On August 14, 2009, Hamas raided the Ibn Taymiyya mosque in Rafah, a religious center of the Salafi-jihadi movement in the Gaza Strip. The attack, in which dozens of Salafi-jihadis were killed or wounded, was a watershed in their relations with the Hamas movement. Whereas prior to the raid, the Salafi-jihadis were divided in their opinions about the status and legitimacy of the Hamas government, following it they adopted a unanimous position that the Hamas government is apostate.
Having arrived at this conclusion, the Salafis needed the guidance of authoritative religious scholars as to the legal ramifications of Hamas' designation as apostate. They directed questions on this subject to the most prominent of the Salafi-jihadi scholars – Sheikh Abu Muhammad Al-Maqdisi, who resides in Jordan – and to his Shari'a Committee of sheikhs and scholars. The answers were posted on Al-Maqdisi's website Minbar Al-Tawhid Wa'l-Jihad. Given Al-Maqdisi's stature and his growing influence on the Salafi-jihadis in Gaza, an examination of these answers is highly edifying, because they illuminate some of the legal notions that may shape the Salafi-jihadis' perception and treatment of Hamas in the future.
