Dar al-Ifta said in a fatwa (religious edict) on Thursday that joining or supporting armed groups in any way is haram (religiously prohibited) because those groups seek the destruction of countries and people and distort the image of Islam by their brutal actions that are against Islam and sound human instinct.
The fatwa also said that those radical groups have misled many young people in the name of religion and Islamic jihad or the Islamic State, while it is in fact an attempt to shed blood, lacking legal justification and interpreting verses and the hadith (Islamic teachings) in a way so as to justify their extremist actions and their spreading of havoc.
The fatwa pointed out that jihad must be under the banner of the state institutions and the rulers who are ordered by God to safeguard the people. They are better able than others to assess situations and take decisions as to repel aggression or tyranny away from emotions or bias.
If people went on jihad on their own without control they would cause other countries to fight Muslims and they would be fomenting sedition and deadly conflicts between Muslims, thereby losing any honor of jihad, the fatwa said.
It said the falsely called ‘Islamic State’ and others kill men and women and destroy and loot public and private property, which has nothing to do with Islam, because Islamic law prohibits in a state of war the killing of non-Muslims, women, children, elders, civilians and even animals.
It also said the Sharia is against alienating people from Islam or tarnishing it in any way.
And about the displacement of Christians and non-Muslims and forcing them to convert to Islam, the fatwa said Islam is a religion of coexistence and is against coercion and therefore does not force others to convert unless willingly, especially that those Christians did not raise a weapon against Muslims.
Jihad is to fight tyranny and aggression and save God’s houses of worship from demolition so as to ensure the security and safety of their owners, the fatwa said, adding that Islam has spread throughout the world peacefully.
Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm
