Makkah Declaration on the Iraqi Situation
About 50 Iraqi Muslim scholars representing the country's Shia and Sunni communities met on October 19, 2006, at the royal palace in Makkah, Saudi Arabia that overlooks the Ka'aba, Islam's holiest site, and signed an edict (Fatwa) making attacks on Muslims in Iraq a sin.
MAKKAH AL-MUKARRAMAH DECLARATION
ON THE IRAQI SITUATION
Praise and Glory be to Almighty God, and May His Peace and Blessings be Upon His Prophet Mohamed and all his Kin and Companions
In view of the present situation in Iraq, where bloodshed is widespread, and where aggression on assets and property, perpetrated under the guise of Islam, is daily occurrence, and in response to the invitation of the Secretary-General of the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) and under the umbrella of the OIC International Islamic Fiqh Academy (IIFA),
We the scholars of Iraq, from both the Sunnis and the Shiites, having met in Makkah Al-Mukarramah in Ramadan of the Lunar Hijra year of 1427H (2006) and deliberated on the situation in Iraq and the disastrous plight of the Iraqi people, issue and proclaim the following Declaration:
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The Muslim is he who professes his faith by bearing witness that there is no God but Allah and that Mohamed is His Prophet. These fundamental principles apply equally to the Sunnis and the Shiites without exception. The common grounds between the two schools of thought are many times more than areas of difference and their causes. Any difference between them are merely differences of opinion and interpretation and not essential differences of faith or on the substance of the Pillars of Islam. From the Islamic Shari'a viewpoint, no one follower of either schools may excommunicate, hereticate, or in any other way cast aspersions on the faith and fidelity of a follower of the other school, on the grounds that God's Prophet (PBUH) said:
"If ever one of you calls his brother: You infidel, one of them shall come out the infidel and bear the onus thereof!".
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The blood, property, honor, and reputation of Muslims is sacrosanct on the grounds of the noble verses of the Holy Quran, in which Almighty God says:
"And whoever deliberately and with premeditation kills a believer, his recompense is Hell to abide therein, and the Wrath and the Curse of God are upon him, and a great punishment is prepared for him";
and the immaculate Tradition of the Prophet Mohamed (PBUH), which says:
"Everything pertaining to the Muslim is sacrosanct, including his blood, property, honor, and reputation".
Therefore, no Muslim, whether he or she is Shiite or Sunni, may be subject to murder or any harm, intimidation, terrorization, or aggression on his property; incitement thereto; or forcible displacement, deportation, or kidnapping. Moreover, no member of his family may be held hostage on grounds of religious or sectarian belonging. Whoever perpetrates such acts shall fall from the fold and grace of the whole Ummah, including all Muslim authorities, scholars, and all believers. -
All houses of worship are sacrosanct, including mosques and the non-Muslim houses of worship of all faiths and religions. Therefore, these places of worship may not be attacked, appropriated, or in any other way used as a haven to perpetrate acts in contravention of our Magnanimous Shari'a. Instead, they should remain entirely at the disposal of their owners who should regain total and unfettered access to them in application of the Muslim jurisprudential rule adopted by all Islamic schools that:
"All religious endowments and Awqaf shall be subject to the terms and conditions established by their owners" that: "a condition stipulated by the Donor shall be treated just as a Shari'a rule"; and that: "That which is part of practice and custom shall be deemed as a contractual provision".
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The crimes committed on sight on grounds of sectarian identity or belonging, such as those now being perpetrated in Iraq, fall within the ambit of "wickedness, and mischief on the earth", which was prohibited and proscribed by Almighty God when He said:
"When he turns his back, His aim everywhere is to spread mischief through the earth and destroy crops and cattle. But God loveth not mischief."
The espousal of a school of thought, whatever it may be, is not a justification for killing or aggression, even if some followers of that school commit a punishable act since:"A bearer of burdens cannot bear another's burdens".
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Any provocation of sensitivities or sectarian, ethnic, geographical, or linguistic strife should be shunned and averted. Similarly, any name-calling, abuse, or vilification and invectives uttered by any one party in attack on another should be avoided in view of the express prohibition by the Holy Quran, which labeled such conduct as "blasphemy":
"Nor defame nor be sarcastic to each other, nor call each other by offensive nicknames: Ill-seeming is a name connoting wickedness used of one after he has believed: And those who do not desist are indeed wrong doers".
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Certain things and principles should never be forfeited, including in particular the unity, cohesion, cooperation, and solidarity in piety and righteousness, which should all be preserved and protected against any attempt to tear them asunder, for Almighty God said:
"The Believers are but a single Brotherhood" and He also said:
"Truly! This Ummah of yours is a single brotherhood, and I am your Lord, therefore worship Me".
Necessarily therefore, it is incumbent upon all Muslims to adopt caution and vigilance against all attempts to sow division among them, break their ranks, or incite sedition, strife, and hate to corrupt their divine spiritual bonds with each other. -
Muslims, both Sunnis and the Shiites all in unison champion the cause of the persecuted and unite against the oppressor and the unjust, as they act in application of Almighty God's words:
"Verily, God enjoins justice, righteousness and good deeds, charity and assistance to kith and kin and He forbids all shameful deeds, injustice, and oppression. He admonishes you, that you may take heed".
