Jihadi Clerics Issue Fatwa Permitting Muslims To Celebrate Spread Of Coronavirus In China, Accuse China Of 'Exporting' Coronavirus To East Turkestan

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Jihadi Clerics Issue Fatwa Permitting Muslims To Celebrate Spread Of Coronavirus In China, Accuse China Of 'Exporting' Coronavirus To East Turkestan

January 28, 2020

 

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On January 23, 2020, Syrian jihadi cleric Abd Al-Razzaq Al-Mahdi issued a fatwa permitting Muslims to celebrate the spread of the Coronavirus in China, and further permitting Muslims to pray to Allah to annihilate the people of China. Al-Mahdi is a prominent cleric who is well respected by jihadi factions, and who is known for his sermons and fatwas, in which he encourages Muslims to take part in jihad and carry out attacks inside Russia.[1] According to his Twitter account, which has more than 11 thousand followers, Al-Mahdi is from Damascus, and describes himself as "not affiliated with any group or party." Al-Mahdi is also active on Telegram, on which his channel has over 11 thousand subscribers.

The fatwa, which was posted on the "Fatwas from the Land of Sham"[2] Telegram channel, was a response to a question asked by one Muhammad Abu Nassir who wrote: "Is it permissible that we express our joy for what China is experiencing – the Coronavirus and the death of the Chinese people." Responding to the question, Al-Mahdi said: "Yes, yes we should express our joy and pray for their annihilation. They [the Chinese] have declared resounding war and they killed, slaughtered, imprisoned, and oppressed the Uyghurs and non-Uyghur Muslims. They are the enemies of Allah and are Buddhists and communists. The non-Muslim Chinese people are either Buddhists or communists."

Saudi Jihadi Cleric Accuses China Of Exporting Coronavirus To East Turkestan

On January 26, 2020, Syria-based jihadi cleric Abdallah Al-Muhaysini published a post on his Telegram channel[3] accusing China of "exporting" the Coronavirus to East Turkestan. In the post, Al-Muhaysini wrote: "China's criminal policy aimed at exporting the Coronavirus to East Turkestan by canceling all flights to and from the city of Wuhan except the ones heading to East Turkestan. As usual, the Communist China, will not waste any opportunity to annihilate the Muslim nation of Uyghurs."