Praise is due to Allāh, Lord of the worlds, may the blessings and peace be upon our master Muḥammad, the last of prophets, on his family, and all his companions.

Following the statement of the Council of the International Islamic Fiqh Academy issued on 2/1/1430, corresponding to December 29, 2008, at the beginning of the barbaric aggressions that hit the Gaza Strip, in which it denounces the heinous massacres and war crimes perpetrated by the occupying authorities on the blessed Palestinian land. The Palestinian people whose only mistake is to claim their independence, freedom and violated rights. These aggressions can only be described as ethnic cleansing operations. The Academy emphasized in its statement that our problem with the enemy lies in the fact that it persists in occupying Palestinian lands. In this regard, its heinous aggressions and crimes should not make us forget that the Palestinian case [is an occupation of territory]. We must enable the Palestinian people to build their independent state on their national territories and with holy Jerusalem as its capital. Simply put, this means the liberation of the First Qibla and the Third Holy Mosque, the place where the Prophet (peace be upon him) ascended in his transcendence to the high heavens.

In its statement, the Academy stressed the obligation of all Muslims to provide full and unconditional support to the Palestinian people by all possible means. It also explained that it is the duty of the governments of the Muslim countries to make all possible efforts through international organizations and political and economic relations to work for the immediate cessation of this aggression, to stop the external political, economic and military support received by the Zionist enemy. We should seek all possible ways to prosecute the perpetrators of these war crimes and genocides that they have committed with outrage and arrogance.

The Palestinian people have the right to fight the occupying forces and defend their entity with all legitimate means. The honour of the Muslim and his spoils of war is to die as a martyr in defence of his person, religion, country, honour, and property.

The Academy calls, urgently and compulsorily, for the organization of an Arab and Islamic summit conference. He also explained that it is incumbent upon the Palestinian leadership to stop disputes, unite ranks and the word to endorse the values of national unity and respect for commitments that make people forget their differences; especially what was achieved in the holy city of Mecca.

It has been two weeks, and the brutal aggression continues unabated, despite the efforts and contacts made. In response, [the Zionists] proudly claim to be fighting and eliminating the terrorism committed by the Palestinian people. These Zionists forget that they are usurping occupiers, that the Palestinian people have the right to fight and that nations and peoples differentiate between terrorism and [legitimate] struggle. The people have the right to fight against the occupation and the occupiers with all possible and legal means. The Zionists commit state terrorism in its most despicable forms without regard to international humanitarian rules and laws. They terrorize innocent civilians by leading them to the most terrible genocides. They massacre women and children, they forbid the entry of humanitarian aid. We must not fail to confront and fight this arrogance by asserting the Arab and Islamic position against this and similar aggressions. The Zionists are occupiers, and they refuse to implement the UN resolutions since they had resolutions on the Palestinian issue. They persist in their colonization, expanding their occupation of Palestinian lands while ignoring the rights of the Palestinian people without the international community holding them accountable. The Zionists do not abide by the rules of humanitarian law in war situations. They ignore the killing of civilians, especially children and women, they destroy all civilian buildings and cancel the organization of official meetings in a ferocious escalation that is outrageous to humanity. They use the international community’s fight against terrorism to confuse and accuse the Palestinian resistance of being a terrorist organization.

Those who strive to combat terrorism must first hinder the terrorism of the Zionist state and its occupation of Arab lands. How can we put the executioner and the victim on an equal footing? The usurper colonizer and the resister? We have an imperative duty to show these truths to the international community in order to unmask these practices and for humanity to stand up unanimously to stop this tragedy; in order to stop these crimes, we need influential media that can report the practices of these occupiers to all parts of our contemporary world. It is a war and a conflict against this arrogant enemy on all levels and in all areas. Allah – Praised and The Almighty be He – said: « Go forth, whether light or heavy, and strive with your wealth and your lives in the cause of Allah. That is better for you, if you only knew. » At-Tawba -41

The practices of this enemy are based on religious motives. The religion of Allah – Praise be to Him – revealed to the Prophet Moses – PBUH – is free from them. These motives that call for burning and killing the enemy, killing all life in him, even his beasts of burden, and the cities occupied by these Zionists are as if annihilated. These Zionists practice with others what they themselves endured in Europe in an atmosphere of excessive propaganda. They are forcefully working to impose the policy of fait accompli. We must expose all this; otherwise, this enemy will continue to deceive the international community, especially the great powers. This Zionist enemy will always receive lethal weapons that terrify the Palestinian people. We must develop strategies that can achieve these goals. The confrontation will continue, and the challenges are significant. It is the responsibility of every leader to perform his duty with probity and excellence. Everyone will stand before Allah The Almighty and will be judged by their actions in this life. Allah said: « And stop them; indeed, they are to be questioned.” » As-Saffat -24

We implore Allah The Almighty to help us all to perform the deeds He loves and accepts, to help our brothers and sisters in the occupied territories in Gaza and others to face the enemy,; Allah is All-Hearing and All-Respondant.

Prof. Abdulsalam Al-Abbadi

SG of the International Islamic Fiqh Academy.