For the first time ever, around thousand Indian Islamic scholars, including ‘muftis’ and ‘imams’ of India, have issued a fatwa of 15 volumes against the leader, fighters and followers of the self-declared Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, also known as the Islamic State.
Referring specifically to the ISIS reign of terror and horror, these Islamic scholars, through their fatwa, said the latter was guilty of committing heinous murders of innocent human beings, clicking images of their horrific misdeeds and showing them to the world through live videos and internet posts, and at the same time, wrongly claiming these to be “Islamic Acts done lawfully as per the Sharia (Islamic Law)”.
The fatwa was shared with United Nations secretary general Ban Ki-moon on August 15, when the scholars described themselves to be believers and followers of Islam, condemned the actions of the IS and urged the UN Secretary General to uphold their fatwa as an example to the world that Islam stood for peace.
They appealed the international communities not to abuse the religion by associating it with terrorist outfits like the IS or ISIS. They said that the actions of IS or ISIS were “absolutely inhuman and Islam never permits such unlawful acts under any circumstances”.
The scholars also reminded that by not following Prophet Muhammad’s path, the IS was indulging in “absolutely absurd and accursed” acts and their actions had nothing to do with Islam or its teachings.
Jurist Mohammed Manzar Hasan Khan Ashrafi Masbahi said, “Islam never permits such an unlawful act (of killing children, woman and old people)… the holy Quran has declared killing of one innocent life as killing the entire humanity.”
Among the prominent imams and organisations that signed the fatwa, issued last month, which has been forwarded to the heads of state and government across the world, were the Shahi Imam of Delhi’s Jama Masjid, key representatives of the Ajmer Dargah, Nizamuddin Aulia dargah, the Raza Academy, the Ulema Council of India, the Jamiatul Ulema Maharashtra, the Moin Ashraf Sahab Kachocha Dargah, the Sayed Zahir Abbas Rizvi Zainabya, the Aamil Sahab Dawoodi Bohra, the Jamiat Ahle Hadees Mumbai, the All India Tanzeem Anmay-e-Masjid and the Darul Uloom Mohammadiya.
Dr Abdul Rahim Anjaria, who is the president of Islamic Defence Cyber Cell and a chief adviser of Darul Uloom Ali Hasan Ahle Sunnat, had moved the petition.