What is the ruling on what is called the intifada in Palestine?
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The questioner : What is called the intifada in Palestine...?
The Shaykh : I am at odds with the loud enthusiasm of the people for the intifada. I do not think this intifada will bring anything but destruction, because it is a political provocation and a movement for which they have made absolutely no preparation. In my view, this movement is most like the recent Syrian uprising against Hafez al-Asad, because they launched it without planning for it. What can the intifada do against these Jews, who are armed with every kind of weapon? And no Arab state moves to supply it with any kind of weaponry. So I do not believe this action is permissible in the Shari'ah, let alone believe that it will be of any practical benefit... For every Jew they kill, dozens of Muslims are killed in return. The Muslim community is supposed to conserve its strength for the hour when it is obligatory for them to move and when they are confident that they will benefit from their movement. Hence the common proverb says: "The eye that resists the awl". Do you have this saying among you?
The questioner : No.
The Shaykh : The awl is, for example, the thick needle used to pierce the eye of a camel, which is full of fat and blood, and so on. One does not resist the awl. This example fits our Palestinian brothers exactly, who are meeting bullets of various types and shapes with stones!
The questioner : With their bodies!
The Shaykh : This is understood: when they meet them with stones, they are throwing nothing but their hands and their bodies at them. The point is, and I say this with great regret, that I used to say, and I still say, that jihad in Afghanistan was an individual obligation. And although there was individual popular assistance from all the Muslim peoples, and perhaps some non-explicit assistance from some Arab states, the Muslim community was supposed to move from one end to the other to supply the Afghan people with all weapons and equipment so that they could achieve victory over this Russian bear, as they say. And although the issue has reached almost its end, the signs do not bode well. That is enough.
The Shaykh : I am at odds with the loud enthusiasm of the people for the intifada. I do not think this intifada will bring anything but destruction, because it is a political provocation and a movement for which they have made absolutely no preparation. In my view, this movement is most like the recent Syrian uprising against Hafez al-Asad, because they launched it without planning for it. What can the intifada do against these Jews, who are armed with every kind of weapon? And no Arab state moves to supply it with any kind of weaponry. So I do not believe this action is permissible in the Shari'ah, let alone believe that it will be of any practical benefit... For every Jew they kill, dozens of Muslims are killed in return. The Muslim community is supposed to conserve its strength for the hour when it is obligatory for them to move and when they are confident that they will benefit from their movement. Hence the common proverb says: "The eye that resists the awl". Do you have this saying among you?
The questioner : No.
The Shaykh : The awl is, for example, the thick needle used to pierce the eye of a camel, which is full of fat and blood, and so on. One does not resist the awl. This example fits our Palestinian brothers exactly, who are meeting bullets of various types and shapes with stones!
The questioner : With their bodies!
The Shaykh : This is understood: when they meet them with stones, they are throwing nothing but their hands and their bodies at them. The point is, and I say this with great regret, that I used to say, and I still say, that jihad in Afghanistan was an individual obligation. And although there was individual popular assistance from all the Muslim peoples, and perhaps some non-explicit assistance from some Arab states, the Muslim community was supposed to move from one end to the other to supply the Afghan people with all weapons and equipment so that they could achieve victory over this Russian bear, as they say. And although the issue has reached almost its end, the signs do not bode well. That is enough.