CAIRO, March 10 (islamOnline.net & News Agencies) – In a statement delivered Sunday evening, March 9, Al-Azhar has called upon all Muslims for Jihad in case a U.S.-led war against Iraq erupts.

“Jihad is an individual duty for all Muslims if the U.S. launches a war against Iraq. Arabs and Muslims should be on high alert to defend themselves, their doctrine and lands,” Al-Azhar’s Islamic Research Academy told IslamOnline.net Monday, March 10. 2003.

“They have to forget all internal differences so as not to surrender to prospective attacks.

“Most people think that war on Iraq is inevitable. According to the Islamic Shari`ah, Jihad is an individual duty in case an enemy occupies Muslims’ lands. Our Arab and Muslim nation will face new crusades that aim to deprive us of our homeland, doctrine and dignity” the statement added.

“Insistence on waging a war against Iraq is nothing but a beginning of a series of attacks directed to the rest of the Arab world. This is evidenced by the declaration of anti-Islamic forces to the effect that once Iraq is subdued, the situation in the Arab region will be rearranged in favor of U.S. and Israeli interests.”

The statement hailed the efforts of the peoples and governments that seek to avoid war and reach a U.N.-based peaceful compromise for the Iraqi crisis.

“The statement came in response to the tension the region witnesses due to the Iraqi crisis, as the U.S. and Britain rally tens of thousands of troops in the region in preparation for the possible invasion,” Abu Wafa Agwar Secretary General of the Complex told Reuters news agency.

He Added “Al-Azhar Grand Imam has gone through and ratified the statement.”

The official Al-Ahram newspaper has published an article on Al-Azhar’s statement in its fourth page, on Monday, March 10, 2003.

On his part, Ahmed Kamal Abul Magd, an Islamic intellectual and a member of the Complex, has welcomed the statement saying, “It does not refer to the Christian world but to hardliners in the U.S. Administration.”

“Jihad in Islam means self-defense. The statement is fairly balanced,” he added.