А outstanding Islamic scholar within the Gaza Strip has issued an atypical and robust fatwa condemning the October 7, 2023 Hamas assault on Israel that sparked the struggle within the enclave.
Prof. Dr. Salman al-Dayah, former dean of the College of Sharia and Regulation on the Hamas-affiliated Islamic College of Gaza, is among the area’s most revered non secular authorities, so his authorized opinion carries appreciable weight amongst Gaza’s inhabitants of two million. the Palestinian Territory, which is made up largely of Sunni Muslims.
A fatwa is a non-binding Islamic authorized ruling by a revered non secular scholar, normally based mostly on the Qur’an or the Sunnah – the sayings and practices of the Prophet Muhammad.
Hamas has violated the Islamic ideas of jihad
Dr. Dayah’s fatwa, revealed in an in depth six-page doc, criticized Hamas for “violating Islamic ideas governing jihad,” ie. the interior non secular battle and that in opposition to the enemies of Islam.
“If the pillars, causes or circumstances of Jihad will not be fulfilled, it ought to be prevented in order to not destroy folks’s lives. That is one thing that’s simply guessed by the politicians of our nation, so the assault ought to be prevented,” the professor believes.
For Hamas, the fatwa represents a disturbing and doubtlessly damaging criticism, particularly on condition that the group typically justifies its assaults on Israel with non secular arguments to win assist from Arab and Muslim communities. Within the October 7 assault, tons of of armed fighters from the Gaza Strip invaded southern Israel. About 1,200 folks have been killed and 251 others have been taken hostage within the enclave. In response, Israel launched a army marketing campaign to destroy Hamas, throughout which greater than 43,400 folks have already been killed in Gaza, based on figures from the Hamas-run Well being Ministry.
Dr Dayah argued that the numerous variety of civilian casualties in Gaza, together with the destruction of civilian infrastructure and the humanitarian disaster that adopted the October 7 assault, meant that it was in direct battle with the teachings of Islam. In line with him, Hamas has failed in its obligations to “hold the militants away from the houses of defenseless civilians and their shelters and to make sure safety and security as a lot as potential within the varied facets of life… safety, economic system, well being and schooling , in addition to to maintain ample provides for them’.
The professor factors to verses from the Qur’an and Sunnah that set strict circumstances for waging jihad, together with the necessity to keep away from actions that provoke an extreme and disproportionate response from the adversary. His fatwa emphasised that, based on Islamic legislation, a army incursion mustn’t provoke a response that exceeds the supposed advantages of the motion.
It additionally emphasizes that Muslim leaders have an obligation to make sure the protection and well-being of non-combatants, together with by offering meals, medication and shelter to these not engaged in fight. “Human life is extra treasured to God than Mecca,” declared Dr. Dayah.
What’s the affect of Prof. Dr. Dayah?
Within the Gaza Strip, he’s seen as a key non secular determine and a fierce critic of Islamist actions, together with Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad.
His average Salafi beliefs put him in direct opposition to Hamas’s method to armed resistance and its ties to Shiite-ruled Iran. Salafis are fundamentalists who search to comply with the instance of the Prophet Muhammad and the primary generations who adopted him.
Dr. Dayah has persistently advocated the creation of an Islamic caliphate that adheres strictly to Islamic legislation, relatively than to techniques based mostly on political events, an answer supported by Hamas. “Our function mannequin is Prophet Muhammad who based a nation and didn’t create political events to divide the nation. That’s why events in Islam are forbidden,” he mentioned in a sermon he delivered in a mosque a number of years in the past, the BBC recalled.
The scholar additionally condemned extremism, opposing jihadist teams such because the Islamic State and al-Qaeda.
Prof. Dr. Dayah refused to go away his dwelling within the northern Gaza Strip, regardless of the Israeli army’s fixed evacuation orders for civilians as they cleared the world of Hamas constructions.
