American Muslims Vs. The U.S. Military

From Joe Kaufman at Front Page Magazine:


Are American Muslims allowed to fight for the United States in a time of war? According to many Muslims within the Islamic world, the answer is emphatically "No." While one can easily understand how this rhetoric can originate from our enemies overseas, it may come as a surprise to some that this line of thinking is found, as well, right here in America.

It is common knowledge that Muslim extremists use the religion of Islam to justify the unjustifiable. One of the ways they do this is through the use of what they call fatwas or legal rulings declared by Muslim "religious scholars." These scholars dictate what Muslims are allowed to wear and how they are supposed to act, what they are permitted to look at and where they are allowed to go. No issue is off limits.

Recently the subject was broached on the Why Islam (WI) website, concerning the ramifications for an American Muslim who would enlist in the United States military. WI is a project of the Islamic Circle of North America (ICNA), created to perform outreach (dawah) to non-Muslims (with the intent to convert). Many times, though, the site has been used to spread hatred against the very people it purports to reach out to.

In August of 2007, beginning a topic titled 'Joining the US Army?,' Naadir Muhammad posed the following query to the WI fatwa forum:

"I know a brother who is having a hard time. He is very adherent to the deen [Islam], but he is having marital issues. He has no money, and he is contemplating joining the Army. However, the crux of the matter is that he afraid of fighting against his Muslim brothers and sisters, and having to do immoral things. This dunya [world] isnt worth the loss of the next, but he is still tentative. What can be said to comfort him? Any fatwas in this area?"

Answering his question was WI forum moderator MARWAN. MARWAN, a staunch defender of Hamas who describes himself as a "virgin slayer," in his response, provided a link to "an excellent fatwa" that he believed to be credible regarding the matter.

This had not been his first experience with this subject. Just five months earlier, in March, MARWAN stated his opinion to a WI member who said he was in the Army and was headed to Iraq. He told him: "I support you 100%. And since I'm far away, my support comes in the form of advice. If we were really good friends and trusted each other, my support would come in the form of breaking your limbs, including your trigger finger, before you made [sic] took regretable and unreversible actions."