CAIRO, September 17 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) - Muslim scholars said that it is haram (not permissible) for any Muslim or Arab country to provide the United States with any help in its upcoming war against Arab and Muslim Iraq.

Speaking on his weekly show on Al-Jazeera Satellite Channel, prominent Muslim Scholar, Dr. Yousef Al-Qaradawi, said Sunday, September 15, that it is well known among Muslim scholars that assisting the United States is haram, that there is no benefit for any Arab or Islamic country in assisting the U.S. in its aggression against Iraq and that Islam prohibits oppression and assisting oppressors.

On Sunday, September 15, Al-Qaradawi said that Allah will vindicate the oppressed Muslim if he was unable to fend away oppression, but he also punishes those who can fend away oppression and choose to be silent. "We must not feel helpless and say that we're oppressed. We must do something to fend this oppression," he said.

He called upon Iraq to accept the U.N. weapons inspectors and said that the Iraqi government should be wise in this matter so that there will be no excuse for the United States to strike. "The wise person chooses the least of two bad situations and I think the Iraqi government will consider the return of the inspectors, but it doesn't want the return open without any limitations or conditions, or else Iraq will be under sanctions forever."

Al-Qaradawi said in a former fatwa (religious edict) to IslamOnline that what the Iraqi opposition is doing in terms of asking the U.S. and the U.K. for help is not suitable for a Muslim concerned about the welfare of his own country.

If the Iraqi regime was cruel, he said, this does not mean that we replace it with an American or British regime which would control the resources of the region for the sake of U.S. or Zionist interests.

Islam, the revered scholar added, does not allow Muslims to ask infidels for help so that they may replace the leader who doesn't fulfill his duties towards the nation. This, Al-Qaradawi said, would be more harmful than if the leader remains.

Meanwhile, other Muslim scholars also warned that the U.S. using Muslim countries as military bases for attacking Iraq is haram. Sheikh Faysal Mawlawi, the vice president of the European Council on Research and Fatwas, said that it is not permissible to use military bases in Arab and Muslim countries to strike Muslims.

"This is the kind of affiliation that Allah has prohibited us to undertake and it is considered as helping the enemy against our Muslim brethren."

Meanwhile, Dr. Amir Abdul-Aziz, Professor of Islamic Studies in the University of Al-Najah in Palestine said: "It is not permissible for the Iraqi opposition to use American efforts, especially since they are aware that the United States is an enemy of Muslims and Islam.

"Despite the mistakes of the Iraqi regime, it still does not justify using the infidels against Muslims, even if those Muslims are sinners. Instead, there should be internal reform in Iraq, in an attempt to convince the leader to follow the right path."

"Using an infidel who makes his animosity and hatred to Muslims obvious and whose intentions on crushing, eradicating and destroying Muslims are clear, is not permissible in Islam," Dr. Abdul-Aziz added.

Dr. Ahmad Youssef Abu-Hulleiba, the former dean of the Islamic Fundamentals College in the former Islamic University in Palestine said: "The United States is always looking for people to help it with its plans in the whole world. Iraq is targeted by the United States and it is obvious that the U.S. needs help to topple the Iraqi president.

"This happened in Afghanistan: the U.S. was able to make use of the Northern Alliance to conquer the Taliban regime simply because the Americans understand the country and the tribal nature of its people. The same strategy is being applied now in Iraq."