Bush Tells Muslims His Administration Rejects Bigotry

Reuters ^ | 10-28-03

[Prodigal Son]

This was the third link I clicked on:

Islamic Scholars Reject Bin Laden's Call for Jihad Against Americans
http://usinfo.state.gov/usa/islam/a101801a.htm

Washington -- Eminent Islamic scholars from North America, Europe, the Middle East and South Asia have rejected appeals from Usama bin Laden and his al-Qaida terrorist network for a "jihad," or holy war, against Americans.

The Canadian office of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) and the Canadian Muslim Civil Liberties Association issued a joint statement October 17 that said, "Islam respects the sacredness of life, and rejects any express statement or tacit insinuation that Muslims should harm innocent people."

"Using the concept of Jihad to justify harming the innocent is contrary to the letter and spirit of Islam," the statement said. "We condemn any violence that springs from this misguided interpretation." CAIR said prominent Canadian Islamic scholars endorsed the statement....

Hijacking planes, terrorizing innocent people and shedding blood, constitute a form on injustice that cannot be tolerated by Islam, which views them as gross crimes and sinful acts," said Shaikh Abdulaziz Al-Shaikh, Grand Mufti of Saudi Arabia and Chairman of the Senior Ulema, September 15.

"[the attacks] will be punished on the day of judgment," said Sheik Mohammed Sayyed al-Tantawi, leader of Egypt's great mosque, Al-Azhar, as quoted in the Wall Street Journal October 9.

"The terrorist acts...considered by Islamic law...[constitute] the crime of 'hirabah' (waging war against society)," read a fatwa, or Islamic legal opinion, issued by six Islamic scholars in the Middle East and North America on September 27....

Neither the law of Islam nor its ethical system justify such a crime," Zaki Badawi, Principal of the Muslim College in London, was quoted as saying by Arab News on September 28.

"It is wrong to kill innocent people. It is also wrong to praise those who kill innocent people," Mufti Nizamuddin Shamzai of Pakistan, was quoted as saying in the New York Times, September 28.

[GO65]

Until all Islamic "leaders" (both political and religious) renounce terror AND teach that Islam doesn't allow such a weapon, then eternal vigilance seems wise.

Again, I find it hard to believe that you can be in favor of rebuilding Iraq if you think we are at war with Islam.

[polemikos]

Again, it equivocates, as I outlined above.

[polemikos]

I find it hard to believe that you can be in favor of rebuilding Iraq if you think we are at war with Islam.

I think Bush is required to do so, both morally and strategically. In the end, rebuilding Iraq as a secular democracy may well be Islam's last, best hope. Iraq is the best candidate for such a model in the Middle East. If it can't be done there, and if Islamic "leaders" can't support that, then it may not be possible to do anywhere, and this may very well devolve into a "clash of civilizations".

p.s., I never said we are at war with Islam. However, the combination of Islam's (a) fractured "denominations," (b) private interpretation of the Qu'ran, and (c) its apparent inability to reject or restrict violence is troubling.