Palestine: Muslim Scholarly and Institutional Positions

Summary

Muslim scholarly bodies have issued strong religious condemnations of Israel's war on Gaza, but Al-Azhar's statement was pulled under Egyptian state pressure, showing limits on what such institutions can say.

What it argues

1. Egypt withdraws Al-Azhar statement

   Egyptian authorities pressured Grand Imam Ahmed al-Tayeb to take down a statement condemning Gaza's 'genocidal starvation', according to The New Arab. Officials told Al-Azhar the wording could 'complicate Cairo's mediation efforts' in ceasefire talks; the statement was never republished despite being called 'under revision'. Sources close to Al-Azhar said the retraction came from a state-level request, not from within the institution. A leading religious authority's public stance on Gaza was overridden by state diplomatic concerns.

2. UAE council condemns Israel

   The Muslim Council of Elders, based in the UAE, issued a statement strongly condemning Israeli actions. It issued a separate statement strongly condemning Israeli statements, according to the UAE news agency WAM. A second major Gulf-based religious body has also gone on record against Israel, though detail on its statements is limited.

3. IUMS fatwa on intervention

   The IUMS Fatwa Committee ruled that Arab regimes and armies bordering Gaza have a Shariah obligation to intervene militarily to stop what it called genocide. It named Egypt, Jordan, Syria and Lebanon specifically, and called supplying arms and expertise a legal duty. The union said failing to act to save Gaza, Al-Aqsa and Palestine would be 'a betrayal of Allah and His Messenger'. The union framed military intervention in Gaza as a binding religious-legal duty, not a political choice.

4. Al-Azhar's deleted ruling

   The withdrawn statement called Israel's actions 'a fully-fledged genocide' and described children 'killed in cold blood' or left to die as medical centres shut down. It named those supplying arms or political cover as 'partners in this extermination' and warned they would face divine justice, citing the Quran. It rejected any forced displacement of Gaza's population and condemned 'the shameful international silence' over civilian suffering. Before its removal, the statement set out a religious-legal case of genocide and complicity, not just a moral appeal.

5. IUMS's stated mission

   Founded in Dublin in 2004, the IUMS says it unites scholars across schools of thought to issue fatwas and religious statements on current issues. Its listed recent activity includes distributing 1.9 million copies of the Quran, a Gaza solidarity sit-in in Tunisia, and welcoming the ceasefire. Its president, Ali Al-Qaradaghi, is credited on the site with work including coordination on Jerusalem. The union presents itself as a continuing institutional voice on Palestine alongside its broader religious and scholarly work.