Accordingly, our endeavors should seek to put an end to all injustices, including most particularly by ensuring the release of all innocent prisoners and hostages, whether Muslims or non-Muslims, and the return of the displaced to their original homes. -
The scholars remind the Iraqi Government of its duty to provide security, protection and means of decent livelihood to all categories and sections of the Iraqi people and to uphold justice among them, principally, by ensuring the release of innocent detainees, by bringing to speedy and fair trial, and executing the ruling against, those indicted of crime, while observing strictly the principle of equality among all citizens.
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The Sunnite and Shiite scholars support all efforts aimed at achieving comprehensive national reconciliation in Iraq in accordance with the words of the Almighty God:
"Reconciliation is best" and "Help ye one another in righteousness and piety".
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Muslims, whether Sunnite or Shiite, will thus stand united in protecting the independence, unity, and territorial integrity of Iraq; realizing and consecrating the free will of the Iraqi people, contributing to the military, economic, and political capacity-building of their country in order to put an end to occupation and restore and reinstate Iraq's Arab-Islamic and human cultural and civilizational role.
The scholars who have signed this Declaration appeal to all Muslim scholars to support its provisions and urge the Muslims of Iraq to pledge adherence to it. They pray to Almighty God, on this sacred soil and blessed grounds, to protect and preserve the faith of all Muslims, ensure the safety of their homeland, and bring the Arab-Muslim country of Iraq out of its plight, end its trials and tribulations and reinstate Iraq as a fortress and pillar of the Muslim Ummah in the face of its enemies.
Our final and eternal prayer is always that Praise and Glory be to Almighty God, the Lord of the Universe and all worlds therein.
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hurt, harm, divide and conquer us like what
happen in Iraq, and Palestine. The Muslims
do not look out for each others instead they look for their personal well being and money.
In your comments, you assume far too much from just my name ...if my name was either 'Nuha', 'Wasi' 'Faruq' or 'Huda', maybe you would understand what I wrote without prejudice(?):
..."I respect and understand your comment how about extending it to the rest of humanity? Peace for all"
Merry Christ Mass,
Paul.
The faith I have woudn't allow me to condone the things they do, inflicted on anyone at all regardless of religion, race, or any othe damn differences people may have.
Then again, the more I learn what kind of people and and governments are in the middle east, calling themselves muslims, the less shocked about the everything middle east.
I am of course extremely happy about the makkah declaration, but hey, why do you need a makkah declaration to say killing and attacking other muslims, and otherwise behaving like animals in general is a sin????? I thought the basic principles of islam / quran should have taken care of all that.
Surah 2. Al-Baqarah.
83. And (remember) when We took a covenant from the Children of Israel saying: Worship none but Allah (Alone) and be dutiful and good to parents, and to kindred, and to orphans and the poor, and speek good to people, and perform As-Salat, and give Zakat. Then you backslide except a few of you, while you are backsliders.
84. And remember when We took your covenant (saying): Shed not the blood of your people nor turn out your own people form their dwellings. Then, this you ratified and to this you bear witness.
85. After this, it is you who kill one another and drive out a party of you from thier homes, assist their enemies against them, in sin and transgression. And if they come to you as captives, you ransome them although their expulsion was forbidden to you. Then do you believe in a part of the Scripture and reject the rest? Then what is the recompense of those who do so among you, except disgrace in the life of this world, and on the Day of Resurrection they shall be consigned to the most grievous torment. And Allah is not unaware of what you do.
This covenant applies even to us Muslims (Allah knows best).
Inshallah may ALL MUSLIMS SUBMITT TO GODS WORDS IN THE QURAN AND BE AT PEACE WITH EACH OTHER.
Are they the leaders of Iraq ,if not then it is of no use.
What thy have reached should be practiced by the leaders of Iraq.
Now they should stop using Shia or sunni or kurds word in identifiying people they should use only Islam for the comunity of Muslims Or Iraq for the people of Iraq.
My point is if any thing happen in Iraq the news should be 3 Iraqs has been killed by ather Iraqs who call themselves liberators or militant or rebels. Stop using thes words SHIA SUNNI KURDS
The media is deviding the people.
This the policy of the west.
stop
Wabillahi taufik
The way I also understand and will definitely apply it, is that if you send your people to kill my family, loot and then destroy my home, you can rest assured that I will repel the parasites and the vermin you are sending, if you send humanists amongst your people to do good, I will reciprocate as well, hopefully even with more zeal. I hope that is clear and loud enough
As Abu Laith pointed out it was already a sin to kill one another, and Paul that includes all of humanity....Stop letting the media program you with what they themselves call programming, if you really want to learn about Islam read about it from Muslim authors and not orientelists....Islam has too long been presented to you in the way other people want you to believe why not research on your own...
Peace be upon all of humanity for we are all citizens of this thing called earth.
I respect and understand your comment how about extending it to the rest of humanity?
Peace for all
Paul.