[Transcript of part of Sheikh Qaradawi’s answers, from al-Jazeera’s weekly
Sunday Programme]
The Role of the Muslims in the Palestinian Cause
I say that the Jihad is a duty upon the Ummah. And as I said in the Jumu’ah
Khutbah Jihad is no longer fard kifaayah, but is rather fard ‘ayn on every
Muslim- but not jihad in the military sense. There is the military jihad,
and I am with the brothers and sisters who have called for opening the
borders for volunteers, and this is what President Abdallah Salih said last
year at the beginning of the Intifada. He called on the countries
surrounding the Zionist entity to open the borders to those seeking
martyrdom and the mujahideen. Let us open them.. send a million Arabs and
Muslims of those seeking Paradise and martyrdom for the sake of Allah. Let
them be killed, and rather than having 300 million Arabs, let them be 299;
instead of 1300 million Muslims… The Ummah is ready to offer martyrs after
martyrs. Sufficient for us to see the men and women offered by the
Palestinian people- Aayaat al-Akhras, and the sisters before her.. These are
the ones who prove the existence of the Ummah. Jihad is now a duty upon us-
military jihad if that is available, and our brothers in Hamas, Jihad,
Al-Aqsa Brigades, and the opposition factions, the Palestinian resistance,
and the Palestian people are all now united. There is no longer an authority
and an opposition. The authority is targeted just like the opposition is
targeted, and police and security men are killed as the others are killed.
Military jihad is required of us.. We had wished for the Arab armies to
move.. why does the Ummah buy arms costing billions of the peoples’ budgets,
only to leave them to rust without being used.. When are these arms to be
used?
…
It is incomprehensible.. Well, if we do not use these arms, let us try to
give our brothers in the Intifada arms. We can one way or the other supply
them with weapons, it will not be impossible- if there is a genuine will it
can be done.. as the poet says: Had your emotions been sincere
You would have been guided to cunning ways..
If we tried to think of a way, we would be able to get arms to our brothers
in the Intifada.. If they stop a ship.. let them stop a ship, one ship will
be stopped, another will not.. we must try.. This is concerning the military
jihad..
There is another jihad, the political jihad. I cannot understand how an Arab
country or a Muslim country can put hands in the hand of an ambassador
representing the Zionist entity! It is not permissible at all to maintain
relations between us and such people. We must suspend all political,
economic, trade relations. These embassies must be closed, in Egypt, in
Jordan, in Mauritania.. The economic and trade offices must all be closed…
There is the financial jihad. The Quran says: “And strive with your wealth
and yourselves in the way of Allah”, “Shall I lead you to a bargain that
will save you from a grievous Penalty?- That ye believe in Allah and His
Messenger, and that ye strive in the Cause of Allah, with your property and
your persons”. Our brothers need aid, in many forms.. They are almost dying
of starvation.. besieged.. they are burning.. unemployment is disastrously
high.. We must aid them with money- help them at the official level, and the
popular level.. In the first Intifada, there were major fund-raising
campaigns, and in the days of the Afghanistan war, we had campaigns here and
collected a lot, there was a campaign by the Qatari TV and some charity
organisations.. Why do we not do the same? -Fund-raising campaigns, the
governments can initiate them. Jihad through our money is required of us.
Our brothers are striving with their lives, they offer their souls, and we
are reluctant to give some dirhams or riyaals, to our brothers? This is a
duty.
There is another jihad. The cultural jihad. We cannot be celebrating while
the Ummah is in mourning. It must be reflected in the media, on TV, radios,
in the press, we must see the effect of this great catastrophe, this great
mourning, this huge disaster. We must see its effects in our cultural life..
There is the economic jihad, the jihad of boycott. Many years ago, I issued
a fatwa prohibiting the buying of Israeli and American goods, and this was
supported by tens of scholars. And I still stress.. Unfortunately the people
first responded, and people here in Qatar, in the Gulf, even children told
their parents
http://www3.pak.org/gupshup/smilies/biggrin.gif
o not buy American products, not even Pepsi or Coke or Pizza
Hut or hamburgers and such things.. People first responded positively. Why
have they relaxed their will? Why this slackness? We wish to revive this
boycott once again..
We also want the popular jihad.. Marches.. One may say: what are these
marches for? Marches are for expression, reviving the Ummah, moving our
emotions, conveying our solidarity to our brothers, strengthening these
ineffectual leaders of ours- let them know that these peoples are standing
in support.. we hope to organise a march in Qatar within a few days, as we
had done in the beginning of the Intifada.. and there have been marches in
many countries..
Finally there is the spiritual jihad. What is spiritual jihad? It is for our
brothers to be always alive in our consciences, to constantly pray for them,
when we are alone, in our prayers, and especially to have Qunut an-Nawaazil
(qunut prayer at the time of hardship) in mosques. I call all imams to make
duaa against the oppressors, the Zionists, the Americans, and anyone who
aids the Zionists. Bush says that Arafat must stop terrorism. What the
Palestinians are doing is terrorism, while what Sharon does is
self-defence!! To make duaa against these oppressors. I call on all imams to
pray salaat al-ghaa’ib (absent) on the martys. This is all mobilisation for
the Ummah, so that the Ummah stands in battle, and feels it is in a battle,
and that way we will really stand in solidarity with our brothers. And their
battle is in fact our battle, it is not the battle of the Palestinians, it
is the battle of the Muslim Ummah from the East to the West.