Muharram 29, 1431 A.H, January 15, 2010

Ulamas in Yemen have issued a fatwa about the importance of jihad if there is a foreign military intervention and in this case if the American forces come.

"When there is a group that commits aggression or invasion upon a state, then according to Islam jihad becomes compulsory," thus the statement said which was signed by 150 ulamas of Yemen including the charismatic ulama Sheikh Zindani and read in a conference held on Thursday 14th January.

There is an upheaval currently happening in some regions in Yemen. In the northern regions which borders with Saudi Arabia, the Yemeni military along with their Saudi counterpart are confronting the Houthi rebels which follow Shi’ah.

While on the other hand, the fighters of Al Qaeda was also reported to have a strong position in Yemen. Late last year, it was reported that the Americans started to play its role in the Yemeni conflict when news about the usage of their drones to attack the bases of Al Qaeda fighters came out.

This fatwa by the ulamas of Yemen came out only a day after the senior senator from the Democratic Party, Carl Levin asked the government of Barrack Obama to increase their unmanned spy plane or drone attack in Yemen.

This senator who came from Michigan believed that providing assistance to the Yemeni government in the form of drone attacks are necessary due to the presence of threats by Al Qaeda.

Today, on Thursday the government of Yemen declared an open war against the fighters which they called Yemeni Al Qaeda and warned their citizens to not support Al Qaeda but to collaborate with the government forces.

Yemen ‘obliged to reject the arrival of foreign forces’

Responding to the possibility of a foreign intervention in Yemen, some ulamas in Yemen finally reacted by declaring that in shari’ah Yemen has the obligation to reject the intervention.

"In a situation where foreign elements are imposing enmities, attacks, military or security interventions in Yemen, Islam requires its adherents to execute jihad," thus the statement said on Thursday.

Foreign governments had continually voiced their extra interests on the situation in Yemen since the attempt to blow up an American passenger airplane last December which was claimed by Al-Qaeda in the Arab Peninsula as an action by one of their members.

Muhammad Vall, an Al Jazeera’s reporter in Sana'a, the capital of Yemen, said that the decision by the religious leaders to oppose the military intervention would bring a big problem for Yemen.

"In a society that is very conservative or a society with a religious background like Yemen, the words of the ulamas are the words that are truly reveberating amongst the masses, not the words of the politicians. And today the ulamas of Yemen have announced their decision," Vall said.

The ulamas were saying that their decisions was in line with the opinion of the majority of Yemen’s citizens or government of Sana'a.

Submitted by a Mujahid