Gaza’s top Islamic scholar issues fatwa criticising 7 October attack

The astir salient Islamic student successful Gaza has issued a rare, almighty fatwa condemning Hamas’s 7 October 2023 onslaught connected Israel, which triggered the devastating warfare successful the Palestinian territory.

Professor Dr Salman al-Dayah, a erstwhile dean of the Faculty of Sharia and Law astatine the Hamas-affiliated Islamic University of Gaza, is 1 of the region’s astir respected spiritual authorities, truthful his ineligible sentiment carries important value among Gaza’s 2 cardinal population, which is predominantly Sunni Muslim.

A fatwa is simply a non-binding Islamic ineligible ruling from a respected spiritual student usually based connected the Quran oregon the Sunnah - the sayings and practices of the Prophet Muhammad.

Dr Dayah’s fatwa, which was published successful a elaborate six-page document, criticises Hamas for what helium calls “violating Islamic principles governing jihad”.

Jihad means “struggle” successful Arabic and successful Islam it tin beryllium a idiosyncratic conflict for spiritual betterment oregon a subject conflict against unbelievers.

Dr Dayah adds: “If the pillars, causes, oregon conditions of jihad are not met, it indispensable beryllium avoided successful bid to debar destroying people’s lives. This is thing that is casual to conjecture for our country’s politicians, truthful the onslaught indispensable person been avoided.”

For Hamas, the fatwa represents an embarrassing and perchance damaging critique, peculiarly arsenic the radical often justifies its attacks connected Israel done spiritual arguments to garner enactment from Arab and Muslim communities.

The 7 October onslaught saw hundreds of Hamas gunmen from Gaza invade confederate Israel. About 1,200 radical were killed and 251 others taken hostage.

Israel responded by launching a subject run to destruct Hamas, during which much than 43,400 radical person been killed successful Gaza, according to the Hamas-run wellness ministry.

Dr Dayah argues that the important civilian casualties successful Gaza, unneurotic with the wide demolition of civilian infrastructure and humanitarian catastrophe that person followed the 7 October attack, means that it was successful nonstop contradiction to the teachings of Islam.

Hamas, helium says, has failed successful its obligations of “keeping fighters distant from the homes of defenceless [Palestinian] civilians and their shelters, and providing information and information arsenic overmuch arsenic imaginable successful the assorted aspects of life... security, economic, health, and education, and redeeming capable supplies for them.”

Dr Dayah points to Quranic verses and the Sunnah that acceptable strict conditions for the behaviour of jihad, including the necessity of avoiding actions that provoke an excessive and disproportionate effect by an opponent.

His fatwa highlights that, according to Islamic law, a subject raid should not trigger a effect that exceeds the intended benefits of the action.

He besides stresses that Muslim leaders are obligated to guarantee the information and well-being of non-combatants, including by providing food, medicine, and refuge to those not progressive successful the fighting.

“Human beingness is much precious to God than Mecca,” Dr Dayah states.

His absorption to the 7 October onslaught is particularly important fixed his heavy power successful Gaza, wherever helium is seen arsenic a cardinal spiritual fig and a vocal professional of Islamist movements, including Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad.

His mean Salafist beliefs spot him successful nonstop absorption to Hamas’s attack to equipped absorption and its ties to Shia-ruled Iran.

Salafists are fundamentalists who question to adhere the illustration of the Prophet Muhammad and the archetypal generations who followed him.

Dr Dayah has consistently argued for the constitution of an Islamic caliphate that adheres strictly to Islamic law, alternatively than the governmental party-based systems that Hamas and different groups advocate.

“Our relation exemplary is the Prophet Muhammad, who founded a federation and did not found governmental parties that disagreement the nation. Therefore, parties successful Islam are forbidden,” helium said successful a sermon helium gave astatine a mosque respective years ago.

He has besides condemned extremism, opposing jihadist groups similar Islamic State and al-Qaeda, and has utilized each of his platforms to contented fatwas connected assorted societal and governmental issues, ranging from commercialized transactions, societal disputes implicit matrimony and divorce, to the behaviour of governmental violence.

The fatwa adds to the increasing interior statement wrong Gaza and the broader Arab satellite implicit the motivation and ineligible implications of Hamas’s actions, and it is apt to substance further divisions wrong Palestinian nine regarding the usage of equipped absorption successful the ongoing struggle with Israel.

Sheikh Ashraf Ahmed, 1 of Dr Dayah’s students who was forced to permission his location successful Gaza City past twelvemonth and fly to the southbound of Gaza with his woman and 9 children, told the BBC: “Our student [Dr Dayah] refused to permission his location successful bluish Gaza contempt the fears of Israeli aerial strikes. He chose to fulfil his spiritual work by issuing his ineligible sentiment connected the attack”.

Ahmed described the fatwa arsenic the astir almighty ineligible judgement of a humanities moment. “It’s a profoundly good researched document, reflecting Dayah’s committedness to Islamic jurisprudence,” helium said.