How an IUMS Fatwa Fuels Radicalism in Europe

[Beastly Boy]

On March 28, 2025, the Qatar-based International Union of Muslim Scholars (IUMS), an organization with longstanding ideological ties to the Muslim Brotherhood, issued a sweeping religious edict, a fatwa, declaring “armed jihad” against Israel an individual obligation for every Muslim. Ostensibly a response to the ongoing war in Gaza, the fatwa’s scope and tone are anything but local. With its calls for military confrontation, coordinated boycotts, and the severing of diplomatic ties with Israel, this declaration has sent an unmistakable ideological shockwave far beyond the Middle East.

For European nations, especially Germany, this is more than a theological proclamation. It is a political signal. A challenge to liberal pluralism. A test of integration policy. And a reminder that in today’s digital landscape, ideological warfare knows no borders.

The language of the fatwa is unambiguous. It urges Muslim governments to form a unified Islamic military coalition, demands an immediate halt to all normalization agreements with Israel, and brands any cooperation with the “Zionist entity,” whether economic, military, or logistical, as a betrayal of Islam. While Israel is the explicit target, the fatwa’s narrative expands its focus: Muslims worldwide are called to pressure their governments into severing ties with Israel. The United States is named. European allies are implicated by association.

This is not the fringe voice of an obscure cleric. The IUMS remains an influential platform, previously chaired by Yusuf al-Qaradawi, the Muslim Brotherhood’s most prominent ideologue, whose sermons inspired generations of political Islamists. The fatwa, issued amid global polarization and anti-Israel agitation, adds fuel to ideological fires already burning in parts of Europe. While not a direct catalyst for violence, such pronouncements may reinforce the worldview of already-radicalized individuals or fringe communities sympathetic to extremist messaging.

https://blogs.timesofisrael.com/how-an-iums-fatwa-fuels-radicalism-in-europe/

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What is International Union of Muslim Scholars (IUMS)?

IUMS consists of around 95,000 Muslim scholars globally and 67 Islamic organizations;[7] the union claims to bring together Sunni scholars of all four madhabs, along with Shia and Ibadi Muslims. It says it accepts those who attend to the sciences of Shari’ah and Islamic civilization, who have significant writings in the field, or have contributed to some tangible activity thereof.[8] It has worked closely with the Muslim World League, the Malaysian Department of Islamic Development, and the Arab Maghreb Scholars League in the past.[9][10]

The group participates in extensive diplomacy over Muslim issues internationally.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Union_of_Muslim_Scholars