During Ramadan, the printed and electronic Arab media, including the jihadist websites, published numerous articles on jihad, with a special focus on the link between jihad and Ramadan.
The main motifs of these articles were:
·
The month of Ramadan is the month of attacks, conquest, and victories, with an emphasis on the fact that many of the early Muslims' victories over their enemies, such as at the battles of Badr, Hittin, and 'Ain Jalut, came during Ramadan.
· The importance of the commandment of jihad, particularly during Ramadan. Jihad is defined as one of the most important commandments of Islam, and its intersection with Ramadan, which is "the best month in Allah's eyes," is "a tremendous high point that none can attain but he to whom Allah has chosen to grant this tremendous honor of fasting and war." Likewise, it is claimed that the commandment of jihad, which is said to be twice as important as ordinary commandments, is intensified during Ramadan, and takes first priority. One article included a point-by-point comparison of a Muslim who fasts during Ramadan and a mujahid, saying, inter alia, that "fasting is one of the means of educating the soul towards jihad." Another article stated: "Real jihad is connected to real fasting; therefore, let us educate our children to pass the test of fasting so that they will succeed in liberating the [places] holy to us."
·
A statement by Sheikh Yousuf Al-Qaradhawi that "jihad is an Islamic moral obligation." ·
A call to Muslims to step up their jihad activity during Ramadan, as the Prophet Muhammad did: "Oh mujahideen... show us something that will gladden us and stoke the ire of the infidels, something that will please our mothers and sisters and brothers who have lost what is most precious to them [i.e. their loved ones]." One of the articles included a call to the mujahideen to purge Saudi Arabia of the Crusader infidels who violate the country's sanctity with their presence. Another article included a call to the mujahideen to join forces and find new ways of striking at the enemy. Hamas' 'Izz Al-Din Al-Qassam Brigades boasted that in the early years of this decade, they had been the leaders in attacks on Israelis during Ramadan.
This paper will review the main points made by these articles and statements.[1]
Saudi Sheikh: Jihad against the Infidels Is an Eternal and Most Important Commandment
Saudi sheikh 'Abd Al-Rahman bin Nasser Al-Barrak, a former lecturer at the Imam Muhammad bin Sa'ud Islamic University in Riyadh,[2] posted an article on his website albrrak.net titled "Jihad for the Sake of Allah is the Height of the Summit of Islam." In it, he stated that jihad against the infidels is an eternal and most important commandment of shari'a, and that its supreme goal is to make the word of Allah supreme. Quoting from the Koran and the Hadith, he stressed that jihad is still a source of honor for Muslims, and that its absence is a source of their humiliation. Al-Barrak added that if the enemy is amenable to reconciliation, and this serves the interest of Islam and of the Muslims, they may reconcile with him, but only temporarily, not permanently as the Prophet Muhammad did with the Jews concerning Al-Madina.
Al-Barrak said that the proof that jihad is mighty today is that it has become "what the infidels fear most of all about the Muslims, and [therefore] they use it to malign Allah's shari'a and the Muslims, past and present." He added that, at this time, the infidels are enjoying economic superiority, while the Muslims are divided, and most neglect their religion. This, he said, forces the Muslims into sycophancy towards the infidels with regard to the laws of jihad: they have to say that jihad in Islam is strictly defensive to the point where the infidels are demanding that the Muslims remove the subjects of jihad and al-wala wa al-bara[3] from their school curricula, or at least correct them. The infidels, Al-Barrak noted, think that that this will void the shari'a, but has Allah preserved his shari'a in the Koran and in the Sunna, and they are the source of theoretical and practical knowledge for the seekers of the right path in every generation.
Al-Barrak set out several laws of jihad for the sake of Allah: Muslims must make ready their strength to the utmost of their power for jihad against the infidels;[4] Muslims may take infidel fighters captive, but only after they smite them with the sword and bind a bond firmly on them;[5] in the event that the Muslims are victorious over the infidels in war, they may take booty and captives including the wives and children of the infidel fighters and may enslave them. Here, Al-Barrak noted that today, the U.N. has forced the Muslims to abolish the law of slavery which is one of the laws of jihad "while the countries of unbelief and tyranny that arbitrarily control the U.N.'s laws subjugate the weak peoples in the name of reform... and colonialism still exists in every Muslim country where there is occupation."[6]
It Is Incumbent upon Every Muslim to Be Ready for Jihad Whenever It Comes
The Muslim Brotherhood website ikhwanonline.com published an article on jihad by Dr. Gaber Qumayha (d. 2008), an Egyptian poet and author. In it, Dr. Qumayha stated that the well-known Muslim Brotherhood slogans, including "Allah Is Our Aim," "The Messenger Is Our Leader," "Jihad Is Our Path," and "Death for the Sake of Allah Is the Height of Our Desire," are not just empty slogans but are actual "contractual and moral obligations." He also called on every Muslim to prepare for jihad, in light of the humiliation in which Muslims are living today.
