An international body of Muslim scholars has dismissed an announcement by Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) militants that they are forming a "caliphate", or Islamic state, in areas they control in Iraq and Syria, saying it lacked any Islamic or realistic aspects.
Share It :
"A group's sole declaration of caliphate without a wide consensus is inadequate and contradicts with Islamic law," the statement released the International Union of Muslim Scholars (IUMS) said.
Last June 30, ISIL made a surprise announcement of the establishment of a new Islamic “caliphate” and changed its name into the Islamic State.
The declaration was made in an audio recording distributed online in which ISIL declared its chief Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi “the caliph” and “leader for Muslims everywhere”.
Following the announcement, the al-Qaeda offshoot group told other Sunni rebel groups which joined the uprising in Iraq to swear an oath of allegiance and give up arms.
The new order has put other Sunni rebel groups, made up of former Iraqi military personnel, tribal elements and adherents of Saddam Hussein's Baath party, who protested injustices of al-Maliki government in a dilemma.
Tribal and rebel military sources say that after two days of talks in Mosul, they have been told that they must take an oath of allegiance to the new caliphate, and that only fighters from the Islamic State are allowed to bear arms.
The Union statement went on to stress Muslims’ dream of an Islamic Caliphate. Yet, such announcement can only follow the establishment of true Islamic nations which are united together on a clear goal.
“ISIL’s announcement of what they called “Islamic Caliphate” lacks the jurisprudence of reality and looks like a jump on the people’s revolution in which Sunnis participate heavily,” the statement reads.
“No one can accept the annulment of all Islamic organization in the international arena for a mere declaration of one party for what they called the Caliphate and Caliph.”
The Union has also warned that such declarations open the door for chaos and allows other organization to instill itself on an important issue such as the Islamic Caliphate.
