Disagreeable Disagrement

"They [Islamic State] have been excommunicated from the Muslim community and those who will join them -- they should be excommunicated from the Muslim community and they cannot be considered as Muslims at all."

"It's significant for those individuals who understand the opinions of the scholars need to be followed and because our fatwa is based on the teachings of the holy Qur'an and the teachings of the Prophet."
"With evidence what kind of violations ISIL and ISIS has committed, that will put a lot of weight for people to be convinced that ISIL and ISIS is the wrong way to go."
"We strongly urge every Muslim, especially the youth, not to be influenced by the speeches, songs and the literature available on the Internet or on social media produced by the impostors pretending to be Muslim. This is a trap for young Muslims."
Imam Syed Soharwardy, Calgary, founder Islamic Supreme Council of Canada

Imam Syed B. Soharwardy (right) and Imam Hafiz Muhammad Zareef Naeemi discuss an Islamic edict issued by 38 Canadian Imams at a press conference in Calgary on Wednesday, March 11, 2015. (Mike Ridewood / THE CANADIAN PRESS)

Back in early March, Imam Soharwardy along with 37 other Muslim leaders from across the country issued a fatwa against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant to deter them from convincing young Canadian Muslims to support their caliphate and the conflict they are prosecuting in Syria and Iraq. The imams and Islamic scholars are from Vancouver, Montreal, Edmonton and Toronto and include representatives of various sects within Islam, according to Imam Soharwardy.

And, according to the imam, responsibility for Islam gone awry rests largely not with Islam, the Koran or psychopathic Muslims bonding in an orgy of Islamist renewal reflecting the times of conflict and conquest of the Prophet Mohammad in the 7th Century, but is rather a product directly attributable to the canted, cynical and manipulative views proposed by the West, and in Canada, the government itself that speaks of jihad in the same breath as ISIL.

To Muslims, stressed Imam Soharwardy, jihad has a single meaning: struggle. That struggle is a kind of introspection that the faithful engage in, to find within themselves their better selves, more appealing to Allah, in striving to attain the greatest capacity for becoming and being a better Muslim. Using it in any other way as is commonly committed by non-Muslims could lead young Muslims to a more sympathetic view of ISIL where engaging in jihad is considered a compulsion to conflict.


"These people (non-Muslims, particularly the previous Conservative-led Government of Canada) use these words so loosely that it makes everybody push back to having sympathy for terrorist organizations," he said. "So one of the factors in the rise of terrorism is because of this Islamophobia and because of the misuse of ... words by government officials." So there you have it, the Council of Imams denounce ISIL, but blame their appeal to young Canadian Muslims on the attitude of the Canadian government.

It seems that the Islamic State is not enamoured by the position taken by these Canadian imams. ISIL has issued their own fatwa, accusing over a dozen Western imams of opposing them, and therefore earning a place on their hit list. "Yes, I take it seriously [threats of death issued by ISIL] but I'm not going to stop doing the things I do", said an unnamed imam who was  another founder of the Canadian Council of Imams. He was named alongside another Canadian imam, in the last edition of Dabiq, the ISIL propaganda magazine.

That magazine, published online, spoke of the imams as being "obligatory targets", inviting followers to "make an example of them". The article which outlines ISIL's initiative to propel these outspoken, ISIL-insulting imams to martyrdom, was titled "Kill the imams of kufr (disbelief)". Fairly direct and to the point. And so, if there are any susceptible-vulnerable young Muslims hanging about hoping to become celebrities and honoured by ISIL, perhaps they will seek to mete out punishment to the imams.

The two Canadians are among a list of over a dozen Western imams ISIL accuses of opposing them. In response, the Canadian Council of Imams has declared its intention to open deradicalization clinics in Toronto to begin dealing with violent extremism. "This is clear extremism", declared the Toronto imam. "I think because these two persons are very well known worldwide so ISIL is starting from the top of the list of the most known until they will make everyone kafir (disbelievers) to the bottom of their list", was the impression of Hamid Slimi of the Canadian Council of Imams.

According to the Council of American-Islamic Relations in the United States, its national executive director, Nihad Awad also appeared on the hit list and had requested protection from law enforcement authorities. "Daesh is a collection of liars, murderers, torturers and rapists", Rep. Keith Ellison, Democratic congressman from Minnesota, also listed s a "politically active apostate", said. "The fact that I'm on Daesh's bad side means I am fighting for things like justice, tolerance and a more inclusive world."

The ISIL magazine went beyond seeking the death penalty for the imams it considers unworthy of continued life. It lionized four of the terrorists behind the March atrocities in Brussels, naming them "knights of martyrdom".