On April 4, 2007, Islamist Kuwaiti Sheikh Hamed Al-Ali, known for his support of the jihad fighters, issued a fatwa criticizing the Islamic State of Iraq (ISI) and characterized its establishment as a forbidden act of religious innovation. Al-Ali called upon the founders of the ISI (i.e., on Al-Qaeda in Iraq) to dissolve the ISI and to reassume their status as an ordinary jihad group operating in cooperation with the other jihad organizations.
The fatwa was received with surprise and disapproval by many writers on the Islamic websites, who accused Al-Ali of instigating civil strife. Al-Ali replied to the accusations in an April 7, 2007 message, reiterating his position and stressing that circumstances were not yet ripe for the establishment of an Islamic rule (nidham hukum) in Iraq.
The following are excerpts from the relevant documents:
Sheikh Hamed Al-Ali: To Monopolize Jihad in Iraq and Divide the Ranks of the Mujahideen is To Do the Devil's Work
Sheikh Hamed Al-Ali's fatwa of April 4, 2007 was posted in response to the following question, addressed to him on his website: "Is it right to call the members of the Sunni jihad groups in Iraq 'rebels' [if] they have not pledged allegiance to the so-called 'Islamic State of Iraq,' and is it true that pledging allegiance [to the ISI] is the religious duty of every Muslim today? According to shari'a, what is the imama [i.e., the position of the imam, the leader of the Islamic state], to whom all Muslims must pledge allegiance, and what...
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