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Where are the Muslim voices?
The following is a partial listing of
Muslim scholars and organizations
who have issued fatwas against
extremism and terrorism.
Muslim voices are loud and clear,
they are simply ignored.
THE FOLLOWING ARE
QUOTES FROM VARIOUS
MUSLIM COMMUNITY
LEADERS, SCHOLARS,
AND ACTIVISTS.
Abdullah, Aslam U.S. You say that the word of God is the
highest. Yes, it is. But you are not worthy of it. You have
abandoned God and you have started worshipping your
own satanic egos that rejoice at the killing of innocent
people. You don’t represent Muslims or, for that matter,
any decent human being who believes in the sanctity of
life. Many among us American Muslims have differences
with our administration on domestic and foreign issues,
just like many other Americans do. But the plurality of
opinions does not mean that we deprive ourselves of the
civility that God demands from us. America is our home
and will always be our home. Its interests are ours, and
its people are ours. When you talk of killing of
Americans, you first have to kill 6 million or so Muslims
who will stand for every American’s right to live and
enjoy the life as commanded by God. “Letter to Al Qaeda in
Iraq: Kill Us Too, We Are Also Americans”
• Abdullah, Aslam U.S. Respecting and protecting human life are
acts of submission and worshipping to God. Submission has many
great lessons for all of us that hear and watch on TV the scenes of a
place after suicide bombing. The bomb does not know the difference
between a soldier, a child, a mother, a grandfather or a grandmother.
It is an awful and horrendous scene that we all wish to never see or
witness. Islam totally disagrees with this kind of behavior and
condemns the action that causes this. Sometimes some people try
to argue that their enemy is killing children and mothers as well and
that is why they justify actions that result in their destruction. But
according to the divine faith, evil must be not repaid with evil and
animosity must not be returned with animosity. Those who claim to
the follow the final divine scripture must live up to highest moral
standards, not to evil choices, and respect human life regardless of
the label that it carries. The Divine demands from the
follower of His message to work for peace and justice
through peaceful means, not through violence or anger.
The Divine demands that His followers should never
lower their moral standards to the standard of the people
who fight them. Following God’s law guarantees peace
and victory while breaking it only guarantees more
misery to all those involved.
Adi, Imam Tammam, Ph.D. Director of the Islamic Cultural Center
of Eugene, Oregon, U.S..
“America’s fight against
terrorism is justified by the
Quran”, in an article
“Fanatics and Terrorists are
Misguided”
Afsaruddin, Asma U.S. To deny these lived realities of the
Islamic past, which point to what we would term in today’s
jargon a respect for pluralism and religious diversity, is to
practice a kind of intellectual violence against Islam. Muslim
extremists who insist that the Qur’an calls for relentless
warfare against non-Muslims without just cause or
provocation merely to propagate Islam and certain Western
opinion makers who unthinkingly accept and report their
rhetoric as authentically Islamic are both doing history a
great disservice. Muslim extremist fringe groups with their
desperate cult of martyrdom are overreacting to current
political contingencies and disregarding any scriptural
imperative. It is worthy of note that the Qur’an does not
even have a word for martyr; the word “shahid,” now
commonly understood to mean “a martyr,” refers only to an
eyewitness or a legal witness in Qur’anic usage. Only in
later extra Qur’anic tradition, as a result of extraneous
influence, did the term “shahid” come to mean bearing
witness for the faith, particularly by laying down one’s life,
much like the Greek derived English word “martyr.”
Ahmad, Dr. Imad ad Deen U.S., President, Minaret of Freedom
… it is the moral duty of Muslims to not
merely condemn the attacks on noncombatant
Americans (including hundreds of Muslims) that
took place on September 11, 2001, but to
engage in a positive effort to identify the
planners and material supporters of the attacks,
to confront them with the fact that their actions
have violated the shari`ah in a most egregious
manner, to urge them to repent, and to punish
them if the families of the victims are unwilling to
be merciful and accept compensation.
Institute.
Parvez Ahmed, U.S.
To contain terrorism, if not
eliminate it, the way forward is to engage in
common-sense methods of intelligence
gathering without criminalizing entire groups of
people, military strategies without resorting to
indiscriminate bombings and enabling the
emergence of democratic and civic societies by
eliminating foreign occupations. Addressing
grievances cannot automatically be dismissed
as appeasement. Britain succeeded in disarming
the IRA by engaging them, not ignoring its
demands. In fact, the conversion of terrorist
groups into peaceful political movements has
often occurred when their rationale for violence
ceased to exist.
Al-Luheidan, Shaikh Saleh , Chairman of the Supreme Judicial
Council, SAUDI ARABIA
“As a human community we must
be vigilant and careful to oppose
these pernicious and shameless
evils, which are not justified by
any sane logic, nor by the religion
of Islam.”
Al-Qaradawi, Shaykh Yusuf, QATAR; Tariq Bishri, EGYPT; Muhammad S.
Awwa, EGYPT; Fahmi Huwaydi, EGYPT; Haytham Khayyat, SYRIA;
Shaykh Taha Jabir al-Alwani, U.S.
“All Muslims ought to be united against all those who
terrorize the innocents, and those who permit the killing
of non-combatants without a justifiable reason. Islam has
declared the spilling of blood and the destruction of
property as absolute prohibitions until the Day of
Judgment. ... [It is] necessary to apprehend the true
perpetrators of these crimes, as well as those who aid
and abet them through incitement, financing or other
support. They must be brought to justice in an impartial
court of law and [punished] appropriately. ... [It is] a duty
of Muslims to participate in this effort with all possible
means.” “Our hearts bleed for the attacks that has
targeted the World Trade Center [WTC], as well as other
institutions in the United States despite our strong
oppositions to the American biased policy towards Israel
on the military, political and economic fronts.
