Gaza’s most prominent Islamic scholar has issued a rare, strong fatwa condemning Hamas’ October 7, 2023 attack on Israel that sparked the devastating war on Palestinian territory.
Professor Dr. Salman al-Dayah, former Dean of the Faculty of Sharia and Law at the Hamas-affiliated Islamic University of Gaza, is one of the most respected religious authorities in the region, so his legal opinion carries considerable weight among the two million residents of Gaza. who are predominantly Sunni Muslims.
A fatwa is a non-binding Islamic legal ruling by a respected religious scholar, usually based on the Quran or Sunnah – the sayings and practices of the Prophet Muhammad.
The fatwa of Dr. Dayah, which was published in a detailed six-page document, criticizes Hamas for what he calls “violating the Islamic principles governing jihad.”
Jihad means ‘struggle’ in Arabic and in Islam it can be a personal struggle for spiritual improvement or a military struggle against unbelievers.
Dr. Dayah added: “If the pillars, causes or conditions of jihad are not met, it should be avoided to avoid destroying people’s lives. This is something that is easy for our country’s politicians to guess, so the attack must have been avoided.”
For Hamas, the fatwa represents an embarrassing and potentially damaging criticism, especially as the group often justifies its attacks on Israel with religious arguments to gain support from Arab and Muslim communities.
The October 7 attack saw hundreds of Hamas gunmen from Gaza invade southern Israel. About 1,200 people were killed and 251 others taken hostage.
Israel responded by launching a military campaign to destroy Hamas, killing more than 43,400 people in Gaza, according to the Hamas-led Health Ministry.
Dr. Dayah argues that the significant civilian casualties in Gaza, together with the widespread destruction of civilian infrastructure and the humanitarian disasters that followed the October 7 attack, mean that it was in direct contradiction to the teachings of Islam.
Hamas, he says, has failed in its obligations to “keep fighters away from the homes of the defenseless.” [Palestinian] citizens and their shelters, and provide as much safety and security as possible in the various aspects of life… security, economy, healthcare and education, and save enough supplies for them.
Dr. Dayah points to Quranic verses and the Sunnah that impose strict conditions on waging jihad, including the need to avoid actions that provoke an excessive and disproportionate response from an opponent.
His fatwa emphasizes that, according to Islamic law, a military attack should not provoke a response that exceeds the intended benefits of the action.
He also emphasizes that Muslim leaders have an obligation to ensure the safety and well-being of non-combatants, including by providing food, medicine and shelter to those not involved in the fighting.
“Human life is more precious to God than Mecca,” says Dr. Dayah.
His opposition to the October 7 attack is especially important given his significant influence in Gaza, where he is seen as a major religious figure and an outspoken critic of Islamist movements including Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad.
His moderate Salafist beliefs place him in direct opposition to Hamas’s approach to armed resistance and its ties to Shia-ruled Iran.
Salafists are fundamentalists who want to follow the example of the Prophet Mohammed and the first generations who followed him.
Dr. Dayah has consistently advocated the establishment of an Islamic caliphate that strictly adheres to Islamic law, rather than the political party-based systems advocated by Hamas and other groups.
“Our role model is Prophet Muhammad, who founded a nation and did not create political parties that divide the nation. That is why celebrations are forbidden in Islam,” he said in a sermon he delivered in a mosque several years ago.
He has also condemned extremism and opposed jihadist groups such as Islamic State and Al-Qaeda, and has used all his platforms to issue fatwas on various social and political issues ranging from commercial transactions, social disputes on marriage and divorce to the behavior of political violence.
The fatwa adds to the growing internal debate within Gaza and the broader Arab world over the moral and legal implications of Hamas’ actions, and is likely to fuel further divisions within Palestinian society over the use of armed resistance in the ongoing conflict with Israel.
Sheikh Ashraf Ahmed, one of Dr.’s students. Dayah, who was forced to leave his home in Gaza City last year and flee to southern Gaza with his wife and nine children, told the BBC: “Our scholar [Dr Dayah] refused to leave his home in northern Gaza despite fears of Israeli airstrikes. He chose to fulfill his religious duty by providing his legal opinion on the attack.”
Ahmed described the fatwa as the strongest legal judgment of a historical moment. “It is an in-depth and well-researched document, which reflects Dayah’s commitment to Islamic jurisprudence,” he said.
