Discussion With Sheikh Abu Baseer At Tartousi: Response to the Fatwa of Sheikh Abu Baseer Against Joining Jabhatun Nusrah
By Abu Abdullah ash
Shaami
(Response to the Fatwa of Sheikh Abu Baseer prohibiting joining Jabhatun
Nusrah)
In the name of Allah the Most
Gracious, the Most Merciful.
All praise be to Allah the Lord of all that exists. And the best of prayers
and most complete peace be upon our chief Muhammad and his family and his
companions all of them. After that,
It causes us pain us that the one who yesterday called for ''Supporting the
people of Tawheed'' is today issuing a fatawa and advising that ''it is
prohibited to join a part of the people of Tawheed'' in their Jihad against
the Nusayri taghout. We always used to be patient when the Sheikh used to
slander us even though he slandered us to the point where he described us to
be creation of the intelligence agencies. We ignore those matters that are
related to our individual rights but as for turning over the matter to the
point of issuing fatwas prohibiting to join Jabhat un Nusra, then it is a
matter over which silence cannot be maintained, so that it does not cause
doubts for some amongst the people. And if the Sheikh had not forced us to
respond, we would not have responded. And if only he had advised in secret
when he wanted, and did not advice through the internet since what is the use
of an advice if it has come on the internet and the matter has spread far and
wide! This is not how an advice is. We have known that the advice is to be in
secret and not made publicly. And it is also not an advice when it comes in
the form of a fatwa prohibiting joining Jabhat un Nusra due to it being
AlQaida. And let the Sheikh open his heart for a discussion with us regarding
what he has said.
With having hope that he does not return back to the media and that if he
wishes to advice, then let him do so in secret and that would be appreciated
and he will find in us an attentive ear. However, we will not follow him in
what we see as a mistake with all our due respect to him and his status and
his knowledge. And our opposition to his opinions that he sees to be correct
in contrast to our opinion which we see to be correct is not an opposition by
us towards the Shareah. But they are in reality opposition towards the
opinion of the Sheikh. And an opinion of the Sheikh may be right and it may
be wrong. And our opinions too are like that. The Prophet, may peace and
blessings of Allah be upon him, said ''If they asked you to put them on the
judgement of Allah, then do not put them on the judgement of Allah, but
rather put them on your own judgement because you do not know whether you
have rightly judged between them by the judgement of Allah or not''
Narrated by Ibn Majah. Infact the matter of our affiliation to the
organization of Al Qaida for Jihad, while it is a confirmed bay'ah on our
necks, it is not from those matters over which there is a text for its
obligation or prohibition in the first place, rather it is from the matters
of Ijtihad and consideration by looking into the benefits and harms. And so
it is more befitting for the one who reaches to a conclusion after exerting
efforts without prejudice or whims, it is more befitting for him to say that,
''This is what appears to be correct in my opinion with me excusing those who
do not hold my opinion along with having a good opinion about the one who
opposes my opinion especially if he has built his opinion after looking into
the matter and doing Ijtihad and not based on partisanship to a party or
group'' as you have accused us of, may Allah forgive you.
It is known that the methodology of Ahlu Sunnah in the matters of permissible
differences based on Ijtihad is that they excuse each other and give space to
each other and find interpretations to excuse each other and look at their
statements and actions with the best possible meaning. And this is something
that we have learned from the books of Ahlu Sunnah in the Fiqh
(understanding) of differences amongst which is your book ''Fiqh ul Ikhtilaaf
Inda Ahlu Sunnah Wal Bida''' (The approach towards differences according to
Ahlu Sunnah and the people of bida). And before I start to refute the
arguments on which you have based your fatwa upon, it is necessary to first
analyse the strategy of the organization of Qaida for Jihad and its view
towards change and after that we will come back and mention the views point
by point and discuss them so that the Sheikh may take note his mistakes or at
least excuse the one who disagrees with him.
