NEWS\ Sunday 18 May 2003
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In the Name of Allaah, All Compassionate, All Merciful
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The Council of Senior Scholars on the Riyadh Suicide Bombings

All Praise is for Allaah Alone, may the Salaah and Salaam be upon the last Prophet and his family and Companions. To proceed:

The Council of Senior Scholars held a special sitting in Riyadh, Wednesday the 13th of Rabee’ Al-Awwal, 1424, about the explosions that occurred in the city of Riyadh on Monday, the 11th of Rabee’ Al-Awwal, 1424, regarding what took place of the killing, destruction, terrorizing, and damage inflicted upon people, (both) Muslims and other than them.

And it is well known that the Sharee'ah of Islaam came to protect the five necessary things and prohibit transgression against them, and they are:

1) the religion,
2) life,
3) wealth,
4) honour, and
5) intellect.

And the Muslims do not differ over the prohibition of transgression against persons who have a right to be protected. The people who have a right to be protected, according to the Religion of Islaam, are:

Muslims - It is never permissible to transgress against any Muslim person or to kill one without right. Whoever does this has committed a major sin, one of the huge kabaa’ir! And Allaah the Most High has said:

{And whoever kills a Muslim intentionally, then his recompense is Jahannam, he will reside there for an extensive amount of time, and Allaah’s Anger and Curses are upon him, and He has prepared a great torment for him...}

...And He Subhaanahu has said:

{And due to that we prescribed for the Children of Israa’eel that whoever kills a person, not as a recompense for his killing of another, or to spread corruption on earth, then it is as if he has killed all of mankind...} the verse

Mujaahid said, may Allaah have Mercy on him, ((by his sin (meaning: “His sin is as heavy as the one who has actually killed all of mankind), this shows the severity of killing a person with no due (legal) right))

And the Prophet (sal-Allaahu `alayhe wa sallam) said:

((The blood of a Muslim that bears witness that none has the right to be worshipped (in truth) except Allaah and that I am the Messenger of Allaah is not permissible (to spill), except in three cases: 1) recompense for killing someone else, 2) stoning the adulterer, 3) the one who leaves his Deen, abandoning the jamaa’ah)) [Agreed upon (Bukhaaree and Muslim)] This is the version of Bukhaaree.

And the Prophet (sal-Allaahu `alayhe wa sallam) said:

((I have been ordered to fight the people until they testify that there is no deity worthy of worship other than Allaah and that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allaah, establish the prayer, and pay zakaat, and if they do this, then their blood and money shall be protected from me, except by an Islaamic right, and their account will be with Allaah)) [Agreed upon, from the hadeeth of Ibn ‘Umar, may Allaah be pleased with him]

And in the Sunan of An-Nasaa’ee, on the authority of ‘Abdullaah ibn ‘Amr, (radhi-yallaahu 'anhu), the Prophet (sal-Allaahu `alayhe wa sallam) said:

((The cessation of the dunyaa (world) is less significant to Allaah than the killing of a single Muslim man (i.e. person)))

And one day, Ibn ‘Umar looked to the House, or the Ka'bah, and said: ((How great you are, and how great is your sanctity, and the believer is even greater in sanctity to Allaah than you)) (Meaning that the haram is safe and protected from fighting and bloodshed, and the believer has even more right to be safe and protected from bloodshed)

All of these texts and others show the serious reality of the sanctity of a Muslim’s blood, and the prohibition of killing a Muslim for any reason other than what has been mentioned in the Sharee'ah’s texts, so it is not permissible to transgress against any Muslim without right...

Usaamah bin Zaid reported, “Allaah’s Messenger sent us towards Al-Huruqa, and in the morning we attacked them and defeated them. I and an Ansari man followed a man from among them and when we overwhelmed him, he said, “La ilaha illal-Lah.” On hearing that, the Ansari man stopped, but I killed him by stabbing him with my spear. When we returned, the Prophet (sal-Allaahu `alayhe wa sallam) came to know about that and he said:

((O Usaamah! Did you kill him after he had said “La ilaha ilal-Lah?” I said, “But he said so only to save himself.” He kept on repeating that so often that I wished I had not embraced Islam before that day)) [Agreed upon, and this is the wording of Bukhaaree.]