Dr. Qumayha wrote that Muslim Brotherhood members are educated from a young age on the slogan "Jihad Is Our Path," and that the most important thing this movement ever did was the practical jihad it carried out in 1947, when it sent battalions to fight the Zionists in Palestine. He added that later, "after the Jewish gangs began to carry out their massacres and to expel the Arabs from their lands, every one of the Muslim Brotherhood members focused on defending [them], even sacrificing their lives to liberate the land of Al-Aqsa."
After reviewing the positions of the various streams in Islam vis-à-vis jihad, Qumayha summed up by saying: "As you know, the Muslims today are humiliated by others [and] are ruled by the infidels; their land is trampled and the honor of their women is harmed; their rivals control their affairs; and their religious rites have been stopped in their own lands. In addition, they are prevented from spreading their da'wa. Thus, it is incumbent upon every Muslim to equip himself [to set out] for jihad and to prepare for the coming of the opportunity to wage [it]... Prior to this generation of oppression, in which the Muslims' pride is dying, they never abandoned jihad, nor did they demean it, and even their clerics, the Sufis, professionals, and others all were ready and willing [to wage jihad]."[7]
Sheikh Al-Qaradhawi: Jihad Is a Moral Islamic Obligation; The Ban on Killing the Elderly, Women, and Children Doesn't Apply to Israeli Society
The Arab news website moheet.com reported that on the "Fiqh Al-Hayyat" ("Islamic Law in Daily Life") program on Iqraa TV, Sheikh Yousuf Al-Qaradhawi, head of the International Union of Muslim Scholars (IUMS), called jihad a moral Islamic obligation that can be carried out only when certain conditions are upheld the most important of which are monotheism, repelling oppression and polytheism, and defending honor, truth and all that is sacred.
Al-Qaradhawi said that while the Prophet did ban killing the elderly, women, and children in wartime, this ban does not apply to Israeli society which he called "different from other societies, because it is a society that occupies and attacks... [and] recognizes nothing but the oppression of the rights of others." Therefore, he said, Israeli women may be killed because they are soldiers "in the army of the occupation" and participate in the war against Islam."[8]
Al-Azhar Lecturer: "Fasting Is a Means of Educating the Soul for Jihad"
The Islamic website Al-Manarat, run by Sheikh 'Abd Al-Khaleq Al-Sharif, who is identified with the Muslim Brotherhood, published an article titled "Fasting and Education for Jihad," by Al-Azhar lecturer Dr. Hussein Hussein Shehata. The article reviewed the similarities between the Ramadan fast and jihad in aim, motivation, longed-for reward (i.e. Paradise), traits of one who fasts and of the mujahid, and so on. Dr. Shehata wrote:
"Fasting is one way of educating the soul for jihad, because it is a kind of jihad of the soul... [and] total renunciation of appetites. Likewise, fasting educates the Muslim in patience, toughness, endurance, and sacrifice all of which are traits of the mujahid who is fighting for Allah...
"There are points of similarity between one who fasts in a desire to please Allah and the mujahid who fights for Allah: [First,] the aim of fasting, and the aim of the mujahid, is to obey Allah. The fasting Muslim does so out of obedience to Allah... asking Allah to forgive his past sins in hopes of gaining Paradise... just as the mujahid who fights for Allah complies with Allah's call to jihad, hoping for either victory or martyrdom the reward for both of which is Paradise...
"[A second] trait [shared by] one who fasts and by the mujahid is loyalty. It is a central layer in their activity, and without it neither the fast nor the jihad will be accepted [by Allah].
"Patience is a [third] trait of both. The one who fasts accustoms his soul to hunger and thirst and to refraining from indulging his appetites until his soul develops endurance to weakness and pressures... Thus, too, the mujahid who fights for Allah exhibits patience for long hours, as he confronts the enemy without food or drink...;
"Sacrifice of life, money, food, drink, and pleasures is a trait of both one who fasts and of the mujahid, and it is the key to triumphing over urges and over the enemies of Allah. Whoever cannot triumph over his urges cannot triumph over his enemy.