And we say and with Allah is success:
The Universal alliance of infidelity had planned and plotted for centuries
until it had weakened the Islamic Caliphate and made a series of conspiracies
and wars and made strenuous effort until it succeeded in prompting its fall.
But the alliance of infidelity did not stop there and it went on creating
safety valves to guarantee that it never returns. It divided the Islamic
world into more than 50 countries including the heart of the Arab and Islamic
world (The Levant) through ''Sykes-Picot'' and it planted the monster entity,
the government of the Jews in the heart of the Islamic world (Palestine), and
these two shackles:Sykes-Picot and its likes-and the promise of Balfour of
giving Palestine to the Jews- are the most powerful shackles with which the
Universal disbelief has subdued the Islamic Ummah. The Ummah made enormous
effort until it discovered its true enemy and his ploys and plans and woke up
to the caller of Jihad calling it to fight this disbelief, and many answered,
all thanks and credit be to Allah. The Ummah has experimented with Jihad
which is confined within regional boundaries and in all the Jihads within
regional borders, the Ummah has failed, due to it being unable to perceive
the true enemy and its plans. This Jihad within regional borders which they
call resistance according to their agreements, is permissible because it
comes within the rules of the enemy; meaning within the boundaries drawn by
the enemy after establishing these international systems such as the United
Nations and the Security Council and its likes. So the enemy went on
distracting us with fighting against those he imposed on us so that we do not
become aware of the real enemy and he is the one who has erected them (tyrant
governments) and made them sit on the Ummah's chest. Also the enemy drew for
us the land where we can fight not allowing us to go beyond its line, that is
the regions inside the country through the logic of ''Sykes-Picot''.
When Allah bestowed His favour on the Ummah by waking them up from this
cycle, it understood that Jihad must move primarily facing the World order
and the universal disbelief which laid down the rules of the state boundaries
and its borders and made lawful for us resistance on a national basis in
accordance with Sykes-Picot.
When the Ummah awoke and aimed its rifles towards this disbelief, the global
disbelief represented by America and its allies became mad because its game
became exposed and their trick of falsehood no longer worked upon the Ummah
and so it started putting on its terrorist lists whoever left those
boundaries. And the Qaedat al-Jihad organization had the great merit in
exposing this truth through striking the leader of global disbelief, America.
As it also has had great merit of reviving the spirit of Jihad into the Ummah.
The nature of our battle is in this form, and this size and this reality, and
our true enemy which does not agree to remain neutral is the system of global
infidelity with its Security council and United nations and its other global
systems.
And the circumstances of our battle with this enemy is not as it were in the
time of the Messenger of Allah sallallahu alayhi wa sallam, where he fought
Quraish instead of the Romans and Persians, as the Quraish was not sponsored
by the Romans nor the Persians, and there was no cooperation between them and
they would not intervene in whatever was going on in the Arabian peninsula
between the Muslims and the Quraish, and if our situation (us, the mujahideen)
with the rulers of our countries and with the international infidelity was
like the situation of the Messenger of Allah sallallahu alayhi wa sallam with
Quraish and the Romans and Persians, it would be utter stupidity and
foolhardiness to leave our rulers and busy ourselves with fighting the
international disbelief, but the equation is entirely different.
Quraish was not linked to the Romans and Persians through agreements and
deals and neither were the Romans and Persians the ones who erected the
Qureshite idol to rule Arabia and they were not behind it moving it, and they
did not feel that Quraish's battle was their direct battle to fight; rather
this battle did not concern them at all.
But our situation today is the opposite of that. And based on that, the
strategy of Qaedat al-Jihad came to direct the strikes against the head of
international disbelief so that the reality of this battle becomes clear in
the eyes of the sons of the nation, and so its kingdom relapses and its
dominion becomes weak, it stops using its strength against us and stops
supporting our rulers, at which point we will settle our scores with them.
