Islamic State Facing Censure?

Or is it the government of Canada and in particular Prime Minister Stephen Harper that has been smacked by the founder of the Islamic Supreme Council of Canada? For the effrontery -- on the basis of all that has been written of and experienced by societies in which Islam has infiltrated its maximum presence through a dedicated emigration from countries where Islam rules supreme through Sharia law, to countries where they insist Sharia law should rule -- of citing the obvious, that Islamic State followers are jihadists.

A complete and utter fabrication, a dire misunderstanding, harmful to Islam where its devout followers understand fully and completely their obligation to jihad, perfectly harmless but intrinsically beneficent, urging followers to contemplate within and make of themselves better Muslims. The Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham, al-Qaeda, the Muslim Brotherhood, Hezbollah, Iran, Hamas, Islamic Jihad and all others of their ilk make themselves better Muslims through jihad, misunderstanding the injunction.

Quran (3:151) - "Soon shall We cast terror into the hearts of the Unbelievers, for that they joined companions with Allah, for which He had sent no authority".
Quran (4:74) - "Let those fight in the way of Allah who sell the life of this world for the other. Whoso fighteth in the way of Allah, be he slain or be he victorious, on him We shall bestow a vast reward."

Quran (4:76) - "Those who believe fight in the cause of Allah…"

Quran (4:89) - "They but wish that ye should reject Faith, as they do, and thus be on the same footing (as they): But take not friends from their ranks until they flee in the way of Allah (From what is forbidden). But if they turn renegades, seize them and slay them wherever ye find them; and (in any case) take no friends or helpers from their ranks."

Quran (4:95) - "Not equal are those believers who sit (at home) and receive no hurt, and those who strive and fight in the cause of Allah with their goods and their persons. Allah hath granted a grade higher to those who strive and fight with their goods and persons than to those who sit (at home). Unto all (in Faith) Hath Allah promised good: But those who strive and fight Hath He distinguished above those who sit (at home) by a special reward,-" 

Bukhari (52:177) - Allah's Apostle said, "The Hour will not be established until you fight with the Jews, and the stone behind which a Jew will be hiding will say. "O Muslim! There is a Jew hiding behind me, so kill him." Hadith

Bukhari (52:256) - The Prophet... was asked whether it was permissible to attack the pagan warriors at night with the probability of exposing their women and children to danger. The Prophet replied, "They (i.e. women and children) are from them (i.e. pagans)." Hadith

Bukhari (52:65) - The Prophet said, 'He who fights that Allah's Word, Islam, should be superior, fights in Allah's Cause.  Hadith

Bukhari (52:220) - Allah's Apostle said... 'I have been made victorious with terror' Hadith

 

Perhaps it is that Calgary Imam Soharwardy is not quite as familiar with the Koran and the Hadiths as he should be? The words whose usage he takes such grave umbrage at, insisting that 'jihad' represents an intellectual faith struggle, and using it to denote a violently physical 'struggle' as it has been used by Canada's Prime Minister and others who clearly 'misunderstand' the subtleties that Imam Soharwardy is so familiar with to equate terrorism with jihad, have been abused.

And in that abuse, warns the imam, more sympathy for the terrorist group Islamic State among impressionable young Muslim men in Canada may be forthcoming. So, in speaking in one breath of jihad and terror and linking them to Islam, Prime Minister Stephen Harper is leading Canadian Muslims to the Islamic State and their very unIslamic campaign of terror complete with unIslamic atrocities of beheadings and crucifixion which have also inconveniently made their way into Sharia law.

Not to quibble, however, since Imam Soharwardy has led a campaign to shame and de-Islamicize the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham, convincing no fewer than 38 imams out of the likely thousands who practise in Canada given that the Muslim-Canadian population now approaches a million people, roughly comprising 2.8% of the population. So, 37 out of quite a large number of clerics either means that many don't much care how they are represented, or believe that ISIS is in perfect accord with Islam.

"There is still recruitment going on in Canada. This is not stopping, this is not reducing; so that’s why we had to take this initiative, to educate people."
"That is why we consider them as non-Muslims, because of their consistent and constant violations of Islamic jurisprudence, teachings of the holy Qur’an and teachings of the holy prophet."
"Some of them just refused to put their names, because of their safety. Because ISIL is a very dangerous organization. I have my safety concerns too. But, the thing is if we all said ‘I’m frightened by [ISIL],’ then who is going to do the right thing?"
"Anybody who fights against ISIL is a jihadi. So why are you using Islamic terminology for a terrorist organization we already condemn?"
"Stephen Harper is not treating Muslims with equal eyes, with equal respect. If people stop connecting Islam with these terrorists, I would say that terrorism can go on the decline. Because it will help people who feel isolated, who feel marginalized, to be part of the Canadian society."  Imam Syed Soharwardy

Iman Syed Soharwardy declares a fatwa on the terrorist group ISIL during a press conference at the Genesis Centre in Calgary on Wednesday March 11, 2015.
Gavin Young / Calgary Herald

Of the thousand clerics whom Imam Soharwardy contacted to join with him in issuing the collective fatwa, he spoke of 'four or five' who supported the idea and intent behind the fatwa, but were fearful of reprisals, restraining them from lending their names to the document. Imam Soharwardy founded as well the group Muslims Against Terrorism, and has gone public with his insistence that clerics and families discuss the matter of incitements to violence and travel abroad by Canadian Muslim men to take part in sectarian violence.

The fatwa is a selective one in its target, glancing past without incorporating the presence of other terrorist Islamist groups like Jabhat al-Nusra, or al-Qaeda affiliates. Islam and its apologists have a long way yet to go before they recognize themselves in the pathology of atrocious violence they are inflicting upon the world.