"Ramadan is the month of attacks and conquest. According to the tradition, whenever the Prophet planned an attack, he aspired that it should be in the month of Ramadan, in order to prepare himself and his troops to withstand the effort and the suffering that they would face [during the attack]... In the mujahid who is fasting [for Ramadan], the jihad of the soul encounters the jihad against the enemies, [and thus] his victory is twofold: victory over the urges, and victory over the enemies of Allah. And when he is martyred, he meets Allah while he is fasting, thus observing the word of Allah: 'Allah hath purchased of the believers their persons and their goods [Surat Al-Tauba, verse 111].'
"Ramadan is the month of the mujahideen's victories for Allah, and in it the following attacks, conquests, and victories took place: the Battle of Badr, the conquest of Mecca in the eighth year of the Hijra, the Battle of Hittin, and the Muslims' entry into Andalus...
"[The Muslim] who is fasting must know that jihad exists until the Day of Judgment and that the Day of Judgment will come only when the Muslims fight the Jews and conquer them, and liberate Jerusalem. Therefore, he must make the month of the fast [i.e. Ramadan] into a training camp that will help him during jihad, when its time comes, and [he must] be ready, because the Muslims' victories over their enemies were in the month of Ramadan, when the mujahideen fasted.
"Those who fast must pray at all times... for the welfare of their mujahideen brothers [who are fighting] in Palestine against the Jews, the sons of apes and pigs; in Iraq against the Americans; in Bosnia and in Herzegovina against the Crusader Serbs; in Chechnya against the Russians; in Kashmir against the cattle-worshipping Indians; in Eritrea against the Zoroastrian Ethiopians; in Somalia against the arrogant Americans; and anywhere in the [lands of] the Islamic ummah against anyone who fights the Muslims."[9]
Al-Falluja Forum: Ramadan Is the Month of Victories for Islam and the Muslims; During Ramadan, the Commandment of Jihad Takes First Priority
On August 11, 2010, the jihadist forum Al-Falluja marked the beginning of Ramadan with the publication of a letter of greetings to the Islamic ummah and to its mujahideen. The letter stated, inter alia: "The month of Ramadan is the month of victories for Islam and the Muslims. The Muslims fought most of the battles of Islam during Ramadan, and reaped great victories in them... We call on you to take advantage of [Ramadan] to return to Allah and to draw closer to Him by means of good deeds and support for your mujahideen brothers by all possible means with [your] soul and [your] valuables."[10]
The website also published, on the same date, an article by a writer calling himself "Abu Mu'adh Al-Maqdisi," titled "The Month of Victories Is Here Woe to You Who Fight against the Religion of Allah." It opened by enumerating the victories of early Islam in battles during Ramadan, and then stated: "And in this era, during this time, we are witnessing the victories of our brothers the mujahideen in all the Islamic lands where jihad is being waged: in Afghanistan, in Iraq, in Somalia, in Chechnya, in the Islamic Maghreb, in the Arabian Peninsula, and in other regions where the mujahideen have considerable impact [by virtue] of their adherence to the Koran of Allah and the Sunna of the Prophet, their renunciation of the pleasures of this world, and their proximity and loyalty to Allah."
Finally, the author calls on the mujahideen: "Oh our beloved brothers, the mujahideen: Restore for us our previous way of life; please us with your victories. We want to live as our forefathers did... [In their time], the infidels could not oppose the Muslims, because they knew that if they did their hands would be cut off, and they would be torn to pieces... Show us something that will gladden us and provoke the ire of the infidels something that will please our mothers and our sisters and our brothers who have lost what is most precious to them [i.e. their loved ones]... The month [of Ramadan] has arrived. Allah will make your deeds successful, will strengthen your hearts, will give you victory, and will reward you for your jihad."[11]
On August 12, 2010, a member of the Al-Falluja forum calling himself "Mushtaq Al-San'ani" wrote in an article titled "Ramadan and Those Who Evade Going Out to Jihad": "Most people forget that the greatest commandments, [which are worth] double the ordinary ones, are intensified [even more], and take first priority during Ramadan.
