BEIRUT , November 20 (IslamOnline.net) - The International Association of Muslim Scholars (IAMS) ruled that resisting occupation troops in Iraq is a "duty" on able Muslims in and outside the war-torn country and that aiding the occupier is impermissible.

"The IAMS ex officio underlines and underscores that helping the Iraqi people in their uphill struggle against the ( US ) occupation is a duty on every able Muslim in and outside Iraq," the pan-Muslim body said in a statement Friday, November 19 .

Concluding a two-day meeting in the Lebanese capital, Beirut, the Dublin-based body said this kind of jihad does not necessitate a central command to organize military operations, but willing Muslims can do it on their own.

It also urged the "noble resistance fighters" to stick to Shari`ah rules in their praiseworthy resistance.

"Collaborators"

The IAMS, which brings together 200 Muslim scholars from the four corners of the world, further said it is not permissible for any Muslim to support the occupiers at the expense of the Iraqi people and their resistance.

"Because it would be like encouraging the occupiers to pursue their aggressions against the Iraqi people," said the statement, read by IAMS Secretary General Mohammad Salim Al-Awa.

The pan-Muslim body also exhorted Iraqis forced, by necessity, to join the ranks of US-trained Iraqi and police forces to be careful in dealing with their fellow citizens and not to harm them in any way.

It, meanwhile, urged resistance fighters not to harm Iraqi policemen or soldiers as long as they do not support the enemy.

A cohort of prominent Saudi scholars have defended resistance against the occupation forces in Iraq as a legitimate right, prohibiting cooperation with the occupiers and collaboration against resistance groups.

Civilians

On the indiscriminate attacks that claim the lives of innocent civilians, the IAMS asked resistance fighters not to target women, children and the elderly even if they were of the occupiers’ nationalities provided that they were not involved in hostilities.

"And if they are taken prisoner, they should be treated well and put on a fair trial. But it is not permissible to hold hostages and threaten to kill them to achieve a certain end," said the statement.

The IAMS had vigorously denounced the kidnapping and killing of civilians as an aggression against others, pressing for the swift release of all civilian hostages in Iraq.

Islam does not permit aggression against innocent people, whether the aggression is against life, property, or honor, and this ruling applies to everyone, regardless of post, status and prestige.

The IAMS additionally said Iraqi resistance should be mindful of "queues of enemies who want to blemish the image of Islam by carrying out deadly operations in the name of resistance".

"Those handful of groups could very likely be linked to Zionist and foreign intelligence services."

The pan-Muslim body pressed the occupation troops to pull out of Iraq and hand over power to an international organization that would supervise free and fair elections, paving the way for full sovereignty.

Supporting Palestine ,Sudan

The IAMS also exhorted all Muslims to support the admirable second Palestinian Intifada, urging all Palestinian factions to act in unison to live up to daunting challenges ahead.

It called on the warring parties in Darfur, west of Sudan, to put into effect its peace initiative, which calls for a conference bringing together Sudanese people from different walks of life to resolve all pending and sticking disputes and turn a new leaf.

An IAMS delegation visited Darfur in September at a request from the Sudanese government to mediate between Khartoum and the two rebel groups in the region.

IAMS President Sheikh Yusuf Al-Qaradawi said before the visit that it was incumbent upon Muslims to mediate between warring Muslim parties to turn off bloodshed, especially that some foreign powers were using the conflict as a pretext to intervene in Muslim countries.

On Afghanistan, the IAMS statement warned that drug mafias were controlling the natural resources of this country, calling on Muslims to help the Afghan people out of their current limbo.

The UN's annual opium survey revealed that three years after the massive US-led invasion, Afghanistan was still facing the threat of being a corrupt "narco-state" after the opium production rose by two thirds this year.

The IAMS repeated calls on the Arab and Muslim governments to overhaul their political, economic and social systems, protect their Islamic and Arab identities and resist foreign dictations.