Fiqh Us-Sunnah (PDF searchable file)
Background
On November 15, 2018, the Daily Mail Australia published an article entitled Muslim Imam Discovers Sharia Law Book Preaching Jihad And Hostage Taking In Melbourne Airport Islamic Prayer Room. On November 17, 2018, the same article was highlighted in Jihad Watch, under the title of Sharia Manual Preaching Jihad Warfare And Hostage Taking Found In Airport Prayer Room.
The Daily Mail Australia article provides a cache of intriguing details about an incident that happened in the Muslim prayer room at the Melbourne, Australia international airport, which also happens to be the second busiest airport in the country.
In the article, we find that, shortly before boarding his flight, Imam Sheikh Mohammad Tawhidi [= Oneness of Allah], an Iranian-born Shia scholar who openly campaigns against Islamic extremism, found an Arabic language Shariah manual entitled Fiqh Us-Sunnah [= The Law and The Way] in the prayer room.
As we also discover, the Adelaide-based leader and author, who is known in Australia as the ‘Imam of Peace,’ made a video of himself flicking through the index of Fiqh Us-Sunnah, while pointing out alarming references to [1] jihad, [2] ‘taking hostages at war’ and [3] taxing ‘infidel’ non-Muslims (see details below).
We also learned that Imam Tawhidi told the Daily Mail Australia reporter that this fundamentalist Sunni Islamic law book had the potential to ‘certainly radicalise someone,’ and that ‘It can turn a regular traveller or a frustrated, vulnerable traveller into an extremist,’ while adding that ‘It goes against national security.’
Furthermore, Sheikh Tawhidi stated that Fiqh Us-Sunnah was possibly planted by an activist, that Melbourne airport authorities needed to ‘take action,’ and that ‘It’s not a one-off matter. The Muslim community should use the liberties in Australia, the freedoms here, to side with the police against the radicals.’
And take action they did!
Several hours later, Melbourne Airport officials tweeted Sheikh Tawhidi to confirm that they had removed Fiqh Us-Sunnah, written by the well-known Egyptian Sunni Islamic scholar As-Sayyid Sabiq, while adding ‘Thanks for your message. We have a publicly accessible multi-faith prayer room open to travellers of various religions. The book has been removed for assessment of its suitability.’
At the close of the article in the Daily Mail Australia, we are also informed by the reporter that Fiqh Us-Sunnah is actually a ‘book about the practices of the Prophet Mohammad‘ [= Sunnah], that ‘was authored by a prominent member of the Muslim Brotherhood [As-Sayyid Sabiq], a pan Islamist group campaigning for a global Islamic caliphate‘ (see more on this below).
It is also important to note that this incident took place in the immediate aftermath of a November 9, 2018 terrorist attack by Hassan Khalif Shire Ali, a Somali-born, ISIS-linked Sunni Muslim who was shot dead by police after killing popular 74-year-old restaurateur Sisto Malaspina, and knifing two others in downtown Melbourne.
Discussion
This incident is remarkably revealing for several reasons.
First: Imam Sheikh Mohammad Tawhidi put his own life at risk by informing Melbourne Airport authorities about the copy of Fiqh Us Sunnah that he found in the Muslim prayer room. According the Daily Mail Australia article, he actually ‘asked for his travel plans to be kept secret, following threats to his life from Islamic extremists.’
Imam Tawhidi should certainly be commended for his refreshing courage and honesty (i.e., If You See Something, Say Something), but it also casts a spotlight on an ominous, unavoidable dilemma for [1] Muslim leaders like him, as well as for [2] the global Islamic community, and for [3] Law Enforcement and Counter Terrorism authorities around the world.
Second: According to Imam Sheikh Tawhidi, Fiqh Us-Sunnah literally ‘goes against national security.’
If they accept this statement as correct, how are authorities in Australia (and the rest of the non-Islamic world) supposed to respond to this warning, especially since, as you’ll see from reading the excerpts cited below, Fiqh Us-Sunnah is completely mainstream, well-established orthodox Islamic law. Fiqh Us-Sunnah is not some clandestine underground leaflet, published secretly behind closed doors by members of an outlawed organization, but is accepted as authoritative everywhere in the world.
If Fiqh Us-Sunnah really represents a threat to national security, then how are those in authority (and the general public) supposed to respond?
