20 Muharram 1423 AH
4 April 2002
Question: Are we allowed to buy
items from Israeli sources, even though
this money may be used to help the
Jewish "war machine"?
Answer by Sheikh Yusuf
Al-Qaradawi:
It is Jihad to liberate the Islamic
lands from those who attack or conquer
them. These are enemies of Islam. This
Jihad is an absolute obligation and a
sacred duty; firstly on the people of
that land. If the Muslims of that land
can't offer sufficientresistance, then
Muslims of neighboring countries are
obliged to assist. If this is still not
sufficient then all the Muslims of the
world must assist.
Palestine is the land of the first
Qiblah of the Muslims, the land of
Isra' and Mi`raj, the land of Al-Aqsa
and the blessed territory. The
conquerors are those with the greatest
enmity to the believers, and they are
supported by the strongest state on
earth - the USA, and by the world
Jewish community.
Jihad is obligatory against those
who take land and expel the
inhabitants, spill the blood, violate
the honor, destroy the houses, burn the
fields, and corrupt the land. Jihad is
the first obligation of all
obligations, and the first duty of the
Ummah. Muslims are commanded to do
this, first those from the land in
question, after that their neighbors,
and finally all Muslims. We must all be
united against the aggressors. We are
united in Islam, including unity of
belief in the Shari`ah, unity of belief
in the Qiblah, and also united in pain
and hope. As Allah Almighty says:
"Verily this Ummah of yours is one
Ummah." (Qur'an, 21:92). Allah Almighty
also says: "Surely the believers are a
single brotherhood." (Qur'an, 49:10).
There is a Hadith of the Prophet, peace
and blessings be upon him, that states:
"The Muslim is the brother to the
Muslim, he can't oppress him, he can't
give him up, he can't let him down."
[Transmitted by Muslim].
Now we see our brothers and children
in Al-Aqsa and the blessed land of
Palestine generously sacrificing their
blood, giving their souls willingly in
the way of Allah. All Muslims must help
them with whatever power they have.
(See the Noble Qur'an, 8:72).
If people ask in the name of
religion we must help them. The vehicle
of this support is a complete boycott
of the enemies' goods. Each riyal,
dirham ...etc. used to buy their
goods eventually becomes bullets to be
fired at the hearts of brothers and
children in Palestine. For this reason,
it is an obligation not to help them
(the enemies of Islam) by buying their
goods. To buy their goods is to support
tyranny, oppression and aggression.
Buying goods from them will strengthen
them; our duty is to make them as weak
as we can. Our obligation is to
strengthen our resisting brothers in
the Sacred Land as much as we can. If
we cannot strengthen the brothers, we
have a duty to make the enemy weak. If
their weakness cannot be achieved
except by boycott, we must boycott
them.
American goods, exactly like
"Israeli" goods, are forbidden. It is
also forbidden to advertise these
goods. America today is a second
Israel. It totally supports the Zionist
entity. The usurper could not do this
without the support of America.
"Israel's" unjustified destruction and
vandalism of everything has been using
American money, American weapons, and
the American veto. America has done
this for decades without suffering the
consequences of any punishment or
protests about their oppressive and
prejudiced position from the Islamic
world.
The time has come for the Islamic
Ummah to say "NO" to America, "NO" to
its companies, and "NO" to its goods,
which swamp our markets. We are eating,
drinking, wearing and riding whatever
America produces.
|
|
|
We
must all be united against
the aggressors. We are
united in Islam, including
unity of belief in the
Shari`ah, unity of belief
in the Qiblah, and also
united in pain and hope. As
Allah Almighty says:
"Verily this Ummah of yours
is one Ummah." (Qur'an,
21:92).
|
|
|
`Ali, may Allah be pleased with him,
said: "You have three enemies; your
enemy, the friend of your enemy, and
the enemy of your friend". The USA
today is more than friends to our
enemy; they would destroy themselves
for Israel. The world wide Muslim Ummah
numbering 1.3 billion, could cause pain
to the USA and its companies by
boycotting them. This is an obligation
of our religion, and the way of Allah.
Every Muslim that buys "Israeli" or
American goods, when there is an
alternative from other countries is
committing a haram act. They are
clearly committing a major sin, which
is a crime against Allah's law, which
invokes punishment from Allah, and the
contempt of the people.
Our brothers in "Israel" and America
are forced to deal with them and buy
their products. Allah does not ask you
to do what you can't do; only what you
can.
Allah says: "Fear Allah as much as
you are able." (Qur'an, 64:16).
The Prophet, peace and blessings be
upon him, said: "If I order you to do
something, do however much you can".
