Umm Abdillah, Radio Islam Programming | 2015.06.01 | 13 Sha’ban 1436 H

The terror organisation we’ve come to call Da’esh, ISIL or ISIS loves publicity. Letter writing, glossy magazines, photographs, videos, instant messaging, blogs, and social media are the primary method by which ISIS extends their influence outside of their physical domain in Iraq and Syria and lures unwitting accomplices to their realm.

We could surmise the goals of ISIS propaganda as the following:

To project an image of a victorious, functioning state;

To goad ‘enemies’ to invade ISIS-held territory;

To advertise the benefits of joining ISIS;

To blame any conflict that does result on the aggression of Western governments;

To retain current recruits and attract new ones;

To recast any military action against ISIS as actions against the Muslim ummah in general.

Ulama in South Africa and hundreds of scholars globally, have continually taken on and contested and condemned ISIS’s version of Islam. ISIS has developed convoluted arguments about why it engages in horrific crimes that are forbidden by Islam. These arguments however need to get to the right audience: ISIS’s potential recruits and sympathisers. Why do people sympathise with ISIS? A group like ISIS enjoys significant support in Iraq and Syria and among unwitting people worldwide partially due to the brutality of Western (and Russian and Iranian) backed regimes such as Bashar Assad and those of former PM Nouri al-Maliki, and the “coalition-led” chaos in those countries. Militia groups who terrorise Sunni civilians also fuels sympathy for ISIS. ISIS provides a utopian political project, the so-called caliphate – a centralised Islamic rule that will once more regain the glory and justice of times passed.

We, here at Radio Islam have taken apart “6” of the most often-mentioned contestations of the ISIS propagandists’, specifically aimed at oblivious and innocent South African audiences. Below, the questions and their answers in 6×10 minute segments answered by learned, experienced and respected scholars in South Africa.

Part 1 – Ml Ashraf Dockrat <<LISTEN HERE>> [TEXT SUMMARY]

a) There have been allegations that the institute of Deoband faked their efforts against the English and never opposed them via Jihad?

b) There have been allegations by ISIS propagandists that South African Ulama are anti jihad, which is a Quraanic injunction. Is this slander?

Part 2 – Ml Abbas-Ali Zubair Ally <<LISTEN HERE>> [TEXT SUMMARY]

a) Explain the concepts Irjaa and a being a Murjiah for an Aqeedah perspective and then from the purview of ISIS propogandists?

b) Are Sufi’s and the Tabligh Jamaat murjiah’s?

Part 3 – Ml Abbas-Ali Zubair Ally <<LISTEN HERE>>[TEXT SUMMARY]

a) How do we qualify the ma’moolat and tasbeehs we recite daily? Have they been proven from the sunnah, or fake and bid’at as some are claiming?

b) Are those who quote the Moulana Rumi’s and ancient poets of the world sell-outs to the true Deen?

Part 4 – Ml Muhammad Karolia <<LISTEN HERE>> [TEXT SUMMARY]

What is the difference between the concepts thrown around by ISIS propagandists eg: – Darul Tawheed, Darul Aman, Darul Ahad, Darul Kufr and Darul Harb and what laws pertain to Muslims living in each?

Part 5 – Ml Muhammad Karolia <<LISTEN HERE>>[TEXT SUMMARY]

a) Where does the concept pir/mureedi come from? Did such a thing, as a Shiekh and being a mureed, (follower) exist in the time of the Sahaba?

b) Are “Islaah Majalis” – gatherings in a bid to rectify the soul bid’ah?

Part 6 – Sh Fakhruddin Owaisi and Moulana Yusuf Patel <<LISTEN HERE>> [TEXT SUMMARY]

a) Why is it important to ensure consistent engagement and participation with our government? Eg. From the sunnah.

b) What is the way forward for those taken by ISIS propaganda in SA?

 Download and listen to these succinct and important discussions. Only on your favourite learning station.