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 in Islam, we would like to thank you for the great confidence you place in us, and we implore Allah Almighty to help us serve His cause and render our work for His Sake.
It is noteworthy that Islam calls for peace, justice, and cooperation in good causes, while it abhors aggression and injustice and any contribution to them, whether they are done against Muslims or non-Muslims. Allah, Exalted be He, says: “… transgress not. Lo! Allah loveth not transgressors..." (Al-Ma'idah: 87)
Almighty Allah calls us to cooperate in good causes and warns us against any sort of cooperation that will lead to spreading evil and mischief on earth: He says, “…help ye one another unto righteousness and pious duty. Help not one another unto sin and transgression…” (al-Ma’idah: 2)
Fair-minded people in the world realize that the US-led war against Iraq is an illegitimate and aggressive war. Our fellow Muslims in the West are also aware of this fact. Driven by their moral principles, they do their best to express their anti-war attitude within the framework of law. They have certain rules and regulations to abide by in that regard, which appear in the statement issued by the Federation of Islamic Organizations in Europe:
"The current events in Iraq and the Arab region, i.e., the destructive war, for which masses of soldiers and a huge number of military weapons have been mobilized, are of a great concern to every human being detesting aggression and injustice. Muslims all over the world are worried because of such a war, which they regard as a new chapter of the series of attempts to demolish the potentials of the Muslim Ummah and get it occupied with battles that distract it from reform and revival.
Our condemnation of that war is clear and is based on certain considerations that we can sum up as follows:
First, the teachings of our religion require us to refuse injustice and aggression. Allah, Exalted be He, forbids us to commit aggressions. He, Exalted be He, says: “… transgress not. Lo! Allah loveth not transgressors..." (Al-Ma'idah: 87) Almighty Allah also says in a Qudsi hadith: “My servants, I have forbidden Myself injustice and I have made injustice forbidden to you. Therefore, do not be unjust to one another.” The US-led war against Iraq is a clear injustice and a flagrant aggression that is not to be met but by refusal and condemnation.
Second, such on-going war constitutes a challenge to international legitimacy and a flagrant violation of all international agreements, laws and norms. Having failed to win the support of the United Nations Security Council to go to war, the US, by its launching that war against Iraq, has flagrantly challenged the will of the international community, which is a serious unprecedented behavior in international dealing.
Third, attacking a sovereign and independent country is a violation to all international agreements and norms. The change of regime that Iraq is inevitably in need of — as do many countries whose peoples suffer under the rule of dictators and tyrants — is a matter that only concerns the peoples of such countries; and they would not, at any rate, accept that the price for liberation from tyranny be subjection to colonization.
Fourth, the insistence of the American administration to go to war against a nation that has suffered (and still does) from injustice, tyranny, hunger, and disease, is also a flagrant challenge to the will of all peoples of the world, including the American and British peoples. Peoples all over the world have demonstrated against that war. Disregarding all such opposing opinions is nothing but a contradiction to the very principle of democracy that America and Britain regard as one of the basic principles upon which their systems are based.
It is noteworthy that the majority of the European and Western peoples do reject the unjust war against Iraq. This is considered an important indication that there is a positive change in the Western public opinion towards realizing that the policy America adopts to dominate the world and control its potentialities poses a serious threat to the safety and stability of the whole world, and that the only alternative for that policy is to establish the principles of fairness and justice.
Regulations for Our Activity in Combating the War against Iraq:
It is our right and duty to express clearly our opposing attitude towards that war. But we should do so in the framework of certain general regulations, so that our expression is wise and moderate, as our religion calls us to do while dealing with the different situations. We are also to do so, taking into account the importance of preserving the legitimate interests of the Islamic existence in Europe as well as preserving the public interest of the European communities of which we are part. Such regulations can be summed up as follows:
1. It is incumbent upon us to condemn such on-going war in every possible lawful means. We can, for instance, issue statements to that effect and declare wisely and in a balanced way in the different media the viewpoint of Islam in that regard. It is worth taking into consideration that our expressions in that regard be based on humanitarian and moral principles without giving a political form to our speech in that regard, because the Islamic organizations we are affiliated to are religious and reforming institutions and it is not of their interests or exercises to have a political role. It is also important that we do not only direct our speech to our fellow Muslims; we are also to address the non-Muslim citizens of the communities we live in.
2. Although we condemn the war against Iraq and believe that it is an unjust aggression against helpless people who have done nothing wrong to anyone and that it will bring about a great destruction to the whole country, we will not, at any rate, express our support of the Iraqi tyrant regime, which plays a part in the suffering that the poor Iraqi people experience.
3. It is also necessary in that regard to interact with the other European peoples that oppose the war, and cooperate with them in organizing demonstrations, etc. This, in itself, may enable us to be in touch with some effective bodies in our communities and may help us cooperate with them with regard to other issues of joint interest.
4. We are to express our attitude towards the war, or towards any other issue, within the framework of law and be extremely keen on preserving the safety and stability of the countries we live in. This requires us not to do anything that may threaten the safety of individuals or organizations, even if their attitudes are opposing to ours. We live in democratic countries that guarantee their citizens freedom of expression within the framework of law; and so, we should not deny others what we demand for ourselves. Preserving the safety and stability of the communities we live in should be one of our concerns as responsible citizens of such communities.
5. Any action that may involve aggression against an individual or organization on the pretext that it is a kind of supporting the right is completely rejected. The fatwas issued by some Muslim scholars and religious institutions with regard to opposing the American military existence in the Muslim countries do not apply to the conditions of the Muslims who live in the West.
6. Playing a real effective role in the events is not to be through acts of sabotage; it is to be achieved by interacting with the public opinion and trying to build and win public support towards establishing the values of fairness, justice and peace. This is to be achieved through a keen and systematic action. What we seek as Muslims in that regard is not confined to achieving our own interests; it is also to include seeking the public interest of the communities we live in. We are to be keen on doing whatever is for the well-being of all people, for this is one of the basic principles our religion calls us to.
7. Our Islamic organizations all over the European countries are to exert efforts to awaken the Muslims there to their responsibilities; they are to try to contain the zealous responses Muslims may show towards the current events by making a campaign to increase their awareness in that respect. This is to direct the different efforts of Muslims positively away from taking any uncontrollable step towards sabotage.
8. Amidst such hard times that the Iraqi people and the other neighboring peoples in the region experience, we should not forget to supplicate Allah, Exalted and Glorified be He, to deliver our Ummah from all evil and spare all humankind the causes of war and destructions."
You can also read:
War on Iraq: European Jurists' View
Backing Fellow Muslims in Iraq
