What should Muslims residing in America do if America wants to wage war against Iraq? Is jihad obligatory to support the Iraqi people?
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
The questioner : May Allah reward you with good. Our position here in America, if war begins between Iraq and America, what is the position of Muslims in America?
The Shaykh : What can you do? What are you going to do in America? We are here in the heart of the country, and the calamity is such that we cannot do anything. What can you do there?
The questioner : It is just a question, I mean.
The Shaykh : And I am just giving an answer.
The questioner : I heard that there is a second fatwa stating that if the Americans wage war against Iraq, defending the Muslims, such as in Saudi Arabia and Egypt,
then jihad becomes an individual obligation for the Muslims.
The Shaykh : If America acts independently, the answer is as you heard.
The questioner : Yes.
The Shaykh : But if Muslims join them and Muslims fight Muslims, then it is not permissible.
The questioner : If it is independent.
The Shaykh : I answered you.
The questioner : If it is independent, do we stand with Iraq or what does that mean?
The Shaykh : We must, we must stand with Iraq, because we look at the Iraqi people, not at the Iraqi government.
The questioner : Yes.
The Shaykh : Just as we look at the Syrian people and not at the Syrian government, for both governments are Ba'athist.
The questioner : Yes.
The Shaykh : But this does not overshadow the two peoples, both of whom are Muslim peoples. Therefore, we do not allow the disbelievers to fight these Muslims or to colonize them.
The Shaykh : What can you do? What are you going to do in America? We are here in the heart of the country, and the calamity is such that we cannot do anything. What can you do there?
The questioner : It is just a question, I mean.
The Shaykh : And I am just giving an answer.
The questioner : I heard that there is a second fatwa stating that if the Americans wage war against Iraq, defending the Muslims, such as in Saudi Arabia and Egypt,
then jihad becomes an individual obligation for the Muslims.
The Shaykh : If America acts independently, the answer is as you heard.
The questioner : Yes.
The Shaykh : But if Muslims join them and Muslims fight Muslims, then it is not permissible.
The questioner : If it is independent.
The Shaykh : I answered you.
The questioner : If it is independent, do we stand with Iraq or what does that mean?
The Shaykh : We must, we must stand with Iraq, because we look at the Iraqi people, not at the Iraqi government.
The questioner : Yes.
The Shaykh : Just as we look at the Syrian people and not at the Syrian government, for both governments are Ba'athist.
The questioner : Yes.
The Shaykh : But this does not overshadow the two peoples, both of whom are Muslim peoples. Therefore, we do not allow the disbelievers to fight these Muslims or to colonize them.
Source
www.al-albany.com
The Arabic text is copied verbatim from the original source, without any edits.