Last month, the self-style International Union of Muslim Scholars (IUMS) issued a fatwa calling for a global jihad against Israel. The fatwa, posted on the Union’s X account amongst other platforms, states that supporting the “resistance” – in reference to Hamas, “militarily, financially, politically and legally” is a duty on Muslims. The post remains accessible on X. This is not the first time the IUMS backed Hamas, but it is the first time such an explicit and open call to arms is issued as a fatwa aimed at Muslims around the world.
The first clause of the fatwa is directed at Muslims in Muslim countries, calls on Muslims to “fight with weapons” against the “occupation in Palestine”. Clause 4 says that it is “a religious duty to support the resistance militarily, financially, politically and legally”. Unlike the clause calling for actively fighting Israel, this clause does not restrict the fatwa to Muslims in Muslims countries, thereby implicitly applying it to Muslims world-wide. Egypt’s Dar al Ifta – the official religious institution that issues fatwas in Egypt and widely accepted across the Sunni Muslim world as the pre-eminent religious authority, condemned the IUMS fatwa saying it would lead to chaos, and went on to say that the IUMS is not entitled to issue fatwas that cross political territories.
Ghanem Nusiebeh
The Union was founded by Yusuf Qaradawi, the spiritual leader of Muslim Brotherhood who was banned from entering Britain for his extremist views. Whilst Qaradawi was banned from Britain, his various organisations and disciples continue to incite and undermine British national security. In the immediate aftermath of the 7 October terrorist attacks by Hamas, even before the ugly and reprehensible Israeli response to those attacks that claimed many innocent Palestinian lives, the IUMS provided a platform for Hamas’s leaders in a direct support of the 7 October attacks. Hamas was being feted by the IUMS.
The Union’s latest fatwa is a direct call for Muslims including in Britain to break British law. Hamas is a proscribed terrorist organisation and supporting it is a punishable offence in the UK. As Muslims fighting extremism and antisemitism, this call makes our efforts even harder than they already are. We cannot fight antisemitism when resource-rich organisations like Muslim Brotherhood and their friends, associates and affiliates are allowed to spew their poisonous venom of promoting extremism without being challenged.
Whilst the Union is not officially part of the Muslim Brotherhood, it has links to it. It was founded by one of the most notorious spiritual leaders of the MB. If the MB had a fatwa council, it would look like IUMS.
Regardless of the organisational link between the IUMS and the MB, they represent identical ideology. This is not the first time the Muslim Brotherhood or organisations directly or indirectly linked to it tried to influence and radicalise British, and European Muslims. In 2019, the European Council for Fatwa and Research, another organisation that was then also headed by Qaradawi, published an app it called “Euro Fatwa App”, with antisemitic content.
After a campaign that I was proudly part of, Apple Store removed the app which was later re-instated after the extremist content was removed. Now, this latest fatwa goes a step further. It is no different than Khomeini’s fatwa against Salman Rushdie, except that this new fatwa has a much larger reach and potential harm.
In 2021, the British government proscribed Hamas, the Palestinian branch of Muslim Brotherhood. Now is the time for a proscription of Muslim Brotherhood in its entirety. The global Muslim Brotherhood has recently embarked on a global effort to spread its extremist ideology. Last month, Jordan banned Muslim Brotherhood in its entirety for plotting to commit terrorist acts and undermine Jordan, a key ally of Britain. In Sudan, the Muslim Brotherhood has penetrated the Sudanese army, that has been building stronger links to Iran and Russia, another clear threat to Britain.
The 2015 British government report into the Muslim Brotherhood did not lead to the government proscribing the organisation. The view then was that the MB operated differently in different countries and that the conclusion was that the MB should not be proscribed at the time. Ten years later, the MB are rapidly changing their modus operandi. The MB are no longer working as discrete national cells but are increasingly working towards a global goal, at the heart of which is the use of violence.
The British government also has an urgent duty to investigate the IUMS and its links to Muslim Brotherhood.
Muslim Brotherhood continues in its attempts to radicalise Muslims around the world, including Britain. This leads to further alienation of British Muslims, the vast majority of whom reject the Brotherhood’s ideology. By refusing to act decisively against Muslim Brotherhood, the British government encourages those forces of darkness to continue to penetrate and radicalise Britain’s Muslim, threatening not only Britain’s Muslims, but also Britain’s Jewish community.
With Muslim Brotherhood engaged on a global effort to radicalise and incite, sitting idly by is no longer an option.
- Ghanem Nusiebeh is chair of Muslims Against Antisemitism
