The Incursion of the Occupying Jewish Entity into the Land of ash-Sham: a Shariah Perspective
(Translated)

Al-Rayah Newspaper - Issue 559 - 06/08/2025 CE

By Ustadh Abu al-Mu’tazz Billah al-Ashqar

Muslims lived for thirteen centuries under one Rayah (banner) and one state. Despite periods of decline and deterioration, Shariah Law remained permanently linked to it. Foremost among these laws was the Shariah ruling of Jihad, which represents the initiation of fighting against the kuffar to raise the Kalimah (Word) of Allah (swt) as the highest and spread the da’wah (call to Islam). However, Muslims also experienced periods of weakness during which the kuffar invaded their lands, as happened with the Prophet (saw) and his Companions (ra) in the Battles of Uhud and al-Khandaq.

Therefore, this inductive division of Jihad into two types naturally arose:

Jihad al-Talab (جهاد الطلب Offensive Jihad): This requires the permission of the Imam, and has its own conditions and rulings, most notably ability and capacity.

Jihad al-Daf’a (جهاد الدفعDefensive Jihad): This requires no special conditions or permission from the Imam.

Men, women, and even boys go out to fight, each according to their ability. This matter was applied practically when the Mongols invaded Baghdad, and when the Christian Crusaders invaded the regions of Andalusia, after the dispersal of the Taifa rulers. Everyone fought, each according to his energy and ability. This is because Defensive Jihad mandates repelling the harm of the kafir from the land of Islam, and repelling his plots from the lands of the Muslims. It is not conceivable that it would require the permission of the Imam, because its interest would be lost by delay, organization, and the permission of the Imam, especially when the kuffar are violating the land of Islam.

The main evidence for this is the Speech of Allah (swt),

[فَاتَّقُوا اللهَ مَا اسْتَطَعْتُمْ]

“So fear Allah as much as you are able” [TMQ At-Taghaabun: 16], and also the hadith of the Prophet (saw), «...وَإِذَا أَمَرْتُكُمْ بِأَمْرٍ فَأْتُوا مِنْهُ مَا اسْتَطَعْتُمْ» “...And when I command you to do a matter, do of it as much as you are able” (Agreed upon). Jihad in this case — that is, when a disbeliever attacks Muslim land — is a decisive Shariah obligation, and the conditions observed in the Offensive Jihad are not taken into account. Jihad is obligatory and required even if an inch of Muslim land is occupied, or if a disbeliever invades a Muslim country.

What compels us to say this is the ongoing incursion of the Jewish entity into ash-Sham, and the rising voices of cowardice who claim they do not want to be dragged into wars imposed by the Jewish entity in the region. This cowardice is what is causing them to receive slaps and blows. Shariah Law, and even the Sykes-Picot nationalistic divisions, mandates them to defend their country and land to the best of their ability, as the incursion of the Jewish entity can only be stopped by a military response, according to their ability.

It is unacceptable to say that Syria is a weak country or that it cannot stand up to the Jewish entity. This is not true, because the Shariah evidence obligates them to defend their country and their land, not to sit and watch. Their leader only declares that the blatant aggression on the lands of ash-Sham represents a violation of all international conventions and diplomatic norms, and delays peace in the region! As if we expect him to describe the situation alone, not treat it! Everyone is good at describing it, from women to the elderly. Is this what was expected from the ruler who is in origin a shield, to be protected by and behind whom one fights?!

The humiliation that the current rulers of Syria have brought upon the people of ash-Sham has led to the Jews’ attacks, interventions in Suwayda and its people, and their rampage and attacks on the Ministry of Defense and the Presidential Palace, which are actions that the Jews would not have dared to do had they found men among the crowds. Here are the people of Gaza who have written history and recorded their names in the register of the greats, and they do not possess one-tenth of what their enemy possesses, nor do they possess one-tenth of what the rulers of ash-Sham possess.

When the Ottoman State weakened in the Eighteenth and Nineteenth Centuries CE, interference in its domestic affairs became one of the many factors of weakness that overwhelmed it. It was perhaps no less dangerous than the attrition of its peripheries, or even its core, through colonialism. Russia intervened under the so-called protection of “minorities” to support the Orthodox Christians, and France supported the Maronites, just as the Jews do today in Suwayda, under the pretext of their standing with the Druze. This type of interference caused the state to lose its prestige and status, which subsequently made it a pretext for direct military intervention in Muslim countries.

The rulers of ash-Sham must not think that the world will leave ash-Sham alone. Ash-Sham is a land that has been destined to be a place of conflict for thousands of years. It will either be honorable or humiliated, and there is no middle ground. If the honorable people of ash-Sham do not rush to stop the foolish among them, the ash-Sham will be like the West Bank to the Jewish entity, where they run riot, kill, and assassinate, and their authority will be limited to counting the dead and guarding the ruler, just like Abbas’s Palestinian Authority and its security apparatus!

The Messenger of Allah (saw) spoke the truth when he said, «إِذَا تَبَايَعْتُمْ بِالْعِينَةِ، وَأَخَذْتُمْ أَذْنَابَ الْبَقَرِ، وَرَضِيتُمْ بِالزَّرْعِ، وَتَرَكْتُمْ الْجِهَادَ، سَلَّطَ اللهُ عَلَيْكُمْ ذُلًّا لَا يَنْزِعُهُ حَتَّى تَرْجِعُوا إِلَى دِينِكُمْ» “If you sell anything on credit to anyone, on the condition that you will buy it back for a lower price (al-‘Einah), take hold of the tails of cattle, become pleased with agriculture and give up Jihad, Allah will make disgrace prevail over you and will not remove it from you till you return to your Deen” [Abu Dawud].

In the history of the Islamic State, there was no problem called the problem of religious, ethnic, or sectarian “minorities”. Everyone who holds the citizenship of the state is part of it, and Muslims have managed this matter with competence and strength. We have seen that those whom the world calls today “minorities” have lived in Muslim countries and under Muslim rule for many centuries, and it was never noticed that they migrated in groups because of Muslim rule, or because of any injustice that befell them. Instead, they were calling the followers of their faith outside the borders of the Islamic State to join them, because of what they saw of justice and fairness. However, now, in the time of pseudo-rulers, Muslim countries have become fertile ground for all the beasts of the earth, diminishing its borders. The kuffar interfere in the lands of Muslims with various pretexts and run riot under many banners. They are deceived by the fact that the agent rulers work for them, and are indebted to them for the seat they have reached. Ash-Sham is no better than its sister countries of the Muslims. Its ruler watches the Jewish entity rampaging, killing, and bombing, and does nothing more than describe and condemn, as if the country is not his country, and the dead are not his subjects! Not long ago, before he assumed power, he was threatening the kuffar with Jihad and fighting. Now, he and the kuffar are fighting the people of Syria. What he did in Suwayda, withdrawing the security forces, and leaving people to be killed by armed gangs that outnumbered them and out-equipped them, is the best evidence of this. He will be questioned about it on the Day of Judgment, so let him prepare an answer for the questioning!