Gorilla’s Guides

The reference article on Fatwas  has been published and can be found in the “Gorilla’s Guides For The Perplexed” permanent pages at the following address Fatwas A Brief Guide .

An extract:

Fatwas Affecting The Community As A Whole

The situation becomes more complex when the jurist is required to exercise his* judgement on matters that apply to an entire community. For example, it is generally accepted that citizens are required to give allegiance to their nation and, if necessary, to engage in war to defend its integrity and freedom. There are specialised societal agencies, the political, diplomatic, and military arms of government, to perform the assessments and carry out the tasks necessary to maintain a state’s integrity and freedom. That their job is to protect both the citizenry and the state does not empower them to issue a fatwa decreeing jihad, preparing for war, and then to escalate those preparations from a defensive posture to going on the offensive. Such decisions cannot be left solely to the arms of the state precisely because of their specialised role in society.

A religious authority empowered to issue a decree of war must consult those specialised social agencies and then exercise his judgement to clearly establish several points such as:

• Has the point been reached where all political, diplomatic, economic, propaganda, and other peaceful alternatives been exhausted? — In other word is a recourse to military force now the only available alternative to repel aggression?
• Has the point been reached where it is licit to take up arms against an enemy?
• If the answer to that question is “yes” to whom, exactly, does the term “enemy” apply?  Does it apply only to enemy invading forces or does it also apply to civilians, such as diplomats and “reconstruction teams” who are their as part of the invasion?
• Does the term “enemy” also apply to domestic forces and civilians who are assisting the invader?
• Is it acceptable to seek the assistance of foreign fighters to help repel the invader?

* It is worth pointing out that at the time of writing (April 2008) there are female students in some of the seminaries in Qum and have been for some years now. I am in my late forties assuming a normal lifespan I expect there to be female Ayatollahs within my lifetime.

Read in full:  Fatwas A Brief Guide .

Comments are closed on that page so if you have any comments please make them here. As with all the guides we will make available as a PDF to anyone who asks for it. Usually we have the PDF ready within a day or so.

Fatima

Operation types

There are many ways in which death squads from different backgrounds operate. They differ in size, techniques used to reach their objective, means of covering or promoting their activities, motivations, selected targets and use of weapons and equipment. Unlike in many other LICs, death squads in Iraq do not carry out pogrom-like attacks on villages or city quarters, nor do they practise open mass murder operations against certain sects (they are conducted by suicide bombers who cannot be counted among death squads in the Iraqi conflict). Iraqi-type death squads rather carry out operations aimed at slow, gradual eradication of a certain group, or they directly attack individuals in pre-planned assassinations. They seldom try to cover their actions completely, instead they often count on the possible side effects of their operations and certain groups even boast of their operational successes. Death squads in Iraq are involved in political warfare, their activities are intended to achieve public and political effects, in pursuit of their goals.

Armed resistance to the American led invasion of Irak and the overthrow of the Iraki government emerged rapidly and accounts for the vast majority of violent attacks within Irak. However there are several foci of armed conflict within the country involving many actors. These actors have widely divergent agendas but all use death squads as a weapon.

The use of this weapon was noted early in the occupation period and rapidly became SOP amongst all the factions vying with each other in Irak. Resistance groups, militias, and elements of the security forces all use this tactic. The differing aims of the actors have led each to develop its own death squads it is thus a mistake to assume that their methods are identical. Each has different targets, methods, and ways of covering their tracks. It is no exaggeration to say that one of the wars being waged in Irak is the war of the death squads.

Characteristic of this war is that the diversity of actors and motivations ensures that a situation remarkably close to a Hobbesian state of nature in which each group pursues only their own interest. Alliances where they occur are both fragile and unstable, a feature exacerbated by the very existence of death squads, as the use of death squads in interfactional strife has given rise to extremist sectarian, political and ideological tensions amongst the populace.

