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In a recent Jordanian TV interview, Jordanian Islamist Abu Muhammad Al-Maqdisi leveled harsh criticism against ISIS, following the burning to death of the Jordanian pilot, whose release he had tried to negotiate. "Immolation cannot be justified either by Islamic law or by reason," he said. Al-Maqdisi, who was known to be Abu Mus'ab Al-Zarqawi's mentor, was recently released from Jordanian prison.
Following are excerpts from the interview, which aired on Roya TV on February 6, 2015.
Abu Muhammad Al-Maqdisi: As soon as I heard that a Jordanian pilot had been captured by the Islamic State, I tried to contact them, in keeping with the Islamic interest. I tried to convince the reasonable people among them – if there are any – to agree to swap the Jordanian pilot for the prisoner Sajida Al-Rishawi.
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These people invented many bad practices. The first practice they invented – which they attributed to the Prophet Muhammad – was the public slaughtering of people. They slaughter their rivals, including several leaders and mujahideen in Syria.
People started to believe that slaughtering people was the Prophet's norm. They cite the hadith: "Oh people of Quraysh, I have brought slaughter upon you." The Prophet said this when these people mocked him. What they forget to mention is how the Prophet treated the people of Quraysh when he eventually captured them. Didn't he say to hundreds of them that they were free to go? This way, he turned them from enemies into followers.
They ignore that and cite one thing that the Prophet said when he was mocked, and turn the slaughtering into a habitual practice of the Prophet. They have painted Islam, the Jihadi movement, and the mujahideen in red. They have made people think that Jihad can be waged only by killing and slaughter.
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Then they came up with the practice of immolation. People will now follow them in this practice. Immolation?! The Prophet Muhammad said: "Only the Lord of Fire torments with fire." They cite one quote by Ibn Taymiyyah, severing it from what precedes it and what follows it. They give Ibn Taymiyyah precedence over the Prophet Muhammad.
Is this Jihadi salafism?! Jihadi salafism has nothing to do with such practices. The Prophet Muhammad considered immolation to be reprehensible. He said: "Only the Lord of Fire torments with fire." What interest did the burning of the pilot serve? Did they think that this would bring an end to the bombardments and the war?
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When I heard about the execution of Sajida and Al-Karbouli, I said to myself that most of the blame lies with the Islamic State, because they used Sajida's name as a bargaining chip, saying that they wanted to secure her release, when this was not true. They lied to me and even took an oath, and then it turned out that they had already killed the pilot.
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If someone purports to have a caliphate but cannot provide the fruits of a caliphate, he leads the Muslims to dispersal. They have presented Islam in the image of slaughter and immolation.
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Such immolation cannot be justified either by Islamic law or by reason. Why did you burn him? Along with him, you burned the hopes of people like me – whom you call sheiks – to secure the release of Sajida.
Interviewer: You are the ones who caused her death. If the ISIS ideology is detached from Islam, what does it base itself on?
Abu Muhammad Al-Maqdisi: I am said to say that after seeing the type of leaders they have… Some of them are very young, and others are new to Islam and were Baathists. Influential leaders in ISIS were Baathists until recently.
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Until yesterday, you were Baathists, torturing and killing Muslims, and today, you are leaders in the Caliphate?! What kind of a caliphate is this?
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These people have distorted the image of the Jihadi movement. They have caused I great harm. They invent something new every day. First it was slaughter and now immolation. Let me tell you, this has nothing to do with Islam. Jihadi salafism has nothing whatsoever to do with this.
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