Sunni Sheikhs and Organizations Criticize Al-Zarqawi's Declaration of War Against the Shi'ites

The speech declaring war on the Shi'ites, made recently by Abu Mus'ab Al-Zarqawi, leader of Al-Qaeda in Iraq, did not generate a wave of objection among Sunni Muslims. [1] However, a small number of Sunni sheikhs and organizations urged Al-Zarqawi to withdraw his statements on the grounds that they ignite fitna (internal strife), thus serving the interests of the occupation.

The following are some statements on the topic:

The Association of Muslim Scholars in Iraq: Al-Zarqawi's Declaration Jeopardizes the Jihad and the Resistance

The Association of Muslim Scholars in Iraq issued a communiqué stating that: "The Shi'ites in Iraq bear no responsibility for the crime being perpetrated by the interim government, a crime that is manifest in its clearly sectarian policy with the blessing of the Americans. The Shi'ites are innocent of the brutal attacks carried out by the [American] forces on Tal'afar and other cities [in Iraq], and of terrorist actions that target peaceful people.

"What religious principle allows one to take revenge on an innocent person rather than on the criminal? [Or] to hold an innocent man accountable for the crime committed by the criminal? The laws of the monotheistic Shari'a state that ' no soul can bear the burden of another ' [Koran 35:18]. So how can it be right for someone who wants to apply Allah's law to make such decisions out of vengefulness or based on emotion?

"[Statements] like [Al-Zarqawi's] dangerous declaration fulfill the most dangerous aspirations of the occupier to tear the country asunder and ignite fitna (internal strife) among the people. [These statements] also provide the interim government with what it needs - the rallying of the Iraqi public around it, now that it has lost everything owing to its terrorist policy...

"We call upon Abu Mus'ab Al-Zarqawi to retract these threats since they damage the image of Jihad, jeopardize the success of the plan of Jihad and resistance in Iraq and lead to further bloodshed of innocent Iraqis." [2]

Sunni Resistance Organizations in Iraq: We Target Only Those Involved in the Occupation

In a joint communiqué received by the Islamic news agency Quds Press, five resistance organizations - the Army of Muhammad, Al-Qa'qa' Brigades, the Islamic Army in Iraq, the Army of Jihad Fighters in Iraq, and the Salah Al-Din Brigades - stated that "the call to kill all Shi'ites is like a fire consuming the Iraqi people, Sunnis and Shi'ites alike...

"The resistance and its military attacks target [only] the occupation and those who assist it. The resistance does not target any Iraqi, whatever his sectarian or ethnic affiliation, unless he is connected to the occupation." [3]

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Sheikh Abu Baseer Al-Tartousi: No Islamic Scholar Has Ever Issued a Fatwa to Kill Shi'ites Merely Because They Are Shi'ites

The Syrian Islamist Sheikh Abd Al-Mun'im Mustafa Halimah, also known as Abu Baseer Al-Tartousi, issued a communiqué in which he justified the targeting of certain Shi'ite groups by Sunni Jihad fighters as part of self-defense against Shi'ite aggression, but rejected the indiscriminate declaration that all Shi'ites are infidels just because they are Shi'ites and not because of their actions.

Al-Tartousi states: "When we talk of the sectarian war and its negative [consequences] in Iraq, we cannot refrain from mentioning that the Shi'ite-Safavid-Crusader alliance was the one that started the war, and that they continue to destroy, sabotage, and attack the inviolable holy places. The side that begins [the war] is the greater oppressor. [4]

"Secondly, it is known to all that the Shi'ite leaders and organizations, and especially the Safavid Badr forces [i.e., the Iranian-sponsored military wing of the Supreme Council of the Islamic Revolution of Iraq (SCIRI), headed by Abd Al-'Aziz Al-Hakim] and the Da'wa Party [headed by Iraqi Prime Minister Ibrahim Al-Ja'fari] are still the greatest allies [of the Crusaders] and serve as a bridge that made it easier for the invading Crusaders to invade Iraq, to destroy it and to kill its Muslim residents. This is because their problem is not with the invaders and the enemies of the nation; instead, their main concern is how to take revenge on the Sunni Muslims in Iraq and on other Muslims in the neighboring countries, in as much as they can...

"Thirdly... the Muslim Jihad fighters in Iraq have the right to defend themselves, their religion, their honor, their holy places and their cities. [They have a right] to respond to aggression with aggression and to fight the Crusader invaders, as well as all their allies who have joined them in their plot and war against Iraq, in its destruction, and in the killing of its people, whatever their sect. Those who respond to oppression and to the aggression against the Muslim states and the holy places within them are not oppressors and are not unjust. Moreover, this is the greatest Jihad for the sake of Allah...

"Fourthly, the above does not necessarily mean that we justify and permit the sectarian war in Iraq, in which people are killed because of their name, identity or sect regardless of their opinions or actions... for not all the Shi'ites in Iraq - neither elite nor masses - are infidels. Moreover, not all the Shi'ites fight with the invaders and collude in their plot, and [not all of them] participate in the murder of Sunni Muslims and in the aggression against their honor and the holy places. Consequently, we cannot generalize by fighting [them] and killing [them] all indiscriminately, without considering what the texts of the Shari'a permit or prohibit...

"Furthermore, despite the black history of the Shi'ites, which is full of treason and conspiracy against the nation and its people on many occasions, [we] do not know of any highly regarded ulama of Islam who have issued a fatwa permitting the killing of any Shi'ite merely because he is Shi'ite." [5]

The Mufti of Saudi Arabia: The Sectarian Conflict Fulfils the Goals of our Enemies

The Mufti of Saudi Arabia, Sheikh 'Abd Al-'Aziz Aal Al-Sheikh, said: "The attempt made by disreputable elements to generate sectarian fanaticism among the [various] groups of the Iraqi people, with the aim of exacerbating the [sectarian] conflict or war between them fulfils the goals of the enemies who plot against the Muslims. [Our] brothers in Iraq know that disagreement is a bad thing, as Allah said: 'Dispute not with one another, lest you lose heart and your power depart' [Koran 8:46]. The attempts to instigate civil war among the people of the united homeland must be thwarted. We hope that Allah will unite the people of Iraq." [6]

Sheikh Muzahem of Tikrit: Al-Zarqawi's Declaration is a Crime Intended to Undermine Iraqi Unity

Sheikh Muzahem Mustafa said: "We strongly reject Al-Zarqawi's ideas and regard them as a crime which aims to [undermine] the unity of Iraq and to generate internal sectarian strife among the people of the united homeland... The party that targets Shi'ites in [their] mosques is the same party that targets Sunnis, assassinates ulama, preachers and imams of the mosques, and targets innocent civilians." [7]