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| U.S. clerics issue anti-terror fatwa |
| 2005-07-29 |
| About four years overdue, but it's step in the right direction.Bold added for emphasis. The nation's leading group of Islamic scholars, speaking with a single voice for the first time since Sept. 11, has issued a formal condemnation of terrorism, urging America's more than 2 million Muslims to cooperate with law enforcement agencies in ferreting out would-be terrorists. "Targeting civilians' life and property through suicide bombings or any other method of attack is haram - or forbidden - and those who commit these barbaric acts are criminals, not martyrs," read a release by the 18-member Fiqh Council of North America. The condemnation came in a fatwa, a formal opinion that carries great weight in the Islamic world when handed down by respected religious leaders. It was immediately hailed by several national Muslim organizations, including the Islamic Society of North America. "The difference between this and all the pronouncements you've heard in the past is these are pretty much the leading scholars in North America," said Dr. Faroque Khan, a board member of the Islamic Society of North America and past president of the Islamic Center of Long Island in Westbury. "Individually, they have all expressed their condemnation, but this is the first time they have done it as a group." Muslim leaders have frequently expressed frustration that their repudiations of terrorism have been largely overlooked. Critics have said America's Muslims have not spoken out forcefully enough. Yesterday, Rabbi David Saperstein of the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism in Washington said the unified stance was helpful. "Ultimately, it is Muslims who are going to need to win the battle about the direction and the future of Islam," he said. Ibrahim Hooper, a spokesman for the Washington-based Council on American-Islamic Relations, said the fatwa was inspired in part by a condemnation by leading imams in England after the July 7 London bombings that killed 56 people. So, even CAIR got on board. Amazing. Yesterday's fatwa went further than one issued by some of England's Muslim leaders, which seemed to allow an exception for suicide bombing against an occupying power. "Suicide bombing is forbidden in Islam," said Muzammil H. Siddiqi, head of the Fiqh Council. "This is not the solution, it is not the right way of doing things. Occupation is wrong, of course, but at the same time, this is not the way." What occupation is he talking about? Iraq is a sovereign government. |
| Posted by:GK |
| #3 I will not believe these asswipes until they start handing over, by their own free will, the zelots and nutjobs that preach hate. Until they do that, they are as guilty as the zelots themselves. |
| Posted by: mmurray821 2005-07-29 15:58 |
| #2 LGF has the the lowdown (and some comments) here |
| Posted by: CrazyFool 2005-07-29 15:06 |
| #1 The statement's already been revealed as meaningless. Most of the groups involved have long and deep ties to terrorism. |
| Posted by: Robert Crawford 2005-07-29 15:02 |