By Shaykh Dr Mohamed el Sharkawy

THERE IS A WAY OF THINKING WE MUST ADDRESS THAT THREATENS TO TAKE OVER THE MIND OF YOUNG MUSLIMS AND CORRUPT THEIR WORLDVIEW. DAESH HAVE MADE THEIR POSITION CLEAR IN ARROGANTLY CONCLUDING THAT THE ‘GRAYZONE’ IS NOW EXTINCT.

Their words and actions are entrenched in violence and rooted in an idea that gives them the liberty to abandon all concepts of morality, decency and humanity. By self-victimising and convincing yourself that the whole world is your enemy, you can be fooled into accepting and propagating the clichéd ‘us vs. them’ approach. If there was ever a notion that disposed of any and all concepts of goodness, compassion or responsibility it is this.

If you look at their own words you can see the inherent flaws and inconsistencies in their reasoning. Their egotistical ranting exposes their lack of knowledge and highlights the contradictions in what they say and believe. The foundations for their corrupt worldview are not prophetic or Islamic in any way. The idea that the world has now ‘been divided into two camps and two trenches, with no third camp present…’ is accredited to statements made by the likes of Osama bin Laden, not from quoting the Qur’an or the Hadith.

The laughable irony in statements like this is that Daesh’s overarching worldview, the worldview that absolves them of morals and permits them to commit unthinkable atrocities, stems from individuals that represent ideals they so vociferously detest. They have been quoted as saying that they will, ‘carry upon the manhaj of the imam Shaykh Usamah…’ yet we have seen the likes of Al Qaeda come out and disavow themselves from Daesh, the results being nothing but the trading of insults and open hostility between the two factions. In this pettiness and bickering between these groups we see their inherent insecurity. It is the fear of losing control that drives this paranoia and confusion, not the adherence to any Islamic ethos.

If we look at the life and teachings of the Prophet (saw) in our attempt to make sense of Daesh’s nonsensical ‘us and them’ worldview, we can see its giant pitfalls and brazen insult of the Prophet Muhammad (saw). If their worldview and the establishment of their ‘Islamic state’ truly had its roots in the prophetic teaching, we would have seen this theory being expounded by the Prophet (saw) when he introduced the ideal Islamic state to the city of Madinah. However, if we actually take a close look at the Madinah Covenant that was authored as the first manifesto of the Prophet’s state we see, quite explicitly, that it is a bastion for inclusion, civility and coexistence.

If the Prophet had held fast to the twisted ideals that ISIS insultingly accredit to him we would not see declarations of unity amongst different sects within society or principles of economic solidarity when distributing economic responsibilities among the different groups in society. Additionally, if we needed further evidence of the deceit in Daesh’s words, ask yourselves why would the Prophet Muhammad (saw) send his companions to Abyssinia to seek refuge under its Christian king if he thought the way Daesh do?

Further to this Daesh, in their flawed justification for the extinction of the grayzone and their ultimatum to Muslims to make a choice between the ‘two camps’, say that we can either, ‘stay where we are and apostatise and adopt kufr religion or emigrate to the caliphate to avoid persecution…’  It is not in the domain of the ‘scholars’ of Daesh to definitively say who has abandoned their religion or not. For centuries the scholars of Islam have spoken out against the dangers of committing ‘takfir’ on people. Who or what someone believes in is a matter between them and their Lord. For those that issue ‘fatwas’ like this, the Prophet (saw) has warned quite clearly that,

‘THOSE WHO ISSUE FATWAS WITH EASE ALSO APPROACH HELL FIRE WITH EASE’

—(Sunan al-Darimi, Hadith 159)

Let us also focus on this notion of ‘emigrating to the caliphate to avoid persecution’ which is riddled with contradictions and exposes Daesh for what they are. The atrocities committed by Daesh could take up an entire publication in itself so it begs the question as to exactly what persecution we are avoiding by emigrating to this ‘caliphate’. Under Daesh rule we have seen indiscriminate mass murder (Muslims and Non-Muslims), the use of horrendous torture techniques and killing methods such as burning and mutilating, the capture and killing of innocent humanitarian aid workers simply because they held a certain nationality, the killing of Imams and Scholars that exposed them for the irreligious beings they are, the corruption of sacred laws, the destruction of Mosques and places of worship, the unjustifiable enslavement of innocent young girls and the list goes on and on. Time and time again the Qur’an and the Prophetic teachings implore us to act in moderation, to act in kindness and with justice. Nowhere in the Islamic tradition do we see any justification for what Daesh are doing. Allah is explicit when he says,

‘WHOEVER KILLS A BELIEVER INTENTIONALLY, HIS PUNISHMENT IS HELL TO LIVE THEREIN FOREVER. HE SHALL INCUR THE WRATH OF ALLAH, WHO WILL LAY HIS CURSE ON HIM AND PREPARE FOR HIM A WOEFUL PUNISHMENT’

—(Qur’an 4:93)

Daesh’s understanding of the world is riddled with confusions and contradictions. The only ‘camp’ that has emerged is the one that will continue to stand united in opposition against Daesh’s false belief that they are somehow upholding the legacy of Islam and ‘walking the prophetic path’. The louder Daesh shout that they are on the haqq the more determined we become to expose them for what they really are.