This shows, with the greatest of indications, the sanctity of life. This was a mushrik man, and they were making jihaad, on the plains of battle (fighting), and when they overwhelmed him, and gained power over him, he spoke with (the utterance of) Tawheed, and Usaamah bin Zaid killed him, holding that he only said it in order to prevent his own death, and the Prophet (sal-Allaahu `alayhe wa sallam) did not accept his excuse, and his interpretation (of the situation). And this is from the greatest of (affairs) that indicates the sanctity of the blood of the Muslims and the mighty crime of the one who violates it.

Just like the blood of the Muslims is prohibited, then their wealth is also protected by the saying of the Prophet (sal-Allaahu `alayhe wa sallam):

((Your blood and your properties are sacred to one another like the sanctity of this day of yours, in this (sacred) town (Mecca) of yours, in this month of yours)) Reported by Muslim, and this speech was said by the Prophet (sal-Allaahu `alayhe wa sallam) in the khutbah of the Day of 'Arafah, and both Bukhaaree and Muslim reported its like regarding the Day of An-Nahr.

From what has preceded, the prohibition of killing the soul that has been protected without any due right becomes clear.

Also from the lives that are protected in Islaam, are the lives of

1) those (non-Muslims) who are given agreements (guarantees),
2) the dhimmees, and
3) those who seek protection (from the Muslims).

From ‘Abdullah bin Amr bin al-Aaas (radhi-yallaahu 'anhumaa) from the Prophet (sal-Allaahu `alayhe wa sallam) who said:

((Whoever killed a person having a treaty with the Muslims, shall not smell the smell of Paradise though its smell is perceived from a distance of forty years)) [Related by al-Bukhaaree]

And to whomever the wali ul-amr allows entry (into the land) with the covenant and promise of ensuring his safety and security, then his life and wealth are protected, it is not permissible to harm him, and whoever kills him, then he is as the Prophet (sal-Allaahu `alayhe wa sallam) said:

((...he will not smell the smell of Paradise...)) And this is a very severe warning for the one who turns upon those who have been given agreements.

And it is known that the custody (protection) of the people of Islaam is a single entity (i.e. a collective whole, equal), the Prophet (sal-Allaahu `alayhe wa sallam) said:

((The blood of the Believers is equal (one to another), and the least of them strives for their protection...))

And when Umm Haani (radhi-yallaahu 'anhaa) granted sanctuary (i.e. protection, on account of a benefit arising from that) to a man from the Mushrikoon in the year of the conquest, and when 'Alee bin Abee Taalib (radhi-yallaahu 'anhu) desired to kill him, she went to the Prophet (sal-Allaahu `alayhe wa sallam), and informed him (of that) so he (sal-Allaahu `alayhe wa sallam) said:

((We have granted sanctuary to the one you have granted sanctuary O Umm Haani)) reported by Bukhaaree and Muslim.

The intent here is that the one who entered (the land) with an agreement of personal security, or who had a pledge from the one in authority, due to a maslahah (benefit) that he (the one in authority) saw (in giving this person that pledge), then it is not permissible to turn upon him and nor to transgress upon him or his wealth.

When all of this has become clear, then what occurred of the bombing incidents in the city of Riyadh is a prohibited matter that the religion of Islaam does not affirm, and its unlawfulness has come from numerous angles:

1) That this action is a transgression upon the sanctity of the land of the Muslims, and frightening of those who are secure and safe therein
2) That it contains the killing of lives that the Islaamic Sharee'ah protects
3) That it is causing corruption upon the earth
4) That it contains destruction of wealth and belongings that are protected

And the gathering of the Council of Senior Scholars explains this matter in order to warn the Muslims from falling into the destroying prohibited matters, and in order to warn them from the plots of Shaytaan, for he never ceases to work upon the servant until he enters him into the things that destroy, either with extremism, exaggeration in the religion or with disaffection towards it, and fighting against it, and refuge is with Allaah. And Shaytaan does not care by which of the two he can triumph over the servant, because both of these paths, that of extremism and that of disaffection are from the paths of Shaytaan that make a person fall under the wrath and punishment of ar-Rahmaan.

