The Secretary General of the AhlulBayt (a.s.) World Assembly further emphasized, “Compassionate Islam and resistance are two sides of the same coin. But some have only taken one side! Resistance is defined under divine mercy and without it, mercy cannot spread in Islamic society.”
ABWA Official Website – At the “Resistance and Security” conference held by the AhlulBayt (a.s.) World Assembly, Ayatollah Reza Ramazani, Secretary General of the Assembly, expressed that one of the topics that should be discussed in scientific circles is the explanation of the principles of resistance.
Regarding some misconceptions by Muslims, Ayatollah Reza Ramazani said, “Today, some intellectuals of Islamic countries advocate merciful Islam and argue that in this regard, Quranic verses and traditions related to jihad and resistance should be discarded and removed; on the other hand, there is the Takfiri Islam created by the hand of global arrogance, each of which is two blades of one pair of scissors. In the name of Merciful Islam, they are trying to promote absolute peace, which is nothing but submission to the domination system. According to Quranic verses and hadiths, there is no such a thing as absolute peace, but there is a just peace, an effort to achieve justice.”
About some certain and definite principles of Islam, he said, “In Islam, there are two affirmative principles that should be discussed: First, the principle of dignity, and second, the principle of justice. In the West, it is claimed that dignity and justice are supported, and the West considers itself to be the banner bearer of the protection of human rights. This is while Islam spoke about human dignity and rights 1400 years ago. Also, there are two proscribing principles of negation of oppression and acceptance of oppression in Islam, which negates transgression and aggression and negating acceptance of oppression.”
Regarding the philosophy of Jihad in Islam, the Secretary General of the AhlulBayt (a.s.) World Assembly reminded, “Today, we must introduce Jihad in the international language and today’s language. The initial Jihad in Islam is not for the conquest of the lands and expanding territory but against oppression, coercion, and tyranny. Therefore, as long as the Prophet (p.b.u.h) resided in Mecca, there was no talk of war. In Mecca, people came to the Prophet (p.b.u.h) 75 times and said that they were ready for Jihad. But the Prophet (p.b.u.h) replied that he had not yet been ordered (by God) for Jihad. Even what happened after the Hijrah (migration) to Medina, was a defensive Jihad, and the Muslims defended themselves against the onslaught of the Mushrekin (polytheists.)”
“Some believe that all the wars during the lifetime of the Prophet (p.b.u.h) were defensive and there was no initial Jihad among them. In my opinion, the Prophet (p.b.u.h) did not have more than three or four wars and the rest were “military operations.” The death tolls in wars and operations during the time of the Prophet (p.b.u.h) (on both sides) did not exceed four thousand people,” he continued.
In another part of his speech, about resistance Ayatollah Ramezani said, “Some scholars have raised some problems about the initial Jihad. But the resistance as a principle, is accepted by all Shiite and Sunni scholars. There are three types of resistance: individual resistance, resistance against oppressive governments, and resistance against occupation.”
“There are about 400 Quranic verses about resistance. There is no such number of Quranic verses about any of the Islamic jurisprudential sub-principles. Therefore, these verses cannot be dismissed easily. One of the important verses is verse 75 of Surah Nisa. According to this verse, the goal of resistance should be monotheism. In this regard, Sayed Hassan Nasrallah introduced a new level of resistance to the world, and the spirit of monotheism was visible in his behavior,” he added.
The Secretary General of the AhlulBayt (a.s.) World Assembly further emphasized, “Compassionate Islam and resistance are two sides of the same coin. But some have only taken one side! Resistance is defined under divine mercy and without it, mercy cannot spread in Islamic society.”
Regarding the necessity of unity in Islamic societies, he said, “If the Islamic countries were united, they would become the biggest military, political, cultural and economic power. But they were not allowed to do this (by the enemies).”
Regarding the necessity for Muslims to pay special attention to the Palestinian issue, Ayatollah Ramazani said, “The late Imam Khomeini (r.a.) considered the issue of Palestine to be the issue of the monotheists and the oppressed of the world. On the other hand, Zionists believe that they are the served people, and others should be their servants! There are no more racists in the world than the Zionists, and they have the most human rights violations on record.”
“According to the Quranic verses, the promise of God is that victory will be granted to the mujahideen in the way of God because they bravely stand in the field. Some argue that verses 190 to 195 of Surah Al-Baqarah are related to the initial jihad. However, there is no doubt that these verses are at least related to defensive jihad,” he added.
The Secretary General of the AhlulBayt (a.s.) World Assembly further said, “It is stated in the hadiths that if a Muslim hears a call for help from a non-Muslim, but does nothing and remains indifferent, he is not a Muslim. Today, we see that Shiite and Sunni scholars have a consensus on resistance, and there is a rational reason for resistance. Oppression is one of the detested things and it must be resisted. This is the result of the slogan of Imam Hussain (a.s.): “هیهات من الذله” (No to humiliation).”
“There are reasons for resistance from the Quran, hadiths, consensus, and reason. Therefore, it is necessary to hold meetings to explain the theory of resistance in international language, so that it is explained to the young generation,” he said at the end of his speech.
**************
End/ 345
The Ahl al-Bayt World Assembly is an international non-governmental organization (INGO) that was established by a group of Shiite elites under the supervision of the great Islamic authority of the Shiites in 1990 to identify, organize, educate and support the followers of Ahl al-Bayt.