Posted on 07/28/2005 9:22:30 AM PDT by TheOtherOne
American Muslim Scholars Call Terrorism a Violation of Islamic Teaching
Published: Jul 28, 2005 American Muslim scholars who interpret religious law for their community issued an edict Thursday condemning terrorism against civilians in response to the wave of deadly attacks in Britain and other countries.
In the statement, called a fatwa, the 18-member Fiqh Council of North America wrote that people who commit terrorism in the name of Islam were "criminals, not 'martyrs.'"
"There is no justification in Islam for extremism or terrorism," the scholars wrote. "Targeting civilians' life and property through suicide bombings or any other method of attack is haram - or forbidden."
Many Muslim leaders overseas have issued similar condemnations in recent weeks, but some have left an opening for violence to be used. British Muslim leaders who denounced the July 7 attacks in London said suicide bombings could still be justified against an occupying power.
The U.S. fatwa did not specifically address suicide bombings in a war, but the scholars barred Muslims from helping anyone "involved in any act of terrorism or violence." The council also declared that Muslims were obligated to help law enforcement officials protect civilians.
"It is the civic and religious duty of Muslims to cooperate with law enforcement authorities," according to the Fiqh Council. The term "fiqh" refers to Islamic legal issues and understanding the faith's religious law.
Islam has no central authority and the council serves an advisory role for American Muslims, who could number as high as 6 million. But some question whether the panel's statements would sway extremists.
Leaders of major American Muslim organizations have taken pains since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks to condemn terrorism and deny any religious justification for it. They have intensified their efforts following the July 7 bombings in London and the botched attacks two weeks later. Other terrorist attacks have occurred in Egypt and Israel in recent weeks, along with continued bombings in Iraq.
The Muslim Public Affairs Council, an advocacy group based in Los Angeles, started the "National Anti-Terrorism Campaign" last year, urging Muslims to monitor their own communities, speak out more boldly against violence and work with law enforcement officials.
The Council on American-Islamic Relations, a Washington-based civil rights organization, is running a TV ad and a petition-drive called "Not in the Name of Islam," which repudiates terrorism. In New York and other cities, mosque leaders have joined advisory committees created by the FBI to build relations between law enforcement and their local communities.
"We pray for the defeat of extremism and terrorism," the scholars wrote. "We pray for the safety and security of our country, the United States, and its people. We pray for the safety and security of all inhabitants of our planet."
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On the Net:
Council on American-Islamic Relations: http://www.cair-net.org.
AP-ES-07-28-05 1024EDT
It is the American way for people to condemn acts that no one would think they supported. Hence, President Bush, Senators, Congressmen all issue statements condemning acts of terrorism. And we all say to ourselves, well of course.
The only thing wrong with American Muslim organizations has been that they often refused to make such statements because they felt insulted to have to do so. Kind of a guilty until proven innocent point of view. That has been a public relations failure on their part. I'm glad they have finally taken my advice and made the obligatory statements.
http://www.frontpagemag.com/Articles/Printable.asp?ID=9981
A Bad Day for CAIR
By Evan McCormick
FrontPageMagazine.com | September 24, 2003
September 10th, 2003 will forever be remembered as a grim day for the Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR). On that day, the eve of the second anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, CAIR faced up to its own terrorist connections. It ran away from testifying before an influential Senate panel that heard a barrage of incriminating evidence about the group and its connections. It saw one of its former officials plead guilty to terrorist-related crimes in Federal Court. And, it was stood up by two Department of Justice officials at an immigration symposium in Florida. CAIR should find it hard to recover from this string of defeats...
Looked at that way it does makes more sense.
I'll never believe anything they have to say. Too many condemnations of terrorism quickly followed by BUT or ALTHOUGH ! Actions speak louder than false words and we've seen too many actions of ISLAMIC terrorists.
But it was!!! They've spent almost 4 years debating this issue - it was a close-run thing, evidently.
Fortunately, no one employed the well-known 'jihadi filibuster', or suicide bomb.
Methinks the populace has a skepticism now that has become ingrained and IMO, certainly justified.
Partly due to London, which is emotionally closer to the US than probably any other place, , any Muslim protestations will increasingly fall on deaf ears as most Americans,IMO, don't really want to know more or devote any time to thinking about Islam (They are sick of it) , any more London attacks and the cliche, too little, too late will apply.
