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Never thought I would see the day…an Islamic legislative group declared a ‘fatwa’ against Hamas for their treatment of Palestinians.<\/p>\n
The unprecedented declaration, published by the Islamic Fatwa Council, a non-government body of Shiite, Sunni and Sufi clerics headquartered in the Iraqi spiritual capital of Najaf, states that Hamas, an offshoot of the Muslim Brotherhood movement, “bears responsibility for its own reign of corruption and terror against Palestinian civilians within Gaza” and deems “it prohibited to pray for, join, support, finance or fight on behalf of Hamas.”<\/p>\n
Hamas, a designated terrorist organization according to the U.S., EU and Israel, has maintained an iron-clad grip on Gaza since violently taking over the territory in 2007 after Israel unilaterally withdrew in 2005. The group, which receives funding and training from Iran, imposes a strict Islamic code on its 2 million-plus residents as it continues to engage in fighting Israel, including firing endless rounds of rockets and incendiary devices into Israeli territory and mass protests along the border fence.<\/p>\n
While the fatwa marks the first time any accredited Islamic legislative body has explicitly declared Hamas to be illegitimate from the vantage point of Islamic law, it follows similar rulings by the UAE Fatwa Council and the Council of Senior Scholars of Saudi Arabia against the Muslim Brotherhood movement and all of its branches, declaring them terrorist organizations “that defame Islam and operate in opposition to mainstream Islamic unity, theology and jurisprudence.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
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While disagreement between Sunni Saudi Arabia and Shi’ite Iran is nothing new, that this is Islamically speaking a multi-lateral condemnation of Hamas and its supporters may indeed be a big deal<\/p>\n
For Hamas, a Sunni Muslim organization, the ruling by a council led by a Sunni mufti of stature \u2014 Grand Mufti Sheikh Abdullah al-Dheeban \u2014 could have deep consequences, and the fact the council also includes al-Budairi, a Shiite cleric, is a severe blow to Hamas’ main backer Iran.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n