IICC
The Charter of the Islamic Resistance Movement – Hamas8 Palestine, 1st day of Muharram, 1409 years after the hejira, August
18, 1988.9 In the name of Allah the merciful and compassionate “[Ye faithful,] you are the best of nations ever given to mankind: you command the doing of good, forbid the doing of evil and believe in Allah. It would have been better for the People of the Book10 if they had [also] believed [in Allah]. [Although] some of them are believers, most of them are sinful. They will never [be able] to do you any harm, only [become] an annoyance, even if they do try to fight you, they will [immediately] flee and then they will not be rescued.. Humiliation will follow them
wherever they go, except if they grasp the rope Allah extends to them and the rope
[Muslim] men extend to them. Allah’s wrath pours down upon them and they will be
stricken with poverty, and that because they denied the signs of Allah and unjustly
killed the prophets. It is their retribution for having disobeyed and transgressed (Surah
[3] Aal-‘Imran, Verses 110-112).11
“Israel will arise and continue to exist until Islam abolishes it, as it abolished
what went before,” (the words of)the shaheed, imam Hassan al-Bana,12 may
Allah have mercy upon him.
7 The translation is based on the version distributed in Qalqilya compared with versions appearing on
the Internet with minor change was edded by the editor.
8 In the present version, the word “Hamas” appears after the full name of the movement on the front
cover, and before its full name on the title page. The word “Hamas” means “zeal” in Arabic, an internal
urge motivating someone to do something. In addition, Hamas is an acronym for “Islamic Resistance
Movement.”
9 The version of the Hamas charter translated here was not written on the date noted, but it appears on
most versions and therefore was added here. It related to the day Hamas was officially founded.
10 I.e., the Jews and Christians.
11 In preparing this document, the following English translation of the Qur’an were used: Internet sites,
ation, by M. A. S. Abdel Haleem, OUP, 2005, Oxford Classics, paperback
edition with corrections, first published 2004. The final versions of Qur’an quotations were edited by
the translators of the Hamas charter. We also made use of the MEMRI translation into English of the
Hamas charter as it appears on their Website :
http://memri.org/bin/articles.cgi?Page=archives&Area=sd&ID=SP109206
12 Hassan al-Bana founded the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt in 1928 and was its General Guide. He
was killed in 1949, apparently by the Egyptian security forces as a result of the murder of Mahmoud
Fahmi al-Nukrashi, the Egyptian prime minister assassinated by the terrorist wing of the Muslim
Brotherhood several weeks earlier.
10
“The world of Islam is going up in flames. [Therefore,] each one of us must pour
water, if only a drop, to extinguish [them] insofar as one can, without waiting for
others.” [So said] Sheikh Amjad al-Zahawi,13 may Allah have mercy upon him.
In the name of Allah the merciful and compassionate
Introduction
Praise be to Allah from whom we are seeking aid, mercy and guidance, on whom we
rely and to whom we pray. May a prayer and peace be upon the messenger of Allah,
his family, his friends, his companions,14 those who have followed Him, those who
have spread his 15 and have kept his Sunnah,16 [may] a prayer and peace [be
upon them] always, as long as heaven and earth exist. And to the matter at hand:
Listen, oh [Muslim?] people: in the midst of calamities and sea of suffering, from
within the heartbeats of the true believers and the purification of [their] hands and
forearms before prayer, from the awareness of duty and assent and obedience to the
will of Allah, there came the call [of our movement] and a meeting was organized, an
assembly was established, education17 in the path of Allah came into being, and the
will [power and] firm determination to fulfill its function while overcoming all
obstacles and difficulties, and [with] continued preparation and the willingness to
sacrifice everything held dear for the sake of Allah.
Finally, the core [of the movement] was formed and began plowing its way through
the stormy sea of hopes and wishes, of longings and heartfelt desires, dangers and
obstacles, pains and challenges, at home [in Palestinian] and abroad.
13 Al-Zahawi (a Kurdish name) was a senior Sunni Muslim cleric in Iraq, who was active in the
Palestinian cause and to this day is an important symbol in the global jihad. He was head of the Iraqi
Association of Religious Scholars and one of the founders of the Association for the Rescue of
Jerusalem, which was established with the cooperation of the World Islamic Conference. Among
those present at the conference were Sayyid Qutb, one of the leading ideologues of Islamic
fundamentalism. During the conference funds were raised to help solve the Palestinian problem. Al-
Zahawi was also head of an Islamic group in Iraq called The Association of Islamic Brotherhood
between 1949-1953. He apparently met Hassan al-Bana. Today there is an Islamic battalion in Iraq
named after him, fighting the coalition forces. 14 The companions of the prophet, the b: the first faithful comrades of Muhammad.
15 That is those who spread the ah, the Islamic message. In other words, those who spread the
religion of Islam worldwide.
16 That is, anyone who follows the Sunnah of the prophet Muhammad appearing in the oral tradition
(dh) which was later written down.
17 In the copy of the Hamas charter in our possession, the text reads “Arabness,” that is, the identity of
all Arabic speakers, instead of “education” but in other editions the word is “education,” and
“Arabness” was probably a textual error.
11
The seed ripened and sprouted, and the plant took root in the soil of existence, far
from the sensation of fleeting emotions and despised haste. The Islamic Resistance
Movement set out to perform its duty, striding along the path of its lord.18 It held
hands with every jihad warrior19 for the sake of liberating Palestine. And the souls of
its jihad warriors meet those of the jihad warriors who have sacrificed their lives for
the soil of Palestine since it was conquered by the companions of the prophet of
Allah, may Allah’s prayer and blessing of peace be upon them, and to this very day.
This is the charter of the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas). It reveals its
face, its identity, explains its position, makes its desires known, speaks of its hopes
and calls [upon those who hear] for aid, to support it and join its ranks. That is
because our battle against the Jews is great and fateful, and all honest means are
necessary for it. [The battle] is the [first] step which necessitates [taking] other steps
after it. [It is] a battalion, and [other] battalions from the great Arab and Muslim world
must support it, one after the other, to conquer the enemy and realize the victory of
Allah. This is how we will see them [i.e., the Arab/Muslim battalions] approaching
from the horizon, [as it is written in the Qur’an:] “Shortly you will certainly know
what he announces” [Surah [38] Sad, Verse 88], [and in addition:] “Allah wrote,
indeed I will prevail, I and my messengers. Allah is strong and mighty” ([Surah 58]
Al-Mujadalah, Verse 21) [and also] “Say, this is my way. I and those who follow me
call l [upon you] for Allah with certainty.Glory be to Allah. I will among those who
join other gods with Allah see correctly, and may the name of Allah be praised, and I
will not be with those who join other gods with Allah [i.e., polytheists] ([Surah 12]
Yusuf [Verse] 108).
18
Comment: Their words-need any more be said?
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