السلام عليكم و رحمة الله و بركاته
الحمد لله و الصلاة و السلام على رسول الله و آله وصحبه أجمعين.
After praising Allah and sending salutations upon His Messenger ﷺ I ask Allah to guide me and the readers to the correct methodology of Islam and to protect us from false and deviant ideologies.
What is ISIS (also called Daish- Dawlatul Islam fil-Iraq was-Sham)?
Isis is a self proclaimed Caliphate established under the present ‘Caliph’ Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi in Iraq and Syria. It was active since 1999, had gone through many developments, claimed the Caliphate in 2014, and by 23rd March 2019 lost almost all of its territories.
What is the methodology of refutation we’ll be doing?
Before refuting ISIS, which In sha Allah we’ll prove to be a modern Khawarij movement, I would like to clarify that this and the coming posts will be from the Salafi point of view.
The Salafi methodology believes in interpreting The Quran and The Sunnah according to The Manhaj (Methodology) of The Sahaba (The Companions of The Prophet ﷺ).
Does this mean that as a Salafi this author doesn’t like Jihad?
That is not true. Not joining terrorist groups like Isis or Al-Qaeda etc. doesn’t mean that we do not love Jihad. But our Jihad is based purely upon The Sunnah and devoid of any un-Islamic extremism. Jihad is fighting all forms oppression and injustice on earth, and no two people dispute that such a fighting is allowed and recommended.
How did this author learn about what ISIS believe?
Though I heard about them from the Ulama, I wanted to know about them from their written sources. For this reason I downloaded their periodical ‘Dabiq’ and read about them.
Dabiq has had almost 15 issues and I thought that finding their Aqeedah inside them would be a tough job since they’re a very deceptive people.
But what was very evident was that unlike their online callers (Duaat) who hid their extremist Takfeeri (act of calling Muslims as disbelievers) attitude from the gullible youth, Dabiq was a very vocal extreme Takfeeri magazine. For me, their first issue had enough of injustice to label them Khawarij.
What does it take to become Khawarij (Khariji)?
The Khawarij were an extreme sect whose coming was prophesied by the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ . There were many (Ahlus Sunnah)scholars who have written volmes on them. One may read ‘Talbees Iblis’ by Imam ibn Al-Jawzi Rahimahullah to know more about them and their offshoots.
In brief- if a Muslim believes that a major sin, except for Shirk Al-Akbar (Major acts of polytheism) and Kufr Al-Akbar (Major acts of disbelief) makes a person a disbeliever, then this makes the one with such a belief a Khawarij.
If a Muslim says that an alcoholic Muslim (a sinner) is a Kafir, then this claimant is from the Khawarij.
It is not necessary that a Muslim has all the beliefs and symbols of the Khawarij of the times of Ali ibn Abi Talib (رضي الله عنه), if he has their hall mark belief in some aspects of Islam, then he is a Khawarij.
Read Kitab-ut-Tawheed by Shaikh Saleh ibn Fouzan Al-Fouzan to learn more about Kufr, Shirk, Bidah etc. and their types and examples.
Why is this refutation from me needed when so many people have refuted them?
Most of the refutations of Isis are from the callers to Islam who do not have a firm hold on issues of Aqeedah and Imaan. Their refutation of ISIS is an emotional one riding along the line that ‘they kill innocent people’. Whilst it is true that they kill innocent people, that is not the very reason that they were labelled as Khawarij.
A Clear Display of Khawarij ideology in their magazine Dabiq, Vol.1, page 22.
(See link)
https://authenticseerah.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/screenshot_20190317-213548.png
Quoted from the main text under the heading: ‘Examples Of Narrations Reported Interpreting Imamah To Mean Political Imamah‘
“Al-Qurtubi (rahimahullah) said, “A number of scholars used this verse as evidence that the imam must be a man of justice, good conduct, and virtue, and have the strength to fulfill his role. [They say that] such an imam is the one whom the Prophet (sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam) commanded the Muslims not to rebel against, as mentioned earlier.
As for the sinful, unjust, immoral tyrant, then such an individual doesn’t qualify for this position on
account of the statement of Allah, {My covenant does not include the wrongdoers.}
It was for this reason that Ibn Az-Zubayr and Al-Husayn Ibn ‘Ali revolted.
Likewise, the best of the people of Iraq and their scholars revolted against Al-Hajjaj, and the people of Madinah expelled the tribe Bani Umayyah from Madinah and then revolted against them (the Umayyad ruler), resulting in (the massacre of) Al-Harrah which Muslim ‘Ibn Uqbah brought down on them.” [Ahkamul-Qur’an, 2:108]
So we use statements such as this as evidence that the position we’ve taken on the meaning of imamah – that it includes both political and religious leadership equally – is correct.*1
End Quote from the main text.
But what is strange is that after proving that they are a group who are rebelling against the oppressive Muslim ruler and making this a part of their invitation to Isis (their Dawah), a strange foot note on the vey same page gives away the actual position of Imam Al-Qurtubi on ‘rebelling against oppressive rulers’.
The footnote for *1 says:
“Note: al-Qurtubi then goes on to say,
“The majority of scholars adopt the opinion that being patient with the
oppressive ruler is more correct than rebelling against him, because
•rebelling against him replaces security with fear,
•causes the spilling of blood,
•releases the hands of the foolish [to do harm],
•allows for attacks to be carried out against Muslims,
•and spreads corruption upon Earth.
The first opinion [allowing
rebellion] is the opinion of a group of the Mu’tazilah and the opinion of the Khawarij, so be aware.”[end of Imam Al-Qurtubi’s quote]
Rebellion against the oppressive Muslim ruler is also against the clear
ahadith of the Prophet (sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam). Therefore,
the verse indicates the prohibition of initially appointing an oppressive Muslim leader, but it does not authorize rebellion against him after his attainment of power.”
End quote from the footnote (Spacing and bullets were added by me).
So what we get to conclude here is that ‘by mistake’, the editors for Dabiq have clarified for us the harms of rebellion against the Muslim ruler and that the opinion quoted in the main text is actually an opinion held by the Mutazilah and Khawarij.
So the ISIS have the very apparent and famous Aqeedah of the Khawarij with regards to rebellion.
Prophetic Guidance With Regards to Oppressive Rulers:
It his been narrated through a different chain of transmitters, on the authority of Hudhaifa b. al-Yaman who said:
Messenger of Allah, no doubt, we had an evil time (i. e. the days of Jahiliyya or ignorance) and God brought us a good time (i. e. Islamic period) through which we are now living Will there be a bad time after this good time? He (the Holy Prophet) said: Yes. I said: Will there be a good time after this bad time? He said: Yes. I said: Will there be a bad time after good time? He said: Yes. I said: How?
Whereupon he said: There will be leaders who will not be led by my guidance and who will not adopt my ways? There will be among them men who will have the hearts of devils in the bodies of human beings. I said: What should I do. Messenger of Allah, if I (happen) to live in that time?
He replied: You will listen to the Amir and carry out his orders; even if your back is flogged and your wealth is snatched, you should listen and obey.
Sahih Muslim 1847b.
•The Prophetic guidance here is to obey the rulers in permissible matters and not to revolt against him even if he is oppressive.
(To be continued In sha Allah)
-Abu Muaaz Mohammed Manna
14th Dhul Hijjah 1440, 15th Aug 2019.
Saheehus-Seerah 
