[Reader-list] Muslim clerics sign fatwa against terror

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Muslim clerics sign fatwa against terror
Uma Sudhir
Sunday, November 09, 2008, (Hyderabad)

The 89-year-old Jamiat-Ulema-i-Hind, the largest Islamic body in the
country, is focusing its 29th national meeting in Hyderabad on
delinking terror from religion. The conference is being held to
reiterate that the community is secular and peace-loving and that
Islam per se cannot be linked to terror.

On Saturday, nearly 6000 Muslim clerics from all over the country
signed the Deoband fatwa against terror.

"We want to involve as many people and make it public that terror has
no place in Islam, that no terrorism can be done in the name of Islam
and Quran gives no sanction to it," said Mahmood Asad Madani, Rajya
Sabha MP.

Significantly, the Jamiat points out that just because Hindutva terror
is now being spoken about, they are not going to point fingers nor be
defensive about what some call jehadi terror.

"Whoever is the accused, let's not link them to any religion, whether
Hindu or Muslim. People indulging in such activities should not be
linked to any religion,'' said Hakimuddin Qasmi, General Secretary,
Jamiat Ulema-i-Hind

The two-day conference will culminate in a public meeting on Sunday
evening at Hyderabad's Nizam College grounds where the Jamiat has
invited other Islamic bodies as well as civil society leaders like Sri
Sri Ravishankar, Swamy Aginivesh and Joseph D'Souza.

http://www.ndtv.com/convergence/ndtv/story.aspx?id=NEWEN20080071869