Posted on 06/10/2005 5:31:13 AM PDT by OESY
An obscure Arabic word is making a comeback from centuries of oblivion to dominate the debate about whom Muslims are allowed to kill in the service of political goals.
The debate has been triggered by the killing of large numbers of Muslims, including women and children, by Islamist insurgents in Iraq. Are such acts permissible? Judging by fatwas (religious opinions) and articles by Muslim theologians and commentators, the Islamic ummah (community) is divided on the issue.
Those who believe that killing innocent people, including Muslims, is justified in certain cases, base their opinion on the principle of tattarrus. The word, which originally meant "dressing up," was first used as a religious term in the book "Al-Mustasfa" ("The Place of Purification") by Abu-Hamed al-Ghazali (d.1127), to mean "using ordinary Muslims as human shields for Islamic combatants against infidel fighters."...
"Tattarrus is relevant only in the case of Muslim women and children who are captured in a war by the infidel," he says. "In such a situation, it would be permissible to kill them to prevent them from being converted into other faiths by the infidel or abused by infidel soldiers."
Jassim al-Shamri, a Saudi theologian, rejects the authority of the "self-styled ulema" to reinterpret Islamic concepts for political goals.
"These gentlemen sit in air-conditioned rooms and drink iced mango juice and issue fatwas for indiscriminate killing," al-Shamri says. "We never see any of them or their children sent on suicide missions."
Sheikh Abdul-Muhsin al-Ubaikan, a Saudi theologian, has proposed "a theological summit" to discuss tattarrus and related issues.
"Is it enough for an individual to say he is fighting for Islam in order to claim a license to kill anyone, anywhere and anytime?" al-Ubaikan asks.
(Excerpt) Read more at nypost.com ...
It seems I remember something about the British encountering a murder cult in India during their colonial days(???)
Um, the whole Middle East is a murder cult....
That's how the English language picked up "thug," which we use today for that cult's charming ideological descendants.
They served her by strangling innocent people as offerings.
The people were then buried using a sacred pickaxe and their burial was accompanied by the burning a small amount of sugar.
They were called thugee or "concealers" since they were all thieves by profession and their cult was celebrated with utmost secrecy by males only.
This is where the word thug comes from.
The British terminated these guys with extreme prejudice.
(Denny Crane: "Sometimes you can only look for answers from God and failing that... and Fox News".)
I've heard someone compare modern Islamic terrorists to Aztec priests doing human sacrifices -- they felt that killing would win them favor with their gods, and they took to killing with gusto, the more the better.
Based on this sickening article, I'd say the comparison is reasonable.
Given the fact that they were dancing in the streets on 9/11, I'm not sure it's so much of a stretch.
This muslim crap has been going on for many years.
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