Last Monday, the head of the International Union for Muslim Scholars, Sheikh Yusuf al-Qaradawi, issued a fatwa saying that it is permissible for anyone to kill the Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi because of his mass murders and heinous crimes against the people of Libya.
As much as I agree that Gaddafi should be punished for his crimes against humanity, I am deeply disappointed that Sheikh Qaradawi would issue such a fatwa against him. Yes, Gaddafi has committed inhumane crimes against the Libyan people, but there should be due process for justice to be served.
Let Gaddafi be captured, detained, put on trial, be allowed to speak his defense (no matter how pathetic it will sound) and after he is prosecuted for his crimes, the court of law can decide his punishment, whether it be execution, life in prison, and so on.
Sheikh Qaradawi may not be advocating or encouraging Muslims to become vigilantes, but such a fatwa can be easily misconstrued, manipulated, and used against any leader (or any person for that matter) who is opposed, whether they are an oppressor or not.
Let us not forget Hazrat Uthman ibn Affan (RA), Hazrat Ali (RA), and Imam Hussein (May Allah be pleased with all of them) were all brutally murdered by early Muslims using justification from the Qur’an and Sunnah.
Even when Ayatollah Khomeini issued a fatwa for the immediate death of Salman Rushdie, author of the controversial book Satanic Verses, the scholars of Al-Azhar University rejected this fatwa saying someone cannot be sentenced to death unless and until they are put on trial and given the opportunity to defend their case, no matter how guilty they may seem.
Salman Rushdie’s book isn’t the same as Gaddafi’s mass murders, but the point is that it is invalid to sentence someone for anything unless they are put on trial under the court of law, not a trial by an individual or non-governing body.
The legal system and penal laws in Islam should never be put aside. If we don’t uphold due process, it can lead to an unjust system where the innocent will become victims as well. Muslim scholars need to be role models in not just peace, but also during peaceful revolutions and in the proper methods of establishing justice.
Thank you for sharing your perspective
Thank you for this. I too was caught up with the commotion, but you are correct, we can’t take the law in our own hands. It must be dealt with in a court of law
Hmm…This is a tough one, but just as a clarification, here is the translation of the last part of his fatwa:
“I hereby issue a fatwa to the officers and soldiers who can kill Mu’ammar Al-Qadhafi: Whoever among them can fire a bullet at him, thus relieving the country and the people of him, should do so. This man wants to annihilate the people, so I am protecting the people. I rule that whoever can fire a bullet, and relieve us, as well as Libya and its great people, of this man’s evil and danger, should do so.”
He clearly states that this fatwa is for the officers and soldiers, and not just any random person. The whole fatwa is addressed to them in particular.
Lastly, I would agree that every person deserves due process, but for this situation, you have a tyrant who refuses to surrender. If he was to surrender, then absolutely, he should go through due process, but this man will not stop until he “wins” (by killing all his people) or dies.
I personally am in support of this fatwa because if he isn’t killed, then countless more innocent people will die. We can’t continue to wait on him to surrender. Allahu’alam.
Good points Nader. That contextualizes things a lot!
There are many sahih hadith asking muslims to be patient with their tyrant leader as long this leader is not forcing them to abandon prayer. Muhammad(Saw) also told us even if the leader steals our property and beat our back..obey him still. Muhammad(saw) warned that those who rebel against any muslims leader will die as people in the jahiliyah’s time (kaffir). Who we want to listen? Qardawi the fame seeker or Muhammad(Saw)..tyrant leaders are put there by Allah to punish the muslims who disobey Him..do your research and you will find why nation like Egypt got mubarak here is one example http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/7514567.stm
it is unfortunate that paid satanic and zionist agent under the garb of saudi salafi,s would do anything to protect their kafir pay masters….are you saying the blood of ghadaffi is better than the blood of thousands of muslims in libya..why do you have to insult the shiekh by calling him a fame seeker at least he his better than your salafi shiehks who justify the tyranny of the tyrant and the oppression of the oppressor,the rasul never took sides with the oppressor,have u not read the hadith of the prophet in al baihaqy,where he (saw)said he who supports and strengthens a tyrant or oppressor,knowing fully well that he his an oppressor has left islam…..may Allah save us from enemies from within
may Allah destroy the enemies of the muslims…….those who pretend to be muslim yet work against the interest of the ummah………if you say that the muslims are being punish for their sins who conspired with the enemies of the muslims in the first place against the ottaman khalifate,was it not the house of saud? afterall the ottamans never gave away the lands of palestine..was it not this same saud family that helped to destroy the kahlifate in the name of Arab nationalisim………… may Allah remove them and destroy them,as well as thier supporters be it America or isreal…….
whosoever is scared of the fatwa of qaradawi must himself be an evil doer….and is striving hard to protect evil………………..may Allah save us from the enemies within
knowledge of shariah and usooli fiqh is important………..muslims must please strive to learn this branch of knowledge so that CIA shiekhs with mossad and MI5 aqeedah will not twist our understanding…….and continue to subjugate us,because they are scared of a domino effect of muslims turning back into their religion……….
please can anyone please ask Ahmed what the shariah says about saving one life?…….it like saving the whole of humanity,so a mad man like ghadaffi who is ready to murder thousands of lives just for him to be in power should be left to do so?if taking the life of ghadaffi would save thousands of lives then islam permits it,anyone who opposes this ruling is jahil in regards to the shariah and fiqh ul duhrrurah.Should a mad man who is mentally unstable,who says islam is not the solution to the world problem today and replace it with ideals in his green book…then he says again that all the chapters and verses in the quran that start with qul(say) should be removed……a man who has no regard for lives of thousands of people who says under law75 of 1973 that dissent should be executed,if you differ with his views or beliefs concerning his revolution you will be executed, should such a man be allowed to carry out his murderous campaign,what if your parent and entire family lives in bengazi or other region where he had ordered the killings and they are victims would you still be saying what you are saying now..fear Allah
You make some rather interesting points and I can agree to an extent. But I am not sure about what you wrote on Sheikh Qaradawi and the fatwa on Rushdie. Can you list your source where it says the university of Al Azhar rejected that fatwa? Or that Qaradawi did? The latter was interviewed in the German Spiegel in late 2005, where he in question about the fatwa on Rushdie by Ayatollah Khomeini said that Rushdie had defamed the Prophet and that he could not be condemned enough. So it would appear he didn’t endorse the fatwa but did not reject the fatwa either.