Ibn-e- Taymiyyah's Jihad Fatwas Spawned Modern Radical Jihadism
By
Grace Mubashir, New Age Islam
11 October
2023
Ibn-e-Taymiyya’s
14th century Mardin Fatwas have been used by generations, Ibn-Abdul Wahhab in
18th century and modern radical Jihadis from latter part of 20th century
onwards to justify modern day radical Jihadism and Islamist terrorism. However,
fatwas should be read contextually. Ibn-e-Taymiyyah does not hold any relevance
in the modern era. Jihadi radicals are being mischievous in invoking medieval
fatwas to pursue their inhuman Jihad idea, to kill innocents. Such killings of
civilians can never have any justification in Islam.
Main
Points:
1) Jihadi Radicals deploy the fatwas of
Ibn Taymiyyah to justify their nefarious activities, abusing the high stature
of Ibn-e-Taymiyyah among the Muslims.
2) The 14th century scholar has been an
intellectual and religious motivation behind the radical’s spreading violence
and chaos.
3) According to Islamic jurisprudence,
fatwas should be read contextually and spatially and thus a medieval scholar
has no relevance in the contemporary time.
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Two fatwas
by ibn Taymiyyah are being disproportionately employed by wily radical elements
to bolster their Jihadi ideology. They use Ibn Taymiyyah to get wider currency
as he is revered for his scholarship. Many a times his fatwas have been wrongly
deployed by radical groups to spread their dangerous ideology. These groups
misinterpret Fatwas to suit their vulgar Jihadi ideology.
Two of his
fatwas have been abused most by radical groups to target civilians and call for
attack against West. These two were context specific when Muslim community were
reeling under the cruelty of Mongols.
His fatwas
have been used many times by radical elements in Indian subcontinent and
outside.
1. The
assassin of former Egyptian president Anwar Sadat in 1981 was motivated by Ibn
Taymiyya’s Fatwa.
2. Osama
bin Laden exhorted Muslims to attack American civilians in 1996 and subsequent
Fatwas asking Muslims to migrate from European lands to Muslim lands where
Sharia is operative.
3. The
fringe group migrated from India to fight with ISIS
Jihad
Fatwas of Ibn Taymiyyah
The main
ideas of two fatwas are given below.
The date of
Mardin’s fatwa is still unknown, but the city of Mardin was then under the rule
of the Ilkhanid Mongols, and its position is now in southeastern Turkey.
There are four questions answered in this
fatwa, the questions are: “About the land of Mardin, is it Dar al-Ḥarb or Dar al-Silm? Is it obligatory for
the Muslim population to emigrate to an Islamic country or not? If it is
obligatory for him to emigrate and he has not emigrated, then helping the enemy
of Muslims with his soul or property, is it a sin? Is it sinful those who
accuse them hypocritically and abuse them or are they innocent?” (Ibn Taymiyyah,
2004, p. 28:240)
Briefly and
emphatically, Ibn Taymiyyah answered the above questions in four paragraphs:
“All praise is due to Allah. The soul and property of a Muslim must not be
disturbed (he used the word haram), whether those living in Mardin or
elsewhere. Helping the enemies of Islam (the law) is haram, whether those who
help are residents of Mardin or others. People who live there, if they cannot
worship according to the Sharia, then they are obliged to emigrate. Otherwise,
it is better (Mustaḥab) to move
but they are not obliged to do so.”
“It is
forbidden for them to help the enemies of the Muslims with their lives and
property. They must resist it in whatever way they can, such as disappearing,
avoiding or trying to flatter. If the only way is Hijrah, then that is what
they must do." “It is forbidden to slander and accuse them of hypocrisy.
Badmouthing and accusing hypocrites must be based on the evidence of the Qur’an
and Sunnah and this applies specifically to a few people, be it residents of
Mardn or anywhere else."
“Whether
the area is a war zone or a peaceful one, this is a complicated situation (Murakkabah).
It was not a peaceful residence (Dar Al-Silm or Dar-al-Islam) where Islamic
law was enforced and guarded by Muslim troops. The area is also not to be
fought (Dar Al-Ḥarb) because
its inhabitants are not infidels. The region is in the third group. The Muslims
who live there should be treated according to their rights as Muslims, while
the non-Muslims who live there and are outside the rule of Islamic law must be
treated according to their rights.” (Ibn Taymiyyah, 2004, pp. 28: 240-1)
If you read
this fatwa in its entirety, it actually rejects the Jihadists' interpretation,
which uses it as justification for fighting both Muslims who hold legal power
and non-Muslims who coexist peacefully with Muslims. The following response
from Ibn Taymiyya states that Hijrah is not required if Muslims can continue to
practice their faith and that Mardin does not have the status of either a war
zone or an Islamic area, but rather a combination (Murakkabah) of the
two. Ibn Taymiyyah goes on to say that the area of peace is where Islamic law
is enforced because the army is made up of Muslims, whereas the area of war is
where the infidel population resides. The fallacy of the Jihadists is to
exploit this fatwa to support two claims: first, that Muslim nations are war
zones (Dar Al-Harb) because they do not have an Islamic form of
government, and second, that people must migrate (Hijrah) from war zones
to peaceful/Islamic places (Dar Al-Silm).