Islam, the religion of
tolerance, holds the human soul in high
esteem, and considers the attack against
innocent human beings a grave sin, this is
backed by the Qur’anic verse which reads:
‘Whosoever kills a human being [as
punishment] for [crimes] other than
manslaughter or [sowing] corruption in the
earth, it shall be as if he has killed all
mankind, and who so ever saves the life of
one, it shall be as if he had saved the life
of all mankind’
Al-Qaradawi, Shaykh Yusuf, QATAR
(Al-Ma’idah:32).”
Al-Sabil, Shaykh Muhammad bin ‘Abdallah, member of the Council
of Senior Religious Scholars, Saudi Arabia
“Any attack on innocent people is
unlawful and contrary to Shari’a
(Islamic law). ... Muslims must
safeguard the lives, honor and
property of Christians and Jews.
Attacking them contradicts
Shari’a.”
al-Shaykh, Shaykh Abd al Aziz bin Abdallah, The grand mufti of
Islam forbids suicide
terrorist attacks. “What you call
suicide bombings in my view are
illegitimate and have nothing to
do with jihad in the cause of God.
I am afraid it is another form of
killing oneself.”
SAUDI ARABIA
al-Tantawi, Sheikh Muhammad Sayyed, The Grand Sheikh of the
al-Azhar mosque, EGYPT
Condemned suicide
bombings against Israeli
civilians and condemned
terrorism in all its forms.
al-Tantawi, Sheikh Muhammad Sayyed, imam of al-Azhar mosque
“Attacking innocent
people is not courageous, it is
stupid and will be punished on the
day of judgment. ... It’s not
courageous to attack innocent
children, women and civilians. It is
courageous to protect freedom, it
is courageous to defend oneself
and not to attack.”
in Cairo, EGYPT
American Muslim Scholars STATEMENT REJECTING TERRORISM
“We wish again to state unequivocally that neither the alQaeda organization nor Usama bin Laden represents
Islam or reflects Muslim beliefs and practice. Rather,
groups like al-Qaeda have misused and abused Islam in
order to fit their own radical and indeed anti-Islamic
agenda. Usama bin Laden and al-Qaeda’s actions are
criminal, misguided and counter to the true teachings of
Islam.
We call on people of all faiths not to judge Islam by the
actions of a few. We believe in justice and peace for
both Israelis and Palestinians. We are convinced that
security for Israel can only be achieved by justice for
Palestinians. … We say most clearly, however, that the
killing of innocent civilians, whether Christian, Muslim, or
Jewish, is always wrong and is forbidden in Islamic law
and ethics. Illegitimate means can never be justified by
a desirable or noble goal.”
Asmal, Dr. Abdul Cader U.S.
The time to ratchet down hostilities is now. The coming
together of typecast foes may not be easy. On the other
hand allowing fascists to chart the future of humanity is
not a viable option. Rapprochement is the only answer to
Israel’s survival and Islam’s renaissance. There is
nothing incompatible between Islam and Judaism that
prevents Muslims and Jews from living together again.
They have a moral imperative to do so, resting on the
Muslim belief of a divinely-assigned stewardship of
God’s creation, and the Jewish belief of ‘Tikkun’ or
healing of God’s creation. With these credentials
Muslims and Jews should not only be able to coexist but
respond to the call, ‘peace on earth and goodwill to all
men’, a timeless message with a universal appeal, we
can all live with.
Azam, Hina, Ph.D. U.S.
One hardly needs to ask al-Qaeda (and al-Qaedaesque)
operatives what they think they are doing in their
suicide attacks. The pronouncements and writings of
Osama bin Laden and Abu Mus’ab al-Zarqawi make it
abundantly clear that they believe they are engaging in
a legitimate jihad. Never mind that they break cardinal
rules of jihad as laid out in the Qur’an and the
lawbooks of Islam. Never mind that they confuse basic
distinctions, such as the one between combatants and
civilians, and between suicide and martyrdom. … The
truth of the matter, however, is that they are engaged
in the very behavior that the Qur’an and Prophet came
to combat: tribalism. Despite protestations to the
contrary, Al-Qaeda and similarly-minded groups are
engaged in no more than the old-fashioned tribal
warfare, the hallmark of jahiliyya.
Aziz, Haris U.S. Anti-Semitism is against the basics of Islam.
Islam promotes humility and warns against keeping
enmity and anger in one’s heart. It is a positive sign that
many Muslim intellectuals such as Akbar Ahmed and
Tariq Ramadan are speaking out against anti-Semitism
by Muslims. It is also crucial that the Jewish leaders also
follow suit and encourage better understanding between
Muslims and Jews. Tariq Ramadan says, ‘there is
nothing in Islam that gives legitimization to Judeophobia,
xenophobia and the rejection of any human being
because of his religion or the group to which he belongs.
Anti-Semitism has no justification in Islam, the message
of which demands respect for the Jewish religion and
spirit, which are considered a noble expression of the
People of the Book’.
Badawi, Zaki, Principal, Muslim College in London BRITAIN
We desperately need for the recovery of the
religious commitment that will inspire in all
of us the respect for the rule of law over
individualism and tribalism. Only then will
we subscribe to the dignity and worth of all
peoples, tribes, and individuals regardless
of color, custom, tongue and traditions.
And only then will we have a world at
peace with itself.
Bakri, Shaykh Omar, Leader of al-Muhajirun, a radical Islamist
movement based in London, ENGLAND
Condemned 9/11 attack. If Islamists did it—
and most likely it is Islamists, because of
the nature of what happened—then they
have fully misunderstood the teachings of
Islam. ... Even the most radical of us
have condemned this. I am always
considered to be a radical in the Islamic
world and even I condemn it.
