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HOW SHOULD WE AS MUSLIMS JUDGE THE ISLAMIC STATE (IS/ ISIS/ ISIL)
My dear brothers and sisters, I greet you with the greeting of Islam

My dear honorable brothers and sisters, those that wish to gain the pleasure of Allah and make His
word (SWT) most high, lend me some of your time to read what I have written as a reminder for my
poor self and as advice to those that have the right of brotherhood upon me
The subject of discussion, is that same subject that is being discussed within the east and the west,
the young and the old, the Muslim and the Non-Muslim The Islamic State (IS - previously known as
ISIS) lead by Shaykh Ibrahim Awaad AbuBakr Al-Baghdadi Al-Husayni Al-Qurashi (May Allah
preserve him).
However, instead of discussing the Islamic state itself in details, I will rstly address the important
issue of the method that the Muslim must use when judging any group of people (whether a state
or organization) that are working towards an aim. Accordingly, I will begin with that which is general
and move on to that which is specic to the situation of Iraq and the blessed land of Sham...
Generally, whenever we Muslims judge a group of people it is important that we judge according to
Islamic principles, prioritizing that which the Quran and the Sunnah has ordered us to prioritize.
This judgment can be explained in the two following steps
1. The Aqeedah of the Group
2. The Ground work of the group
The Aqeedah of the group
This is the creed that the group believes in. We as Muslims have the Aqeedah of Tawheed, That
Allah is the only one worthy of worship. While the Kuar (non-muslims), their Aqeedah is the
worship of false gods (Known as taghut) in its many dierent shapes and forms from idols, desires
and secularism in all its forms (Democracy, Nationalism, Communism etc).
Naturally, the Aqeedah of the group will indicate its aims. Those upon the Aqeedah of worshiping
Allah (SWT), will put their eorts in the path of the All-Mighty (SWT). Whilst, those that worship the
Taghut, they will undoubtedly strive to establish the Kur and Shirk system. This is made clear by
the following ayah

Those who believe ght in the way of Allah, and those who disbelieve ght in the way of the Taghut
(EMQ 4:76)
Thus, it is critical that the rst step we take in judging a group, is to know its Aqeedah. Why is this
critical my brothers and sisters? Because if the group aims to spread the Aqeedah of Kur and
Shirk, then we must not ally with them regardless of their other work. For the one that builds a
house based on the fear of Allah is not the same as the one who builds a house on the bases of
falsehood even if that house of falsehood appears beautiful in our eyes.



Is he, therefore, better who lays his foundation on fear of Allah and (His) good pleasure, or he who
lays his foundation on the edge of a cracking hollowed bank, so it broke down with him into the re
of hell; and Allah does not guide the unjust people. (EMQ 9:109)
Therefore, Allah (SWT) Has informed us, that those that carry the Aqeedah of Kufr and Shirk, will
have all their work nullied, for if Tawheed is not the aim, then there is nothing left except for
oppression to ones self and surroundings

And it was already revealed to you and to those before you that if you should associate [anything]
with Allah , your work would surely become worthless, and you would surely be among the losers."
(EMQ 39:65)
Consequently, we must realize that our allies are the Muslims, and the Muslims only

Only Allah is your Ally and His Messenger and those who believe, those who keep up prayers and
pay the Zakat while they bow (EMQ 5:55)

Once, we establish that the group at hand is upon the Aqeedah of Tawheed, we must then see if
this group is upon the pure Aqeedah of Islam or if they are from the deviant Muslims that have
innovated in the religion. For we have been told in both the Quran and Sunnah, that not all Muslims
are upon the same degree, there are some that are deviant in their belief while there are some that
are solid on the straight path.

