Clerics Call For Jihad Against Syrian Regime

Radio Liberty

JUNE 13, 2013

Leading Sunni Muslim clerics have called for a holy war against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s regime and his allies.

After a meeting in Cairo on June 13, the clerics issued a statement saying: “The flagrant aggression of the Iranian regime, of Hizballah, and of their sectarian allies in Syria amounts to a declaration of war against Islam and Muslims.”

The Sunni clerics said “jihad” must be undertaken “to help our brothers in Syria by sending them money and weapons.”

Those backing the call include Abdulaziz al-Shaikh, Saudi Arabia’s top cleric, Youssef al-Qaradawi, a high-profile Egyptian preacher based in Qatar, and Hassan al-Shafai, a senior scholar from Egypt’s leading religious academy Al-Azhar.

Commenting on the reports, Ribal Al-Assad, Director of ODFS said:

“Yet more evidence of extremists inciting violence, these people have nothing to do but spread vitriol and hate. Whist these clerics currently call for Jihad in Syria, this could easily spread to the wider region and eventually the West.

These clerics should be working to unite all Muslims together, guiding them along a path of peace – dividing Muslims and inciting them to kill is “Fitnah” the biggest sin in Islam.

There is a Surah in the Quran which says:

‘He who kills an innocent soul is as if he had killed all humankind, and he who saves a life is as if he had saved the lives of all humankind’

It is high time that these radicals are held to account for their words, it is important that the international community realises just how quickly the situation can escalate once people act on this rhetoric. The international community should also take action against the governments that support them.”