"One of the tremendous commandments that Allah likes, [and] the height of the summit of Islam, is jihad for Allah and fighting His enemies. The sanctity of Ramadan does not prevent the various types of jihad [on the contrary,] what is sacred at other times becomes more sacred during [Ramadan]... One of the [expressions] of glorifying and sanctifying Allah during this month is jihad for His sake, and one [of the expressions] of exertion and effort to observe the commandment and work of God is bearing arms and waging jihad for Allah in the month of Ramadan."
"Mushtaq Al-San'ani" called on Muslims to blow up and destroy the infidels living in Saudi Arabia, who are violating the country's sanctity by their presence: "The month of Ramadan is one of the sanctities [of Islam]. Allowing Crusaders to enter the Land of the Two Holy Mosques [i.e. Saudi Arabia] and to stay there during Ramadan [is an act that] desecrates the [holy month]. It is incumbent upon the Muslims to avenge the desecration of [our] sanctities... [They must] defend the Land of the Two Holy Mosques, and protect its sanctity, by fighting, blowing up, and destroying the infidels [residing] in it. They must protect the sanctity of the honored month of Ramadan by purging the land of the infidels in it, and by protecting the wounded honor of the Muslims, by fighting their enemies until the infidel enemy's strength is broken."[12]
Sheikh Abu Sa'd Al-'Amili: Ramadan Is a Way of Preparing the Muslim's Soul So He Can Answer the Call to Jihad When the Time Comes
Also on August 11, the website posted a document titled "Ramadan The Month of Preparation, of Jihad, and of Martyrdom," by Sheikh Abu Sa'd Al-'Amili.[13] He wrote that Ramadan is a station "for preparing the soul to enter the fever of jihad," and Muslims must now, more than ever, take advantage of this month, making it a means for emotional preparation that will enable them to respond to the call for jihad whenever it comes.
Al-'Amili called upon the mujahideen to step up their jihad activity during Ramadan, as did the Prophet Muhammad at the Battle of Badr. He added: "War against the enemies is one of the greatest commandments, and it is the height of the summit of Islam, and when it is conducted during Ramadan which is the best month in Allah's eyes these two heights intersect and, without a doubt, become a great zenith that none can reach except he to whom Allah chooses to grant this great honor of fasting and war, both of which constitute jihad: The first [i.e., fasting] is jihad of the soul, aimed at restraining it from sinning, and the second is jihad against the enemies, aimed at restraining them from [spreading] corruption warmongering throughout the world. Blessed be he whose path Allah has made successful and who is chosen by Allah to win the honor of martyrdom during the blessed month of Ramadan, so that he can break his fast with the [Prophet] Muhammad and his Companions on high, in the highest places [of Paradise], who will be with him at his marriage to the 72 virgins who await him on an honored seat next to the Lord of the World."
Al-'Amili also called upon the mujahideen, particularly the ones in Iraq, Palestine, and the prisons of the "tyranny," to join ranks during Ramadan, in order to strengthen the jihad and to invent new methods for striking at the enemy. He called upon the supporters of jihad to refine and diversify ways of supporting their brothers the mujahideen, and made it clear that even though supporting the mujahideen is no less important than the battle itself, the expectation that they will join the battlefronts of jihad continues to exist.[14]
Saudi Writer: Withstanding the Test of Fasting is a Guarantee of Withstanding the Test of Jihad
The Saudi daily 'Okaz published, on August 19, an article titled "Ramadan and Jihadi Educating," by Ramadan Nazar, a counselor and advisor on cultural and family affairs. The article stated that fasting is the solution to most of today's problems, and that withstanding the fast assures victory in jihad.
He wrote: "The fast constitutes a solution to most of our modern cultural problems, particularly of the political culture, the spiritual culture, the culture of jihad, and the social culture. It also serves as education for discipline, for willpower, for equilibrium, for equality, for love, for altruism, for crisis management, for acceptance of the other, and even for dealing with personal cultural problems such as shyness, selfishness, and anarchism as well as physical problems [such as] diabetes and [high or low] blood pressure, and even some serious cancers...
