On the April 26, 2025 episode of the Ummah’s Revival podcast, several Islamic scholars discussed the March 28 fatwa issued by the Qatar-based International Union of Islamic Scholars (IUMS), which called on Muslims and Muslim countries to wage Jihad against Israel in support of Gaza.
Chicago Islamic scholar Mohammad Nusairat said it is “well known” that every capable Muslim is obligated to wage Jihad, although he added that, in practice, the ones truly capable of military action are the armies of Muslim states. Nusairat has been involved with Hizb ut-Tahrir-aligned activists and previously referred to America and the US government as a “cancer” during an April 2024 Friday sermon at the University of Illinois Chicago Muslim Student Association.
Canadian academic Dr. Jaan Islam described the IUMS fatwa urging Muslim states and militaries to intervene in what he called the “genocide” in Gaza as a “positive step,” but criticized Islamic scholars for not issuing similar calls during earlier events such as the US invasion of Iraq.
Dr. Islam added that anyone who sacrifices the material world for the sake of Jihad will be rewarded—either in this world, the Hereafter, or both. He asserted that communities committed to Jihad are “guaranteed” success in worldly affairs and praised the figure of the Islamic warrior who spreads Islam through armed struggle for the sake of Allah. He also stated that Allah humiliates those who abandon Jihad for the material world.