4

DECLARATION 154

ISLAM’S POSITION ON EXTREMISM, RADICALISM, AND TERRORISM

The international islamic fiqh academy, a subsidiary of the Organization of the Islamic Conference, which held its seventeenth session in Amman in the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan from 28th Jumada I until 2nd Jumada I I1427 ah/ 24-28 June 2006 ce, having discussed the questions presented to the Academy on “Islam’s Position on Extremism, Radicalism, and Terrorism,” and after hearing debate on it, and after studying the resulting resolution 128 (2/14) on “The Rights of Man and International Use of Force,” which defined terrorism as, “Aggression, intimidation, material or psychological threat originating from states, groups, or individuals against people’s religion, person, honor, intelligence, property, committed wrongfully through various types of aggression and forms of corruption in the earth,” and after studying the proceedings of Islamic and Arabic conferences, official and unofficial, which have touched on the questions of combatting terrorism, addressing its causes and cutting off the means of the terrorists, while continuing to pursue politically the rights of occupied peoples to armed resistance, and in accord with the Amman Message of 26/9/1425 ah / 9/11/2004 ce, resolves the following:

  1. All acts, forms, and practices of terrorism are forbidden, and it is a criminal act classifiable as a war crime, wherever it occurs and whoever perpetrates it. Anyone who participates in terrorist acts directly or indirectly, through funding or support, individually or as a group or a state, is considered a terrorist. Terrorism can also occur between states.
  2. There is a distinction between terrorism and legitimate resistance to occupation through legally accepted means, because the latter is for the purposes of removing tyranny and reclaiming lost rights. This is a right recognized by law and by reason, and is affirmed by international treaties.
  3. The reasons leading to terror—and their precursors such as extremism, radicalism and tribalism; ignorance of the rulings of the Shari’ah; disregarding the rights of human beings as well as their political and intellectual freedom; dispossession and poor economic, societal, and political conditions—must be addressed.
  4. We reaffirm what has already been mentioned above in this resolution, namely that struggle (Jihad) to defend Islamic belief, and to protect or liberate one’s country from foreign occupation is not terrorism, so long as that struggle follows the rulings of Islamic law.

And the following is recommended:

  1. We recommend strengthening the role of scholars, legal specialists, preachers, and learned bodies, specialists and otherwise, in spreading the word to combat terrorism and address its causes.
  2. We call on all media to strive for greater accuracy in their reporting and broadcasting of news, especially on issues involving terrorism, and to avoid linking terrorism with Islam, because terrorism has taken place—and continues to take place—at the hands of the followers of other religions and cultures.
  3. We call on institutions of knowledge and learning to make Islam known in its enlightened form, which calls for tolerance, love, and ties with others, and for mutual cooperation towards the common good.
  4. We call upon the secretariat of the Academy to make its utmost effort in this regard, by convening specialized conferences, focus groups, and various types of learned meetings, in order to make clear the points of the Shari’ah to hinder, stop, and destroy terrorism, and to quickly set up a comprehensive legal framework covering all aspects of this problem.
  5. We call upon the United Nations to make every effort to stop terrorism and to strengthen international cooperation in combatting it, and to take action to establish consistent international norms to decide the status of the various forms of terrorism using one standard.
  6. We call upon the states and governments of the world to place high priority on peaceful coexistence, and to give up international occupation and the denial of the human right to self-determination, and to establish connections with one another on the basis of equality, peace, and justice.
  7. We call upon Western countries to reexamine their educational methods and their harmful portrayal of Islam, and to stop the practices of various media which cause harm to Islam, in order to reinforce peaceful coexistence and dialogue and to hinder the culture of enmity and hate.

And God knows best.