Death Squad Operational Categorisation:

Depending on the background from which they come a death squad will vary in:

• Motivation.
• Size.
• Techniques used to accomplish their objective.
• Means of covering their activities.
• Means of promoting their activities.
• Targets selected.
• Weapons and equipment used.

It should be noted that the Iraki situation is unusual in that the death squads operating there typically do not carry out pogrom-style attacks on villages or selected city quarters. Nor do they engage in spectacular mass murder operations against particular ethnic groups or sects. Attacks of those types are carried out by suicide bombers and cannot be classed as death squad activity.

In Irak death squads are engaged either in lengthy campaigns aimed at eliminating the target group(s) over a relatively long period of time or in planned assassinations of individuals. They rarely try to cover their actions completely relying instead on the fear generated by their actions to provide the level of cover needed. Several groups boast of their operations both on Internet sites and by using posters (or graffiti) in the neighbourhood where their target lived. The purpose is political and twofold:

• To maintain support amongst their base.
• To increase the level of fear in the target community.

Extrajudicial Detention And Killing

Extrajudicial detention and killing is the rounding up of victims by a death squad:

• Wearing uniforms of one or other of the security organs of the state
• Using vehicles of one or other of the security organs of the state
• Using ID provided by one or other of the security organs of the state

Operations of this type are carried out by relatively large death squad whose members use vehicles of the type used by of one or other of the security organs of the state. The numbers of death squad members involved is relatively large, they usually result in the killing of their victims and the disposal of their corpses. Several types of operation can be noted. 

Direct Seizure:

In a direct seizure operation victims are snatched either directly from their homes or from  the street on their way to work or a market or from some other place that they are known to frequent. The technique is used particularly for rounding up more than one victim from a particular district at the same time.

Direct Seizure Target Selection:

In a direct seizure operation targets are generally selected one or other of the following criteria or some combination of them:

• Political affiliation.
• Sectarian affiliation.
• Membership of an ethnic minority.
• Membership of a religious minority.
• Tribal affiliation.
• Status as an official in the Saddam era.
• Status as a member of the Iraki armed forces in the Saddam era.

Direct Seizure Methodology:

This kind of operation generally involves rounding victims by armed men:

• Wearing Iraki green zone government army or police uniforms - in particular uniforms of the various special forces attached to the Interior Ministry.
• Carrying weaponry and other equipment identical to that issued by the green zone government to its security organs - in particular weapons issued to the various special forces attached to the Interior Ministry.
• Carrying ID identical to that issued by the green zone government to its security organs - in particular IDs issued by the various special forces attached to the Interior Ministry. 
• Riding in vehicles indistinguishable from those used by the green zone government to its security organs - in vehicles of the type used by the various special forces attached to the Interior Ministry.

The death squad in short is either one of the green zone government’s security units such or it has such access to the green zone government’s security units as to be indistinguishable from them. The process therefore is a kidnapping made to look like an arrest. An important part of the process is that it leaves behind witnesses such as the family of the victim or their friends and associates thereby spreading fear in the target community.

Direct Seizure Disposal of Corpses:

A feature of this weapon is how the corpses are disposed of. In most cases they bodies show signs of torture typical of such signs are:

• Drill holes in soft body parts.
• Drill holes in the joints.
• Drill holes in the skull.
• Drill holes in in the face.
• Burns from cigarettes, domestic irons, blow torches and welders.
• Electrical burns particularly to the genitalia.
• Acid burns.
• Severe bruising from heavy beatings.

Almost invariably the victims have been bound or handcuffed using disposable handcuffs. The killings themselves are generally "execution style" the victims are shot either in the temple or through the back of the head. Recently however specialised killing techniques such as strangulation, and throat cutting have become more common, some cases of suffocation have also been noted, as has drowning.

The corpses are in urban or suburban areas. Sometimes they are left in relatively large numbers. The purpose of leaving them in such easy to find locales is to enhance the political and public side-effects amongst the target’s community and the public at large.

Continue reading ‘الكوليرا الزاحفة إلى العراق بعد انهيار بنيته الصحية- طالب المحسن - الحياة’ »

O God! Pardon our living and our dead, the present and the absent, the young and the old, the males and the females.