There will always be a group in my Ummah that will ght according to the order of Allah, victorious
over their enemies and there will be no harm on them from their detractors until the hour comes
and they will be triumphant (English meaning Sahih Muslim)
And so, we see in the above hadith that is narrated in the mutawatir (many times) that there will
always be a group upon the truth and hence not everyone in the Ummah. However, the deviant
Muslims, unlike the Kuar, maintain the aqeedah of Tawheed without their deviance reaching the
level of shirk and Kur.
(Note, it is not intended that I go into details into the meaning of the above hadith, as it was only
presented here to emphasize the point that not all Muslims are upon the same level)
From what has been discussed before, the reader may have the following two questions
1. How can I know which is the correct Aqeedah?
2. How can I Know if certain group is upon the correct Aqeedah?
As for the rst question, then I would say the following without trying to be harsh or tough
The same way that the student goes out of his or her way to learn about the stories of those that
preceded them at university, of how person X got a expelled for such and such, all out of

precaution that they dont fall in the same mistake. Yes, the same way that we learn that Doctor A
doesnt like us to be late or put our stethoscope around our neck so put it in your pocket again
all out of fear of being kicked out of a round or lecture.
Indeed my dear brothers and sisters, the key to learning or bettering oneself at something is eort.
In regards to the religion of Allah, then this eort must be sincere. If one does this, then it is
guaranteed that this person will be upon the straight path, for Allah (SWT) does not change His
(SWT) promise

And (as for) those who strive hard for Us, We will most certainly guide them in Our ways; and Allah
is most surely with the doers of good (EMQ 29:69)
What is meant by eort, does not refer to having a discussion over a cup of tea to pass time, or
watching a program on T.V. Real eort is done by those that love the Jannah and fear the tna of
Kur and apostasy which will lead to an endless time in the blaze. This was the attitude of the
companions, namely Salman Al-Farasi RAA (read his journey to Islam) and Hudhayfah Ibn Al-Yaman
(RAA) who said,

The people used to ask the Messenger of Allah about the good, and I used to ask the Messenger of
Allah about the evil out of fear that I might fall into it (Bukhari)
And how can this not be the attitude of the companions who had heard the warnings of the Prophet
(PBUH) that we seem to be heedless of
. . .

Abu Huraira reported: The Messenger of Allah said Be prompt in good deeds before there comes a
trial like the darkness of night, during which a man would wake up a believer but would be a
disbeliever by evening, or he would be a believer in the evening but would be a disbeliever by
morning, selling his religion for some goods in this world (Muslim, 1/213]

The Hour will not be established until tribes from my Ummah attach themselves to the polytheists,
and until tribes from my Ummah worship idols. (Abu Dawood - Authenticated by Shaykh Albani
May Allah have mercy on him)
Therefore my brothers and sisters, we must put a proper eort to learn our religion. We must not all
become scholars and experts, but we must all learn that which is obligated on every individual
that which will protect us from the hell-re and take us to the blessed Jannah.
And so, learn my dear brothers and sisters, the meaning of Kufr bil Taghut (rejecting false gods).
Learn the meaning of Tawheed. Learn the meaning of Walaa and Baraa (Allegiance and
Disassociation). Learn the dierence between the kur of Democracy and the Purication of the
Sharia and Shura system. Learn the meaning of the Khawarij and their origins. Learn about the
status of the non-muslim as dhimmie. Learn who the Muslim is, and who the Kar is Learn about
these things before you speak and judge, so that you do not throw terminologies around aimlessly
and foolishly thinking that you are upon some sort of Truth spreading that which is deviance and

