Wa `alaykum As-Salamu wa Rahmatullahi wa Barakatuh.
In the Name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful.
All praise and thanks are due to Allah, and peace and blessings be upon His Messenger.
Dear brother Hamzah, we would like to thank you for the great confidence you place in us. We commend your concern for Muslims’ honor and dignity. We implore Allah Almighty to help us serve His cause and render our work for His sake.
First of all, it is to be stated that Islam safeguards human dignity and honor, regarding them, in fact, as inviolable and sacred. International conventions also protect the individual’s honor and dignity against any violation and grant him/her the protection of the law against such violations. The harassment the occupation soldiers are committing against the Iraqi people is an obvious violation of Islamic teachings as well as the international conventions. Deliberate searching of women is obvious aggression against a Muslim’s honor and dignity that agitates Muslims’ anger. These measures are not justified at all; if there is a dire need for doing so, then the female soldiers among the occupying army can fulfill this task.
Of course, every Muslim should feel angry for this harassment committed against his fellow Iraqis. This anger is not enough but it should be followed by action to enjoin what is good and lawful and forbid what is evil and unlawful. The leaders of the Iraqi clans should take action and demand the occupation forces to stop such deliberate measures completely or at least let female soldiers search Iraqi women, if need be. Moreover, every Muslim watching such scenes should condemn such attacks. Let this encourage him to make du`a’ for his fellow Muslims and offer them all possible forms of support and assistance.
Finally, every human being, Muslim and non-Muslim alike, should condemn the violations of the honor and human rights of the Iraqi people at the hands of the occupation army that claims to be freeing them and returning to them their human rights and dignity.
In his response to the question you raised, Sheikh Ja`far At-Talhawi, a prominent Al-Azhar scholar, states the following:
“If the situation is as explained in the question, then what is happening is part of the corruption referred to by Allah’s saying: “Corruption doth appear on land and sea because of (the evil) which men's hands have done, that He may make them taste a part of that which they have done, in order that they may return.” The end of this verse “in order that they may return” stresses that Muslims should reconsider their acts and call their souls to account and self-scrutiny.
People of faith should resent any violation to what Allah has forbidden as well as any aggression against their honor and inviolable affairs. This is based on the authentic Hadith: “Verily Allah feels jealous, and the jealousy of Allah is aroused when man violates what Allah prohibits.” (Agreed upon)
This resentment demands that the Iraqis must take action and not keep silent in respect to that forbidden matter you have described in your question, which represents a sheer aggression against a Muslim’s honor. Let people of dignity and sense of honor among the clans’ and tribes’ leaders take action and protect what remains of their inviolable affairs, whatever this may cost them. This is because such a matter (searching women) could have been practiced — if it had been necessary for security requirements — by female soldiers in the occupation army. Now the Iraqi people can see the credibility of the American claim to free them and let the Iraqis lead a free and secure life. On the contrary, they replaced a tyrannical regime with another tyrannical, aggressive and oppressive one.
Therefore, I call upon you, the Iraqis, to make the effort to stop such violations and aggressions so that the viewers see your sense of honor, dignity and jealousy in protecting your inviolable honor and land, and hence they will aid and support you.
You should unite your efforts and let all your factions be united in fighting back your enemy and you will find the support and assistance of all those watching you. Almighty Allah says: “ Then We strengthened those who believed against their foe, and they became the uppermost.” (As-Saff: 14) You should also know that the criterion is not your number or your equipment, but what essentially matters is your faith, patience and steadfastness. Allah says: “How many a little company hath overcome a mighty host by Allah's leave! Allah is with the steadfast.” (Al-Baqarah: 249)
It is worth mentioning here that you should call yourselves to account and reconsider your behavior and action according to the saying of `Umar ibn Al-Khattab (may Allah be pleased with him): “Call yourselves to account before you are held responsible for your deeds (i.e., on the Day of Resurrection) and consider your actions before they are measured against you.” Also it is stated in a Hadith: “No calamity befalls (you) save due to committing a sin and it will not be lifted save with repentance.”
It is the duty of Muslims in general and of those in Iraq in particular to earnestly invoke Allah day and night so that He may lift this calamity. Almighty Allah says: “We have sent already unto peoples that were before thee, and We visited them with tribulation and adversity, in order that they might grow humble. If only, when Our disaster came on them, they had been humble! But their hearts were hardened and the devil made all that they used to do seem fair unto them!” (Al-An`am: 42-43) He also says: “And We sent no prophet unto any township but We did afflict its folk with tribulation and adversity that haply they might grow humble.” (Al-A`raf: 94) From these verses it is notable that Allah, Mighty and Exalted be He, urges His servants to earnestly invoke Him by sending them afflictions, tribulations and adversities, just as He encourages them to be grateful to Him by showering them with His favors and blessings. Glory be to Him, the One of Great Wisdom.
Finally, you must keep patient and steadfast, as this is one of the characteristics of the sincere, pious servants of Allah mentioned in the Qur’anic verse: “…and the patient in tribulation and adversity and time of stress. Such are they who are sincere. Such are the God fearing.” (Al-Baqarah: 177)”
Dr. Ahmad Abu-Al-Wafa, Professor of International Law, Faculty of Law at Cairo University, adds:
“Contemporary international covenants agree on stressing the private life of individuals. Article 17 of the UN International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights stipulates:
1. No one shall be subjected to arbitrary or unlawful interference with his privacy, family, home or correspondence, nor to unlawful attacks on his honour and reputation.
2. Everyone has the right to the protection of the law against such interference or attacks.”