Bayyoumi, Abdel-Mo’tei, al-Azhar Islamic Research Academy,
Cairo, EGYPT
“There is no terrorism
or a threat to civilians
in jihad [religious
struggle].”
CAIR statement on holocaust denial
“No legitimate cause or agenda can ever be
advanced by denying or belittling the
immense human suffering caused by the
murder of millions of Jews and other
minority groups by the Nazi regime and its
allies during World War II. Cynical
attempts to use Holocaust denial as a
political tool in the Middle East conflict will
only serve to deepen the level of mistrust
and hostility already present in that
troubled region.”
Council of Ulama’, fatwa of February 2003, SAUDI ARABIA
“What is happening in some countries
from the shedding of the innocent blood
and the bombing of buildings and ships
and the destruction of public and private
installations is a criminal act against Islam.
... Those who carry out such acts have the
deviant beliefs and misleading ideologies
and are responsible for the crime. Islam
and Muslims should not be held
responsible for such actions.”
Crane, Dr. Robert D. U.S. Many Muslims justify violence
against civilians as self-defense. In response to 9/11
their only response was a defensive Don’t blame us!?
The time has come for Muslims to do precisely this, to
blame themselves. If religious extremism, regardless of
its causes, can claim justification for incinerating and
crushing thousands of innocent Americans in the name
of Islam, then the silent majority of Muslims have an
unmet responsibility to reclaim the wisdom of their
Islamic heritage as a constructive force in global affairs.
This must be the primary response to the challenge of
9/11. The specific challenge of such a response is how
to organize in a positive way to promote more
enlightened understanding of Islam, particularly by
Muslims among Muslims.
• El Fadl, Khaled Abou, U.S. Classical Muslim jurists,
however, were uncompromisingly harsh toward rebels
who used what the jurists described as stealth attacks
and, as a result, spread terror. Muslim jurists considered
terrorist attacks against unsuspecting and defenseless
victims as heinous and immoral crimes, and treated the
perpetrators as the worst type of criminals. Under the
category of crimes of terror, the classical jurists included
abductions, poisoning of water wells, arson, attacks
against wayfarers and travelers, assaults under the
cover of night and rape. For these crimes, regardless of
the religious or political convictions of the perpetrators,
Muslim jurists demanded the harshest penalties,
including death. Most important, Muslim jurists held that
the penalties are the same whether the perpetrator or
victim is Muslim or non-Muslim.
El Amin, Imam Plemon U.S. Cowardly acts of terrorism
upon innocent men, women, and children is not a
doorway to Heaven, but a gateway to Hell. Blind
aggression and retaliation are sins, and as Muslims we
reject these practices by our selves, our kin, our foes,
the rich, or the poor. Past and recent acts of terrorism
that victimize innocent human beings, such as the World
Trade Center bombing, the mosque assault by Baruch
Goldstein, and the recent suicide bombing in Tel Aviv are
deplored by our community and must be condemned by
all God-conscious and civilized communities, both
Muslim and others. We must all stand up for peace and
toleration. Among both the Palestinians and the Israelis
are those guilty and responsible for the many women
and children left maimed and dead. Each side has
produced both perpetrators of violence and victims of
injustice.
Engineer, Dr. Asghar Ali, INDIA The Qur’an clearly lays
down that killing any person without a just cause
amounts to killing whole humanity and saving one
person’s life amounts to saving entire humanity. This is
truly humanistic and spiritual dimension of Islam and of
any religion for that matter. Killing hundreds of innocent
people can not qualify for being a religious act by any
stretch of imagination. In fact whether fundamentalism
and terrorism (in the sense in which they have been
defined above) are linked together or not both are curses
for humanity. No truly religious person should approve of
such gross misuse of religion. A religious attitude has to
be of humility, distance from political power and of nonviolence. The Sufi Islam which was truly spiritual Islam
always maintained its distance from power centres and
believed in the doctrine of what is called sulh-i-kul i.e.
peace with all.
Shaykh Muhammad Hussein Fadlallah
Said he was “horrified” by these
“barbaric ... crimes”: Beside the fact
that they are forbidden by Islam, these
acts do not serve those who carried
them out but their victims, who will
reap the sympathy of the whole world.
... Islamists who live according to the
human values of Islam could not
commit such crimes.”
Ghannouchi, Shaykh Rached , chairman of Tunisia’s an-Nahda
Such destruction
can only be condemned by any Muslim,
however resentful one may be of America’s
biased policies supporting occupation in
Palestine, as an unacceptable attack on
thousands of innocent people having no relation
to American policies. Anyone familiar with Islam
has no doubt about its rejection of collective
punishment, based on the well-known Quranic
principle that ‘no bearer of burdens can bear the
burden of another.’
Movement, in exile in London, ENGLAND
Ghannoushi, Soumaya The causes al-Qaida extremists speak
for are certainly just causes. The sanctioning of genocide
and occupation in Palestine, slaughter of hundreds of
thousands in Iraq through exposure to depleted Uranium
and years of barbaric sanctions first, then through
bombing and shelling without bothering to count the
dead, brutal invasion of the country, destruction of its
infrastructure and humiliation of its people, undoubtedly
rank among modern history’s bloodiest crimes and
darkest tragedies. But the mindless killing of the
innocent in Madrid, New York, or London is the wrong
answer to these real grievances. These are illegitimate
responses to legitimate causes. Just as occupation is
morally and politically deplorable, so too is any blind
aggression masquerading as Jihad.