ignorance.
Learn about these things wanting to please Allah and getting to the truth and dont learn something
only to nd a way to make Islam pleasing in the eyes of the Kuar. For you will not nd Islam this
way, but rather a religion of falsehood that is labeled Islam that satises the enemies.
As for the second question of How can I know if the group is upon the correct Aqeedah?
Firstly, one must have knowledge of the correct Aqeedah in order to recognize the people of truth
always remember the following rule Know The Religion and You Will Know its People.
Secondly we must give a fair chance for people to present themselves. I would say, that again, this
is very simple indeed. This can be done by viewing, reading or listening to the ocial releases at
hand. We do not live in a time where it is dicult to nd both sides of the story and see which
side is in line with the Quran and Sunnah according to the clear-cut evidences and not our desires
(as was discussed above).
This does not, and I repeat, DOES NOT, require someone to be in the specic land or area that the
events are taking place in. For knowing the Aqeedah of the group of people is one thing and
knowing what individual acts performed by some members is another. The Aqeedah of a group is
known through what they release and NOT the acts of the individuals.
Thus, mistakes performed on the ground by individuals that contradict the ocial principles
(manhaj) of the group does not represent the Aqeedah of the group. THE ACTS OF INDIVIDUALS
CAN ONLY BE CONSIDERED AS REPRESENTATIVE OF THE AQEEDAH OF THE GROUP IF SUCH ACTS
ARE ACCEPTED BY ITS LEADERS AND PRINCIPLES THAT THEY PRESENT.
Ask yourself, how many non-Muslims have converted to Islam on their own reading without ever
stepping foot in a Muslim community. Why? Because they judged the principles of the religion and
not the people. For every group, even the greatest, i.e the Prophet PBUHs army was not short of
mistakes and hypocrites. Was it not the Prophet (PBUH) that declared his (PBUH) innocence from
the act of Khalid Ibn Waleed (RAA) when he killed a group of Muslims mistakenly thinking they are
Kuar. Was it not in the time of the Prophet (PBUH) that the grandfather of the extremist khawarij
sect said arrogantly Be Fair oh Muhammad for you have not been fair.
This will suce for now InshAllah regarding knowing the Aqeedah of a certain group and we will
now move onto the second step of judging the group according to its ground work.
Note: You may be surprised to know that the Islamic State headed by Shaykh Al-Baghdadi (May
Allah SWT preserve him), actually has an ocial media wing and an ocial spokesman. You may be
surprised to know that the Islamic state has a Sharia council, which releases and explains their
Aqeedah and refutes the misconceptions that are against them.The Islamic ocial Media wing is
named 'Al-Furqan Media' and the ocial spokesman is Shaykh Abu Muhammad Al-Adnaani (May
Allah SWT preserve him) you can search for his speeches very easily online.
Therefore my dear brothers and sisters, before we decide to make Takfeer on Shaykh Al-Baghdadi
because of a WikiLeaks article saying that he is a secret agent for the Zionists and the CIA (turns
out that this article doesn't even exist). Lets actually listen and read their ocial statements and
give them a fair chance. Lets compare what they say to the Quran and Sunnah and not to our
desires to see if what they are saying is truth or falsehood.
The ground work of the group

This is basically the practical acts done by the people that are in the group. This includes what they
do from good works, such as ghting the oppressor, forming clinics and charity. It also includes
what they do from bad works such as killing innocents, stealing and other criminal works.
The work done on the ground is always a secondary matter to the Aqeedah of the group. It is very
important that we understand this, cement it in our hearts and not get it the wrong way round. So
that when we come to judge a group, we do not look primarily at the services they provide from
food and hospitals whilst overlooking their spreading of lth from kur that will ultimately lead to
destruction and oppression. And so, we say that if the group at hand is found to be that of
spreading kur and Shirk, then the work they do on the ground does not matter for us. We will
never ally with them until they worship Allah alone.
While if the group at hand is upon Islam and aims to establish the sharia upon the correct Islamic
methodology then we will ally with them and attempt to help them with their ground work by
enjoining the good and forbidding the evil when they are wrong.
The work done and any other practical events are related by those that witness them rst handedly
on the ground from the Journalists, group members and ordinary citizens.
The question is however, does this mean that anyone who is there on the ground, a reliable
witness? The answer is no. This is because there will be people that are working for specic
agendas who will relate stories that did not happen, either to sell good media, spoil the reputation
of a specic group or for any other reason. Regardless, we as Muslims have specic principles of
how to reject or accept a piece of news. From these principles is rejecting the news related to us by
the fasiq.