There will be no posting tonight.

Maryam

Alms giving (Zakat in Arabic) is the THIRD PILLAR of Islam. The word itself means “blessing”, meaning that it blesses and purifies the wealth from which it is taken.   

The Qur’an mentions Zakat many times along with prayer Salat to emphasise its importance. For example:  

“My mercy encompasses all things, but I will specify it for the righteous who give Zakat” 

(Qur’an 7:156).

Your real allies are GOD and His messenger, and the believers who observe the SALAT AND GIVE ZAKAT, and they bow down.

(Qur’an 5:55)

and be constant in prayer, and spend in charity,  and bow down in prayer with all who thus bow down.

(Qur’an 2:43)

Zakat’s importance can be seen from how often Muslim jurists dealt with the topic. To give just one example Ibn Taimiah said:

“The soul of one who gives Zakah is blessed and so is his wealth.”

Muslims are required to show concern for and solidarity with the poor. Since the time of the Prophet Mohammed every Muslim has been expected to donate a minimum of one-fortieth (2½%) of assets that have been owned over a year in charity. There are no exceptions to this requirement Zakat is mandatory for every Muslim adult who is in good mental health. 

It may be helpful for Westerners to think of Zakat as a duty to perform charity for the community as a whole - a practical expression of concern for the poorest in the community and is additional to the requirement to support needy or poor family members such as grandparents, parents, spouses, and children.

The ways in which Zakat is handled can vary greatly from country to country and the rules for calculating it can be complex. Traditionally the matter was dealt with informally and in private - typically it involved helping needy or poor neighbours. In modern times however Zakat is often handled by charities and Muslim charities have become important international aid agencies.

Sawm is Islam’s FOURTH PILLAR. For the entire month of Ramadan all Muslims who have reached puberty, and who are in good physical and mental health are required to fast. The word literally means ‘to abstain’ and in Islamic law means abstenton from:

• Eating,
• drinking,
• sexual activity
• vices such as smoking

Westerners and non-Muslims almost invariably - and mistakenly, use the name of the month - Ramadan, during which Sawm is undertaken as the name of the fast itself. This is a very basic misundertanding:

Sawm

Means the religious fasting - abstaining from particular activities that takes place during the month of Ramadan.

Ramadan

Means the 9th month of the Hijra calendar, which is the calendar used in Islam. It is the month in which the revelation of the Qur’an began and and is the month during which the religious fasting festival of Sawm takes place. Devout Muslims recite the Qur’an in its entirety during this month.

The name “Ramadan” goes back to pre-Islamic times and refers to the heat of the summer.

At the end of the month of Ramadan is the feast of Eid al-Fitr

Sawm lasts for the entire lunar month of Ramadan and ends with the major religious festival of Eid al-Fitr. The act of fasting takes place from daybreak until the sun disappears under the horizon. The night is a period of eating, celebration, sleep, and of performing religious duties.

As well as fasting Muslims are particularly expected to engage in charitable works and to visit and comfort the sick and the poor. Indulging in vice or behaviour such as telling lies or speaking maliciously are considered to be particularly repugnant at this time.

If a Muslim deleiberately breaks one of the rules by engaging in forbidden behaviour the fast is broken for that day and must be made up after Sawm. Muslims - even those who would condider themseslves as devout are generally keenly aware of these obligations, and often in general follow them strictly. Once the sun is below the horizon people wait for a signal that mark the end of Sawm for that particular day. These signals vary from place to place Examples are ceremonial firing of a cannon, drumming, calls from the mosques, or announcements made on television and radio.

Sawm is mentioned in several places in the Qur’an but the key passages are in Surah 2.

2:183 O YOU who have attained to faith! Fasting is ordained for you as it was ordained for those before you, so that you might remain conscious of God:

2:184 [fasting] during a certain number of days. But whoever of you is ill, or on a journey, [shall fast instead for the same] number of other days; and [in such cases] it is incumbent upon those who can afford it to make sacrifice by feeding a needy person. And whoever does more good than he is bound to do does good unto himself thereby; for to fast is to do good unto yourselves - if you but knew it.

