[Reader-list] Anti Terrorism Fatwa

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Anti Terrorism Fatwa

Muhammad Tahir-ul-Qadri

Muhammad Tahir-ul-Qadri, a former Pakistani lawmaker issued an anti
terrorism fatwa in London this Tuesday. It stated that suicide bombing
was banned by Islam “without any excuses, any pretexts, or
exceptions.” This is a great stand and one that many other
organizations have taken before. Even recently after the incident at
Fort Hood, The National Coalition of South Asian Organizations
released ‘their fatwa.’ The NCSO consists of over twenty organizations
who had issued this strong statement after the tragedy in Fort Hood.
It is not any different from most of the voices I heard in the Mumbai
taxis. Christians, Muslims, Hindus, Parsis and Jews traveling through
bustling Bombay commented on this unfortunate misconception between
Islam and Terror and voiced the same concern as Muhammad
Tahir-ul-Qadri and The Quilliam Foundation.

When will mainstream media truly pay attention to all the voices of
dissent? Like I said , a great stand but one which has been stated by
the common man for decades. May this fatwa enter the domain of pop
culture and be talked about on twitter, blogs, backyards in Alabama,
streets of Kabul, Mc Donalds kitchens and headlines of every big
publication Worldwide as much as it was talked about in the Mumbai
taxis. Inshallah!

http://thetaxitakes.com/anti-terrorism-fatwa/
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Some experts see fatwa as significant blow to terrorist recruiting
By Kiran Khalid, CNN
March 3, 2010
Islamabad, Pakistan (CNN) -- A fatwa, or religious ruling, issued this
week is roiling theological waters after it took aim at those
notorious for targeting others: terrorists.

The anti-terrorism fatwa by renowned Muslim scholar Muhammad Tahir
ul-Qadri pulled no punches, declaring that terrorism was "haraam," or
forbidden by the Quran, and that suicide bombers would be rewarded not
by 72 virgins in heaven, as many terrorist recruiters promise, but
with a suite in hell.

Qadri, the founder of the Minhaj-ul-Quran International, an Islamic
movement with centers in 90 countries, told a news conference in
London, England, on Tuesday that his decree categorically condemns
terrorism and suicide bombings in the name of Islam.

"Until now, scholars who were condemning terrorism were conditional
and qualified what they said," Qadri said in a phone interview, noting
that his 600-page ruling left no room for interpretation. "I didn't
leave a single, minor aspect that, in the mind of radicals or
extremists, can take them to the direction of martyrdom."

The 59-year-old Pakistani scholar called his fatwa an "absolute"
condemnation, going as far as to label the terrorists themselves
"kafirs," a term in the Quran meaning "unbeliever."

"This fatwa has the potential to be a highly significant step towards
eradicating Islamist terrorism," Quilliam, a counter-extremism think
tank based in London, said in a statement.

Manan Ahmed, assistant professor of Islam in South and Southeast Asia
at the Institute for Islamic Studies in Berlin, agreed, calling the
fatwa "unprecedented."

"This is a landmark theological study -- a careful and systematic
treatment of a thousand years of legal tradition dealing with armed
resistance against the state, rules of engagement, aspects. The fatwa
itself ... is categorically and comprehensively against terrorism in
any form and for any cause," Ahmed said.

Many skeptics questioned whether an intellectual dismantling of al
Qaeda's religious philosophy could have any impact on recruiting
terrorists in places like Pakistan, where many potential foot soldiers
don't have access to education, much less academic discourse.

Ahmed says it can.

"This is not an academic or an intellectual argument alone. This is a
theological argument, based in the Qur'an and Sunnah [practice of the
Prophet]," Ahmed said. "What it provides are easily available
argumentation and proof for the millions of preachers across Pakistan,
who can, in turn, incorporate this into their weekly sermons."

Ahmed says where it will undoubtedly leave an indelible mark is
online. Just this week, U.S. Army Brig. Gen. John Custer, head of
intelligence at the U.S. military's Central Command, told the CBS
program "60 Minutes" that "without a doubt, the Internet is the single
most important venue for the radicalization of Islamic youth."

In the recent case involving five young Americans from the Virginia
area, known as the "D.C. Five," who are in a Pakistani jail
potentially facing terrorism charges, the so-called ringleader Ramy
Zamzam allegedly had contact with radical Islamist Web sites. Last
week, 24 year-old Afghan-born American Najibullah Zazi pleaded guilty
to conspiring to blow up high-density targets in New York City.
Prosecutors allege he, too, communicated online with terrorists.

Salman Ahmad, the lead singer of the Pakistani rock band "Junoon" and
author of "Rock & Roll Jihad: A Muslim Rock Star's Revolution," says
it's young men in the West who can be influenced the most by Qadri's
arguments.

"The fatwa by the Pakistani Islamic scholar is an important positive
religious ruling and it has been made in the West, where a lot of
young impressionable Muslim kids are being brainwashed by the
terrorists to commit murder and suicide in the name of Islam," Ahmad
said.

"It's about time Osama bin Laden and al Qaeda realize that Muslims
will not allow their faith and identity to be hijacked by a bunch of
thugs masquerading as holy men."

http://www.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/asiapcf/03/03/terror.fatwa.analysis/