al-Qastalāni (923 AH)
13.    Mullā ‘Ali al-Qāri (1014 AH)
14.    Shaykh ‘Abd al-Haqq Muhaddith of Dehli (1052 AH)
15.    Shāh ‘Abd al-‘Aziz Muhaddith of Dehli (1229 AH)
16.    ‘Allāma Ibn ‘Abidin Shāmi (1306 AH)
17.    ‘Allāma ‘Abd ar-Rahmān MubārakpÅ«rÄ« (1353 AH)

The second statement: application of the decree of rebellion to Khawārij

1.    Imām A‘zam AbÅ« Hanifa (150 AH)
2.    Imām Shams ad-Din as-Sarkhasi (483 AH)
3.    Hafiz Ibn Hajar al-‘Asqalāni (852 AH)
4.    Imām Ahmad Radā Khān (1340 AH)

Reasons of hadith Imāms about consensus on killing the Khawārij

1.    Qādi ‘Iyād al-Māliki (544 AH)

2.    ‘Allāma Ibn Taymiyya (728 AH)
3.    Hafiz Ibn Hajar al-‘Asqalāni (728 AH)

Great reward for the troops fighting against the Khawārij terrorists

4.    Ibn Habirah

The standpoint of ‘Allāma Anwar Shāh Kashmiri and ‘Allāma Shabbir Ahmad ‘Uthmāni about the Khawārij

Section 4: Today’s terrorists are Khawārij

1.    Condemnation of the supporters of Khawārij
2.    Research work by Ibn Taymiyya about perpetuation of Khawārij
3.    The terrorists are the Khawārij of our times
4.    Important juristic issue: calling Khawārij as terrorists is based on the Qur’ān and Sunna, not independent reasoning

Chapter 8: Peaceful Way of Struggle in a Muslim State

1.    The Qur’ānic command to bid good and forbid evil
Collective struggle for commanding good and forbidding evil
2.    The command to bid good and forbid evil in Prophetic traditions
Three grades of preventing evil
The meaning of preventing evil physically
3.    Political and democratic struggle against injustice and oppression

Chapter 9: Call for Reflection and Reformation