Gaza’s most outstanding Islamic scholar has issued a uncommon and highly effective fatwa condemning Hamas’s October 7, 2023 assault on Israel, which triggered a devastating conflict within the Palestinian territories.
Professor Dr. Salman Daya is the previous dean of the Division of Sharia and Regulation on the Hamas-affiliated Islamic College of Gaza and is among the most revered non secular authorities within the area, so his authorized opinions are heard all through Gaza’s inhabitants of two million. has vital affect.
A fatwa is a non-binding Islamic authorized ruling issued by a revered non secular scholar, normally based mostly on the Quran or Sunnah (the sayings and practices of the Prophet Muhammad).
Dr Daya’s fatwa, revealed in an in depth six-page doc, criticized Hamas for “violating Islamic rules governing jihad”.
Jihad means “wrestle” in Arabic, and in Islam it may be a private wrestle for non secular development or a army wrestle in opposition to unbelievers.
Dr Daya added: “Jihad have to be prevented so as to not destroy individuals’s lives if the pillars, causes or circumstances of jihad are usually not met. That is straightforward for politicians in our nation to guess, so this assault is actually Averted.
For Hamas, the fatwa represents an embarrassing and doubtlessly damaging criticism, particularly because the group typically appears to be like to spiritual grounds to justify its assaults on Israel to be able to acquire Arab and Help from the Muslim neighborhood.
The October 7 assault noticed lots of of Hamas gunmen from Gaza invade southern Israel. About 1,200 individuals had been killed and 251 had been taken hostage.
Israel responded by launching a army marketing campaign to destroy Hamas, which has killed greater than 43,400 individuals in Gaza, in response to the Hamas well being ministry.
Dr. Daya believes that the excessive variety of civilian casualties in Gaza, in addition to the widespread destruction of civilian infrastructure and humanitarian catastrophe following the October 7 assault, implies that this can be a direct violation of Islamic teachings.
He stated Hamas had failed in its obligation to “hold militants away from the properties of defenseless individuals.” [Palestinian] civilians and their residences, and supply as a lot safety as doable in all facets of life… safety, financial system, well being and training, and save them satisfactory provides.
Dr. Daya identified that Quranic verses and Sunnah set strict circumstances for the conduct of jihad, together with the necessity to keep away from actions that provoke extreme and disproportionate reactions from opponents.
His fatwa burdened that below Islamic legislation, army assaults shouldn’t set off reactions past the meant advantages of the operation.
He additionally burdened the duty of Muslim leaders to make sure the security and well-being of non-combatants, together with offering meals, medication and shelter to these not concerned in combating.
“Human life is extra treasured to God than Mecca,” Dr. Daya stated.
His opposition to the October 7 assault is especially vital given his profound affect in Gaza, the place he’s seen as a number one non secular determine and an outspoken critic of Islamist actions resembling Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad who.
His reasonable Salafist beliefs put him in direct opposition to Hamas’s method to armed resistance and its relationship with Shia-dominated Iran.
Salafists are fundamentalists who search to observe the instance of the primary technology of the Prophet Muhammad and his followers.
Dr. Daya has persistently advocated for an Islamic caliphate that strictly adheres to Islamic legislation, somewhat than the party-based system advocated by Hamas and different teams.
“Our instance is the Prophet Muhammad, who based a nation and didn’t create political events to divide it. Due to this fact, gatherings in Islam are forbidden,” he stated throughout a sermon at a mosque a number of years in the past.
He has additionally denounced extremism, opposed jihadist teams such because the Islamic State and al-Qaeda, and used all his platforms to difficulty fatwas on quite a lot of social and political points, starting from enterprise transactions, social disputes over marriage and divorce, to marital conduct.
The fatwa provides to a rising debate inside Gaza and the broader Arab world over the ethical and authorized implications of Hamas’ actions and is more likely to additional gas tensions inside Palestinian society over the usage of armed resistance within the ongoing battle with Israel. variations.
Sheikh Ashraf Ahmed, certainly one of Dr Daya’s college students who was compelled to go away his house in Gaza Metropolis and flee to southern Gaza together with his spouse and 9 youngsters final 12 months, advised the BBC: “Our lecturers [Dr Dayah] He refused to go away his house in northern Gaza regardless of fearing Israeli airstrikes. He selected to satisfy his non secular obligation by issuing a authorized opinion on the assault.”
Ahmed described the fatwa as probably the most highly effective authorized verdict of the historic second. “It is a well-researched doc that displays Daya’s dedication to Islamic jurisprudence,” he stated.
