نشریه سراج منیر
سال هفتم شماره 27 (پاییز 1396)

A careful study of Muslims' lives in Russia following the collapse of the former Soviet Union, especially after 2000, shows an increase in extremism among Muslims of this country, and the extensive presence of Russian Jihad fighters in various parts of the Islamic world including Iraq and Syria bears witness to this fact. The overwheliming presence of Russians among Takfiri fighters, given their enormous ability in fighting, signifies the importance of studying the causes of this phenomenon. In addtion, the danger of extremism likely spreading among Russian Muslims is specially important for us as a neighbor and ally of the Russian government in combating regional terrorism. The present article is a descriptive-analytical research that studies the causes and factors responsible for an increase in extremism among Russian Muslims after the collapse of the Soviet Union using works authored mostly in English by experts in the affairs of Russian Muslims. "The media," "the weakness of religious and scientific institutions," "the influence of foreigners," "wrong policies of the state and the authorities," and "development of the Islamic world after 2010" are among the main reasons that are reviewed as the five effective factors in this regard.

The Jihadi Salafism believing in armed struggle to spread and promulgate Islamic teachings has a special definition of offensive Jihad. It allows fighting unbelievers in the form of offensive Jihad irrespective of whether or not they are waging a war against Muslims. In order to legitimize their action, they have taken recourse to verse 5 of chapter al-Tawbah. They are of the view that this verse abrogates all the verses that recommend peace and forgiveness. According to them, "pagans" in this verse refer to all unbelievers regardless of whether they wage a war against Muslisms or they do not. That is why they insist that based on this verse killing all pagans is permissible. As well, they maintain that offensive Jihad is required to impose Islam upon non-Muslims, whereas in fact, if we look at other verses of the Quran as well as at the normative conduct of the Prophet (S) and the opinions of exegetes from both the branches of faith, it is well inferred that verse 5 of chapter al-Tawbah does not abrogate the verses regarding peace, and that "pagans" in this verse refers to those of them who violated their promise and covenant as well as to those leaders of the unbelievers who denied people access to Islamic teachings. Moreover, if we study the Prophet's conduct in delivering the message of Islam and behaving with the unbelievers, we shall understand that he was kind and merciful to others never ordering his companions to kill anyone for not embracing the path of Islam.

Ibn Taymiyyah is extremely hostile to Shi'ism. To show his hatred, he embarks on enumerating similarities between Shia and Judaism. There is no doubt that most of what he terms as similarities are not but baseless accusations levelled against Shi'ism. Given the fact that Allamah Hilli (ra) was one of the contemporaries of Ibn Taymiyyah, his works can, to a large extent, answer the accusations and spurious arguments raised against Shia. This article seeks to examine and criticize, with the help of Allamah Hilli's jurisprudential and theological works, the similarities between Shia and Judaism as claimed by Ibn Taymiyyah. In some cases, it also provides confirmations from the scholars of the two branches of faith. The alleged similarities are not sorted out in a special way in Minhaj al-Sunnah. However, this article has sorted them out to enable the reader to understand them. If there is something acceptably attributed to Shia, then it is confirmed and subtantiated with the help of verses and traditions to make it clear that a certain practice by Shia Muslims is not because it resembles the practices of the Jews. Those accusations which are falsely levelled against Shia and has no logical basis has been rejected with the help of Allamah Hilli's statements.

The "Hadith of Separation" has been narrated in the hadith collections of all the major Islamic denominations suggesting the existence of separation and schism in the Islamic Ummah. In some versions of this narration, there are clauses which have been exploited by Wahhabis. The narration includes, for example, "all of them will be in Hell-fire except for one" and “(Those who follow) that which I and my companions follow" which they use to legitimze their salafist appraoch and to consider only the followers of this cult as the ones who are saved. Thus, according to them all of those denominations that do not suscribe to their way of thinking are infidels and will suffer divine punishments in hell. In this article, the writer examines the purport and chain of the transmission of the hadith and concludes that not only the extra clause in the hadith is criticizable but its purport also does not substantiate the claim of Wahhabis.

The Iranian Muslim brotherhood and the Jihadi Salafism are opposed to secularism as they believe in the political aspect of Islam. Therefore, the concept these two movements present for "unity in sovereignty" does not belong to the individual aspect of Muslims; rather it suggests their sociological aspect. Both movements believe in "unity in sovereignty" as a definite doctrine and they believe that the right of legislation is a prerogative of Allah alone. In addition, both of the two movements suscribe to a caliphate system and believe that this system can unify Muslims in the area of sovereignty. They even maintain that 'shura' (council) is an institution that legtimizes the caliphate of the claiphate. Their difference revolves around the concept of 'council'. According to Iranian Call and Reform Organization, the principle of God's sovereignty or rule is compatible with the principle of "the government of the people over the people". Therefore, the council is materialized in the form of a parliament and the democratic system is most similar to the Islamic system. On the contrary, the Jihadi Salafism considers the sovereignty of God Almighty to be in complete contravention with the rule of people. Hence, in their opinion, the application of council to parliament is unacceptable, and democracy is a manifestation of disbelief. The result of such antagonism is confrontation between the followers of these two movements. There are traces of rejection of 'seeking help' (istighasa), invalidation of tawassul and invalidation of adherence to the teachings of other religions in Iran's Muslim brotherhood, and if such discussions are not adjusted, the followers of this movement are likely to move to Jihadi Salafism. The thought of the Organization will serve as a prelude to acceptance of Jihadi Salafism.