Aḥlām al-Naṣr and the Islamic State’s Justification for Execution by Burning

doi:10.1017/9781009031783.050

Chapter 43 - Aḥlām al-Naṣr and the Islamic State’s Justification for Execution by Burning

Bal Aṭʿanā Allāh idh Aḥraqnāhu yā ʿAbīda al-Rafāhiya (2015)

from Part VI - Alternative Sources for Islamic Legal Studies

Published online by Cambridge University Press: 14 November 2024

Mathias Ghyoot

Edited by

Omar Anchassi and

Robert Gleave

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Omar Anchassi: Affiliation:
Universität Bern, Switzerland
Robert Gleave: Affiliation:
University of Exeter

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Summary

This chapter discusses the 2015 Islamic State (IS) publication Bal ʾaṭʿanā allāh idh aḥraqanāhu yā ʿabīda al-rafāhiyya (‘Nay, We Obeyed God When We Burned Him, You Slaves of the Luxurious Life’), which justifies the execution by immolation of Jordanian fighter pilot Muʿādh al-Kasāsba. The act prompted widespread criticism, sparking outrage across the Muslim world. This condemnation was even echoed within the Salafī jihādī, including the notorious Abū Muḥammad al-Maqdisī (b. 1959). The author of the piece, Shaymāʾ Haddād (b. 1992), more commonly known by her pseudonym Aḥlām al-Naṣr, exploits juristic disagreements in the medieval scholarly tradition to persuade the reader that immolation was never prohibited by the Prophet Muḥammad. Far from presenting the punishment of immolation as a timeless repetition of Prophetic custom, she claims that immolation is a necessary evil in a modern world where ‘incendiary weaponry’ (al-asliḥa fī hi ḥaraqa) - such as missiles, napalm, and cluster bombs - has become a norm in the conduct of war.

Keywords

Jihad Jihādī Salafī Islamic State (IS)Incendiary weapons (al-asliḥa fī hi ḥaraqa)Conduct of war (siyar)Tract Polemic Juristic differences of opinion (khilāf).

Type: Chapter
Information: Islamic Law in Context
A Primary Source Reader
, pp. 449 - 460

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009031783.050 [Opens in a new window]

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Print publication year: 2024

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References

Primary Sources

al-Naṣr, Aḥlām (Shaymāʾ Ḥaddād). Bal Aṭʿanā Allāh idh Aḥraqnāhu yā ʿAbīda al-Rafāhiya (Elghureba Media, 2015), available at https://justpaste.it/je3o.Google Scholar

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