Ulamas
Of Yemen Will Inflame Jihad If There Is Foreign Military
Intervention
19 January 2010
By Al-Ikhwah Al-Mujahidun
Ulamas
in Yemen have issued a fatwa about the importance of
jihad if there is a foreign military intervention and
in this case if the American forces come.
"When there is a group that commits aggression or
invasion upon a state, then according to Islam jihad
becomes compulsory," thus the statement said which was
signed by 150 ulamas of Yemen including the
charismatic ulama Sheikh Zindani and read in a
conference held on Thursday 14th January.
There is an upheaval currently happening in some
regions in Yemen. In the northern regions which
borders with Saudi Arabia, the Yemeni military along
with their Saudi counterpart are confronting the
Houthi rebels which follow Shi’ah.
While on the other hand, the fighters of Al Qaeda was
also reported to have a strong position in Yemen. Late
last year, it was reported that the Americans started
to play its role in the Yemeni conflict when news
about the usage of their drones to attack the bases of
Al Qaeda fighters came out.
This fatwa by the ulamas of Yemen came out only a day
after the senior senator from the Democratic Party,
Carl Levin asked the government of Barrack Obama to
increase their unmanned spy plane or drone attack in
Yemen.
This senator who came from Michigan believed that
providing assistance to the Yemeni government in the
form of drone attacks are necessary due to the
presence of threats by Al Qaeda.
Today, on Thursday the government of Yemen declared an
open war against the fighters which they called Yemeni
Al Qaeda and warned their citizens to not support Al
Qaeda but to collaborate with the government forces.
Yemen ‘obliged to reject the arrival of foreign
forces’
Responding to the possibility of a foreign
intervention in Yemen, some ulamas in Yemen finally
reacted by declaring that in shari’ah Yemen has the
obligation to reject the intervention.
"In a situation where foreign elements are imposing
enmities, attacks, military or security interventions
in Yemen, Islam requires its adherents to execute
jihad," thus the statement said on Thursday.
Foreign governments had continually voiced their extra
interests on the situation in Yemen since the attempt
to blow up an American passenger airplane last
December which was claimed by Al-Qaeda in the Arab
Peninsula as an action by one of their members.
Muhammad Vall, an Al Jazeera’s reporter in Sana'a, the
capital of Yemen, said that the decision by the
religious leaders to oppose the military intervention
would bring a big problem for Yemen.
"In a society that is very conservative or a society
with a religious background like Yemen, the words of
the ulamas are the words that are truly reveberating
amongst the masses, not the words of the politicians.
And today the ulamas of Yemen have announced their
decision," Vall said.
The ulamas were saying that their decisions was in
line with the opinion of the majority of Yemen’s
citizens or government of Sana'a.