As for us we see no difference whatsoever between the international foreign
disbelief and the national local state disbelief because all are part of one
alliance which is bonded by a direct and close bond through many systems, and
striking any part of it meaning the local Kufr- is a strike against it
meaning the international one- that is how the international disbelief
perceives the battle. The international Kufr sees the Jihad against the local
Kafir whom he has set up, as a Jihad waged against itself. And thus, we are
not antagonizing it (provoking their enmity) rather it is a direct enemy
which strives with its utmost energy and uses all forms of power so as to
eradicate the people of Jihad.
And if there is a neutral disbelieving state which does not participate in
this alliance against the people of Islam then we will not hasten to provoke
its enmity. And if indeed we do such actions, then we would be careless
having no legitimate policy with us. But while the situation is like what we
have stated, then it is not possible for us due to the alliance between the
local regional idol and the external international idol, it is not possible
for us to distinguish between the two enemies. And this is not by our own
choice, but it is imposed upon us by the nature of the enemy and the battle
against us. And if we have been able to separate between these two enemies,
we would not have ignored it and if it was possible for us to cause anyone to
be neutral, then we would have done so. But they are two sides of the same
coin.
This understanding of ours regarding the equation of the previous conflicts
and based on which we build the rules of confrontation and its strategies is
different as is clear between us and you.
And after this glimpse and on its basis, we will discuss your article in the
following points:
The first point: The question began by mentioning ISIS, and so it would have
been best for the Shaykh to begin his answer by differentiating the manhaaj
of ISIS and the manhaaj of Jabhat an Nusrah (Branch of Qaeda al Jihad in
Sham) so that the one who reads the answer would not be under the impression
that ISIS and Jabhat an Nusrah are in the same track.
The second point: ''I do not advise and I do not permit''; Why didn't we
find this kind of enquiry in regards to the likes of Hazm and Maroof whose
link with the Western and American agenda is not hidden? Where is your
investigation over the factions of MOC (Military Operations Command) and
groups which were connected with foreigners? Where was your fatwa oh shaykh
to say that it is not allowed to join these kind of groups, or the groups who
call for a reconciliation with the Nusari regime? Or where was your fatwa
regarding the groups of corruption which are present in the field? And if you
say that we should be silent on their evil at this time for the benefit of
fighting against the regime, meaning that the benefit of fighting the regime
is greater by a lot than the corruption they are causing, we say- Can you not
use this scale for us based on your own principle which is to say we will
remain quite at the harm and wrong which comes about due to the affiliation
of Jabhat an Nusrah with Al Qaeda for the sake of the benefit of fighting
against the regime? And this we are saying by assuming for the sake of
argument that the affiliation to Al Qaeda is a harm, otherwise we do not see
it as such.
The third point: You do not advise and you do not permit, because the name Al
Qaeda and its membership will bring about harm and incite the armies of the
world against Sham and its people. So we say- The issue is not like that as
we have explained in the introduction, but the Jihad specifically is what
incites the armies of the world especially since the Jihad has approached the
holy land, whether this is done in the name of Al Qaeda or other that it. Do
you not see that the world rushed to stand against Hamas, despite the fact
that they are not Al Qaeda and not upon the manhaaj of Al Qaeda either?
Moreover, these results that you said will come as a consequence of the name
of Al Qaeda, will happen in any Jihad, and do you think we should leave Jihad
if it causes these results! We say that it is known that the issue is not
with the label of Al Qaeda but with Jihad upon the path that is not
compatible with the desires of the enemies as we have clarified previously,
which will cause it to rise to defend itself. And this issue is self evident
in the battle between the truth and falsehood.
