They Are Not All the Same: The Problem of Unjust Generalizations
Peace be upon you and the mercy of Allah and His blessings, dear brothers.
One of our biggest problems is unjust generalizations, which are among the most important causes of the current fitna in Sham. For example, after the statement "If they are like Ibn Saba', then be to them like the Messenger," the most prominent objections to it were statements like: "How can you compare these Sahwat to Ibn Saba', when they attacked the Mujahideen in their homes and raped their women... and so on?"
I do not know if these objectors think that the poor slave has lost both his mind and his religion, to the extent that he calls for treating these people like hypocrites? The facts that these objectors either ignore or are unaware of are:
First: Distinguishing Between Enemies
The enemies of "the State" are not just highway robbers, drug dealers, and hired Sahwat. Among its enemies, there are many who are good, such as Al-Nusra, Al-Ahrar, and others. It is sheer ignorance to equate all of them as enemies of the State. Using the term "Sahwat" for all of them is the same injustice that leads to calling the entire group of the State "Khawarij"; generalizations that obscure the truth and condemn the good along with the bad.
Second: The Disparity in Field Positions
How can one equate the thugs who exploited the ongoing fighting to harm the Mujahideen in general, with the factions that declared the protection of those who seek refuge in their headquarters from migrants who have not been involved in bloodshed? However, equating them all is an injustice that has led to this blind fitna.
Third: The Possibility of Salvation and Neutralization
It should be well understood that I am not defending all these factions for their injustices and transgressions. Rather, I am advocating for the possibility of saving many of them from the international schemes of co-optation and containment, and cooperating with them to push back the true enemy and the thugs who exploit the fitna to attack migrants and others. Or, at the very least, neutralizing them from fighting against the Mujahideen.
Fourth: The Impact of the Slander Speech (Sahwah)
The statement "If they are like Ibn Saba'," addresses a phenomenon that played a role in inflaming the atmosphere even before the ongoing fighting, and continued during it. This is the phenomenon of "Sahwah" and slander, which extracts the worst from your brother, obscures the good in him, and hands him over to his enemy, aiding the devil against him. This drives him, when fitna occurs, to not be restrained by the Sharia in his actions.
This is what I have warned against repeatedly, as I explained that the fuel of fitna is treated by addressing it properly, not by neglecting it and defending the perpetrator, as in the statement "Urgent Measures," where I said at the time: "And the one with experience knows how much the failure to do justice to the owner of the right has been a cause of the explosion of fitna and its running wild without restraint."
The Dilemma of "The Chicken or the Egg" and Contradictory Speech
Those who withdrew from the fitna at its beginning were dragged into it by those who are lenient in "Sahwah" and "Saba'ah" of others, then they are accused and even fought as if they are apostates! Therefore, when someone says, "How do you want us to treat them like Ibn Saba' when they fought us?" I say to him: By "Saba'ah" them unjustly, then treating them worse than how the Saba'ites are treated, you have dragged them into fighting you.
And if we want to get out of the dilemma of "The Chicken or the Egg" first, let us look at the great difference in the speeches between those who say: "Our brothers the migrants, have we not opened our hearts to you, settled you in our homes, and married you to our women? Your blood is our blood, and your honor is our honor" - he says this during the fitna - and those who say in response: "Do not soften towards them, we have set a bounty for whoever cuts off their heads. Who are these Sahwat? And what do you know about Sahwat? Those who fought against us; for fighting against us is apostasy and disbelief because we are the clear truth, no falsehood comes to us from in front or behind, so whoever opposes us has disbelieved in Allah from above seven heavens."
And even if they do not say this with their tongues, this is their state of mind. All sensible Muslims have been calling for an independent court for months, then the speech becomes "You, the soldier, are an independent court!" Indeed, the reaction to all this - whether controlled or uncontrolled - is interpreted as the implementation of "John McCain's" plans and opposition to the establishment of an Islamic State and fighting for a civil state, and thus it is apostasy! "There is no explanation for our fighting except this," and there is no power except with Allah.
Conclusion: The Necessity of Deconstruction, Not Generalization
Therefore, brothers, they are not all the same. I know that in Sham there are real Sahwat and criminal gangs fighting the State, but not all enemies of the State are Sahwat. These generalizations are deadly to both sides. It is necessary to deconstruct the elements of the problem and distinguish the apostate from the weak in faith from those who have much good in them but have been dragged into fighting.
Otherwise, if we remain on these deadly generalizations, each side of the conflict will have an unending human supply because it represents methodological divisions at the root, and the blind war will continue. There is no alternative to calling for an end to the fighting, then discussing the details of mistakes and crimes, who has transgressed and exceeded, and who is the wrongdoer. But in the midst of fighting, the justifications of each side will increase and not decrease, and the crimes of each side will increase and not decrease.
I advise reading the message of Sheikh Abu Muhammad Al-Maqdisi "Educational Guidance," in which he explained that even the disbelievers and hypocrites in reality are not treated in one way.
May Allah know best, and may the peace and blessings of Allah be upon our Prophet Muhammad and his companions, and peace be upon you and the mercy of Allah.