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Self-Defense in Islamic and International Law: Assessing Al-Qaeda and the Invasion of Iraq

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"Self-Defense in Islamic and International Law: Assessing Al-Qaeda and the Invasion of Iraq" by Niza A. Shah, (2008), hardback, 192 pgs. As the title hints, this book is about how Muslims view the legality of Western armies in invading Iraq (and Afghanistan) to chase down al-Qaeda supporters and/or oust Saddam Hussain. The author details how Muslim legalists are developing an "Islamic International Law" to justify how the Muslim community might pose serious legal challenges to Western invasions. The author notes: "The scope of this book is to look at the right of self-defense from the perspectives of Islamic law and international law and testing the declaration of Al-Qaeda's Jihad in self-defense and the Iraq invasion of 2003" (p.7). The author explains his book: "Chapter 2 covers the Koranic concept of Jihad and the theories of Jihad as understood in its historic and Koranic contexts. Chapter 3 tests the Koranic foundation of the declaration of Jihad by Al-Qaeda. Chapter 4 discusses the right of self-defense in international law. Special attention is paid to preemptive self-defense. Chapter 5 looks at the evidence of weapons of mass destruction before the invasion of Iraq in 2003. It also tests the validity of the `revival theory' of the United States: The Security Council's authorization of `the coalition of the willing' to use force in 1990 against Iraq is revived to use force against Iraq in 2003. Chapter 6 makes a comparison of the right to self-defense under the two legal systems - Islamic and international law--and concludes that both are compatible and can coexist. The conclusion shows Muslims' disenchantment with international legal order, Western domination of international institutions, and Westerners' hypocritical approach toward democracy and human rights in the Muslim world. Al-Qaeda's declaration of Jihad is un-Koranic (illegitimate), but many Muslims might see logic in it and sympathise with it if Muslim lands remain under what Muslims consider an Anglo-American occupation" (p.7). This Pakistani Muslim attorney presents his contention that Islamic warfare should be primarily defensive and not used for land-conquering purposes. To support his restrictive beliefs, the author quotes frequently from the Koran, and analyzes how al-Qaeda is in Jihad-dogma error. The author discusses how he perceives Prophet Mohammad developed defensive-Jihad beliefs. The author discusses the views of Sayyid Qutb and Sayyid Abul A'la Maududi as used by al-Qaeda. Although this is a rather thin legal volume, and it comes across as an Islamic `peacenik' work (maybe even with some elements of `taqiyya' disbursed within) nevertheless, it is well written and should be on the bookshelf of those studying this field. On the book's backside there is the statement that the author "Shah argues ... that the invasion of Iraq in 2003 has no legal foundation" and it "would be Koranic (legal)" for Muslims to declare jihad against Anglo-American forces in Afghanistan or Iraq "if the occupying forces do not withdraw." Others can argue about the legal soundness of the author's views. The author received his PhD from the Queen's University Belfast (2005), and received an LLB from the Univ. of Peshawar, Pakistan (1999).