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Islamic Scholars Present An Open Letter To ISIS Leader Al-Baghdadi

By Darren Smith, Weekend Contributor

Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi
Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi

A consortium of one hundred and twenty Islamic Scholars have placed onto the internet an Open Letter to Islamic State (ISIS) leader Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi denouncing the organization’s violent and extremist actions in the Middle East. The letter, in the form of an interactive website, provides the world with an opportunity to read a perspective of the Islamic State’s affront to civilization from an academic analysis by scholars. The letter addresses the fundamental and basis in canon for disputing the claims of Al-Baghdadi that his is the only pure and legitimate form of Islam–refuting his claims of divine assent.

The original, in the Arabic, is presently being translated into other languages. The English is presently available.

There has been unfortunately much misconception in the Western World that there lacks true dissent to the terrorist outrages in the Muslim World.  This letter can serve a secondary goal to educate those in other cultures having concerns.

Here follows the contents of the Open Letter:

Executive Summary

  1. It is forbidden in Islam to issue fatwas without all the necessary learning requirements. Even then fatwas must follow Islamic legal theory as defined in the Classical texts. It is also forbidden to cite a portion of a verse from the Qur’an—or part of a verse—to derive a ruling without looking at everything that the Qur’an and Hadith teach related to that matter. In other words, there are strict subjective and objective prerequisites for fatwas,and one cannot ‘cherry-pick’ Qur’anic verses for legal arguments without considering the entire Qur’an and Hadith.
  2. It is forbidden in Islam to issue legal rulings about anything without mastery of the Arabic language.
  3. It is forbidden in Islam to oversimplify Shari’ah matters and ignore established Islamic sciences.
  4. It is permissible in Islam [for scholars] to differ on any matter, except those fundamentals of religion that all Muslims must know.
  5. It is forbidden in Islam to ignore the reality of contemporary times when deriving legal rulings.
  6. It is forbidden in Islam to kill the innocent.
  7. It is forbidden in Islam to kill emissaries, ambassadors, and diplomats; hence it is forbidden to kill journalists and aid workers.
  8. Jihad in Islam is defensive war. It is not permissible without the right cause, the right purpose and without the right rules of conduct.
  9. It is forbidden in Islam to declare people non-Muslim unless he (or she) openly declares disbelief.
  10. It is forbidden in Islam to harm or mistreat—in any way—Christians or any ‘People of the Scripture’.
  11. It is obligatory to consider Yazidis as People of the Scripture.
  12. The re-introduction of slavery is forbidden in Islam. It was abolished by universal consensus.
  13. It is forbidden in Islam to force people to convert.
  14. It is forbidden in Islam to deny women their rights.
  15. It is forbidden in Islam to deny children their rights.
  16. It is forbidden in Islam to enact legal punishments (hudud ) without following the correct procedures that ensure justice and mercy.
  17. It is forbidden in Islam to torture people.
  18. It is forbidden in Islam to disfigure the dead.
  19. It is forbidden in Islam to attribute evil acts to God.
  20. It is forbidden in Islam to destroy the graves and shrines of Prophets and Companions.
  21. Armed insurrection is forbidden in Islam for any reason other than clear disbelief by the ruler and not allowing people to pray.
  22. It is forbidden in Islam to declare a caliphate without consensus from all Muslims.
  23. Loyalty to one’s nation is permissible in Islam.
  24. After the death of the Prophet, Islam does not require anyone to emigrate anywhere.

You are invited to read the letter in its entirety. It may be found below. As an aid in navigation, click on the link for [Read The Letter] followed by page turning navigation arrows at the upper left of the screen.

http://www.lettertobaghdadi.com/

So far, the Facebook Page has over 103,000 Likes and growing–a welcome start.

By Darren Smith

The views expressed in this posting are the author’s alone and not those of the blog, the host, or other weekend bloggers. As an open forum, weekend bloggers post independently without pre-approval or review. Content and any displays or art are solely their decision and responsibility.

87 thoughts on “Islamic Scholars Present An Open Letter To ISIS Leader Al-Baghdadi”

  1. Isaac:

    “This is an opportunity to say again. ISIS is not Muslim. ISIS is opportunistic, terrorist, thuggery.”

    To combat extremism, it is critical to understand and accept that ISIS, Boko Haram, et al are religious extremist movements. Their motivation is religious. It is immaterial that there are other people interpreting Islam in a completely different way. To THEM, they ARE Muslims, and they really believe they are doing the will of Allah. They are not terrorists who just happen to be Muslim, like they just happen to be brunette. It is their own form of religious ideology that shapes their actions and world view.

