(Un)-Islamic States: Past and Present By Shaykh Ridhwan Saleem us8.campaign-archive1/?u=d4a8035248b63ffaf110ce433&id=ae8a2776c3&e=ebb2d65fa2 Excerpt from the article: ...The issue of the ‘Islamic State’ (IS) in Iraq and Shām [4] and the proclamation of a caliphate in the region has led to mixed reactions and considerable confusion. While a majority of Muslims broadly believe in the idea of genuine, pious Islamic governance, the harsh and intolerant actions of the IS group are difficult for many to reconcile. Many Muslims are distrustful of the global news media and suspicious of its portrayal of events on the ground. This article will examine some areas that the author believes are useful to arrive at an orthodox Sunni interpretation of current events: 1. The strong Quranic prohibition of shedding Muslim blood and injunction to maintain Muslim unity 2. A recognition that the extreme Salafi-Jihadist groups who make takfeer (declaring someone a disbeliever) of Muslims and take up the sword against them are Khawarij, and what that recognition entails 3. How the Western powers continue to use the age-old strategy of ‘divide and rule’ and how the Salafi-Khawarij are a (perhaps unwitting) agent of that policy 4. How the current Khawarij-Shia conflict is being intentionally misrepresented in the media as a ‘Sunni-Shia’ conflict in a deliberate attempt to instigate the latter 5. That a fear of America and Israel is the emergence of an authentic Sunni caliphate in the region which could potentially spread rapidly across and unite the Sunni Muslim lands 6. That the role of Salafi-Khawarij groups in the region is to prevent such an authentic Sunni caliphate from coming about by causing division and in-fighting amongst Muslims, as well as associating the whole idea of ‘caliphate’ (a noble ideal) with violent barbarity in the eyes of the non-Muslim world...
Posted on: Wed, 17 Sep 2014 15:33:03 +0000
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