2:185 It was the month of Ramadan in which the Qur’an was [first] bestowed from on high as a guidance unto man and a self-evident proof of that guidance, and as the standard by which to discern the true from the false. Hence, whoever of you lives to see this month shall fast throughout it; but he that is ill, or on a journey, [shall fast instead for the same] number of other days. God wills that you shall have ease, and does not will you to suffer hardship; but [He desires] that you complete the number [of days required], and that you extol God for His having guided you aright, and that you render your thanks [unto Him].

2:187 IT IS lawful for you to go in unto your wives during the night preceding the [day’s] fast: they are as a garment for you, and you are as a garment for them. God is aware that you would have deprived yourselves of this right, and so He has turned unto you in His mercy and removed this hardship from you. Now, then, you may lie with them skin to skin, and avail yourselves of that which God has ordained for you, and eat and drink until you can discern the white streak of dawn against the blackness of night, and then resume fasting until nightfall; but do not lie with them skin to skin when you are about to abide in meditation in houses of worship. These are the bounds set by God: do not, then, offend against them - [for] it is thus that God makes clear His messages unto mankind, so that they might remain conscious of Him.

That relations between “the West” and Islam are bad, is perhaps one of the few things upon which Muslim and non-Muslim alike can agree. Though they disagree about who is to blame for this situation.

The favorability measures show a troubled relationship between Westerners and Muslims, but the overall picture is more mixed than unremittingly negative. With only a few exceptions, attitudes among Western publics (toward Muslims) and Muslims (toward Christians) have remained fairly stable over the past few years.

Source: The Great Divide: How Westerners and Muslims View Each Other

Quite apart from the effect of the various wars being waged by the USA and her proxies, there has long been a tradition of, at worst rampant Islamophobia, and at best muddled ignorance amongst westerners about Islam and its adherents. Ignorance about Islam is a bad foundation for relations between us. The need to know more about Islam is compelling. It is not merely about who has strategic control of the resources found in Muslim lands, it is not merely about hegemonism, the need springs from the nature of Islam itself.

There is something within Islam that has made it the faith of more than one great empire. There is something within Islam that has caused it to be embraced by such diverse peoples as the Arabs, the Persians, the Turks, the Mughals, the Indonesians, the Malays. There is something within it that causes it to command the adherence of well over a billion people and that makes it the fastest growing faith in the world.

Muslims believe in one God, the same God who is worshipped by Jews and Christians. One would think that that fact would engender co-operation between followers of the three Abrahamic religions but such is not the case. Islam is a closed book to most westerners, and not just because few are familiar with Arabic. When I, as a western Christian who lives in a very secular country and who have some experience of Islam talk about Islam with other westerners I find that most people have a confused tangle of half-acknowledged ideas, and unacknowledged prejudices about Islam until they learn better.

Islam is not necessarily oppressive to women. Islamic law does not necessarily lead to stonings or punishment amputations, it is very far from being the case that Muslims’ loyalty to their country is undermined by their religion. The problem is compounded by a lack of a lack of appreciation of the seriousness of Islam’s principles. Many do not know that Muslims believe the Qur’an to be the word of God, or understand the very genuine outrage that offensively sceptical Western characterisations of the Prophet Mohammed are inevitably going to cause.

There is a similar lack of knowledge of Western Secular, Western Christian, Jewish and liberal ideas and mores amongst many Muslims. But we can hardly blame Muslims for confusing Western religions and precepts with Western culture; we do the same to them.