Third: Imam Tawhidi also declared that a copy of Fiqh Us Sunnah may have been placed in the prayer room by ‘an activist.’
What does Sheikh Mohammad mean by ‘activist‘? Did he really intend to imply that anyone who follows the orthodox Shariah found in Fiqh Us Sunnah (and other similar books, such as The Reliance of the Traveller) is an activist, i.e., a dangerous Islamic radical, who poses a real threat to national security?
Fourth: Although there is a well-known history of conflict and tension between the Shia and Sunni branches of Islam, Shia and Sunni scholars all study the same schools of Fiqh, and agree on a majority of what is found in Shariah (including in Fiqh Us-Sunnah), not to mention the Quran and the Hadith.
How does Imam Tawhidi reconcile the reality of this Shia-Sunni unity, with his decision to characterize the Muslim Brotherhood-endorsed Shariah manual known as Fiqh Us-Sunnah as so ‘toxic’ that merely coming across it in an airport prayer room could ‘certainly radicalise someone,’ and/or ‘turn a regular traveller or a frustrated, vulnerable traveller into an extremist’?
In Islam, this is called Fitnah (= Confusing truth with falsehood & unbelief). It is actually a capital offense, and puts Imam Tawhidi in a very dangerous position (for example, see Quran 2.191). Will he need protection for his public statments about Fiqh Us-Sunnah?
Fifth: Now that the already well-known Shariah manual, Fiqh Us-Sunnah, has been brought further into public light, i.e., to the attention of non-Muslim authorities in Australia, an incredible paradox (dilemma) is also revealed. The problem is, from an Islamic perspective, Fiqh Us-Sunnah is anything but extreme or radical. Muslims will never stop reading and studying Fiqh Us-Sunnah, or Shariah books like it.
Fiqh Us-Sunnah is one of the most widely read ‘mainstream’ Shariah manuals in the entire Sunni (and Shia) Islamic world; in fact, anyone can easily buy it today on Amazon! If Imam Tawhidi is correct, then the real problem we face is…Shariah itself!
Sixth: As with Fiqh Us-Sunnah, the author As-Sayyid Sabiq is anything but dangerous, extreme, or radical (from an Islamic perspective). Not only Brother Sabiq a highly regarded mainstream Sunni scholar, who has been endorsed by the global Muslim Brotherhood organization, but he was also a Jihadi, who is honored and respected throughout the Islamic world.
As found in this Google Review (also here):
As-Sayyid Sabiq’s book has since been translated into dozens of languages and is used by Muslims throughout the world. He wrote the book at the request of Ustadh [= The Honorable] Hassan al-Banna, the founder of the Muslim Brotherhood. Every Fiqh ruling in the book goes back to the Quran and Sunnah, and Sabiq dealt with all four Madhahib [= Schools of Thought Within Fiqh] objectively, with no preferential treatment to any. Besides his academic work, Sabiq was a noted Islamic activist, who…spent some time fighting along with the Mujahedeen [= Jihad Fighters] in Palestine in the late 1940’s.
Note: For other detailed, glowing reviews of As-Sayyid Sabiq, see here and here.
Seventh: Fiqh Us-Sunnah is endorsed, promoted and published by the Ahlulbayt Organization (AIM), which is also Shia, just like Imam Sheikh Mohammad Tawhidi.
Note: Ahl Ul-Bayt means The People of the House of Islam
Conclusion – A Few Excerpts From Fiqh Us-Sunnah
In closing, we should address the question: Does the Fiqh Us-Sunnah actually have references to [1] jihad, [2] ‘taking hostages at war’ and [3] taxing ‘infidel’ non-Muslims?
The answer is an emphatic ‘Yes.’ Here are several screen captures from Fiqh Us-Sunnah for you to review:
[1] Jihad
From Page 44:
Note: Also see Page 160, 185, 221, 226, 229, 261, 366, 369, 446 for additional references to Jihad
From Page 94:
From Page 224:
[2] ‘Taking Hostages At War‘
From Page 223:
From Page 46:
[3] Taxing ‘Infidel’ Non-Muslims [= Jizyah & Kharaj]
From Page 202:
From Page 204:
From Page 231:
Note: The Shaf’iyyah is one of the four main schools of Fiqh