Muslims in America must work with
companies who are least hostile to
Muslims, least allied to the Zionists.
Boycott Zionist companies as much as
you can.
Arabs and Muslims must boycott all
companies that are biased towards
Zionism and support Israel, whatever
the national origin of that company
(e.g. Marks and Spencer), and anyone
like this who supports the Zionists and
helps the "Israeli" state. The boycott
is a very sharp weapon, used in the
past and recently. It was used by the
pagans in Makkah against the Prophet
Muhammad, peace and blessings be upon
him, and his companions. It caused
great harm to them; they even had to
eat leaves. It was also used by
companions of the Prophet, peace and
blessings be upon him, to fight against
the pagans in Madinah. In recent times
we saw nations use boycotts in their
struggle for the liberation from
colonialism. A famous example is Gandhi
who asked the vast Indian nation to
boycott English goods, which was very
effective. A boycott is in the hands of
the nation and masses alone.
Governments can't force people to buy
goods from a particular country. Let us
use this weapon to resist our national
and religious enemy, and make them know
we are still alive, and that this Ummah
will not die, God willing. The boycott
has many different effects; it renews
the education of the Ummah in how to
liberate themselves from enslavement to
other people's taste. They encourage us
to be addicted to these things of no
benefit, indeed they cause us harm. The
boycott is a demonstration of Muslim
brotherhood and unity of the Ummah. It
is our duty to say we are not going to
betray our brothers, who make
sacrifices every day. We will not
participate in making profits for our
enemy. This boycott is a lesser
resistance, which will help the greater
resistance carried out by our brothers
in the land of Messengers, and the
fortified frontier of Jihad. If every
Jew in the world thinks himself a
soldier, supporting Israel as much as
he can, surely every Muslim using his
very soul and wealth is a soldier to
liberate Al-Aqsa. The least [the
Muslim] can do is boycott his
[the enemies'] goods. Allah
says: "Oh you who believe, you are
protectors of each other. If you don't
do this there will be great division
and corruption.
|
|
|
Our
sisters and daughters, who
control the houses, have a
role to play in this
matter, which may be more
important than the role of
the man, because women
supervise the needs of the
house, and buy what must go
inside the house. She is on
hand to guide the boys and
girls. She plants the
Jihadic spirit in the
children, and educates them
in what they must do for
their Ummah and its causes,
and what they must do to
the Ummah's enemies,
especially in the area of
boycott. When the children
understand this they will
carry on the boycott
enthusiastically, and later
will lead the
parents.
|
|
|
If the consumer buying Jewish or
American goods is committing a major
sin, surely the merchant buying these
goods and acting as an agent is the
greatest sinner. Even if the company
works under a different name, they know
they are deceiving people. The Muslim
Ummah all over the world is being asked
to demonstrate its existence, and show
its desire to protect what is
sacrosanct. The Islamic Ummah must know
who are its allies, and who are its
enemies. The Ummah is forbidden to give
in to weakness, and depression, and
accept the tyrannical peace, which the
Zionists want to impose.
Allah says: "Don't be humiliated and
ask for peace, while you are on the
Uppermost and Allah is with you."
[Qur'an, 47:35]. Our sisters
and daughters, who control the houses,
have a role to play in this matter,
which may be more important than the
role of the man, because women
supervise the needs of the house, and
buy what must go inside the house. She
is on hand to guide the boys and girls.
She plants the Jihadic spirit in the
children, and educates them in what
they must do for their Ummah and its
causes, and what they must do to the
Ummah's enemies, especially in the area
of boycott. When the children
understand this they will carry on the
boycott enthusiastically, and later
will lead the parents.
I ask all the believers in Allah,
Christians and others, and all the free
and noble people in the world to stand
beside us, and support the right and
truth against falsehood, and justice
against injustice. Help to victory the
weak, who are being killed every day in
the way of Allah, protecting the Noble
Sanctuary.
Also, I request the workers of the
Arab and Muslim countries around the
world to support the Palestinians in
the their just cause, and show their
anger by demonstrating against the
powerful tyrants, by disturbing their
businesses as much as they can. Finally
I ask the wise, reasonable and
experienced in every country to
organize cells to build a boycott, to
create alternatives and avoid the
negative things, and carry on educating
the masses, until the word of truth is
raised up and falsehood is destroyed.
Surely it will perish.
"Say 'work', surely Allah will see
your work and His Messenger and the
believers, you will return to the
Unseen world and witness, and you will
know what you were doing."
"This Fatwa is based on the proofs
of the Book and Sunnah and Consensus of
the Ummah." Allah Almighty knows
best.
Hezbollah
- Lebanon
Nation of Islam
- U.S.A.
