Lesson Number One

[Guest guest]

This from International Policy Institute for Counter-Terrorism.

September 12, 2001

The Islamic Justification for Killing Non-Combatants in War

Commentary

Yael Shahar

ICT Internet Site Director

Earlier this week, in the Kuwaiti paper, Al-Watan an article appeared

that explained the

" justification " in the eyes of " Orthodox " Islam for

the killing of innocent non-combatants in time of war. In the

briefest

possible terms, the

justification hinges on the fact that -- at least in the

case of Israel -- all non-combatants are either " potential fighters "

or " are involved in

complementary activities. "

The following translation of this article, published in the September

9 edition of the Jerusalem

Post, is now more relevant than any could

have foreseen two days ago. The article opens a window into the

thinking of those behind

yesterday's murderous terrorist acts in New

York and in Washington DC.

The questions: " how could it happen? Who would do such a thing? " seem

to come up again and

again whenever people try to encompass

the enormity of what has happened in the United States. This article,

if read with attention,

may provide at least part of the answer: there

are cultures and religious streams that place no limits on what they

consider " justified in time of

war. "

As the finger of suspicion swings more and more surely to point at

Ossama bin Ladin's

" International Front for Jihad against the Crusaders

and the Jews, " it would seem more than likely that those behind

yesterday's attacks subscribe

to just such a school of thought as that

represented by this article, published only days before in a

mainstream Kuwaiti newspaper.

This article presents the justification, from the standpoint of

" Orthodox " Islam, for the killing of

Jewish non-combatants in war. Although

these justifications directly refer to " Jewish women and children, "

the arguments presented

could just as easily apply to all non-combatants

living in democracies.

The justification, indeed, hinges on the fact that citizens in

democracies are to be held

responsible for the actions of their government. After

all, they vote for the government of their choice, and pay taxes to

support this government's

policies. In fact all citizens of a democracy are

potential soldiers. What's more, all citizens can be seen as

" involved

in complimentary

activities " : operating computer systems, running the

telephone systems, the electric power grids, and indeed the entire

economic foundation on

which the military might of the " enemy " is based.

The casual reader could be forgiven for believing that this article

reflects the opinions of a

radical minority in the Arab World. However, to

see the full extent to which such a reading would be mistaken, one

need only recall the scenes

of people dancing in the streets in countries

all over the Muslim World, at word of the death of more than 10,000

innocent Americans -- all

non-combatants, and all, according to the

article quoted below, valid targets for murder.

There should be no mistake: the events of yesterday, may be the work

of a small minority of

extremists, but they were met with acclaim by

many who, though not directly involved, openly proclaimed their wish

that it had been their

fingers on the trigger. These views do not reflect

the views of a " radical minority; " they reflect a military doctrine

for war -- a war which must be

seen for what it is, a war of civilization

against civilization.

Is killing Jewish women and children forbidden?

Translated From The Arabic By Shira Gutgold

Reprinted with permission from the Jerusalem Post Column, " What the

Papers Say. "

(September 9) (Al-Watan, Kuwait, August 31)

Religious scholars do not dispute that Islamic law fundamentally

forbids the killing of women and

children in Jihad

[holy war], and the evidence for it is in the Hadith [prophetic

tradition] of Ibn-Umar [Vol. 4,

Book 52, No. 257]: " A

slain woman was found during one of the Prophet's military campaigns,

and following this the

prophet forbade the

killing of women and children. "

The scholars have also found evidence for the prohibition of killing

those who are not involved

in warfare in the

Prophet's message to Khaled Ben-Al-Walid telling him that they shall

not kill a woman or a

non-fighting laborer.

There are also other sources for the prohibition of killing

civilians.

The scholars have excluded two cases in which the killing of

civilians

and women is permitted.

The first one is when they take part in the fighting, or if they

witness it or are involved in

complementary activities

such as giving council or propagandizing. The scholars base their

decision on the words of the

Prophet who, when

seeing the slain woman said: " She was not capable of fighting, "

meaning that had she been

fighting, it would have

been permitted to kill her.

It should be noted that in the modern age, when an army is engaged in

war, non-fighters join it

who are involved in

complementary activities and, at times, the course of war depends

mainly on them. These are,

for example,

activators of the army's computer systems that direct military

activities, such as

civilian-manufactured computer

systems for directing missiles or sophisticated bombs.

They also include those who work for agencies that carry out military

projects; the reserve

forces responsible for

summoning soldiers and preparing them for fighting, even

administratively; intelligence people,

and so forth.

All those mentioned fall under the category of those who fight the

Muslims and therefore can

be targeted and killed

in war, especially on occupied Muslim lands such as Palestine.

It also ought to be noted that all Jewish women in the Zionist entity

are fighters, since they

are also required to

serve in the army. It is common knowledge that the Zionist society is

a military society, and

every one of them

takes part in warfare, whether as a soldier in the army, as a

reservist, by paying taxes to the

Jewish state and its

army which kills Muslims, or by voting to put [Prime Minister Ariel]

Sharon in a position to give

the orders to kill

[Mohammed] Al-Dura [the child killed in his father's arms in Gaza

last

September] and other

Palestinian children.

The second case when the killing of civilians and women is permitted

is when Muslims must

launch a comprehensive

attack against their enemies or shoot them from afar. If civilians,

women or children are to be

killed in such attacks

- although they must not be deliberately targeted - there is no blame

on those who kill them,

as these things

happen in wars when bombs are fired at military posts situated

between

residential buildings,

especially when these

are the posts of the occupying army situated on Muslim lands. In such

incidents civilians,

women, and children are

unintentionally killed, but Muslims get killed as well.

Among these attacks are the martyrdom attacks that aim to kill the

occupiers in order to strike

terror in their

hearts and force them to end their occupation and withdraw from the

country of the Muslims.

In these attacks

some women and children are unintentionally killed, of course, but

this is with full right. Places

that are designated

for children and frequented only by them are not to be targeted.

The prophet has shot at the people of Taif with a catapult during his

siege to their town when

there were women

and children inside. Had he forbidden his warriors to attack them or

shoot at any place where

there were people

who were not fighters, it would have led to the paralyzing of Jihad

for the sake of Allah.

It is impossible to avoid killing civilians in a war, especially in

the kind of fighting taking place in

Palestine where

settlements and occupied lands are side by side with Muslim areas,

and

therefore it suffices

that they should not

be intentionally targeted.

The views expressed here reflect the opinions of the author alone and

do not necessarily

reflect the views of the International

Policy Institute for Counter-Terrorism