And so if whatever Jihad that occurs in Sham will have the same fate
meaning if this Jihad is not accepted by all sides from the west, and is a
Jihad which does not believe in state borders and because of that it doesn't
see any difference between the Muhajireen and the Ansar then labelling it
as Al Qaida or not labelling it will be the same and this description will
have no effect and be without any significance. And based on the fundamental
rules in analysing the causes and reasons for a rule (Hukm) to see whether
they are applicable or not for the judgement, we see that the cause that has
made the Kuffar to stand alongside Bashar is not due to us being Al Qaida but
due to us waging Jihad in a manner that does not appeal to the west and does
not go in line with the rules laid down by the disbelievers and over which
the world has gone along for tens of decades in the past century. We do Jihad
in accordance with principles and concepts which the disbelievers are not
pleased with. And so it is this purpose that can be opposed and not the
labelling as Al Qaida. And any group that fights based upon those concepts
will be attacked by the all disbelievers from one trench even if it does not
name itself as Al Qaida. And by this, the first point and reason (that you
mentioned) becomes invalid and similarly the second one also because the
massacres by Bashar firstly did not take place except with the blessings of
the international Kufr (infidelity). And if it was not for the green light
given by the international regime to Bashar, he would not have dared to
commit the massacres to begin with. And we do not forget that the massacres
began from the first week of the outbreak of the blessed revolution. And you
may remember the massacre that took place in Dar'a at the beginning of the
revolution. And similarly the massacres that took place following it in Homs
and at Bayda in Banyas. And you may also remember after that the massacre in
Ath Thaamna and Houla and many others. And all of this took place before we
announced that we are Al Qaida.
Don't you remember the Arab and then the international delegates and the
representatives one after another and treaties one after another which the
international hypocrite regime presented to Bashar so that he may crush the
revolution which would turn into a Jihad that becomes bigger day by day?
Further, let us assume that we did not announce our allegiance to Al Qaida.
Will the international infidelity allow us to topple the regime of Bashar and
establish instead an Islamic regime in the vicinity of the Jews while these
disbelievers have a pulsing vain and a blinking eye?
The fourth point: The saying that the Al Qaedisation of the revolution in
Shaam causes Shaam to bear the all the actions of Al Qaeda, past, present and
future and in all places;- it is not a correct statement and not appropriate.
We were wishing that you will not use such terminology as ''the al
Qaedisation of the revolution'' and whoever reads your speech will think that
Al Qaeda is pure evil. And we are not here speaking about Al Qaeda in other
areas but do you not see, our noble Shaykh that the brach of Al Qaeda in Sham
(Jabhat an Nusrah) carries on its shoulders without belittling the work of
any one- the removal of all the difficulties and hardship that befell upon
the people of Sham, as much as possible?
Have you seen Jabhat an Nusrah to have harmed the people of Sham or to have
defended them and protected them and to have strove as much as possible
making sacrifices for them? It has spared no effort in the military aspect,
in service, in medical and in other aspects. But we are in a fierce war and
because of all this the people of Sham love Jabhat an Nusrah. And names have
no meaning to the people of Sham, rather what concerns them is who defends
them and their religion and their sanctity and their honour and gives his
blood in their service. And do you see Jabhat an Nusrah insufficient in this?
The people of Sham have no problem with Al Qaeda (Jabhat an Nusrah) whom they
love and whose banner they raise. It is not the people of Shaam who have a
problem with Al Qaida, rather the problem is for some of those who cover
themselves behind the people of Sham, and these people are of many
categories: A category that claims that the people of Sham do not want Al
Qaeda and the reality is that it is their leaders that give them aid who do
not want Al Qaeda and not the people of Sham. And a group from amongst them
take support on the condition of standing against Al Qaeda, and there are
other groups besides and beyond that.
In other words, some of the groups attack Al Qaida and Jabhatun Nusra
presenting it as a sacrifice in exchange for taking aid and as a dowry for
seeking allegiance of those with whom they establish a sinful relation from
amongst the countries of apostasy and the regimes of Kufr.
As for the poor people of Shaam, they have Allah. And how many
who do not represent them have worn their cloak and spoken on their behalf.
