Jihad of the Ummah

By Abu Mahmoud al Falastini

(Clearing the doubts regarding Nuruddin Zinki uniting with Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham)

Nour al Din al zinki, considered to be a part of the free syrian army, was a group that emerged in the beginning of the revolution with the objective of bringing down the oppression of the regime. It was fighting against oppression and was made up of men of Syria and defected soldiers from the Syrian Army. Even though it was a peoples revolution at first it still had a shar’i objective which was to repel aggression and defend the muslims. People in Syria have been living under the regime for 50 years so we should expect to see some ignorance and we should deal and judge these people with what they know and on what we know.

And no one made Takfir on the Free Syrian Army individually (i.e. each fighter) and Sheikh Sami al Uraydi and Sheikh Abu Qatadah have made research on this and the matter is clear. Even though some of their branches became apostates they didn’t fell into nullifiers simply because they are FSA but because of their actions like fighting the sharia and fighting to establish a secular state.

Takfir has been made on some groups but not because they are part of the Free Syrian Army or part of MOC but because there objective is a secular state.

Zinki did go through some stages and it became more sophisticated as time went on. While in the beginning it was a movement that represented the general masses. The leader Tawfiq al-din Shehab thens started mixing with different sheiks and people of knowledge. This had an impact on him and many of the people of knowledge have praised him and spoke good of him. Brothers from JFS on the front lines also starting mixing with Zinki’s soldiers and saw much good from them including steadfastness on the battlefield. Anyone who studies the development of this group specifically by reading the tweets and posts of its main jurist Husam Atrash will see its clear transition to a methodology which pleases Allah and went form a Free Syrian Army group to an Islamic group and this is what the brothers state.

In regards to Euphrates, the wing of Zinki that was fighting there completely defected and the two groups are now completely distinct. The wing of Zinki that joined Tahrir al-sham has no connection to those fighting in the Euphrates operation. On that note Sheikh Abu Qatada and Sheikh Abu Muhammad al-Maqdisi did not make takfir on all those who are fighting in Euphrates.

So now if we say as the khawarij say that this group is a group of Ridda (for the sake of argument) then the question remains can we make takfeer on its members individually? This is not the case as no one from the people of knowledge made takfeer on these groups individually - rather the takfeer was takfeer al naw3 (meaning general takfeer due to actions). For that reason now that this group has dissolved and its members are part of the new entity the Takfeer al naw3 has been ceased thus we call you to come with every single member and prove that he has committed apostasy so that we can require tawbah from him. So now it is upon you since the hukm upon this jama’ah has ceased with its dissolvement to prove the kufr of each and every member.

Secondly; If we were to say this group was a group of Ridda and now it requires to make Tawbah then what are the conditions of Tawbah. Is it giving Bayah to Abu Bakr al Baghdadi or becoming Najdis or Salafi Jihadis? If we for the sake of argument say that this group has fallen into riddah and now wants to join another group ( that is known for fighting for Allah and raising His word) isn’t this enough?. Isnt righteous deeds a condition for Tawbah? Uniting as Allah has commanded with a group with a correct Aqeedah is enough evidence of tawbah?.

So if the verdict against Zinki was Kufr then what would be the case for its soldiers after it dissolved who individually joined Hay’at Tahrir. While knowing that the riddah was upon the group and not on individual members?? Even scholars did not make Takfir on the individual when he was fighting for his group before it dissolved and ceased to exist. So if takfir was only made on the dignitaries of the group then the soldiers remain on Islam

Regarding the statement of Zinkis leaders that Tahrir al-sham a Syrian and national movement, is this statement a statement of Kufr? Who with a grain of knowledge who make Takfir because of this statement? The leader meant that this is a movement limited to the borders of Syria to establish Sharia and topple the regime. If a group came now and said we are Muslims and we want Sharia but at this moment our only goal is to bring down the oppressive regime and the repel the agression, isn’t this a Shar’i objective?? would any student of knowledge make takfir on it? We all know of the leaders of Hay’at Tahrir as people of truth - Sh Abu Jaber being the leader and Fath Al Sham being the largest group therein and their objectives are clear being to establish Sharia, disassociating from Euphrates Field, cutting ties with tyrants ect.

So what more tawbah we want from a group when they are joining a group that is not going to receive outside support, not participate in Euphrates Shield and not have connections to Tyrants? This is more truthful than he who sits at home and claims Salafiyyah. Because they didn’t just make tawbah, they made tawbah and sought to unite the banners and to fulfill the objectives of Jihad.

In regards to what their leader said previously when he is in Turkey, are we going to judge him based on what he said in the past and before the unification. And it is well known among people of knowledge that we judge people based on present and not the past and now that there is a new entity we must judge with whats obvious now. We expect nothing but good from them because the people behind this entity are people of goodness who carried the jihad for the past 6 years.

When seeking a jihad for the Ummah we must take and join with all those that are within the ummah so even if there are some statements with error then we excuse him. Because we want a Jihad of the Ummah in which every member of society joins us, the sinner, the rebellious and even the innovater. And whoever acts arrogant towards people then they do not want a jihad for the whole Ummah and they will end up destroying the Jihad and its best they sit at home. This is the reality. We have to accept everyone that is in this Ummah. Ibn Taymiyah when he fought against the Tartar he fought with the Sufis while the salafis were the minority.

So whoever wants a Jihad for the Ummah has to know he will be dealing with all types of people and will face many obstacles and problems. This is where the intelligent leaders appear as they are able to steer the battle with all types of different people. This is how Salahuddin did it, he fought a Jihad of Ummah with its sinful, rebellious, Sali, Sufis, Asharis and everyone else from the Ummah.

It is enough, leave the mindset of the Khawarij. We do not have to acknowledge everything the khawarij say. There is no benefit in them.

There is no need to acknowledge anything that the Khawaij say about us. No requirements at all!. By Allahs grace all the people of knowledge blessed this unification and no knowledgeable person would stand against unity.

Everything good comes out of Shura, to the extent even if it is for something evil. Look at the brothers of Yusuf, they first agreed to kill him but after Shura decided to just throw him in the well.

If a group whatever they may, criminals, apostates ect. is coming to join you and says please teach us the religion, do you push them away or accept them and teach them the religion?? Do you want to push them away under the pretext of them being murtadeen and make them think that you will kill them so they should just stay away from you like Dawlah says? As they say "you are murtad but I am your brother.” This is an extremist mindset and ghuluw must be fought just like Irjaa is fought. We must not allow the ghulat to destroy this Jihad.

Someone comes to you and wants to learn, take them in instead of making them your enemy. The Prophet Mohammed (صلى الله عليه وسلم ) went out with an army that Munafiqeen were in it and fought with them. Accept the people and fight for the Ummah with the Ummah.

The Ummah is being slaughtered. Enough with different banners and faction - people are tired of this, let us see the flag of Islam and a Jihad of an Ummah.