[iwar] [fc:The-Islamic-Justification-for-Killing-Non-Combatants-in-War]

From: Fred Cohen (fc@all.net)
Date: 2001-09-13 19:09:55


Return-Path: <sentto-279987-1859-1000438344-fc=all.net@returns.onelist.com>
Delivered-To: fc@all.net
Received: from 204.181.12.215 by localhost with POP3 (fetchmail-5.1.0) for fc@localhost (single-drop); Thu, 13 Sep 2001 20:34:12 -0700 (PDT)
Received: (qmail 22099 invoked by uid 510); 14 Sep 2001 03:32:46 -0000
Received: from n6.groups.yahoo.com (216.115.96.56) by 204.181.12.215 with SMTP; 14 Sep 2001 03:32:46 -0000
X-eGroups-Return: sentto-279987-1859-1000438344-fc=all.net@returns.onelist.com
Received: from [10.1.4.56] by hm.egroups.com with NNFMP; 14 Sep 2001 03:32:24 -0000
X-Sender: fc@big.all.net
X-Apparently-To: iwar@onelist.com
Received: (EGP: mail-7_3_2_1); 14 Sep 2001 03:32:23 -0000
Received: (qmail 32043 invoked from network); 14 Sep 2001 02:09:59 -0000
Received: from unknown (10.1.10.27) by l10.egroups.com with QMQP; 14 Sep 2001 02:09:59 -0000
Received: from unknown (HELO big.all.net) (65.0.156.78) by mta2 with SMTP; 14 Sep 2001 02:09:57 -0000
Received: (from fc@localhost) by big.all.net (8.9.3/8.7.3) id TAA20439 for iwar@onelist.com; Thu, 13 Sep 2001 19:09:55 -0700
Message-Id: <200109140209.TAA20439@big.all.net>
To: iwar@onelist.com (Information Warfare Mailing List)
Organization: I'm not allowed to say
X-Mailer: don't even ask
X-Mailer: ELM [version 2.5 PL1]
From: Fred Cohen <fc@all.net>
Mailing-List: list iwar@yahoogroups.com; contact iwar-owner@yahoogroups.com
Delivered-To: mailing list iwar@yahoogroups.com
Precedence: bulk
List-Unsubscribe: <mailto:iwar-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com>
Date: Thu, 13 Sep 2001 19:09:55 -0700 (PDT)
Reply-To: iwar@yahoogroups.com
Subject: [iwar] [fc:The-Islamic-Justification-for-Killing-Non-Combatants-in-War]
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit

 September 12, 2001
The Islamic Justification for Killing Non-Combatants in War
Commentary
Yael Shahar
ICT Internet Site Director
Earlier this week, in the Kuwaiti paper, Al-Watan an article appeared
that explained the "justification" in the eyes of "Orthodox" Islam for
the killing of innocent non-combatants in time of war. In the briefest
possible terms, the justification hinges on the fact that -- at least
in the case of Israel -- all non-combatants are either "potential
fighters" or "are involved in complementary activities."
The following translation of this article, published in the September
9 edition of the Jerusalem Post, is now more relevant than any could
have foreseen two days ago. The article opens a window into the
thinking of those behind yesterday's murderous terrorist acts in New
York and in Washington DC.
The questions: "how could it happen? Who would do such a thing?" seem
to come up again and again whenever people try to encompass the
enormity of what has happened in the United States. This article, if
read with attention, may provide at least part of the answer: there
are cultures and religious streams that place no limits on what they
consider "justified in time of war."
As the finger of suspicion swings more and more surely to point at
Ossama bin Ladin's "International Front for Jihad against the
Crusaders and the Jews," it would seem more than likely that those
behind yesterday's attacks subscribe to just such a school of thought
as that represented by this article, published only days before in a
mainstream Kuwaiti newspaper.
This article presents the justification, from the standpoint of
"Orthodox" Islam, for the killing of Jewish non-combatants in war.
Although these justifications directly refer to "Jewish women and
children," the arguments presented could just as easily apply to all
non-combatants living in democracies.
The justification, indeed, hinges on the fact that citizens in
democracies are to be held responsible for the actions of their
government. After all, they vote for the government of their choice,
and pay taxes to support this government's policies. In fact all
citizens of a democracy are potential soldiers. What's more, all
citizens can be seen as "involved in complimentary activities":
operating computer systems, running the telephone systems, the
electric power grids, and indeed the entire economic foundation on
which the military might of the "enemy" is based.
The casual reader could be forgiven for believing that this article
reflects the opinions of a radical minority in the Arab World.
However, to see the full extent to which such a reading would be
mistaken, one need only recall the scenes of people dancing in the
streets in countries all over the Muslim World, at word of the death
of more than 10,000 innocent Americans -- all non-combatants, and all,
according to the article quoted below, valid targets for murder.
There should be no mistake: the events of yesterday, may be the work
of a small minority of extremists, but they were met with acclaim by
many who, though not directly involved, openly proclaimed their wish
that it had been their fingers on the trigger. These views do not
reflect the views of a "radical minority;" they reflect a military
doctrine for war -- a war which must be seen for what it is, a war of
civilization against civilization.