Hajoo, Imam Jamil U.S. The terrorists, whoever they are,
could not be worthy Muslims. The Islamic message is a
message of justice, peace and mercy to all mankind. A
cowardly act of terrorism against innocent people is not a
doorway to heaven but a gateway to hell. Islam rejects
aggression and self-serving retribution. Islam holds the
human soul in high regard and considers the attack
against one human being a grave sin. The Holy Qur’an
warns: “Whoever killed a person not in retaliation of
murder or in spreading mischief in the land it would be
as if he killed all mankind and if anyone saved one life it
would be as if he saved all mankind” (Qur’an 5: 32).
Prophet Muhammad said “Whoever hurts a dhimee (a
Jew or a Christian protected by Islamic state) he would
be like hurting me and who hurts me, he hurts God.”
Suicide-bombing of
civilian targets is evil and
prohibited under Islamic Law. I
would tell suicide-bombers
intending to attack civilians that
they would be murderers, not
martyrs, and that they would go to
Hell, not Heaven.
Hasan, Usama - Britain
Hassaballa, Dr. Hesham U.S. From where has this all come?
By what stretch of the imagination could the killing of
Margaret Hassan, or the attack on the elementary school
in Beslan, Russia be deemed as “Islamic”? Where in our
ancient and rich scholarly tradition has the murder of
non-combatants ever been sanctioned? As I search
deep into my soul for answers to these invariably difficult
questions, my soul is struck with a deep pang of pain. I
fear that the Nation whose legacy to the world had once
been Astronomy, Medicine, and Philosophy has
devolved into one whose legacy to the world will be
suicide bombings, kidnappings, and be headings. I fear
that the phrase “parle l’arabe (he speaks Arabic),” once a
symbol of elevated social status, will become a stain of
shame, worthy of concealment.
No matter what wrong has
been done to the Muslims, there is no
justification for the taking of innocent life. It is not
“defending Islam” in the least; it is not
“martyrdom,” but cold-blooded murder. The
Qur’an is quite clear: “Do not let the hatred of
some people move you to commit injustice.”
(5:8). Never can the legitimate suffering of
Muslims around the world be justification for the
murder of innocent human beings, no matter
where they are, no matter who they are, no
matter what faith they claim to profess.
Hassaballa, Dr. Hesham U.S.
Hathout, Dr. Maher, American Muslim scholar.
In spite of our deep understanding and sympathy towards the
Palestinian suffering and the frustration of trying to move the
conscience of the world through peaceful means and throwing
rocks, and in spite of our condemnation of the brutal practices of
the Sharon apartheid regime, we still took a clear stand against
suicide bombing that compels a person use his or her body as a
weapon to destroy noncombatants. We took that stand
conscientiously based on our understanding of Islam, as well as
the awareness that once we glorify death and cheapen human
life, it takes us to a downhill spiral that does not limit itself to one
field or one cause. Now we see what we were dreading
happening daily, resulting in the killing of Iraqis in Iraq, the Shias,
in Pakistan, the Kurds in Mosul. Suicide killing has become a
“modus operandi,” not a desperate aberration. ... If we truly
believe in this religion, we ought to go through very serious
questioning and soul-searching. How did we, as a group, fail to
nip this ugly phenomenon in the bud? How did we indulge in the
luxury of theoretical debates, and craft all kinds of euphemisms to
let this go on, spill out and grow?
Hathout, Dr. Maher U.S.
“Two weeks ago, we saw how a group of young Muslims
swallowed the bait of fiery rhetoric riddled with out-of-context
verses spun in order to serve a nihilistic ideology of anger and
despair offered to them disguised as Islam. Within a short
period of time, these young men fell prey to the hate-filled
dogma and were transformed into beings capable of blowing
themselves up, taking with them innocent lives whom God
has also blown in them from his spirit and “conferred dignity
on the children of Adam” (Quran 7:70) which cuts through
barriers of race, gender and creed...As they commit the crime
against themselves and others, they drag with them the
reputation and image of the religion they claim to venerate.
They not only violate its basic teachings, but disfigure the
message of “mercy to the worlds” into a justification for cruel,
cowardly and repulsive behavior. In this way, hearts that were
supposed to be opened to the word of God got closed and
minds that were hoped to have been opened to the light of
guidance are shut.”
There are many prophecies
that suggest that we are at a point of global
crisis. In addition to many other voices, the
indigenous peoples of the world, and especially
of my own continent of North America, are trying
to call our attention to the unavoidable truth: The
world is more out of balance than ever in human
history. Not only the ummahs of the land, but the
ummahs of the sky and sea are suffering and
dying from these imbalances. We have truly
forgotten the sacredness of all life as we have
become entangled in our own egoistic,
nationalistic, and even sectarian concerns.
Heminski, Sheikh Kabir U.S.
Henzell-Thomas, Dr. Jeremy BRITAIN There are even finer distinctions
to be drawn here. We might recognize the distinction between
“Islamic” terrorist and “Muslim” terrorist, but we might also want
to say that a “Muslim terrorist” is also an oxymoron, because a
true Muslim can, by definition, never be a terrorist (i.e. one guilty
of hirabah, or unholy war), in the same way as Islam, by
definition, can never sanction such behavior. We then have to
distinguish between the misleading phrase “Muslim terrorist” and
some such phrase as “criminal terrorist” who calls himself a
Muslim. ... The logical consequence of this reasoning is to deny
to anyone a faith-based identity who does not live up to the
precepts of the faith or does not embody a completely idealized
version of the faith he or she claims to follow. Ultimately then, are
there any Muslims, Christians and Jews apart from the Prophets
and Saints? One way round this is to understand that the Qur’an
promises nothing to the Muslims, only to the mumin, the People
of Faith, who may also be Jews, Sabeans and Christians, and, in
fact, people of other faith communities too, given the fact that the
Qur’an tells us that a Prophet has been sent to every human
community and that We make no distinction between any of
them..
