Job in a Non-Muslim Army
Question:
My son an Australian national has applied in Royal Australian Army. I am worried that as allies are fighting Muslim countires it is haram. please help me.
Answer:
First let me make a general point:
What is haram is to fight for an unjust cause. According to the Qur’an, a just cause for which fighting is permissible is to curb persecution and oppression (Fitna, as in 2:193). Where other conditions are met (e.g. being initiated and supported by a state, not being against international agreements) then such fight is both allowed and rewarded according to the Qur’an. The point is, there is no difference whether those who are persecuting others are Muslims or not. It is the persecution that justifies fighting not the profile of those who persecute.
I therefore do not agree with the statement that fighting Muslims is Haram. The criterion is not about the religion of the people we are fighting with, it is about their attitude towards other human beings.
Now to look at the particular case you referred to. First, at the time of writing this answer I don’t think we can say that allies are fighting Muslim countries. I think a more accurate statement is that allies are fighting certain groups in some Muslim countries. As it appears, the state of those Muslim countries is also in war with these groups.
According to what I wrote above, in my view the fact that allies are fighting some groups of Muslims is not the main problem. However in my view the problem is that based on what we have seen so far, the allies do not seem to be following a fair and justified criteria in deciding where, when, with whom and how to engage in a war. As we know any soldier is obliged to follow the instructions of the superiors, come what may. It is this point that makes me worried about your son joining the army. This simply means that he will have to engage in any sort of war that he is instructed to, even if his conscious tells him that it is not just. We need to follow our honest conscience and we should not allow others to lead us where our conscience does not approve. This becomes even more important and sensitive when taking lives is involved.
The only way round this is if he can be allowed to freely decide where to be in the army and what type of work to do. I do appreciate that this may not be acceptable in a military institute. This is of course unless one can see some meaningful improvement in the military policies of these countries.
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November 2013
My son an Australian national has applied in Royal Australian Army. I am worried that as allies are fighting Muslim countires it is haram. please help me.
Answer:
First let me make a general point:
What is haram is to fight for an unjust cause. According to the Qur’an, a just cause for which fighting is permissible is to curb persecution and oppression (Fitna, as in 2:193). Where other conditions are met (e.g. being initiated and supported by a state, not being against international agreements) then such fight is both allowed and rewarded according to the Qur’an. The point is, there is no difference whether those who are persecuting others are Muslims or not. It is the persecution that justifies fighting not the profile of those who persecute.
I therefore do not agree with the statement that fighting Muslims is Haram. The criterion is not about the religion of the people we are fighting with, it is about their attitude towards other human beings.
Now to look at the particular case you referred to. First, at the time of writing this answer I don’t think we can say that allies are fighting Muslim countries. I think a more accurate statement is that allies are fighting certain groups in some Muslim countries. As it appears, the state of those Muslim countries is also in war with these groups.
According to what I wrote above, in my view the fact that allies are fighting some groups of Muslims is not the main problem. However in my view the problem is that based on what we have seen so far, the allies do not seem to be following a fair and justified criteria in deciding where, when, with whom and how to engage in a war. As we know any soldier is obliged to follow the instructions of the superiors, come what may. It is this point that makes me worried about your son joining the army. This simply means that he will have to engage in any sort of war that he is instructed to, even if his conscious tells him that it is not just. We need to follow our honest conscience and we should not allow others to lead us where our conscience does not approve. This becomes even more important and sensitive when taking lives is involved.
The only way round this is if he can be allowed to freely decide where to be in the army and what type of work to do. I do appreciate that this may not be acceptable in a military institute. This is of course unless one can see some meaningful improvement in the military policies of these countries.
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November 2013