I know Shakespeare's version and it is very eloquent..Romeo spoke of his Juliet as a rose...but to quote so beautifully about islam?
Islam is $hit..so my version works much better. Thanks anyway.
The distinction between terrorism and allout war can be in the mind of the fanatic.
Jihad does NOT mean struggle, it means holy war.
Ask The Imam - keyword "jihad"
Specifically:
The Arabic equivalent for holy war is Jihaad.and Allah Ta'ala Knows Best
Mufti Ebrahim Desai
The statement, 'promoted killing of non-Muslims' is vague and sweeping and is very much open to misinterpretation. Yes, Rasulullah (Sallallaahu Alayhi Wasallam) promoted the killing of these non-Muslims who are actively engaged in destroying Islam and the Muslims. This is the command of Allah Ta'ala Himself in the Qur'aan. This type of killing is not simply permissible, but commendable and worthy of reward. This does not mean that Islam teaches to kill all non-Muslims.When all "states" are Muslim states, non-muslims will finally be safe < /sarcasm >If, for example, a Muslim intentionally kills a non-Muslim citizen of the Islamic state, then in retribution the Muslim's life will be taken. This indicates that even the life of a non-Muslim is sanctified, if he does not oppose Islam and the Muslims.
Interesting concept. Violence (terrorism)is acceptable against an occupying power. Considering that Muslims are attempting to effect an occupation of Europe (and Britain) in the name of Allah, are they saying that violence against Muslims would be justified by Europeans?
Their own ties reveal them to be liars.
I will post an excerpt from a long piece I read in Lester Bang's "new" book of older essays (he died in the early 1980s).
He tore apart a Bob Dylan song about a "misunderstood" mobster. In it (the part I will briefly transcribe), he mentions how in the 1960s or 1970s some mobsters created their own "Italian-American" PR organization to shield them from such "uncalled for" associations and skepticism.
Same proven technique.
Muslims are ALWAYS right, all other faiths are of lesser legal standing. Under Islamic law, Christian and Jews are of second tier status (they are still people "of the Book") whereas everyone else is on the lowly third tier.
And Methinks muslimes decry violence when they fear for themselves...they dont like us knowing what and who they really are. But I do know. I lot of people know.
No amount of mealy mouthed words coming out of a muslimes mouth will ever change my mind.
Howza bouta fatwa on this!
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1452456/posts
That would be useful!
;^)
I guess they got my email.
Well it took them long enough.
It's been 12 years since the first WTC bombing and 22 years since the bombing of the Marine barracks in Beirut.
Semper Fi,
Kelly
Jihad does NOT mean struggle, it means holy war.You have one imam saying that. It's like having Fred Phelps interpret the Bible and say his views hold for all of Christianity. Other clerics have different interpretations.
-Eric
How they define terrorism and how we define terrorism are worlds apart.
They say "we are against the killing of innocents."
What they don't tell you, of course, is that no non-Muslim is innocent.
In that book that should be flushed down the toilet more often, there are plenty of mentions of "smite the neck of infidel", "kidnap their family", "charge tax for all non-beleivers"...
Many more passages that call for killing non-beleivers. Yet, they would have us beleive, actually they would probably be surprised if we do beleive, that they are better than rabid dogs.
It's been said that 10% of them are extremists and out of 1.5 billion thats a bug number. Even 1% represents a higher number than I want to see running onto my bus with a C-4 vest.
But if they keep bleating that they are a religion of peace, then where are these terrorists learning it?
Actions speak louder than words. If the violent followers, their mosques, and clerics really are on the wrong path, there should be no harm in exposing them and eliminating them from contaminating more young minds.
Peaceful muslims would do well to aid in ridding the world of such cultists. Of course some have already surrendered to the extremists out of fear of retribution. Other silently agree with the goals.
Evil thrives when good men do nothing.
Signing a petition doesn't count as a solution.
The problem with the moderate Muslim commmunity IMHO is that they are scared of speaking up. Extreme factions within the Muslim community are like the mob--the imams are almost like godfathers--there is a code of silence--there is no right or wrong only loyalty to the 'family'--I would imagine that many young men who get involved find that they can't get out when they want to leave--it's like the Bloods or the Crips--organized crime--betrayal of the group ethos means death. Really sad and super scary.
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