Ibrahim, Anwar , Islamic activist and former deputy prime minister,
MALAYSIA, Never in Islam’s entire history has the action
of so few of its followers caused the religion and its
community of believers to be such an abomination in the
eyes of others. Millions of Muslims who fled to North
America and Europe to escape poverty and persecution
at home have become the object of hatred and are now
profiled as potential terrorists. And the nascent
democratic movements in Muslim countries will regress
for a few decades as ruling autocrats use their
participation in the global war against terrorism to
terrorize their critics and dissenters. This is what
Mohammed Atta and his fellow terrorists and sponsors
have done to Islam and its community worldwide by their
murder of innocents at the World Trade Center in New
York and the Defense Depart-ment in Washington. The
attack must be condemned, and the condemnation must
be without reservation.
Islahi, Shaikh Muhammad Yusuf, Pakistani-American Muslim
“The sudden barbaric attack on
innocent citizens living in peace is extremely
distressing and deplorable. Every gentle human
heart goes out to the victims of this attack and
as humans we are ashamed at the barbarism
perpetrated by a few people. Islam, which is a
religion of peace and tolerance, condemns this
act and sees this is as a wounding scar on the
face of humanity. I appeal to Muslims to strongly
condemn this act, express unity with the victims’
relatives, donate blood, money and do whatever
it takes to help the affected people.”
leader, U.S.
Islam, Yusuf (formerly Cat Stevens), prominent British Muslim,
singer, songwriter, BRITAIN “I wish to express my heartfelt
horror at the indiscriminate terrorist attacks committed
against innocent people of the United States yesterday.
While it is still not clear who carried out the attack, it
must be stated that no right thinking follower of Islam
could possibly condone such an action: the Qur’an
equates the murder of one innocent person with the
murder of the whole of humanity. We pray for the families
of all those who lost their lives in this unthinkable act of
violence as well as all those injured; I hope to reflect the
feelings of all Muslims and people around the world
whose sympathies go out to the victims at this sorrowful
moment.”... As a Muslim from the West, it is important to
me to let people know that these acts of mass murder
have nothing to do with Islam and the beliefs of
Muslims.”
ISNA Fatwa Against Terrorism and Religious Extremism: Muslim
IN PART: [1] All acts
of terrorism, including those targeting the life
and property of civilians, whether perpetrated by
suicidal or any other form of attacks, are haram
(forbidden) n Islam. [2] It is haram for a Muslim
to cooperate with any individual or group that is
involved in any act of terrorism or prohibited
violence. [3] It is the civic and religious duty of
Muslims to undertake full measures to protect
the lives of all civilians, and ensure the security
and well-being of fellow citizens.
Position and Responsibilities, U.S.
Sherman Jackson, American Muslim Scholar Terrorism in Islamic
law (under the name of hirabah) is publicly directed violence (not
just public violence but publicly directed violence), i.e., violence that
indiscriminately targets innocent, non-combatant civilians. As for
suicide bombings, even leaving aside the question of suicide itself,
inasmuch as they target innocent, non-combatant, civilian
populations, they are crimes under Islamic law, whether they are
carried out against non-Muslim, civilian populations, such as in
Israel, or Muslim civilian populations, such as in Iraq. It is true that at
least one prominent modern jurist, Shaykh Yusuf al-Qaradawi, has
exempted Israel from this judgment, arguing in effect that such
bombers are martyrs in a legitimate jihad. But this is not the view of
the majority, who find it lacking in scriptural proof, as well as
inconsistent with the judgment that even this jurist would apply to
identical acts committed elsewhere. As for situations such as Iraq,
they really reflect the extent to which the contemporary Muslim
reality betrays Islamic ideals. For here the Qur’ân explicitly
addresses the Muslims with the following warning: “And whoever
intentionally kills a believer, their recompense shall be hell, where
they shall abide. God’s anger and curse shall be upon them, and
God shall prepare for them a severe punishment.”
Jackson, Sherman, American Muslim scholar. In the interest of
honest communication and meaningful global dialogue, I think that
all of us should abandon our hypocritical claims to passivism and
honestly lay out the circumstances under which we will sanction
violence and those under which we will accept peace. At the very
least, this could provide us with an opportunity to recognize our
respective contributions to peace and violence in the world, instead
of always seeing our violence as noble and justified and our
enemy’s violence as gratuitous and barbaric. Of course, many will
see this as a veiled indictment of American action in the world. In
point of fact, however, I see Muslims as being just as guilty of highhanded arrogance and blatant disregard for both the sanctity of
human life and the teachings of the religion they profess. I am
actually writing this missive from the gulf state of Qatar, where I
have spoken with numerous Muslims who bemoan what they
describe as a frightening and deep-seated sickness that seems to
have gripped a segment of the Muslim population. They recognize
the horrific political, social and economic conditions under which this
segment lives. But they do not condone their wanton, publicly
directed violence and terror; and they do not recognize it as part of
their religion.
“Muslims
have nothing to be ashamed of, and
nothing to hide, and should simply tell
people what their scholars and religious
leaders have always said: first, that the
Wahhabi sect has nothing to do with
orthodox Islam, for its lack of tolerance is a
perversion of traditional values; and
second, that killing civilians is wrong and
immoral.”
Keller, Nuh Ha Mim, American Muslim scholar, U.S.