Is killing Jewish women and children forbidden?
Translated From The Arabic By Shira Gutgold
Reprinted with permission from the Jerusalem Post Column,
"What the Papers Say."(September 9) (Al-Watan, Kuwait, August 31)
Religious scholars do not dispute that Islamic law fundamentally
forbids the killing of women and children in Jihad [holy war], and the
evidence for it is in the Hadith [prophetic tradition] of Ibn-Umar
[Vol. 4, Book 52, No. 257]: "A slain woman was found during one of the
Prophet's military campaigns, and following this the prophet forbade
the killing of women and children." The scholars have also found
evidence for the prohibition of killing those who are not involved in
warfare in the Prophet's message to Khaled Ben-Al-Walid telling him
that they shall not kill a woman or a non-fighting laborer. There are
also other sources for the prohibition of killing civilians. The
scholars have excluded two cases in which the killing of civilians and
women is permitted. The first one is when they take part in the
fighting, or if they witness it or are involved in complementary
activities such as giving council or propagandizing. The scholars base
their decision on the words of the Prophet who, when seeing the slain
woman said: "She was not capable of fighting," meaning that had she
been fighting, it would have been permitted to kill her. It should be
noted that in the modern age, when an army is engaged in war,
non-fighters join it who are involved in complementary activities and,
at times, the course of war depends mainly on them. These are, for
example, activators of the army's computer systems that direct
military activities, such as civilian-manufactured computer systems
for directing missiles or sophisticated bombs. They also include those
who work for agencies that carry out military projects; the reserve
forces responsible for summoning soldiers and preparing them for
fighting, even administratively; intelligence people, and so forth.
All those mentioned fall under the category of those who fight the
Muslims and therefore can be targeted and killed in war, especially on
occupied Muslim lands such as Palestine. It also ought to be noted
that all Jewish women in the Zionist entity are fighters, since they
are also required to serve in the army. It is common knowledge that
the Zionist society is a military society, and every one of them takes
part in warfare, whether as a soldier in the army, as a reservist, by
paying taxes to the Jewish state and its army which kills Muslims, or
by voting to put [Prime Minister Ariel] Sharon in a position to give
the orders to kill [Mohammed] Al-Dura [the child killed in his
father's arms in Gaza last September] and other Palestinian children.
The second case when the killing of civilians and women is permitted
is when Muslims must launch a comprehensive attack against their
enemies or shoot them from afar. If civilians, women or children are
to be killed in such attacks - although they must not be deliberately
targeted - there is no blame on those who kill them, as these things
happen in wars when bombs are fired at military posts situated between
residential buildings, especially when these are the posts of the
occupying army situated on Muslim lands. In such incidents civilians,
women, and children are unintentionally killed, but Muslims get killed
as well. Among these attacks are the martyrdom attacks that aim to
kill the occupiers in order to strike terror in their hearts and force
them to end their occupation and withdraw from the country of the
Muslims. In these attacks some women and children are unintentionally
killed, of course, but this is with full right. Places that are
designated for children and frequented only by them are not to be
targeted. The prophet has shot at the people of Taif with a catapult
during his siege to their town when there were women and children
inside. Had he forbidden his warriors to attack them or shoot at any
place where there were people who were not fighters, it would have led
to the paralyzing of Jihad for the sake of Allah. It is impossible to
avoid killing civilians in a war, especially in the kind of fighting
taking place in Palestine where settlements and occupied lands are
side by side with Muslim areas, and therefore it suffices that they
should not be intentionally targeted.

The views expressed here reflect the opinions of the author alone and
do not necessarily reflect the views of the International Policy
Institute for Counter-Terrorism

------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor ---------------------~-->
Get VeriSign's FREE GUIDE: "Securing Your Web Site for Business." Learn about using SSL for serious online security. Click Here!
http://us.click.yahoo.com/LgMkJD/I56CAA/yigFAA/kgFolB/TM
---------------------------------------------------------------------~->

------------------
http://all.net/ 

Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/ 



This archive was generated by hypermail 2.1.2 : 2001-09-29 21:08:42 PDT