International Journal on Criminology Volume 4, Number 2, Winter 2016 | Page 28

International Journal on Criminology
sensitive notions for the survival of the nation of idjtihad, 4 jihad, 5 and especially the
notion of Takfir (excommunication of a Muslim).
Globally renowned Muslim scholars, the most credible ones that are recognized
as such by the international community, such as Averroes (Ibn Roshd), refrained from
this type of adventure. The sorrows of Muslims come from non-initiates venturing
their own interpretation of the statements of the Quran, as Averroes wrote in a work
titled “On the Harmony Between Religion and Philosophy.”
The “permissive” movement flaunts the rules of these traditional schools and
redefines the mission of those who are authorized to interpret the statements of the
Quran by using the term “salaf.” Thus a new type of religious scholar appeared who
diminished the Prophecy and allowed anyone to become a legal expert, driving the
masses down the path to fanaticism.
As a source of fascination for the extremists, the writings and ideas of Ibn
Taymyya serve as the basis for Salafist extremism. This medieval theologian
(1263–1328)—while claiming to be from the most rigorous school, Hanbalism—is
a bottomless source for Islamists, from Djamel Eddine El Afghani to Oussama Ben
Laden, who have cited him indiscriminately from the beginning of the reformist era
(birth of Wahhabism in the mid-eighteenth century) to today. Ibn Taymyya advocated
the obedience of leaders on the basis of the Quran and the Sunna but placed significant
importance on their morality and their behavior, the only criteria for their legitimacy—
considerations which the assassins of Sadat used to justify their crime.
Ibn Taymyya was an innovator in Islamic thinking throughout his life, leading
the faithful toward an individual spirituality and renouncing the cult of saints. An
exceptional figure in the history of Islamic thought, Ibn Taymyya was the first to
oppose the teachings of the four major Sunni schools mentioned above. He was
condemned by judges belonging to the four major schools and finished his life in
prison.
In his numerous statements on jihad, Ibn Taymyya considered the Mongolian
invaders to be apostates, even though they had converted to Islam. Fighting them
was therefore the duty of all Muslims. The notion of Takfir (apostasy) then took on
a new meaning. Oussama Ben Laden, Ayman Zawahiri, the Armed Islamic Group of
Algeria, and El Qaïda in the Islamic Maghreb all drew their arguments from the same
well to fight the Soviets, then the Americans and the French. Although used at the time
4
A concept designating the intellectual effort of interpreting some of the verses of the Quran provided
by scholars of Islam, theologians with recognized expertise. The vulgarization of this concept is at the
source of the misfortune suffered by Muslims.
5
Often assimilated with the notion of combat, this concept has known different meanings through
its history. Its etymology refers to physical or psychological effort; to the performance that someone
gives, passively or actively, to reestablish balance in a given situation or to reach a better situation. Jihad
also aims to teach allies or adversaries the virtues of sacrifice, asceticism, and altruism. Jihad can
be undertaken for oneself, to discipline body and mind by ordeals of effort in the hope of reaching
purity or resistance when facing difficult times. The notions of sacrifice and asceticism are inherent to
jihad without referring to war of physical combat. The notion of destruction is completely foreign to
the notion of jihad.
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