Khamene’i, Ayatollah Ali, Supreme jurist-ruler of Iran
“Killing of people, in any place and with
any kind of weapons, including atomic
bombs, long-range missiles, biological or
chemical weapons, passenger or war
planes, carried out by any organization,
country or individuals is condemned. ... It
makes no difference whether such
massacres happen in Hiroshima,
Nagasaki, Qana, Sabra, Shatila, Deir
Yassin, Bosnia, Kosovo, Iraq or in New
York and Washington.” **
Khan, Muqtedar, Ph.D. U.S. Let me tell you that I would rather
live in America under Ashcroft and Bush at their worst,
than in any “Islamic state” established by ignorant,
intolerant and murderous punks like you and Mullah
Omar at their best. The US, Patriot Act not withstanding,
is still a more Islamic (just and tolerant) state than
Afghanistan ever was under the Taliban. Remember
this: Muslims from all over the world who wished to live
better lives migrated to America and Muslims who only
wished to take lives migrated to Afghanistan to join
you. We will not follow the desires of people (like you)
who went astray and led many astray from the Straight
Path. (Quran 5:77). I conclude by calling upon you Mr.
Bin Laden and your Al Qaeda colleagues and Mr.
Saddam Hussein to surrender to International Courts
and take responsibility for your actions and protect
thousands of other innocent Muslims from becoming the
victims of the wars you bring upon them.
Khatami, President Muhammad of IRAN
“The September 11 terrorist blasts in
America can only be the job of a
group that have voluntarily severed
their own ears and tongues, so that
the only language with which they
could communicate would be
destroying and spreading death.”
condemns bin Laden
“First, because of the crimes he conducts,” he
said, “and second because he conducts them in
the name of Islam, the religion which is a
harbinger of peace and justice.” Khatami, whose
speech in Farsi was relayed through a translator,
said he was one of the first world leaders to
condemn “the barbarous acts” of Sept. 11. In
response to a question about the notion of
suicide bombers gaining entry to heaven as
reward for their martyrdom, Khatami said,
“Those who put others through hell will never go
to heaven.”
Khatami, President Muhammad
• Maqsood, Ruquaiyah Waris BRITAIN It is high time that the
followers of this anti-Muslim teaching are properly labeled for
what they are. Their brand of Islam is not Islam. They do not
have an identifying name at the moment - the word
Fundamentalist is not accurate, neither is extremist. I would like
to call their faith something like Islamiolatry. They are not
Muslims but Islamiots or Zealotologists. Once a sectarian can be
identified by a name, then people find it much easier to
understand that these are at least deviants from the faith, and
more usually enemies to the faith. ... When people choose to kill
themselves and take out over five thousand miscellaneous
persons with them, this is hardly what Islam defines as Jihad and
these people are not martyrs - a jihad is a struggle for the will of
God in which any attack on the weak, the child, the female, the
aged, the animal or the plant is totally forbidden. A martyr is
someone who has been put to death for what they believe. It is
not the rights of a Muslim minority that are under threat - but the
rights of the Muslims, the majority, Islam itself, the millions of
believers, that are being hijacked by these murderers who dare
to call themselves Muslims.
Manzoor, Dr. S. Parvez, SWEDEN If these acts of terror indeed
have been perpetrated by Muslim radicals or
fundamentalists, they have reaped nothing but eternal
damnation, shame and ignominy. For nothing, absolutely
nothing, could remotely be advanced as an excuse for
these barbaric acts. They represent a total negation of
Islamic values, an utter disregard of our fiqhi tradition,
and a slap in the face of the Ummah. They are in total
contrast to what Islamic reason, compassion and faith
stand for. Even from the more mundane criteria of
common good, the maslaha of the jurists, these acts are
treasonous and suicidal. Islamic faith has been so
callously and casually sacrificed at the altar of politics, a
home-grown politics of parochial causes, primeval
passions, self-endorsing piety and messianic terror.
These days, I find myself
in the position of being asked to explain
the motives of these unknown terrorists. I
am a Professor of Islamic Studies, not a
criminologist. I can explain Islamic law,
ethical norms, and religious practices, I do
not understand the way a terrorist thinks.
The best I can do is describe how
terrorism is treated in Islamic law and
theology.
Mattson, Ingrid, Ph.D. U.S.
Those who lament the fact
that Islam today wears the face of
militancy in the eyes of the world should
keep this in mind: When those who are
moderate do not speak as loudly as the
militants, the militants speak for them too.
The only way to reclaim the enlightened
aspect of Islam is to pursue it
aggressively. Call it extremism in the
pursuit of moderation. And that is no vice.
Minai, Ali Ahmed U.S.
Mohammed, Dr. Mahathir, Prime Minister MALAYSIA
Salvation could not be
achieved through the
killing of innocent
people.”
`Islam insists that the
best human behavior be demonstrated
even when engaging an enemy in war,
Our Prophet Muhammed (prayers and
peace be on him) ordered that civilians not
be made the victims of war. He (the
Prophet) cautioned the Muslims to take
care not to attack those who were not
bearing arms against them. Islam and the
Prophet’s life require of us that we uphold
justice and be a peace-seeking people.’
Muhammad, Imam W. D. U.S.
Mulkhan, Abdul Munir Indonesia - The word jihad does not
signify “war” (qital) alone, but can also mean to strive
mightily to defeat one’s own ego, so as to become
humble and at peace with oneself, with God, and His
varied creation. As many others have stated, the Prophet
himself explicitly made this point, upon returning from the
“lesser jihad” at the battle of Badr to the “greater jihad,”
through which he exhorted his Muslim followers to
overcome their egotistical nature and desires. Violence
is generally born of egotism and arrogance, even when
veiled in the sanctity of religious justification. The wave
of suicide bombings we have witnessed in recent years
is no exception. True jihad consists of opposing such
violence, in the name of God and His religion. For only
God Himself has any right or claim to absolute
possession of the Truth.