And what was done by those who performed these actions, of killing themselves by blowing themselves up, then that enters into the generality of the saying of the Prophet (sal-Allaahu `alayhe wa sallam):

((Whoever killed himself in the world with anything, then Allaah will punish him by that same thing on the Day of Judgement)), reported by Abu Awaanah in his Mustakhraj from the hadeeth of Thaabit bin ad-Dahak, (radhi-yallaahu 'anhu).

The Prophet (sal-Allaahu `alayhe wa sallam) said:

((He who commits suicide by stabbing himself with an iron (blade) shall that have that iron (blade) in his hand, and he will thrust it into his body in the fire of Hell, remaining therein forever (in that state), and whoever took poison and killed himself, then he will drink it in the Fire of Hell, remaining therein forever (in that state), and whoever threw himself off a mountain and killed himself, then he will be falling in the Fire of Hell, remaining therein for ever (in that state))) And this is also in Bukhaaree with something similar.

Then let everyone know that the enemies, from every angle, have designated today the Islamic Ummah for domination. They (the enemies) rejoice with all the ways that justify this domination for them, over the people of Islaam, and (which justify) humiliating them, and taking advantage of their resources and riches. Hence, whoever aided them in their goal, and opened up avenues amongst the Muslims and in the Muslim lands for them, then he has aided in (bringing about) harm upon the Muslims and in dominating their lands. This is from the greatest of oppression.

It is obligatory (upon all) to be concerned with the Sharee'ah knowledge that is founded upon the Book and the Sunnah in accordance with the understanding of the (Pious) Predecessors of the Ummah, and this occurs in the schools, universities and the mosques, and the media of information. Just like it is also obligatory to be concerned with commanding the good and prohibiting the evil, and giving mutual advice upon the truth. This is because the need, rather the necessity, calls to this now more than any time that has passed before. And it is upon the Muslim youth to have a good opinion of their Scholars and to take from them so that they come to know that what the enemies of the religion are striving towards is revilement between the Ummah’s youth and (revilement) of the Scholars and (revilement) between them and the Rulers, so that their strength weakens, and therefore, taking control over them (as a result) becomes easier. Hence, it is obligatory to be aware of this.

May Allaah protect everyone from the plot of the enemies, and it is upon all the Muslims to have fear of Allaah in the secret and in the open, and to make a sincere, truthful repentance from all sins. For no calamity has descended except due to a sin, and no (calamity) has been raised except due to repentance. We ask Allaah that He rectifies the condition of the Muslims, and distances the lands of the Muslims from every evil and dislikeable thing, and prayers and peace be upon our Prophet Muhammad, his family and his companions.

The Council of Senior Scholars

The Head of the gathering, ‘Abdul-Azeez bin Abdullaah bin Muhammad Aal ash-Shaykh
Saalih bin Muhammad al-Lahaydaan
Abdullaah bin Sulaymaan al-Munee’
Abdullaah bin Abdur-Rahmaan al-Ghudayaan
Dr. Saalih bin Saalih al-Fawzaan
Hasan bin Ja’far al-’Atamee
Muhammad bin Abdullaah as-Subayyil
Dr. Abdullaah bin Muhammad bin Ibraaheem Aal ash-Shaykh
Muhammad bin Sulaymaan al-Badr
Dr. Abdullaah bin Muhsin al-Turkee
Muhammad bin Zaid as-Sulaymaan
Dr. Bakr bin Abdullaah Abu Zaid (was not present due to illness)
Dr. Abdul-Wahhaab bin Ibraaheem as-Sulaymaan (was not present)
Dr. Saalih bin Abdullaah al-Humayd
Dr. Ahmad bin Sayr al-Mubaarakee
Dr. Abdullaah bin ‘Alee ar-Rukbaan
Dr. Abdullaah bin Muhammad al-Mutlaq

..........
Translated by: Abul-'Abbaas and Abu 'Iyaad

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