Jabhat Fatah al-Sham Manifesto: Statement, Translation & Analysis

by Aymenn Jawad Al-Tamimi  •  Jul 29, 2016 at 5:36 am

https://jihadintel.meforum.org/199/jabhat-fatah-al-sham-manifesto-statement

Jabhat Fatah al-Sham, the successor organization to Jabhat al-Nusra following a formal renunciation of ties to al-Qaeda in a process guided by al-Qaeda, has released a manifesto outlining its goals and political program. Many of these talking points are rather standard (e.g. fighting against oppression) and in keeping with a more 'moderate' jihadist (i.e. al-Qaeda aligned) approach relative to the Islamic State: for example, the call to unity of jihadis and the insistence on holding the 'ulama (scholars) of the global Muslim community (Ummah) in high esteem and following them, while making clear they are not totally infallible. This contrasts with a recurring talking point against the Islamic State that is seen as disregarding the 'ulama. The global jihadi ambitions of the statement are also clear in the notion of establishing the reign of the religion of God on the Earth.

Below is a copy of the manifesto and a translation posted by the site Ummah Islam. I have added some explanations of terms in square brackets.

Fath Al Sham

{Victory from Allah and an imminent conquest}

1- We derive our Aqidah [creed], methodology and fiqh [jurisprudence] from the Quran and Sunnah as understood by the righteous Salaf [predecessors] from among the companions [of the Prophet Muhammad] and tabi'een [those who followed the companions], may Allah be pleased with them, as well as the devoted Imams and scholars who follow in their footsteps, such as Abu Hanifa, Al Shafi'i, Malik, Ahmad [these four individuals represent the main schools of Sunni jurisprudence] and many others, may Allah have mercy on them all.

2- We fight against the enemy who aggresses religion and the sanctities of the Muslims. We see this as one of the major Fard 'Ayn obligations [obligations incumbent on every Muslim] and one of the most obligatory forms of establishing the religion. This is not conditioned by any condition, as the enemy has to be fought by all possible means, for nothing is more important than faith and then fighting against such an enemy.

3- We perform jihad for the sake of establishing the governorship of the Shari'ah until Fitna [strife: i.e. conflict between Islam and other religions with the triumph of the former] disappears, the religion of Allah reigns supreme across the Earth and the glory and dignity of our Ummah is restored.

4- Through our jihad, we follow Islamic laws and take universal laws into consideration to reach our goal according to our understanding of Shari'ah and reality, all the while adhering to the satisfactory religious rules and the regulations of Shari'ah politics as derived from the biography of our prophet Muhammad, peace and blessings be upon him.

5- We strive to lift oppression from all those who are oppressed, be them people of Islam or disbelief. We strive to stop the oppressor from oppressing others by all possible means and to the utmost of our power.

6- We call to Allah with wisdom and fine admonition by being gentle to people and delivering to them the message of their Lord leniently, gently and by good words.

7- We hold the scholars of our ummah in very high esteem and recognize their rights and favors. We ally with them and follow them, though we know that no one is completely infallible. We also take their significant ijtihad in matters of fiqh into consideration.

8- We ally with the Muslims through the loyal bond of faith while we display enmity towards the disbelievers and we disown them. If one Muslim's character combines both evil and good, obedience and disobedience, Sunnah and innovations, then our loyalty to them would be in proportion to their adherence to goodness and Sunnah. Similarly, our enmity towards them would be in proportion to their involvement in evil deeds and innovations.

9- We renounce divisions and quarrels and call to unity and harmony. We regard the unity of the Ummah in general, and that of the mujahids [those who wage jihad] in particular, on righteousness and under one banner as an obligation that should be carried out in compliance with realistic and correct shari'ah principles.

10- We strive for the Word of Allah to be supreme and spend our most precious assets for its sake. We perform jihad by the hand and the tongue, as well as the money, body, heart and possessions until Allah makes it victorious or we die defending it.

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