Islam is built on clear, simple concepts. To learn even the basics about it allows the enquirer to see how much there is to how much there is to discover. The result is well worth the effort.

markfromireland

Resource: Pew Global Attitudes Project: I. Muslims and the West - How Each Sees The Other: The Great Divide: How Westerners and Muslims View Each Other

Islam, the Prophet said, is built on five pillars (1). The pillars do not define the religion as such because Islam’s essence is traditionally held to be its spiritual life rather than any formal practices. The five pillars are regarded as the foundations of Islam and their importance can be judged by the fact that they give Muslim societies their basic social rhythm.

The FIRST PILLAR — Declaration of belief (Shahada):

The first pillar is the most important. It consists of what are called the “Two Testimonies” (the plural of Shahada is shahadatayn). They function as a creed. A basic declaration of faith. Every Muslim is required to testify that:

1.  ”There is no god but God”,

   and that

2. “Mohammed is the messenger of God”.

The first of the shahadatayn  ”there is no god but God” is an assertion, declaring that Islam is strictly monotheistic. In a western context it might be compared to the declaration found in Deuteronomy 6:4. in the old testament:

“Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God is one Lord”.

The second of the shahadatayn, declarations of faith, tells the believer that this One God makes his will known to his straying creatures by choosing a prophet - like Moses or Elijah in the Bible - to remind people of his will. Muslim theology states that God has sent prophets to every people, and that Mohammed was the last of them. This is why you will often hear Muslims call the Prophet Mohammed ”The Seal of the Prophets,” or “Khatam-an-Nabiyyin” in Arabic. According to orthodox Muslim doctrine no prophet will, or indeed can, come after the Prophet Mohammed instead the believers are to expect the Second Coming of Jesus Christ.

Notes:

(1) Translation of Sahih Bukhari, Book 2: Volume 1, Book 2, Number 7:

Narrated Ibn ‘Umar:

Allah’s Apostle said: Islam is based on (the following) five (principles):

1. To testify that none has the right to be worshipped but Allah and Mohammed is Allah’s Apostle.
2. To offer the (compulsory congregational) prayers dutifully and perfectly.
3. To pay Zakat (i.e. obligatory charity) .
4. To perform Hajj. (i.e. Pilgrimage to Mecca)
5. To observe fast during the month of Ramadan.

The SECOND PILLAR of Islam is the duty to pray five times daily.

All Muslims men and women alike are required to pray 5 times a day. The five prayer times their names in Arabic and their Qur’anic references are :

1. The Dawn Prayer (Fajr in Arabic),given in 11:114, 24:58
2. The Noon Prayer (Dhuhr in Arabic) , given in 17:78 and 30:18
3. The Afternoon Prayer (Asr in Arabic), given in 2:238
4. The sunset Prayer (Maghrib in Arabic), given in 11:114
5. The Night Prayer (Isha in Arabic), given in 24:58

The form of Muslim prayer is unfamiliar to many westerners. It involves a series of solemn bowings and prostrations as well as reciting the prayers. The purpose of the bowings and the prostrations is strengthen within the supplicant the Islamic belief that body and spirit are closely and inextricably bonded.

It is important to understand that while the form of prayer is very solemn and ceremonious it isn’t a rite conducted by a priest leading a congregation as found in the Christian tradition. 

Islam has no priests who conduct rites. There is no concept of ”Sacrament” in the Christian sense of the word.  Thus there is no need to have a hierarchy, or a priestly caste, set aside by ordination to administer a separate sacrament as a visible sign of God’s saving intervention. All of life, a Muslim will tell you, should be lived as a sacrament and every believer stands alone before God even as they pray shoulder to shoulder amongst a crowd of thousands of fellow-worshippers.

The fact that every worshipper stands alone before God makes it entirely acceptable to pray alone nevertheless it is seen as more meritorious to pray in a mosque as part of a congregation.  All Muslims, men and women alike, are required to participate in the prayers which are led by an imam. An imam can be anyone from the community who knows the prescribed form of the prayers, typically the Imam is the most learned or respected member of the congregation an Imam is not necessarily a full-time clergyman.

The prayers are virtually identical everywhere, and have not altered their form since the very earliest days of Islam. Muslims proudly proclaim that they are the only people who pray exactly as their Prophet did.