Sunni leader says armed struggle against Islamic state rebellion

The Pakistan Awami Tehrik (PAT) Chief Dr Tahirul Qadri has said all the five schools of thought i.e. Maliki, Hanafi, Shaafai, Humbali and Jafari agreed that armed struggle against an Islamic state was an un-Islamic act.
Such an act falls in the category of rebellion and crushing the rebels is in accordance with the Islamic law, he said while addressing the Minhajul Quran Ulema Council meeting on Tuesday.

He said Islam clearly forbids organized armed struggle and use of force against an Islamic state, adding that such an act should be dubbed as a revolt. He said even if rebels had justification of their actions and good intentions, still the armed struggle against an Islamic state was not permissible according to Islamic law.

He said Jihad becomes binding only when rulers of an Islamic state resort to outright ‘Kufr’ and there is little that can justify their actions. He said if a vast majority of people detest the rulers intensely, even then Islam does not allow an armed struggle against the rulers of such a state. He said democratic and peaceful struggle could be launched and it is perfectly permissible under the Islamic law.

Dr Tahirul Qadri said violators of the commands of Allah Almighty and His Prophet (PBUH) cannot be described as ‘martyrs’ when killed. He said branding them as such creates confusion regarding the Islamic concept of martyr (Shaheed), which the religion does not allow. He said the holy Quran and Prophetic tradition have laid down the principles clearly in this regard and Islamic values cannot be changed till the Day of Judgment. He said killing a non-combatant non-Muslim during the course of war is strictly forbidden in Islam.

He said killing rebels is in accordance with Allah’s Commands and has been a practice of the companions, adding that describing the rebels as ‘Shaheed’ is an outright violation of Commands of Allah and His Prophet (PBUH). He said there is a Prophetic saying about the killing of non-Muslims in unjust manner that Prophet (PBUH) would himself plead the case of the murdered on their behalf and get the killers punished.