Islamic State is not active in SA

AFTER all the hype generated by the Sunday Tribune that South Africa was a recruiting ground for Islamic State, and given the asymmetrical assault against Muslims in the Middle East, it is inevitable that the young and the restless would be deluded into subscribing to this philosophy.

There is no tangible evidence – just innuendo – that Islamic State is recruiting in South Africa.

What needs to be reported is that more than 100 Muslim scholars, including officials from the UAE, have united to denounce Islamic state.

In a 15-page open letter to Abu Bakr Al Baghdadi, the terror group’s leader, and his followers, the scholars set out how the killing of innocent civilians and the issuing of fatwas was not in accordance with Islamic Sharia.

The letter commented on a sentence often repeated by Islamic State followers when they said that Prophet Mohammed “was sent with the sword as a mercy to all worlds”.

The 126 scholars, who included the UAE adviser to the Head of State for Judicial and Religious Affairs and the head of the Dubai Fatwa Department, cited a verse from the Quran that says: “We did not send you, except as a mercy to all the worlds.”

The letter added that “sent with the sword” is part of a hadith that is specific to a certain time and place “thus it is forbidden to mix the Quran and hadith in this way, as it is forbidden to mix the general and the specific, and the conditional and unconditional”.

What I found of serious concern is that while Sunday’s article quoted the Iraqi Ambassador, a Shia as opposed to a Sunni which is what Islamic State is, no authentic source was provided and no South African Muslim scholar or organisation was contacted for comment.

SABER AHMED JAZBHAY

Durban

The Sunday Tribune did get comment from the Jamiatul Ulama South Africa. – Editor.