Donations to Gaza are not humanitarian aid but “financial Jihad,” Hamas politburo leader Ismail Haniyeh has said.

Haniyeh made the statement during a televised conference of the International Union of Muslim Scholars (IUMS) in Doha, Qatar, that was aired on Al-Jazeera on 9 January, 2024.

His speech considered the responsibility of Islamic scholars in the wake of October 7 and stated that one of their duties is to donate money, though he preferred to call this “financial Jihad”, stating that “the Islamic nation does not make ‘donations.’”

"This is not just a humanitarian issue, despite its immense importance and Gaza's need for any aid it can get,” said Haniyeh. “This is financial Jihad. We should revive this principle of Islamic jurisprudence in our Islamic nation—the notion of waging Jihad with one's life and one's money."

Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh said the Islamic nation does not make 'donations' but executes 'financial Jihad.' (photo: Memri)

Haniyeh also said that the people of Gaza constitute “our frontline trench for defence, as well as for offense.

“They are not there only to defend, but also to attack. What was October 7 if not a frontline trench for an offensive by our nation? We must not let this moment slip away. The time has come.”

He encouraged Islamic scholars to “hold onto the victory that took place on October 7 and build upon it.”

In addition to “financial Jihad,” Haniyeh added that the “the time has come for Jihad of the swords. This is the battle for Jerusalem and the Al-Aqsa Mosque, and not the battle of the Palestinian people, or Gaza, or the people in Gaza.”

Haniyeh called on Islamic scholars to support the resistance: "Brothers and sisters, the whole world is pouring weapons on the occupation. The whole world is not afraid to do so. There are air bridges from multiple capital cities which reach the occupation, as well as aircraft, and so on and so forth.

“This has become an individual obligatory [Islamic] duty, which we must perform.”