A Brief Guide to Islam and Its Position Towards al-Qaeda and ISIS

Taken from Cover Letter available here:  A Brief Guide to Islam and Its Position Towards al-Qaeda and ISIS Cover Letter

Dear friend or neighbour,

We are a local Muslim organisation and wanted to share an important message. Without doubt, you will be just as shocked and disturbed as we are by the recent acts of terrorism connected to groups such as al-Qaeda, ISIS, Boko Ḥarām and al-Shabāb. However, we have a greater reason to be disturbed because they are being perpetrated deceptively and oppressively in the name of our religion, Islām.

These extremist, terrorist groups are modern manifestations of an ancient radical sect who expelled the companions of the Prophet Muḥammad (peace be upon him) from Islām, revolted against them and assassinated two of the first four caliphs of Islām – ʿUthmān and ʿAlī. Both were sons-in-law of the Prophet and from the best and most righteous of the Muslims. These renegades also attempted to assassinate Muʿāwiyah and ʿAmr bin al-Āṣ, another two companions who were delegated rulers over Syria and Egypt respectively. The appearance of this group was prophesised by Muḥammad (peace be upon him) and the Prophetic traditions regarding them and their traits are well-documented and famous. They appeared only 25 years after the Prophet. The Prophet stated that they will be youthful and foolish-minded, with little understanding of the religion, having outward devotion which does not really touch their hearts at all, and will depart from Islām and kill Muslims. They were labelled as the Khārijites, which means “extremist renegades” who depart from the main body of Muslims. Their ideology is as follows: They excommunicate the Muslim leaders on account of perceived or actual injustices in social and economic affairs, accusing them of not judging fully by God’s law. They then claim that the lands ruled over by these ‘apostate’ Muslim rulers are lands of disbelief whose inhabitants, rulers and ruled, must be fought and killed to enable them to establish “legitimate authority” in the form of a caliphate. Their terrorism is directed primarily at Muslims whom they consider the “near enemy”. Their acts of terrorism in the West are only spill-over activities and are not primarily intended. Their war is fundamentally against Islām, Muslim rulers and their subjects and they operate as insurgents. They are very much like the 19th and 20th European revolutionary movements which came out in the name of “social justice”, used the masses to topple monarchies and once in power began to slaughter those whom they feared could launch counter-revolutions against them. The Khārijites are the same except that they add the cloak of religion and emotional rhetoric as a means of recruiting the ignorant into their cause. The vast majority of their followers are ignorant, disillusioned youth who have had next to no instruction in religion.

Whilst this is well-known to learned orthodox scholars of the Muslims and those Muslims who actually study Islām, the majority of Muslims who lack sufficient Islāmic knowledge tend to be unaware of this devious sect and its deceptive, misguiding rhetoric. In addition, there are many orientations for whom the extremism and terrorism of al-Qaeda and ISIS is an ideal opportunity and perfect cover to hatemonger against Islām and Muslims for whatever ideological and political agendas they conceal. It is important therefore, that we do not allow either of the two parties to bring more harm to society. To this end, we hope that the book, “A Brief Guide to Islām and Its Position Towards al-Qaeda and ISIS”, will give you a much clearer picture about the reality of this group and help to establish that this group along with its ideology is a war against Islām and Muslims before anyone else.

Thank you for your valuable time.

P.S. You may want to visit this website: islamagainstextremism.com which will provide you with more detailed information on this subject