O you have believed, if there comes to you a disobedient one with information, investigate, lest you
harm a people out of ignorance and become, over what you have done, regretful. (EMQ 49:6)
Another important question that we must ask, is the opinion of the one who is witnessing rst
handedly on the ground more correct then the opinion of the one that is not there on the ground? I
would answer this by saying that this is NOT necessarily true in every case - The reasons are
Firstly, the opinion of someone can never be correct if it contradicts the Quran and Sunnah. Even if
this person is living on the ground in which the events are taking place. So for example, if your
talking to someone that lives or has lived Syria or Iraq and such a person relates that in his opinion
Life under Bashar was perfect for the Syrian people until it was destroyed by those that tried to
remove him. Does this mean that his opinion is accepted must accept? Denitely no, In fact, It
must reject it as it is contradictory to the Quran which has declared every rule other than the Sharia
as oppressive to society

Whoever did not judge by what Allah revealed, those are they that are the oppressors (unjust) (EMQ
5:45)
Therefore, it does not matter if this person is from Syria or Iraq. It does not matter what his uncle,
brother, cousin, grandfather, wife, mother, son, cat or goldsh all think. They can repeat it one
million times and say We live there, so we understand the situation but the fact of the matter is
they are the ones who are wrong as their opinion is in contradiction to the Quran and hence carries

no weight or benet to anyone that believes in Allah and the Last day.
Secondly, the opinion of the one who is on the ground may be based on a lack of Islamic knowledge
which invalidates it. So for example, you can have someone living on the ground saying the
following statements
They are slaughtering innocent Muslims
They are treating the Christians badly
They are Khawarij and Takfeeri
They are giving Islam a bad name
Such statements are based on the assumption, that this person on the ground has the Islamic
knowledge of how to distinguish between a Kar and a Muslim. So how can such an opinion be
considered valid if such a person on the ground considers Aliwees, Yazidees and secularists such
as the PKK and FSA, that are in deeper kur than the idol worshippers, as Muslims? Likewise, how
can the one that is ignorant of the rulings of Dhimmies be the judge if the Christians are being
treated badly? How can the person that is ignorant of Islam judge that they are giving Islam a bad
name? How can it be that the one that will tell us that a certain people are khawarij, which if you
asked him to dene the meaning of khawarij, he may answer you with Khawarij comes from the
word Kharij (Arabic word from outside), so they are the people who came from outside right?
Consequently, we do not accept the opinion of someone simply because that someone is present
on the ground. Henceforth we should not be deluded when hear such childish statements such as
Excuse me, my friend is Syrian/ Iraqi and her family live there or actually, my friend is Syrian so
they know the reality.
To conclude this point, I say that, one can denitely gain benets from what is related from those
on the ground. However this should never eect Aqeedah matters. For choosing between
supporting a group that promotes Kur and a group that calls for Sharia is a matter of Aqeedah that
are NOT aected by stories that are related from the ground. For if there are crimes committed by
those that call for the Sharia, then we are still with them even if we are innocent of certain acts
committed.
Now that we have gone through some of the principles that will help us in our judgment on who we
should give our support to, we can now apply the above format and steps to the specic groups
involved in the ghting in Iraq and Sham. Thus in the next section (If Allah SWT grants us time to
write it) we will go through each of the following groups asking primarily, what is their Aqeedah?
Secondarily what are they doing on the ground? And thirdly, conclude on whether or not we should
support them.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.

The Islamic State headed by Shaykh Al-Baghdadi

The Government of Bashar Al-Asaad
The Free Syrain Army
The Iraqi Government
Coalition forces headed by the USA
The Kurdish Forces
Yazidees
Jabhat Islami The Islamic Front
Jabhat An-Nusra

Note: Although the term group was used throughout the article, this was done for the sake of
simplicity. In reality The Islamic State is an actual state and not a group in that sense.
If there is any questions, please feel free to ask. If I have said anything good in this article then it is
from Allah (SWT) alone and if I have said anything bad then it is from me and the shaytan.
And All praises are due to Allah and may the Blessings be upon His nal messenger
Your brother in Islam
Dr. Abu Layla Ash-Shami
From the Lands of Khilafa
P.s Please share if you have found useful