As reported recently in this column, a fierce discussion has been brewing for some time in the Arab Press on the validity of suicide operations in Islamic law. Following is an article that appeared in the Hamas-sponsored "Palestine Times":
Muslim ulema or religious scholars in Palestine have disputed a view by the Mufti of Saudi Arabia expressing reservations about the ?the compatibility of martyrdom operations with Islamic tenets.? The Saudi mufti, Abdul Aziz Ibn Abdullah al-Sheikh was reported as saying that ?as far as I know, these operations are not validated by the shariah (the Muslim code of Islamic law).?
?It depends on how the question was worded to him; the man is not well acquainted with the Palestinian situation,? said Mustafa Shawar, an Islamic scholar in Hebron.
He pointed out that there was a fundamental difference between ?suicide? and martyrdom. ?Suicide is the result of hopelessness and despair; it is something psychological; while martyrdom is a wish to sacrifice one?s soul for a noble cause for the sake of God,? he said.
For his part, the famous Egyptian religious scholar and propagator Dr. Yousef al-Qaradawi said that the martyrdom operations were not suicide. He emphasized that such operations in the light of the present circumstances were a religious duty on all those capable of performing them. Qaradawi called on the youth in Palestine to launch martyrdom operations without any hesitation as long as they were the only means available to launch Jihad and to offer one?s life for the sake of raising high one?s religion and Nation.
Dr. Hamdi Murad, professor of Islamic Shariah at the Jordanian Balqa? University said that the martyrdom operations were considered Jihad for the sake of Allah as long as they were serving right and deterring oppression.
He affirmed that such operations were the highest degree of sacrifice, adding, ?we might resort to martyrdom operations if the results of which proved to be better than other methods and if the enemy was better equipped and militarily superior to us.?
?All means are legitimate for the sake of ending oppression, including the infliction of losses in the ranks of the enemy, which would include martyrdom operations, especially when other means failed to end the aggression,? he elaborated. ?We hail such operations when they serve as a deterrent to that arrogant enemy and in the absence of other weapons,? the professor pointed out.
Meanwhile, Israel?s Chief Ashkenazi Rabbi Yisrael Meir Israel Lau has condemned Muslim ulema or religious scholars for supporting martyrdom operations against Israeli targets. Lau made his remarks at a K?far Saba hospital last month where he visited several Israeli civilians and soldiers injured in a martyrdom operation in K?far Sava on 22 April. One Jewish settler was killed and scores of others injured in the incident, along with the Palestinian martyr who carried out the attack. ?There is nothing more repugnant than telling young people that they will go to heaven if they die fighting Jews,? Lau, who holds extremely racist attitudes against non-Jews in general and Palestinians in particular, was quoted as saying. Lau suggested that Palestinians shouldn?t resist Jewish oppressors ?because the latter happen to be God?s chosen people.?
A Muslim scholar from the Hebron area retorted saying, ?The moment the rabbi stops viewing non-Jews as sheep and goats in human form to be slaughtered and enslaved, Muslims will reconsider their views?we are waiting to see if he will.?
Muslim ulema or religious scholars in Palestine have disputed a view by the Mufti of Saudi Arabia expressing reservations about the ?the compatibility of martyrdom operations with Islamic tenets.? The Saudi mufti, Abdul Aziz Ibn Abdullah al-Sheikh was reported as saying that ?as far as I know, these operations are not validated by the shariah (the Muslim code of Islamic law).?
?It depends on how the question was worded to him; the man is not well acquainted with the Palestinian situation,? said Mustafa Shawar, an Islamic scholar in Hebron.
He pointed out that there was a fundamental difference between ?suicide? and martyrdom. ?Suicide is the result of hopelessness and despair; it is something psychological; while martyrdom is a wish to sacrifice one?s soul for a noble cause for the sake of God,? he said.
For his part, the famous Egyptian religious scholar and propagator Dr. Yousef al-Qaradawi said that the martyrdom operations were not suicide. He emphasized that such operations in the light of the present circumstances were a religious duty on all those capable of performing them. Qaradawi called on the youth in Palestine to launch martyrdom operations without any hesitation as long as they were the only means available to launch Jihad and to offer one?s life for the sake of raising high one?s religion and Nation.
Dr. Hamdi Murad, professor of Islamic Shariah at the Jordanian Balqa? University said that the martyrdom operations were considered Jihad for the sake of Allah as long as they were serving right and deterring oppression.
He affirmed that such operations were the highest degree of sacrifice, adding, ?we might resort to martyrdom operations if the results of which proved to be better than other methods and if the enemy was better equipped and militarily superior to us.?
?All means are legitimate for the sake of ending oppression, including the infliction of losses in the ranks of the enemy, which would include martyrdom operations, especially when other means failed to end the aggression,? he elaborated. ?We hail such operations when they serve as a deterrent to that arrogant enemy and in the absence of other weapons,? the professor pointed out.
Meanwhile, Israel?s Chief Ashkenazi Rabbi Yisrael Meir Israel Lau has condemned Muslim ulema or religious scholars for supporting martyrdom operations against Israeli targets. Lau made his remarks at a K?far Saba hospital last month where he visited several Israeli civilians and soldiers injured in a martyrdom operation in K?far Sava on 22 April. One Jewish settler was killed and scores of others injured in the incident, along with the Palestinian martyr who carried out the attack. ?There is nothing more repugnant than telling young people that they will go to heaven if they die fighting Jews,? Lau, who holds extremely racist attitudes against non-Jews in general and Palestinians in particular, was quoted as saying. Lau suggested that Palestinians shouldn?t resist Jewish oppressors ?because the latter happen to be God?s chosen people.?
A Muslim scholar from the Hebron area retorted saying, ?The moment the rabbi stops viewing non-Jews as sheep and goats in human form to be slaughtered and enslaved, Muslims will reconsider their views?we are waiting to see if he will.?