BAGHDAD,
April 2, 2005 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) – A cohort of 64
Sunni scholars issued on Friday, April 1, a fatwa urging Iraqis to
join the fledging army and police forces provided that enlistees do
not collaborate with US-led occupation forces against their
countrymen.
“For
the sake of protecting lives and properties of civilians and because
the army and police are the safety valve of this country, a group of
sincere [Sunni] scholars and academics issued this fatwa,” said
Sheikh Ahmad Abdul Ghafour Al-Samarai, who read the edict.
“The
volunteers should be sworn to serve their religion and the Iraqi
people and refrain from helping occupiers against their own
countrymen.”
The
fatwa further underline the need for “trustworthy and fair
elements” in the country’s police and army.
“Joining
the army and police has become a necessity to prevent them from
falling into the hands of those who have caused chaos, destruction and
violated the sanctities,” said Al-Samarai.
Media
reports said that the Shiite- and Kurdish-dominated policy and army
forces have committed serious rights violations during raids on Sunni
communities across the country under the pretext of fighting off
“insurgency.”
On
Sunday, March 27, up to 800 Iraqi national guardsmen, backed by US
troops, raided Sunni-dominated towns south of Baghdad in what was
described by locals as an “ethnic cleansing operation.”
Scaling
Down Attacks
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“AMS’s position remains unchanged in respect to dealing with the Americans and the collaborators.”
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Samarri
hoped that the move would undercut rising attacks on members of the
Iraqi police and army.
In
the latest assassination of top army and police officers, gunmen
killed Friday Colonel Hatem Rashid, the police chief of the town of
Baladruz, northeast of Baghdad.
Iraqi
police and army forces have been a frequent target of attacks since
reformation under the US-led occupation.
Chief
among the signatories are Sheikh Ahmad Hassan Al-Tah, the
representative of the influential Association of Muslim Scholars (AMS)
in the northern city of Samarra, Sheikh Ziyad Al-Ani, the dean of the
Islamic College in Baghdad and member of the Islamic Party, the
leading Sunni political party.
The
fatwa, though delivered by Samarri at a western Baghdad mosques that
houses the AMS headquarters, was not signed by the chairman of the
highest Sunni religious authority in the country.
AMS
Muthana Harith Al-Dari told IslamOnline.net over the phone that the
fatwa did by no means express the Association’s position.
“The
signatories inked the edict in their capacity as members of the
Islamic Party and not AMS members,” he told IOL.
“AMS’s
position remains unchanged in respect to dealing with the Americans
and the collaborators.”
