Qatar’s Muslim Scholars: Nothing More Important Than Killing Israelis

by Bassam Tawil  •  Gatestone Institute  August 25, 2025

For the scholars who are attending the International Union of Muslim Scholars conference in Istanbul, boycotting and isolating Israel is more important than halting the death and destruction in the Gaza Strip. Their interpretation of Sharia laws and international humanitarian principles suggests that it is fine to sacrifice as many Palestinians as necessary for the sake of murdering Jews and destroying Israel. Pictured: The Eyüp Sultan Mosque, Istanbul.  Photo by R Prazeres – Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikipedia

• As far as Qatar’s Muslim scholars are concerned… the war in the Gaza Strip did not start on the day Hamas launched its invasion of Israel. Rather, the war began the moment Israel fired back, and the only victims are the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, not those who were murdered, raped, beheaded and burned alive on October 7.

• Several Arab countries such as Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Bahrain have added Qatar’s IUMS to their terrorism blacklists, saying it used “Islamic rhetoric as a cover to facilitate terrorist activities.”
• Needless to say, the scholars have not called on Hamas to release the Israeli hostages and accept a ceasefire that would end the war and the suffering of the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.
• Instead, the conference has unleashed scathing criticism of Israel for daring to defend itself against Hamas’s terrorism.
• For the Muslim scholars, boycotting and isolating Israel is more important than halting the death and destruction in the Gaza Strip. Their interpretation of Sharia laws and international humanitarian principles suggests that it is fine to sacrifice as many Palestinians as necessary for the sake of murdering Jews and destroying Israel.
• The IUMS’s position does not come as a surprise. Instead of urging Muslims to denounce terrorism and renounce violence, the organization, earlier this year, issued a fatwa (Islamic ruling) in which it called on all Muslims to wage Jihad (holy war) against Israel. The scholars want to see Muslims commit more massacres against Jews.
• Once again, Qatar and Turkey have proven that their top priority is to promote the Muslim Brotherhood and its affiliates as part of the Islamists’ Jihad to destroy Israel…. It is time for the Trump administration to call out Qatar and Turkey for their ongoing support for Hamas. It is also time for the US to designate the Muslim Brotherhood as a Foreign Terrorist Organization.
• Once again, Qatar and Turkey have proven that their top priority is to promote the Muslim Brotherhood and its affiliates as part of the Islamists’ Jihad to destroy Israel…. It is time for the Trump administration to call out Qatar and Turkey for their ongoing support for Hamas. It is also time for the US to designate the Muslim Brotherhood as a Foreign Terrorist Organization.

More than 150 prominent Muslim scholars from 50 countries are currently attending a conference in Istanbul, Turkey, to discuss the situation in the Gaza Strip in the aftermath of the October 7, 2023 Hamas-led massacre of Israelis and foreign nationals. At least 20 Muslim citizens of Israel were among 1,200 people murdered by Hamas terrorists and ordinary Palestinians that day. Thousands more were injured, and 251 Israelis and foreign nationals were kidnapped and taken to the Gaza Strip, where 50 — dead and alive — are still held captive.

As far as Qatar’s Muslim scholars are concerned, however, the war in the Gaza Strip did not start on the day Hamas launched its invasion of Israel. Rather, the war began the moment Israel fired back, and the only victims are the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, not those who were murdered, raped, beheaded and burned alive on October 7.

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