And I hope you know that I do not mean you by this but I hope that you do not
put yourself in these kind of situations or let not your words serve these
kinds of people. And if it were not for the envy of those envious and their
jealousy and the mobilizing done by others along with the media of the enemy,
and add to that fatawas like those of yours, then we would not have seen
anyone from amidst the people of Sham who is concerned with the matter of
''the name Al Qaida'' or the link of Jabhatun Nusra with it.
The fifth point : If our affiliation to Al Qaida (Jabhatun Nusra) will make
easy things hard for us as you our dear Sheikh have mentioned, then this is
how the path of Jihad is which we understand from the words of the
companions, may Allah be pleased with them during their pledge to the
Messenger of Allah, prayers and peace of Allah be upon him ''Indeed
bringing him out today means breaking off from the Arabs entirely and the
killing of your best ones and getting bitten by swords'', narrated by Ahmed
and others. And we know that Jihad will have all those consequences that you
have mentioned but this is the decree for the Mujahid. And our condition by
this is that of asking Allah to make us in the ranks of the patient ones and
make us amongst those who are mentioned in His statement, ''And when they
became steadfast and believed firmly in Our revelations, We appointed from
among them leaders who guided by Our command'' (32:24). And the consequences
that you have mentioned are the results of Jihad in any manner whether by the
name of Al Qaida or not. As for me being wanted and pursued, being compelled
to hide and work in secret, then I am not to be blamed for that since that
was done by the one who is better than me and this is the path of the
Prophets. Here is Musa, peace be upon him, as stated by Allah, ''So he
departed, fearful and looking around in apprehension and said: ''My Lord,
deliver me from these unjust people'' (28:21). And as for our Messenger, may
peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, his Hijra (migration) along with
his companion was in secret, and the three of them hiding in the cave is
known to everyone. And all of the consequences that you have mentioned will
be faced by us just for merely being Mujahideen even if we were not Al Qaida.
And you may know the truth of what we say by looking at the Mujahideen of
AlQassam and their path and their hiding and the consequences of their Jihad
while they were not Al Qaida.
We must remember that the international regime that has planted the Jews in
Palestine is the same international regime that has strengthened the Nusayris
in Shaam. And just as it does not let any harm touch the Jews so that it can
preserve its domain by stabilizing the Jewish peg in Palestine, similarly it
does not let the Nusayri regime in Sham fall because the shaking of the
Nusayri peg will threaten the stability of the international regime and its
domain that is based on ignorance. The disbelievers know this and they are
fighting against us on this basis and they have not put us in the terrorist
list except due to us fighting on this basis. And how I wish if only my
people knew!
The sixth point: Your saying that Al Qaeda has a project for confrontation
and does not have a project for a state- I hope that this statement of yours
does not turn out to be a slander. I do not intend to accuse you of
slandering in a hidden or indirect manner, but as I have said completely
putting into effect the principle of thinking positively, I say: This saying
comes from your lack of understanding or lack of conviction may Allah
forgive you with the strategy of Al Qaeda in this encounter, and the phases
of building a state.
Moreover, Al Qaida has not yet built any state for you to judge it to have
failed. In fact, the strategy of Al Qaeda is like what was clarified by the
the martyred Shaykh, as we reckon him, Usamah bin Ladin may Allah have
mercy on him it is based upon not establishing a state in this phase as
there are 3 phases: Undermine the enemy, then maintaining balance of power,
then establishment with consolidation. And the Shaykh may Allah have mercy
upon him clarified this in all his messages to both Yemen and to Somalia
that we do not establish a state until our Jihad reaches a point and our
enemies are weakened to a level of balance with us, so that we may first be
able to establish it (a state) and secondly we be able to protect it from
collapsing. As for before that, then no. And if you want to know more, then
refer to the leaked letters of the Shaykh to Yemen and to Somalia, or those
that are known as the ''Abbottabad documents''. Moreover, Al Qaida's
experiment is not a historical incident that once came and disappeared for
you to judge it to have failed in establishing a state, rather it is an
incident that is just going to occur. And the time for establishing the state
according to the programme of Al Qaeda has not come yet and due to that, it
is not correct to describe its attempt as a failure in establishing a state.
