Gaza’s most prominent Islamic scholar has issued a fatwa condemning Hamas’s 7 October 2023 attack on Israel.
Professor Dr Salman al-Dayah, ex-dean of the Faculty of Sharia and Law at the Hamas-affiliated Islamic University of Gaza, accused the terror group of “violating Islamic principles g“overning jihad”.
His fatwa – a non-binding Islamic legal ruling – was published in a six-page document.
It also accuses Hamas of a failure in “keeping fighters away from the homes of defenceless [Palestinian] civilians and their shelters, and providing security and safety as much as possible in the various aspects of life… security, economic, health, and education, and saving enough supplies for them.”
Jihad means “struggle” in Arabic and can be a personal struggle for spiritual improvement in Islam or a military struggle against unbelievers.
The professor is an influential figure amongst the citizens of Gaza and his fatwa points to Quranic verses setting strict conditions for the conduct of jihad.
This includes avoiding actions that provoke an excessive and disproportionate response by an opponent.
Dr Dayah adds: “If the pillars, causes, or conditions of jihad are not met, it must be avoided in order to avoid destroying people’s lives. This is something that is easy to guess for our country’s politicians, so the attack must have been avoided.”