    Denying this ties our hands at effectively combating them. This is not about politics, or money, or jobs, or college. They believe that Westernization, the education of women, and other freedoms displease Allah and are contrary to their faith. Hence they act on those beliefs.

    In a similar way, the centuries of periodic bloodshed between Shiite and Sunni Muslims are religious, and center around which line succeeded Mohammad, with some long grudges about assassination. Iran is Shiite because all the Sunnis were massacred long ago.

    If it helps differentiate them, you can refer to them as Extremist Muslims, or Violent Extremist Muslims. This differentiates them from “Muslims” or “Moderate Muslims” “Westernized Muslims” or whatever. Extremist Muslims view moderates as non-devout or non-practicing or inferior in a way, and they do great violence to them, as well.

  2. “The same plan that failed to stop street gangs and drug dealers has been deployed to defeat ISIS. Heading it up are progressives who don’t believe that killing the enemy wins wars.”
    Sultan Knish

  7. “ISIS is not Muslim.”

    Yet it differs not from centuries of Muslim behavior.
    And your conclusion differs wildly from the article from the Atlantic:

    What ISIS Really Wants
    The Islamic State is no mere collection of psychopaths. It is a religious group with carefully considered beliefs, among them that it is a key agent of the coming apocalypse. Here’s what that means for its strategy—and for how to sop it.
    Graeme Wood

    “We are misled in a second way, by a well-intentioned but dishonest campaign to deny the Islamic State’s medieval religious nature.

    The reality is that the Islamic State is Islamic. Very Islamic. Yes, it has attracted psychopaths and adventure seekers, drawn largely from the disaffected populations of the Middle East and Europe. But the religion preached by its most ardent followers derives from coherent and even learned interpretations of Islam.“

  8. This is an opportunity to say again. ISIS is not Muslim. ISIS is opportunistic, terrorist, thuggery. Just because some wacko calls himself Muslim and attracts the worst of the worst scum does not mean it is Islam. That idiot in Florida is not Christian simply because he says he is. He caused the deaths of several innocent people to vent his spleen. Just because I am not Christian nor Muslim does not mean I can’t say what is and what isn’t. ISIS is simple opportunistic thuggery. Obama hit the nail on the head. We are not at war with Islam. We are and should be at war with anything that invokes some divine mumbo jumbo to obtain what it wants through force. If it walks like a duck, quacks like a duck, then perhaps it is nothing more than thuggery. Calling it what it is, thuggery, is the greatest compliment and respect that can be paid to Islam.

    People come first, religion comes after. Common sense and good hearts trump any religion. People have the right to determine what is and what is not religion. ISIS is not religion.

  9. As noted above, frightened world leaders formed the UN on 24 Oct 1945 and collectively forbade public knowledge of energy in cores of:

    1. Atoms heavier than ~150 amu (atomic mass units)
    2. Gaseous planets like Jupiter
    3. Ordinary stars like the Sun
    4. Galaxies like the Milky Way
    5. The expanding Universe, i.e.,

    World leaders tried to hid the force of creation that makes atoms of chemical elements out of compressed nuclear matter.

    The dogmatic religion of “consensus science” is now worldwide, except for Muslim countries.

  10. Every religion does the same thing. They pick chose and rearrange their holy text and then uses it as their true meaning.
    But look at this: A prosecutor once took one word out and replaced it with …
    The prosecutor however did not know that the defendant had read that case and the word was a key word. NOT was that word. The case said it was NOT illegal, but it was in the opinion of the prosecutor that it was illegal.
    Point of View, (POV) can kill and then be right in his mind. But at the same time be guilty of mass murder.
    Christian did it to people too. Hitler was one like ISIS an ISIL and they would rather die then be taught they are wrong to reason. When a student does as he was taught then who is guilty. A child who is taught to hate will never know real love.
    A kid believe the way he was used was showing love to him and that is what he must do when he gets in the same condition.
    Hatred is a learned condition of the human mind. He knows only to hate.
    A preacher beat his son and his son later became his father and the chain was not broken until there where no more links. The grandson kill everyone and his brother will never walk. The state punishment to him was LIFE WITHOUT A CHANCE OF PAROLE. His brother is the reminder of what he did aand also how he was taught to love someone.