"The Koran associates, in various issues, true fasting with true jihad withstanding the test of fasting with withstanding the test of jihad. A nation that educates an excellent generation that withstands the test of fasting is one that will withstand the test of jihad, and is worthy of victory... It is clear, therefore, that true jihad is linked to true fasting. Let us educate our children to withstand the test of fasting so that they will be successful in liberating what is sacred to us."[15]
To Those Engaging in Media Jihad: Continue and Step Up Your Activity during Ramadan
An Al-Falluja forum member calling himself "Mu'awiya Al-Qahtani" called on all the forum's writers and readers to continue the media jihad during Ramadan, and not to heed preachers calling for dedicating the month strictly to worshipping God and to reading the Koran:
He wrote: "Some preachers call for worshipping God during this blessed month, and for drawing closer to Allah... This is wonderful, and we [too] call for this, and more. But many preachers are likely to ignore [an additional way of] great and honorable worship of God... and that is jihad, and attack, for the sake of Allah... including repelling attackers of our jihad websites, calling for monotheism, and jihad for [the sake of monotheism] via the Internet... The Prophet attacked Mecca with 10,000 companions during Ramadan, and did not say to them, '[Let us] postpone the attack until after Ramadan, and dedicate ourselves to worshipping God.' His companions likewise did not desist during Ramadan from attacking for the sake of Allah. On the contrary; it was customary to call this blessed month 'the month of conquests.'
"This is a message to you, 'knights of the jihad websites'... and I remind you, and myself, of the Hadith in favor of attacking for the sake of Allah according to which the Prophet said: 'Don't you want Allah to forgive you and bring you into Paradise? [If so,] fight for the sake of Allah.''[16]
Sheikh Abu Sa'd Al-'Amili, in his aforementioned article, likewise addressed those engaged in media jihad and those who post on the jihadi websites, and called on them to "continue covering the affairs of the mujahideen, more diligently than ever, and to keep the Muslims informed about what is happening on the battle arenas, so that they increase their prayers and their financial support for the mujahideen."[17]
Al-Qassam Brigades: We're the Leaders in Ramadan Jihad Operations
The 'Izz Al-Din Al-Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of Hamas, released a Ramadan communiqué titled "In the Month of Jihad and Victories, We Continue With Our Resistance and Our Eyes Are Lifted Towards The Longed-For Victory." In it, they said that the month of Ramadan is meant to remind the Muslim ummah of the glorious battles of the early Muslims against the infidels, waged during Ramadan, including the Battles of Badr, Hittin, and 'Ain Jalut. The Brigades noted that they were continuing in the path of the Muslim forefathers, and boasted that in 2001 and 2002, they were the leaders in jihad operations during Ramadan, killing 67 Israelis and wounding over 100. They also promised to continue the jihad, the resistance, and the steadfastness against "the enemies of God and humanity."[18]
*D. Hazan is a research fellow at MEMRI.
Endnotes:
[1] On the subject of jihad during the month of Ramadan, see MEMRI Special Dispatch No. 308, "Egyptian Cleric: Ramadan The month of Jihad,'" December 6, 2001,
Egyptian Cleric: Ramadan The month of Jihad'
MEMRI Special Dispatch No. 612, "Escalation of Incitement to Violence During the Month of Ramadan," November 20, 2003, http://www.memri.org/report/en/0/0/0/0/0/0/1001.htm."
[2] Al-Barrak is known for his extremist fatwas, such as a fatwa that accused two Saudi liberals of heresy, and another that leveled this same accusation against all Shi'ites.
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[3] According to fundamentalist sources, al-wala wa al-bara is the principle of universal loyalty among the believers and total rejection of non-Muslims and of anyone who does not follow the precepts of the faith, as the fundamentalists understand them.
[4] Based on Surat Al-Anfal, Verse 60: "Against them make ready your strength to the utmost of your power, including steeds of war, to strike terror into (the hearts of) the enemies of Allah and your enemies..."
[5] Based on Surat Muhammad, Verse 4: "Therefore, when ye meet the Unbelievers (in fight), smite at their necks; At length, when ye have thoroughly subdued them, bind a bond firmly (on them): thereafter (is the time for) either generosity or ransom: Until the war lays down its burdens..."
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[8]
???? - ???? ??????? ???????, August 25, 2010.
[9]
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[10]
http://110.4.44.55/~alfaloja/vb/showthread.php?t=129669
[11]
http://alfaloja.ws/vb/showthread.php?p=950415
[12]
www.alfaloja1.info/vb/showthread.php?t=129740
[13] A sheikh who supports Al-Qaeda and who
frequently writes on jihadist websites.
[14]
http://alfaloja.biz/vb/showthread.php?p=956972
[15] 'Okaz (Saudi Arabia), August 19, 2010.
[16]
http://alfaloja.biz/vb/showthread.php?p=942330
[17]
http://alfaloja.biz/vb/showthread.php?p=956972
[18]
www.alqassam.ps, 11.8.10
