Bilal Abdul Kareem Journalist
Sometimes you have Facebook comments that sum up the state of affairs. Today I had an exchange with an ISIS supporter and he asked me some questions that I felt were legitimate. I tried to answer them in detail. So I thought it might be of some benefit to reprint the conversation here. If you would like to join the conversation you can do so by clicking the link at the end.
Here it is:
A Facebook Fan wrote to me:
“First of all, you Bilal journalist have to tell us : are Isis Muslims or not , make that point first! Clear the matter right there and then, then move to secondary points which you accuse them! If they are not Muslims what took them outside of Islam? Wich deed? How come you are focused on IS? The fight doesn’t happen on one side only, it takes two people to have a fight! So why are those groups fighting IS? Why are they killing muslims of IS? Surely if those groups are Muslims they must know that fighting another Muslim is wrong, so why are they doing it? Why don’t you address them for fighting Muslims? If you take one side , it means you are doggy ! Isis is been fighting shia and American puppets for years in Iraq, they are from there , Muslims don’t go by lines drawn on map ! You have to fight whoever wants demoncrazy and not Islam”
You raised some good points and I will try to answer them as best I can:
1. You asked: “If they are not Muslims what took them outside of Islam? Wich deed?”
Answer: I believe that the members and the leadership of ISIS are Muslims. I believe that they have committed atrocities and shed blood without a right, however I cannot say that they are non Muslims because I don’t believe they are. I can say that I believe they are misguided but, I do believe they are our Muslim brothers.
2. You asked: “How come you are focused on IS?”
Answer: It is true, I have focused on ISIS. The reason for that is I feel very strongly from my own personal experiences with them while filming in Syria and events that have taken place recently that this group has fooled many Muslims. They torture other Mujahideen fighters. I wrote a full article about Abu Rayyan who entered into their custody healthy and whole and left as a corpse having had his leg broken, gunshot wound in his left arm 12 hours before death, appearances as if someone tried to cut off his finger (again before death), broken wrist, 7 gunshot wounds to the head, and 21 in total. This is not the only torture case by far! It is just the only one that I reported about. Some of the commanders that ISIS supporters praise were responsible for torture, I have told them to their faces that Allaah will punish them for what they are doing. Allaah is my witness to that. Additionally, I hate the fact that non Muslim aid workers who use their own money to help the Syrian people get their heads cut off even after having an oath of protection from other Muslims like Alan Henning. Again, I know the case very well as I was asked to try to help with his release as I was in Syria at that time. So I admit, I don’t see these acts as Islamic and I think people should know who it is they are/are not supporting. Abdul Rahman Kassig is another one who tried to help the Muslims, setting up clinics to teach Syrians how to care for their wounded. He performed operations on injured fighters. What did he get for his help? Imprisoned by ISIS because he was white, American, and non Muslim. They had no right to touch this man. Additionally he accepted Islam while in custody wal ham do lilaah. We will see what will happen next.
3. You asked: “The fight doesn’t happen on one side only, it takes two people to have a fight! So why are those groups fighting IS? Why are they killing muslims of IS?”
Answer: Why do I feel the blame is squarely on the shoulders of ISIS in this fight amongst the rebels? Dating back to the late Spring of 2013 ISIS was antagonizing many groups. Many of those groups did not want to wage war with them because they saw them as fellow Mujaahideen and wanted to focus only on Assad’s forces. However ISIS didn’t see it that way. When the issues started to amount to murder and torture of rival group members, it was decided that the issues had to be settled or else an internal war would be the result. All of the opposing groups, including the Shaykh’s Abu Muhammad Al Maqdisi, and Shaykh Abu Qatada (former ISIS supporters), and others all called time after time for ISIS to come to an independent Islamic court to settle the issues. Then leader of Ahrar Asham Hassan Abboud wanted ISIS to account for the killings of his commanders, however he didn’t want war with ISIS so he wanted to settle it in court. ISIS flatly refused to go. The more the calls for them to go to court got louder, the more ISIS ignored them. I will not say that the other groups were wrong and ISIS was right or vice versa. However I can say that Muslims will not look favorably on any group that runs away from the Quran and Sunnah judging their differences and I think you should too. As a result, the conflict turned hot. You may want to say “…it takes two people to have a fight“, but the reality is that Allaah gave us the means to settle our differences and ISIS refused it. That’s reality.
4. You said: “If you take one side , it means you are doggy !”
Reply: I don’t see myself as taking a side. I see myself as making clear to the people what may not have been clear to them before. I don’t think most Muslims who support ISIS would do so if they knew they refused to have major issues such as murder and torture, settled in an Islamic court.
5. You said: “Isis is been fighting shia and American puppets for years in Iraq, they are from there ,”
Reply: ISIS is not the only group who has been fighting invaders. Many people think that they are the only ones. They aren’t. As for Syria, there were several groups fighting Bashar and calling for Islamic law long before there was ISIS or Jabha Anusra. The fight for Islamic law didn’t start with ISIS and many of those who were fighting then are still fighting now for the same cause. Some Muslims think the jihad is all about ISIS unfortunately, it isn’t.
I tried to answer your questions as best I could as you and I are brothers I don’t want you to feel that just because we are not sitting together means that I am not obliged to answer your questions. If you have any other questions, please ask and I’ll try to answer if I can.
Facebook Fan’s Response:
Bilal Abdul , if ISIS are Muslim, then war has casualties and tactics, you don’t expect being fought by over 50 nations and try and worry cos you might have cut a wrong tree, you don’t expect ISIS to be sahaba , and the situation is very complex in the ground, people are gonna be killed and people will justify them as no other option! I am sure IS doesnt kill people cos they woke up from the wrong side of the bed , there is a reason for it! As for why do you feel the blame is on the shoulders of IS , is because you share same view as the groups fighting it, those groups fight with Christians seculars , democrats and what have you , IS is not stupid to fight only so a another puppet takes its place , they only fight for clear tawheed, no kuffar help or dodgy dealings! How can they go to a court which groups Allie with america are in there? Look, those groups don’t want Islam they want democracy, or some version of Saudi Arabia , no independent tawheed , cos America would not allow it, its just so simple
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