  11. Sandi, can you link to an article that states how many of them were Muslims and how many were their non Muslim friends? I’d be curious to know what percentage of them were Muslims. I’m asking you because you brought it up, seems like it’s important to you.

  12. A welcome response at last. But what if they do not desist from their actions and do not return to the guidance of their religion? Are we simply to wait for their resurrection for justice to be served upon them, or will these clerics and scholars come to announce that it is time for earthly retribution against those Muslims who commit crimes against innocents?

    In September 1939, Chamberlain said: “We are not fighting against you, the German people, for whom we have no bitter feelings, but against a tyrannous and forsworn regime which has betrayed not only its own people but the whole of civilization.” The tragedy that ultimately unfolded for the whole of German people thereafter was in no insignificant part due to their unwillingness themselves to rise up in arms against the regime.

    Let’s hope that Muslims, for whom no one has bitter feelings, never come to find themselves similarly situated. There is yet a fuller price to be paid for what is happening. Pay it soon, while it is still less than what it will be if the crimes are left unanswered.

  13. As everyone else, why so long? Couldn’t they let the world know they were preparing this? How will ISIS get this info and will they believe it? If they continue to defy Islam, what happens?

    Anxious to see Obama’s reaction to this. I guess this is what he means when he says ISIS is not Islam. Will he speak out to Muslims here about these laws? How about the UN?

  14. I’m sure it’ll play well in the West, it’s primary target.
    Far more than words are needed at this point.

    And since taqqiya is part of their religion, how can one judge this?
    Only by accompanying action can one be sure.

    Otherwise, it’s just air, perhaps even propaganda.

  15. Annie, they were not all Muslims! They were Muslims and their friends, nonmuslims they asked to join them. The true story is better than the revised one. You are not alone. Everyone is revising it to all Muslims. Look at the pictures. Guys in Jeans and sweatshirts along with Muslims in traditional clothing. The nonmuslims are smiling.

  17. Max – Saudi Arabia must be racist against Iraqis. Because that’s the line we hear when we talk about strengthening the wall between us and Mexico to protect against drug cartels and human trafficking.

    🙂

  18. It would be brainwashing if it weren’t true. But we don’t hear any news reports of “a Scandinavian female terrorist group bombed another mall today.” It’s rare for other groups to engage in terrorism. When they do, it’s news, such as that abortion clinic bombing 30 years ago, or the Unabomber, who was actually solo and not a group at all.

    Now, if Muslim terrorists would just fade away, so would the stereotypes, at least when the trauma fades. But they just keep popping up in the news, every single day.

  19. Max – I loved that movie. I knew the chestnut mare Arnold rode.

    I disagree that it’s vilifying if it’s true. We have the “Muslim terrorist” cliche because most terrorist acts today are perpetrated by Muslim terrorists. Lately Hollywood has shied away from this stereotype, and most shows have terrorists from anywhere except the ME.

    I recall hearing about a student film where a Middle Eastern actor was frustrated beyond bearing because the only roles he could get were the stereotypical “Muslim terrorist.” So he became a terrorist and took over a movie studio to demand more diverse opportunities for Middle Eastern actors. It was a hilarious pitch. I wish I could find the title. If anyone can find it, let me know, because I just heard the description, and never saw it.

  20. Max – that’s a great point. The media does not do a good enough job giving the Muslim community a platform to call for change.

    The Honor Diaries is a similar project to protest extremist violence against women. Some of the women involved are devout Muslims, as well as women activists of other faiths and cultures. But CAIR and similar groups denounce such criticism of Islam as Islamophobic or apostasy. My impression is that the media acquiesces to such efforts to silence reformers.

    The media should stop worrying about whom they offend and just report the news. And Muslim clerics and activists calling for change, and explaining why extremism is wrong, is definitely important news. Such information might just possibly come in time to prevent the radicalization of a young person.

    This makes me very hopeful that the global Muslim community can combat or reform extremism. However, an extremist believes that a moderate Muslim is not devout in the “holier than thou” race. I do not believe that you can intellectually argue an extremist back to moderation once he’s started chopping off heads. But such efforts might slow down recruitment. It can be very helpful when combined with military action to get the murderers, and the use of technology to shut down recruitment sites and social media. Maybe we need public service messages for parents to know the signs when their teenagers begin to radicalize, and what to do.

    Considering another extremist has targeted the Mall of America, we can use all the help we can get.

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