Because
most scholars before and during his time only divided the territory into two
conditions—Dar Al-Harb and Dar Al-Silm—Ibn Taymiyyah added a new
group of "regions," which did not result in violence. In fact, his
attitude was very moderate in creating the concept of the third region, namely
the condition he called "Murakkabah" (complicated), which is
neither Dar Al-Harb nor Dar Al-Silm. The result is that Muslims
who reside there must be treated in accordance with their rights as Muslims,
and non-Muslim persons who live there but are not subject to Islamic law must
also be treated in accordance with their rights. This is purportedly an effort
by Ibn Taymiyyah to lessen tension and dispel the notion that Muslims in Mardin
reside in an Islamic region or vice versa, i.e., a conflict zone.
The next
error made by Jihadists in their interpretation of Mardin's fatwa was made by
Faraj and 'Abd Allah Azzam (d. 1989), who claimed that an Islamic institution
was equivalent to a place of peace (Dar al-Silm), whereas a modern
institution—not an Islamic government—was equivalent to a place of war (Dar
Al-Harb). They comprehend that even if the majority of the population is
Muslim, a war zone is one where the Islamic legal system is not applied, and a
peace region is one where Islamic law is imposed by the state. Following this
perspective, war on Anwar Sadat's Egypt was justified using this reasoning. Ibn
Taymiyyah asserts that the absence of Muslims in a region genuinely determines
whether it is at war.
Hijrah Concept
Of Ibn Taymiyyah
In the same
way, Ibn Taymiyya's concept of "Hijrah" is explained to mean escaping
from sin rather than simply leaving a location if you read his other works
holistically. He asserts that there are two categories of migration: escaping
sin and negative relationships and avoiding evildoers to spare them punishment.
Ibn Taymiyyah issues a sound fatwa on hijra in both situations, stating that
hijra is only performed when the harm associated with it surpasses the
positive.
First, in
the current context, based on Ibn Taymiyya's opinion, the inferences that may
be taken from his text on hijrah are as follows. He did not state definitively
whether Muslims living in non-Muslim nations today—such as the West—should
leave for a nation with a majority of Muslims or not. A Muslim, on the other
hand, needs to weigh the benefits and drawbacks of their circumstances. Second,
Ibn Taymiyya's treatment of the idea of Hijrah is ethical rather than
political; it is not mentioned in relation to Islamic law-based government.
Ibn Taymiyyah
was a contentious thinker who could be viewed from a variety of angles. On the
one hand, he was revered as the founder of Islamic radicalism, but on the other
hand, he also served as an inspiration for Muslim reformers. Because he is also
a "polymath," it is not surprising that many academics and scholars
discuss him from a variety of angles.
How Osama
bin Laden misused Ibn Taymiyyah can be understood, for example, in his 1996
fatwa:
“Ibn Taymiyyah
, after mentioning the Moguls (Tatar) and their behaviour in changing the law
of Allah, stated that: the ultimate aim of pleasing Allah, raising His word,
instituting His religion and obeying His messenger (Allah's Blessing And
Salutations On Him) is to fight the enemy, in every aspects and in a
complete manner; if the danger to the religion from not fighting is greater
than that of fighting, then it is a duty to fight them even if the intention of
some of the fighter is not pure i.e. fighting for the sake of leadership
(personal gain) or if they do not observe some of the rules and commandments of
Islam. To repel the greatest of the two dangers on the expense of the lesser
one is an Islamic principle which should be observed. It was the tradition of
the people of the Sunnah (Ahlul-Sunnah) to join and invade fight- with
the righteous and non-righteous men. Allah may support this religion by
righteous and non-righteous people as told by the prophet (Allah's Blessing and
Salutations on Him). If it is not possible to fight except with the help of
non-righteous military personnel and commanders, then there are two
possibilities: either fighting will be ignored and the others, who are the
great danger to this life and religion, will take control; or to fight with the
help of non-righteous rulers and therefore repelling the greatest of the two
dangers and implementing most, though not all, of the Islamic laws. The latter
option is the right duty to be carried out in these circumstances and in many
other similar situations. In fact, many of the fights and conquests that took
place after the time of Rashidoon, the guided Imams, were of this type.
(Majmoo' al Fatawa, 26/506).
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A regular columnist for NewAgeIslam.com, Mubashir
V.P is a PhD scholar in Islamic Studies at Jamia Millia Islamia and freelance
journalist.
URL: https://newageislam.com/islam-terrorism-jihad/taymiyyah-jihad-fatwas-radical-jihadism/d/130871
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