And if what is not achieved in full, then most of it is not to abandoned; so
then Al Qaeda in Sham (Jabhat an Nusrah) has strived as much as possible in
addition to military work, has striven through the religious organizations in
the liberated areas such as in Aleppo and Dar'a and in Deir in the past
period together with some of the factions to administer the liberated areas,
to the extent that these institutions during some stages had even become as
though they were standing government but other matters came in between and
prevented the project from continuing. And there is no power no might except
with Allah.
As for you using as a testimony, the Prophet's statement sallallahu alayhi wa
sallam saying, ''A believer is not stung from the same hole twice'', we say
about it: The hadeeth is Saheeh, but you are using it out of context. And to
clarify that we say: The Muslims have attempted Jihad restricted to borders
in the past century in many of the countries like Syria and Egypt and Libya
and others. And the Muslims have been stung from the hole of national
boundaries many times and not just twice, then Allah guided them to correct
this mistake. And so that the believers may not be bitten from the same hole
for the tenth time, Qaidathul Jihad came out, may Allah make it firm and
guide them, against the rules that were drawn up by the world alliance of
kufr for the struggle. And it spoke regarding the battle being an
international one and this is not something which it chose, but rather it is
the reality of the battle. But Al Qaeda stated that and clarified it to the
Ummah since the battle is global in its nature, whether we globalise it or we
restrict it within the borders of one state . And Al Qaeda made the Ummah
understand the reality of the battle and its enormity and its dimensions and
its extent and it being globalized and the reality of the enemy. And because
of this came the ferocity against it and the placement on the terrorism lists
and the pursuit, and the pressure and freezing of resources and others
besides that. And before finishing this point, we are pointing out that what
has been just stated is the vision of Al Qaeda. As for Jabhat an Nusrah (the
branch of Al Qaeda in Sham), it has not built its project on a global basis,
but it has received orders from the wise Shaykh (Dr. Ayman al Zawahiri, may
Allah protect him) to concentrate its efforts on repelling the Nusairi
attacks and to wage Jihad against them until they are overthrown and the rule
of Islam is established in Sham by means of Shura (Ahlul hal wal aqd).
The seventh point: The Sheikh has advised joining the groups that are doing
Jihad in Sham and then defined them saying, all the groups that are waging
Jihad in the land of Shaam under various names, with their relative
differences; and then described them all to be truthful Mujahid groups and
then added ''whichever one of them you have entered and joined, then you may
be with them and you will have the reward of the Mujahid inshallah''. And if
we link this with his previous statement, we will arrive at a clear
conclusion Join any group or faction found in the land of Shaam except
Jabhatun Nusra, and all factions are Mujahid groups. We say Subhanallah!!
This by Allah is what does not cease to be a wonder!! Our Sheikh, are the
factions that are striving for the benefit of the Nusayri regime truthful
Mujahid groups, and thus whichever one of them you have entered and joined,
then you may be with them and you will have the reward of the Mujahid?
And are the factions that are subservient to America and its allies which
even if you do not believe that, it is still a matter that is confirmed with
us, rather it has been confirmed by many besides us are they truthful
Mujahid groups that whichever one of them you have entered and joined, then
you may be with them and you will have the reward of the Mujahid?
And as for Jabhatun Nusra, then it is not permitted to join them due to the
harms that will follow while they are merely harms which are only imaginary
and not based on certainty. And if you have justified the non permissibility
of joining Jabhatun Nusra based on the existence of harm, then don't you see
that the justification based on imaginary harms as is in the case of Jabhatun
Nusra are actually occurring with certainty in the case of Hazm for example?
