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Fatwa of Jihad against ISIS

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The Fatwa of Jihad against ISIS was issued by Sayyid Ali Sistani, a Shi'a Marja' residing in Iraq, on June 3, 2014.[1], three days after the Iraqi government announced the formation of a popular mobilization.[2] In this fatwa, which was read by Abd al-Mahdi al-Karbalai, his representative, during the Friday Prayer in Karbala, all capable citizens were called upon to take up arms alongside the military to fight ISIS.[3]

Sayyid Ali Sistani's fatwa was issued as a sufficing obligation (wajib al-kifa'i), meaning that it was initially obligatory upon everyone. Still, once sufficient forces were provided, the duty would be dropped from others.[4] Sayyid Ali Sistani's representatives in Karbala and the England clarified that this fatwa specifically concerns Iraqis residing in Iraq and does not include Shi'as or Iraqis living in other countries.[5]

A part of Sayyid Ali Sistani's Fatwa:

"The dangers currently threatening Iraq and the Iraqi nation require the defense of this land and the lives and honor of its people. This defense is a sufficing obligation upon all citizens [...] Accordingly, citizens who can carry arms, fight terrorists, and defend their country, nation, and sanctities are required to volunteer to join the military forces."[6]

The fatwa of jihad against ISIS has been evaluated as a decisive factor in changing the equations of power, legitimizing the Popular Mobilization Forces, and strengthening the spirit of resistance, and it is remembered as a turning point in defeating terrorism and preventing the fall of Iraq.[7]

In 2013, a Takfiri group called ISIS was formed in Iraq[8] and captured the cities of Fallujah and Samarra, entering the Sunni-populated provinces of Anbar, Nineveh, and Saladin, and subsequently capturing Mosul.[9] ISIS forces in these areas committed terrorist acts and slaughtered people.[10] In response to these events, the Iraqi government founded a popular army known as the Hashd al-Sha'bi.[11]

It is said that after the issuance of the fatwa of jihad against ISIS, many Iraqi people joined the Hashd al-Sha'bi.[12] Political figures such as Adil Abdul-Mahdi, then Prime Minister of Iraq, and Mohammed al-Halbousi, then Speaker of the Iraqi Parliament, considered this fatwa a key factor in the victory over ISIS[13] and some stated that without this fatwa, ISIS could have penetrated other regions of the world.[14] On the fifth anniversary of the fatwa's issuance (June 3), the Iraqi Parliament recognized this day as a national occasion.[15]

It is said that on the fifth anniversary of this fatwa's issuance[16] and after the liberation of areas held by ISIS, some Iraqi political figures spoke of the possibility of dissolving the Popular Mobilization Forces, but Sayyid Ali Sistani emphasized that the fatwa remains valid because the threat of ISIS still exists.[17]

Notes

  1. ↑ Ḥaṭṭāb, Tawẓīf al-Ḥashd al-Shaʿbī fī al-Mudrik al-Siyāsī al-ʿIrāqī, p. 108.
  2. ↑ Ḥaṭṭāb, Tawẓīf al-Ḥashd al-Shaʿbī fī al-Mudrik al-Siyāsī al-ʿIrāqī, p. 108.
  3. ↑ Ayatollah Sistani issued a fatwa of jihad., Hawzah Information Base.
  4. ↑ See: Muḥammadī, Sharḥ Uṣūl al-Fiqh, vol. 1, p. 202.
  5. ↑ The fatwa of defensive jihad applies specifically to the Iraqis, Buratha News Agency.
  6. ↑ The Popular Mobilization Forces: sacrifices confiscated, yet demands for dissolution persist. al-Akhbar.com.
  7. ↑ Jidār al-Mā' Documentary: Interview with leaders of al-Hashd al-Sha'bi.
  8. ↑ Nabātīyān, Zamīnih-hā-yi Fikrī Siyāsī-yi Jaryān-i Baʿthī Takfīrī-yi Dāʿish, pp. 53, 88.
  9. ↑ Nabātīyān, Zamīnih-hā-yi Fikrī Siyāsī-yi Jaryān-i Baʿthī Takfīrī-yi Dāʿish, p. 55.
  10. ↑ Abshaʿ 10 Jarāʾim li-Dāʿish, RT Arabic site.
  11. ↑ Al-Hashd al-Sha'bi: The alternative regular force in Iraq, Al Jazeera Center for Studies site.
  12. ↑ Jidār al-Mā' Documentary: Interview with leaders of al-Hashd al-Sha'bi.
  13. ↑ The Fatwa of Jihad by Ayatollah Sistani was a turning point in the fight against ISIS, Tasnim News Agency; Al-Halbousi thanks al-Sistani regarding the Fatwa of Sufficient Jihad, Nas News Agency.
  14. ↑ If the Fatwa of Jihad had not been issued, ISIS would have reached Africa and other countries of the world, Official Hawzah News Agency.
  15. ↑ Al-Halbousi thanks al-Sistani regarding the Fatwa of Sufficient Jihad, Nas News Agency.
  16. ↑ Bayān Hāmm li-l-Marjaʿ al-Sīstānī, Al-Alam Network.
  17. ↑ Al-Sistani renews the Fatwa of "Sufficient Jihad" that established the militias, Al-Araby Al-Jadeed site.

References

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