Certainly, neither bin Laden
nor his principal associate, Ayman al-Zawahiri, are
graduates of Islamic universities or seminaries. And so their
proclamations ignore 14 centuries of Muslim scholarship,
and instead take the form of lists of anti-American
grievances and of Koranic quotations referring to early
Muslim wars against Arab idolators. These are followed by
the conclusion that all Americans, civilian and military, are
to be wiped off the face of the Earth. All this amounts to an
odd and extreme violation of the normal methods of Islamic
scholarship. Had the authors of such fatwas [non-binding
legal opinions] followed the norms of their religion, they
would have had to acknowledge that no school of
traditional Islam allows the targeting of civilians. An
insurrectionist who kills non-combatants is guilty of baghy,
“armed transgression”, a capital offence in Islamic law. A
jihad can be proclaimed only by a properly constituted
state; anything else is pure vigilantism
Murad, Shaykh Abdul Hakim BRITAIN
As an
American-Muslim I feel moral repugnance
towards terrorism and violence, and at the
same time I feel concern and frustration for
what is happening to Muslims (and others in
the third world) daily. Because the legitimate
grievances of some have been hijacked by
criminals as a pretext for terrorism does not
de-legitimize the concerns. The issues still
need to be addressed.. Much of the world
suffers from oppression, occupation, tyranny
and injustice. We cannot stop terrorism
without first working to end the injustice.
Musaji, Sheila, Editor The American Muslim U.S.
Issued
a STATEMENT ON THE TRAGEDY OF SEPTEMBER
11th which said in part: We are Americans and
Muslims and proud to be both. We are as shocked and
horrified by this insane act of terrorists as any other
Americans. Our hearts go out to the victims and their
families. We also want those responsible to be caught
and brought to justice. They may happen to consider
themselves Muslims (as Timothy McVey and Slobodon
Milosovic may have considered themselves to be
Christians) and may even have twisted the teachings
of their religion to justify their actions, but terrorism is
not the act of any person who understands anything
about the teachings of any of the world’s religions.
There is no religious justification for such actions.
September 29, 2001
Musaji, Sheila Editor, The American Muslim Journal, U.S.
Noor, Farish MALAYSIA But Islam, it must be remembered,
also happens to be a faith that does not possess a
clerical class or a supreme leader like the Pope. On the
positive side this lends the creed an egalitarian outlook
which puts all Muslims on par with each other. But on the
negative side the absence of a centralised hierarchy also
means that the Muslim world is full of self-proclaimed
‘leaders of the faith’ like the Taliban and their unwanted
guest, Osama bin Laden. It is this absence of a clerical
order and the plasticity of religious discourse that allows
concepts like ‘Jihad’ to be hijacked by such selfappointed defenders of orthodoxy. Coupled with this is
the predicament of a Muslim world that feels itself
increasingly threatened and marginalised by the forces
of globalisation, leading to the defensive posture being
adopted by many Muslim leaders themselves.
OIC - Organization of the Islamic Conference, Summit Conference.
“We are determined to fight
terrorism in all its forms. ... Islam is
the religion of moderation. It rejects
extremism and isolation. There is a
need to confront deviant ideology
where it appears, including in
school curricula. Islam is the
religion of diversity and tolerance.”
Daily Star (Beirut, Lebanon),
December 9, 2001
Philippine Muslim Leaders Condemn Terrorism, PHILLIPINES
Islamic religious authorities have declared
terrorism “haram” (unlawful) in Monday’s
simultaneous open congregational prayers to
mark Eid’l Fitr in town centers of Muslimdominated provinces and cities. Ustadz
Abdulrauf Guialani, a member of the Assembly
of Philippine Da’rul Ifta (APDI) or Houses of
Opinion, declared senseless violence haram
three times as he delivered the khutba. Ustadz
Esmael Ebrahim, a senior member of the APDI,
said a similar teaching was given in Eid’l Fitr
open field prayers elsewhere in the country,
particularly in the areas of the Autonomous
Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM).
September 23, 2006
Qadri, Tahirul head of the Awami Tehrik Party, PAKISTAN
“Bombing embassies or destroying nonmilitary installations like the World Trade
Center is no jihad. ... “[T]hose who
launched the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks
not only killed thousands of innocent
people in the United States but also put
the lives of millions of Muslims across
the world at risk. ... Bin Laden is not a
prophet that we should put thousands of
lives at risk for.” United Press
International, October 18, 2001
The situation is far too serious for one
to be satisfied by simple explanations based on
current frustrations. In the name of their faith and
their conscience, Muslims must take a clear
position so that a pernicious atmosphere does
not take hold in the Western countries. Nothing
in Islam can legitimize xenophobia or the
rejection of a human being due to his/her
religious creed or ethnicity. One must say
unequivocally, with force, that anti-Semitism is
unacceptable and indefensible. The message of
Islam requires respect of Jewish faith and
spirituality as noble expressions of “The People
of the Book”.
Ramadan, Tariq
I continued to search for
the religious sources of terrorism, if there were
any, available to the extremists in the scriptures
or in the tradition ascribed to the Prophet. As I
searched, I became aware that the term ‘jihad’,
which is commonly used by these terrorists to
legitimize their criminality, does not appear in the
meaning of “holy war against the infidels” at
all. In fact, terrorism in any form does not qualify
as anything more than a cowardly act and an
expression of rejection of God’s blessing of
life. To be sure, the term `jihad’ in the lexicon of
these murderers does not appear in more than a
contrived meaning to cover up the horror of their
satanic behavior.
Sachedina, Abdulaziz, Ph.D. U.S.
