“In these sort of issues of conscience it is better to allow MPs to make their own minds up”, John McDonnell told BBC television, adding Britain must learn lessons from the 2003 Iraq war.
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Shadow minister Emily Thornberry said there was a “brutally honest” debate within the party and accepted there would be a rebellion if a whip was imposed.
The SNP’s leader at Westminster, Angus Robertson indicated that his party was likely to oppose the military action.
France says that all 27 European Union countries have promised to help in some way.
French President Francois Hollande has urged MPs to back David Cameron’s plan for airstrikes against IS in Syria.
Stephen Beer, from Christians on the Left, told Premier: “I certainly think we should be having the conversation and I think we should be doing it in a way that gets around this view that you’re either for or against military action, as I think it’s more complicated than that”. It said: “As Labour members we believe the Government has not made an effective case for military intervention in Syria”.
“We have a shadow cabinet, we have collective responsibility, this is not the way to go about things”.
“At this point, I do not believe that bombing Syria will make it safe, any more than bombing Iraq made Iraq safe, bombing Afghanistan made Afghanistan safe and bombing Libya made Libya safe”.
In the message sent on Friday night, Mr Corbyn wrote: “We have all been horrified by the despicable attacks in Paris and are determined to see ISIS defeated”.
Senior Labour MPs are calling for Jeremy Corbyn’s resignation after accusing him of acting like “the Fuhrer” over his opposition to air strikes in Syria.
He said: “I do hope that the House of Commons will be able to meet the request of Prime Minister Cameron”.
“There has been no challenge to Jeremy Corbyn’s leadership”, a Labour spokesman said in response to the report.
Asked if she thought Mr Corbyn should quit, she said: “I think that would be a sensible strategy because I think that the division at the moment is causing real problems”.
That would leave Mr Corbyn with a choice between ordering his MPs to vote against – raising the possibility of a hugely damaging rebellion – or allowing a free vote and admitting his team can not agree on a key matter of national security.
In 2013, Stop the War campaigned against the UK’s military intervention in Syira, which MPs subsequently voted against.
However, there was no disguising the anger of critics on the Labour back benches, with former minister John Spellar denouncing Mr Corbyn’s behaviour as “unacceptable”.
No outstanding candidate has yet been identified who could replace Mr Corbyn but there is said to be growing support for Hilary Benn, the shadow foreign secretary, as a potential “caretaker” leader.
The motion will note the United Nations resolution calls on member states to take “all necessary measures” to prevent terrorist acts by IS and to “eradicate the safe haven they have established over significant parts of Iraq and Syria”.
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“If we want to destroy terrorism … for a number of weeks I’ve been travelling the world to call on European countries and all countries for which tackling terrorism is relevant”, he said.