So what is the matter with you that you are contradicting your own rules and
principles? Indeed the harm that will take place by the agents of America
controlling the land is a thousand times greater than the harm arising due to
the label of Al Qaida and this is if at all there is any harm. So how come
you consider those suspicious factions to be doing Jihad truthfully and then
you do not permit joining Jabhatun Nusrah?
Have all the factions become truthful Mujahid groups and as for Jabhatun
Nusra, it is not permitted to join them or enter with them?
Or has the matter become such for you that you do not permit joining a group
merely because of it being affiliated to the Organisation of Al Qaida of
Jihad which had the credit after Allah in igniting the spirit of Jihad in the
Ummah and carried the banner of Jihad on behalf of the Ummah for decades, and
had the credit in returning the honour once again and teaching America who is
the enemy of Allah lessons which it will never forget, and has rolled its
face and wiped it in the dust? And then you permit joining those groups from
whom treachery can be smelt and you describe them with truthfulness and Jihad
while the news of Hazm is not yet far from us.
What do you say regarding the factions of MOC (Military Operations Command)?
What do you say regarding those who attended the Geneva 2 conference and
signed agreement to surrender Homs to the Nusayris?
What do you say regarding the one who is striving to make plans of Staffan de
Mistura to succeed?
What do you say regarding those who are working in accordance with the
command of the Jordanian intelligence?
In fact Shaykh ul Islam Ibn Taymiyyah described the people of Sham and the
people of Egypt during their resistance of the attack of the Tarters, that
they are the victorious group despite them having with them Asharis and the
Sufis and despite there being sins and oppression and debauchery amidst them.
Can we not be included in this description at least? Is not the situation of
Jabhat an Nusrah in their Jihad with the people of Sham against the Nusairis
and those nations of Kufr who are behind them like the situation of the
people of Sham and Egypt and their Mujahideen against the Tartars at the time
of the Qutz and the Berbers and Izz ibn Abdul Salam and Shaykh ul Islam, may
Allah have mercy upon them?
The eighth point: The Shaykh has concluded his fatwa that it is not
permissible to join Jabhat an Nusrah by giving reasons that cannot be
justified nor used as arguments as we have just stated and explained in some
detail in the preceding points. And based on that, we see that this fatwa is
erroneous and it is the result of his deficient knowledge of the reality
while we think positively about the shaykh and his deficiency in
understanding the reality and the project of Jabhat an Nusrah, and similarly
of Qaedathul Jihad, whereby he dealt with the issue from one side only, not
from all perspectives, and deficiency in understanding the reality of Sham
and in understanding the enemies and in understanding the strategy of Al
Qaeda in confronting these enemies. And it is known that the Mufti does not
give a fatwa until he knows the ruling of Allah and he knows the reality (on
which he is giving the fatwa). And we do not doubt the knowledge of the
Shaykh, but he came with a lack of knowledge of the reality and so his fatwa
became deficient based on this and it has mistakes. It would be more suitable
for him not to give a fatwa like this and his fatwa will not harm us
inshaallah as we are sure of its mistake and we consider it far too much for
the Sheikh to go in such a path and we call on him to review it. Indeed a
woman was right and Umar was wrong. And if the advice of the shaykh had not
come in the form of a fatwa publicly then we would not have written a single
letter (in response). And we call on the shaykh to not repeat such things as
its sufficient for us what we receive from our enemies.
And we would like to inform before concluding that all that was said is not a
response to the sheikh personally rather it is directed to a general trend of
thought in which the Shaykh is but an individual, (the reason of our
response) which is the same reason which made Shaikh Abu Baseer respond to
Shaikh Albani may Allah have mercy on him as the Sheikh mentioned in the
beginning of his book (''Supporting the people of Monotheism'').
In conclusion, we ask Allah to guide us in matters that differed with the
truth, by His permission. And we ask him that He bring us on the day of
judgement as brothers reclining on couches facing each other. And the
dialogue with the Sheikh has a remaining part. .and our final prayers are
that praise be to Allah, the Lord of the worlds.