Sardar, Ziauddin MALAYSIA Creating the Kingdom of God on
earth, as it is in heaven, is the basic message of Islam. This is
the true meaning of jihad. Now there’s a word. The very
mention of the term sends shivers down ‘civilized’ spines and
leads many, glibly, towards ‘holy war’. Surely, these paradiseseeking martyrs have declared jihad on America? Acts of
terror are not jihad. They violate the explicit word of God,
Prophet Muhammad and the reasoned consensus of all
believers. The greatest jihad is the war on injustice in one’s
own soul, the injustice that can conceive of terror tactics and
lose all restraints and respect for the sanctity of a human life.
Jihad is the reasoned struggle of each individual to work
within the bounds of moral action, to extend the protection of
justice equitably to every human being, irrespective of color,
creed or place of origin. Jihad is the obligation to make peace
a lived reality for all human beings. ... Islam cannot explain
the actions of the suicide hijackers, just as Christianity cannot
explain the gas chambers, Catholicism the bombing at
Omagh. They are acts beyond belief, religious belief, by
people who long ago abandoned the path of Islam.
Schleifer, S. Abdallah EGYPT That is why, in my opinion, the Amman
Initiative called last spring [2005] by Jordan’s King Abdallah II was so
important. The conference made manifest by the Amman Initiative was
organized on the king’s behalf by the Aal al Bayt Institute for Islamic
Thought, an institute that embraces both the ulema in the most classical
sense and contemporary Muslim intellectuals of various perspectives.
Together, the ulema and the intellectuals signed off on a document that
affirmed the mutual recognition of all classical schools of Islamic law, be
they Sunni or Shi`ah, and condemned all attempts to takfir Muslims – a
doctrine that allows one Muslim to classify another Muslim as an apostate
worthy of being slaughtered. This is the doctrine that has been used in an
attempt to justify terrorism, in Islamic terms, within Egypt since the mid1970s and now is the basis for the almost daily mass murder of Shi`ahs in
Iraq. This declaration, which embraced fatwas by the sheikh al-Azhar, the
mufti of Egypt, and the rector of al-Azhar University; Grand Ayatullah Sayyid
Ali Sistani and many other outstanding Shi`ah ulema in Iraq and Iran; muftis
in Jordan, Oman, and other Sunni countries; as well as by an officer of the
Fiqh Council of Saudi Arabia and Sheikh Yusuf al-Qaradawi, struck at the
very roots of theologically justified terrorism. By mutually recognizing all
Sunni and Shi`ah schools of law and by insisting that only those scholars
who have mastered the traditional legal disciplines within their respective
schools have the authority to issue fatwas, the mainstream ulema and
Muslim intellectuals who participated in Amman also explicitly declared that
Islam is not a do-it-yourself store-front religion.
Shakir, Imam Zaid U.S. This is a war being guided on both
sides by self-righteous murderers whose motives and
proclamations mirror each other. Each side sees God as
being exclusively with them. That being the case, the
restraint and judiciousness urged by Christian and
Islamic theology to guide the execution of war is cast
aside with wanton impunity. Each side manipulates a
vulnerable public to create a climate that allows for the
perpetuation and the inevitable escalation of the ongoing
slaughter. Each side reserves the right to use the
spectacle of indiscriminate violence to “Shock and Awe”
the opposition, yet will deny that its tactics can be
described as terrorism. Each side sees their civilian
population as hapless, innocent victims, while the
suffering innocent civilians on the other side are
acceptable collateral damage.
Islam has instituted fighting
to defend life, honor, property, to restore
usurped rights, and to protect the integrity
of the religion and the community of the
faithful. However, that fighting is governed
by well-established laws and principles
that articulate rules, regulations, and
limitations that outline for Muslims when,
where, how, and against whom it is
permissible to fight. Those laws and
principles have never sanctioned anarchist
terrorism, wanton murder, tumult, and
mayhem.
Shakir, Imam Zaid U.S.
Sullivan, Dr. Antony T. BRITAIN My fundamental argument is that
terrorism and Jihad are not identical twins but historic enemies. I will
maintain that a new vocabulary is essential to demonstrate the radical
antipathy that has separated these concepts until very recent
decades. Terrorism is not only un-Islamic but anti-Islamic, and those who
commit terrorism should be designated as criminals rather than as holy
warriors or resistance fighters. Moreover, this paper will suggest that a new
focus by Muslims on the Holy Quran, at the expense of medieval fiqh, is
now very much in order (I frequently suggest to Muslim fundamentalists that
their only problem is that they are not fundamentalist enough). In addition,
an argument will be made that the meaning of Jihad must be reassessed
through analysis of its linguistic roots, and re-conceptualized to incorporate
the phenomenon of culturally traditionalist and inter-religious efforts
designed to address some of the most difficult problems of
modernity. Indeed, ecumenical Jihad is today not an oxymoron, but a
necessity. If the perceived linkage between terrorism and Jihad can be
ruptured, and Jihad re-conceptualized as constituting a means by which all
of the children of Abraham may strive to create a better world, the
foundations for a brighter future will surely have been laid. This paper will
conclude with a discussion of one ecumenical effort already underway
which seeks to join Muslims and Christians who are culturally traditionalist
and truly religious in a common effort to oppose the radical secularism so
characteristic of contemporary Western modernity
Yahya, Harun (Adnan Oktar), author, TURKEY
“Islam
does not encourage any
kind of terrorism; in fact, it
denounces it. Those who
use terrorism in the name of
Islam, in fact, have no other
faculty except ignorance
and hatred.”
Shaik Hamza Yusuf
”If you hate the West, emigrate to a
Muslim country.”