نشریه سراج منیر
سال ششم شماره 24 (زمستان 1395)

Salafism believes in “the openness of the gate of ijtihad”. According to them, whoever has some knowledge of the Quran must engage in ijtihad. This has caused some people who do not have sufficient expertise in religion to turn to ijtihad. These people, who are giving fatwa and have no command over Quranic verses, Prophetic traditions and related arguments, are excommunicating Muslims. This research examines the literal and technical meanings of ijtihad and then delves into the viewpoint of Salafi School concerning ijtihad followed by a discussion and critical evaluation on the history and degrees of ijtihad and Salafists' arguments on this subject-matter. Salafism has made the process of ijtihad very easy for those who want to attain this status. Therefore, there are many who do not have expertise in religion, yet they issue fatwa labeling others as heretics and disbelievers. The Salafists have also presented ittibaa' (lit. to obey/follow), a method in between ijthad and taqlid (emulation). This method has also led to an increase of takfiri verdicts.

On the first day of Muharram 1400 (20 November 1979), Juhayman al-'Otaybi, accompanied by his friends, occupied the Grand Mosque of Mecca. He vowed allegiance to Mohammed Abdullah al-Qahtani as the promised Mahdi or redeemer. This incident led to a change in many concepts and relationships in the Islamic world in general and in Saudi Arabia in particular.  The significance of this event can be studied from two angles: One is the study of its short-term effects on the Islamic world, particularly the provocation of anti-American sentiments in Muslim countries, and the other is the study of the long-term effects of this uprising on the Islamic world and other Salafist movements. This article seeks to clarify the first part of the discussion, and the second requires an independent treatment beyond the scope of this paper. The insult to the Grand Mosque and the opening of fire by the occupiers as well as the Saudi government followed by issuance of fatwa by Wahhabi scholars about the seizure of the Mosque, the dissatisfaction of Saudis and their dissent from their rulers, fear from the Iranian revolution, failure of Saudi Arabia's security force, uprising against Muslim rulers in the Sunni world, the US getting accused in the Muslim world and provocation of Saudi Shiites to rise up are among the important discussions which, on the whole, signify the great impact of this movement in the Islamic world.

Muhammad Surur was a former Syrian Muslim Brotherhood member. He is credited with developing the Islamist trend that later came to be known as Sururism (or Sururi), which combines "the organizational methods and political worldview of the Muslim Brotherhood with the theological puritanism of Salafism. Prominent Sururi figures making use of the awakening, fiery speeches and attractive jihadi thoughts spread rapidly among Saudi youths and became one of the biggest Wahhabi movements within Saudi Arabia.  This movement linking between Ibn Tayamiyyah beliefs and Sayyid Qutb's thoughts bears the hallmarks of both currents and is therefore considered to be the intellectual teacher of Jihadi groups. However, it is very different from Wahhabism and Muslim brotherhood when it comes to how it should deal with the Saud family and the West.  The Sururis presenting themselves as a different current antagonistic to Shiites and Jamiyyah intellectual movement have become one of Saudi Arabia's largest and most influential domestic movements.  This article, using a descriptive-analytical method, has sought a macro and quick view of this movement.

The rules of Jihad, apostasy, takfir (excommunication), immigration, insulter of the Prophet (S) and so on, are laws to preserve the body of Islamic Shari'ah. Takfir, or the act of labeling others as heretics, has changed in the three periods of the history of Islam; it has changed from a law to defend Islam to a law against Muslims. Kharijites, Ibn Taymiyyah and Mohammed bin Abdul Wahhab were the people responsible for creating these three phases. All three are literalists and hadith-oriented, indicating that they are far from ijtihadi juridical principles. The way Salafists have dealt with the verses and traditions and their perception of these two in trying to understand kufr (disbelief) have led to a different concept. This new concept has features such as the inclusion of a specific act in definition of disbelief, establishment of a self-related practical concept, equating all kinds of disbelief, concurrence between sins and disbelief, and the word kurf referring to legal and non-legal disbelief.  The new concept of disbelief is a kind of dangerous innovation broadening the concept of disbelief and constantly exacerbating and promoting the excommunication trend.

One of the most important Shi'i concepts is the concept of Imamate which enjoys tremendous sacredness among Shi'a and is considered to be next to prophethood. The Shiites, based on the divine verses and the definite Prophetic tradition, consider the issue of Imamate as the principle of religion and, thus, embark on proving it using proofs and evidence including the verse 55 of Chapter al-Maedah which, according to Shia, makes reference to Imam Ali's succession to the Prophet (S), something frankly refuted by the opponents. One of them is Ahmad bin Taymiyyah al-Harani who has played a prominent role in projecting controversial topics against Shia beliefs as well as in promoting such controversies. In his Minhaj al-Sunnah written in opposition to Allamah Hilli's Minhaj al-Karamah, Ibn Taymiyyah casts doubts on the entire Shia claims including those concerning the significations of the said verse as well as the occasion in which the verse was revealed.  The nature of his spurious arguments and the answers which can be given to them are issues that this article seeks to address in an analytical – descriptive way with reliance on main Sunni sources. The findings indicate that his allegations concerning the incorrectness of the narrations and Shia's analysis concerning the aforementioned verse, is irrelevant and runs counter to the relative consensus of the two major branches of faith.

One of the aspirations of Salafi terror groups is the establishment of a global caliphate and we have often witnessed such groups emerging with specific names jeopardizing not only the security of the country where they are active directly but also the security of its neighbors. The main reason behind this event is the attitude of these Jihadi Salafist groups which do not consider their activities to be confined to a particular country. In fact, to promote their agenda and build their caliphate they do not focus their attention on a specific country.
One of these jihadi groups is the ISIS terror and takfiri group which made its presence known in the year 2014. Not only did it jeopardize the security of Iraq and Syria but also that of many Muslim countries as far as Africa. Among the countries grappling with the problem of ISIS terror group and its affiliates is the country of Pakistan. 
The present article has been selected from "Current Trends in Islamist Ideology" (Issue No.20, April 2016) and it has been translated from the English into Persian. This study seeks to examine the status of ISIS and other affiliate groups in Pakistan. It goes without saying that this article reflects the views of the author, not necessarily those of the translator.