A shield for Gaza鈥檚 innocent
The enclave鈥檚 most respected Islamic scholar challenges Hamas for purposely putting innocent people in harm鈥檚 way. His religious ruling might hasten peace.
The enclave鈥檚 most respected Islamic scholar challenges Hamas for purposely putting innocent people in harm鈥檚 way. His religious ruling might hasten peace.
After 13 months of mass destruction, the war in Gaza has taken an unexpected turn for peace.
In a religious ruling, the most prominent Islamic scholar in the Palestinian enclave says Hamas failed to keep its fighters 鈥渁way from the homes of defenceless [Palestinian] civilians鈥� 鈥� or, in effect, it used innocent people as shields against Israeli attacks on Hamas positions purposely placed in or under civilian buildings.
鈥淗uman life is more precious to God than Mecca,鈥� stated Professor Salman al-Dayah, a former dean of the faculty of sharia and law at the Hamas-affiliated Islamic University of Gaza, in a six-page document.
The BBC, which reported on the religious edict, notes that Dr. Dayah cites Islamic principles that require Hamas to avoid 鈥渁ctions that provoke an excessive and disproportionate response by an opponent.鈥�
In the past, Dr. Dayah has been respected enough to mediate disputes between Islamist militant groups within Gaza. His edict, or fatwa, could now further undercut Hamas鈥� claim that much of its legitimacy rests on its obedience to Islam.
Since the group鈥檚 Oct. 7 attack last year on Israeli civilians, many in the Muslim world have debated how much Islamic law and international law regarding rules of war apply to the conflict in Gaza.
The Global Imams Council, for example, condemned the massacre of Israelis. The world鈥檚 largest and most moderate Muslim movement, Nahdlatul Ulama in Indonesia, urged 鈥渢hat religious inspiration 鈥� including the values of universal love and compassion, human fraternity, and justice 鈥� be brought to the forefront of public awareness at all times, to help resolve conflict.鈥�
Dr. Dayah鈥檚 ruling echoes similar calls by Jewish scholars for the Israeli military to honor international and Jewish law by protecting Palestinian noncombatants in both Gaza and the West Bank.
The core of the differences between Israelis and Palestinians 鈥渋s the ability and willingness to empathize with innocent victims on both sides,鈥� wrote Singapore-based scholar James Dorsey after the Oct. 7 attack.
Such empathy is shared by the three Abrahamic faiths of Islam, 海角大神ity, and Judaism. The late chief rabbi of the United Kingdom, Jonathan Sacks, wrote that all three faiths must contend with a dualism that claims there is not one reality but a grand conflict between two realities, good and evil. To end interfaith conflict, he said each faith must rely on its respective belief that every human being is created in the image of God.
鈥淐an I see the image of God in one who is not in my image, whose color, culture, and creed are different from mine?鈥� he asked in a 2015 speech. 鈥淭hat is the theological challenge, and it鈥檚 there in the Bible.鈥