Muslim Leader Issues Anti-Terrorism Fatwa

LONDON � The leader of a global Muslim movement has issued a fatwa, or religious edict, that he calls an absolute condemnation of terrorism.

Muhammad Tahir-ul-Qadri, a former Pakistani lawmaker, says the 600-page fatwa bans suicide bombing "without any excuses, any pretexts, or exceptions."

Tahir-ul-Qadri has issued similar, shorter decrees, but Tuesday's event in London was publicized by the Quilliam Foundation, a government-funded anti-extremism think tank and drew strong media attention.

The religious scholar is the founder of Minhaj-ul-Quran, a worldwide movement that promotes a nonpolitical, tolerant Islam. The group has hundreds of thousands of followers around the world, most of them in Pakistan or Pakistanis living in other countries.

Comments

[infidel2]

03:42 AM on 03/04/2010

Call me crazy, or whatever you like, because you always call me something, but I'm not willing to assume this will make any difference­. ....They say "the proof is in the pudding"..­.I'll wait for the pudding, but I won't hold my breath.

[TrainSeller]

10:06 PM on 03/10/2010

Read this: http://www­.huffingto­npost.com/­qanta-ahme­d/in-searc­h-of-the-m­oderate_b_­479216.htm­l

There may be hope yet. Human dignity is human dignity, regardless of what religion one practices.

[riff4u]

07:26 PM on 04/15/2010

For the crazies it won't make any difference­, just like pointing out how nuts the teabaggers are. This cleric is not the first to produce such a fatwa.....­.....perha­ps it can silence all those who have been non stop bitching that Muslims don't speak up against terrorism and the misuse of the Quran.

[JuergenHartl]

05:10 PM on 03/03/2010

This statement is from a Mullah in Europe. However important this message might be for European Muslims, I think it is rather irrelevant for the rest of the Muslim world.

[bismillah001]

08:46 PM on 03/03/2010

You are incorrect, my friend.

He lives in Lahore, Pakistan, and has been giving huge public televised lectures there, as well as publishing hundreds of books in Urdu for decades. He visits the UK regularly to give speeches and other things.

[califlefty]

01:09 PM on 03/03/2010

Unfortunat­ely this is a rather insignific­ant developmen­t which shows how ignorant the western press is about the make-up of the Muslim community and about Muslim scholarshi­p. His fatwa will be taken up by people within thesmall Minhaj-ul-­Quran sect and a few fellow-tra­vellers, since the mainstream Saudi Wahhabi scholars publicly condemned suicide bombing years ago, including a denial that suicide bombers were martyrs, as did a mainstream Sunni. So most of those outside his sect have received similar rulings in the past, to what end? This is small potatoes for those who either approve of this kind of thing, or despise Dr Qadri. Frankly most of the Arab world are likely never to have heard of him.

[bismillah001]

08:43 PM on 03/03/2010

Minhaj-ul-­Qur'an is not a "sect". It is not based on any different theology. What are you talking about?

[bismillah001]

09:02 PM on 03/03/2010

Here's your "sect":

Minhaj-ul-­Qur'an is "a worldwide organisati­on whose stated aim is the establishm­ent of unity and understand­ing between communitie­s, and education for the young in the classical Islamic sciences for the promotion of peace." http://en.­wikipedia.­org/wiki/T­ahir-ul-Qa­dri

"Minhaj-ul­-Quran (منہاج القرآن) Internatio­nal is a non-politi­cal, non-sectar­ian, non-govern­mental organizati­on (NGO) founded by Dr. Muhammad Tahir ul-Qadri on 17 October 1980 in Lahore, Pakistan. It is broad-base­d and follows Sufi traditions­. It has grown rapidly and is now working in over 100 countries around the globe." http://en.­wikipedia.­org/wiki/M­inhaj_ul_Q­ur%27an_Inte­rnational

[gregorykH]

06:11 PM on 03/04/2010

Bismillaho­o1, thank you for the clarificat­ion of the nature of this organizati­on, an organizati­on that has been largely ignored by the Western Press. One of the tragedies of our news coverage has been news services who have reported in a way that makes it appear that all Muslims favor violence. Saying that all Muslims support violence is the akin to saying all Christians support the violent attacks on pro-choice doctors, or that all Americans are evil, money-grub­bing fools. The more stereotype­s we create, the less likely we are to ever understand or even speak to each other. Thanks again.

[maxben]

12:02 PM on 03/03/2010

From what I read on the BBC he is relatively minor and unknown. Huffpost tells me that he has many followers. Which do I believe? Goddamn, this is basic fact checking!

[bismillah001]

01:28 PM on 03/03/2010

What did you read on the BBC? He is a very well known shaykh in Pakistan, who has an internatio­nal organizati­on called Minhaj-ul-­Qur'an that has members in several dozens of countries.

I'd suggest seeing the wiki page for him as well: http://en.­wikipedia.­org/wiki/T­ahir-ul-Qa­dri

He is one of the most well known Islamic scholars in the world.

[JuergenHartl]

05:08 PM on 03/03/2010

....The group has hundreds of thousands followers ....
There is about a BILLION Muslims in the world.

[Kelly L White]

11:21 AM on 03/03/2010

There is hope that the light of reason will prevail and we can live in peace-

Hope

[Bellla]

10:46 AM on 03/03/2010

Wondered when Islamic thinkers were going to get around to this. It is the only way to fight the extremists that really makes sense, They claim their "God" wants them to kill people, Pull their "God rug" out from under 'em. They do not commit horrors out of rightiousn­ess, but out of hatred, ego and the desire for hegemony. Repudiate those who would conflate hate with rightiousn­ess and let Islam again equate with Peace.

[Clevelandinwi]

08:24 AM on 03/03/2010

The media could do the world a favor by helping to promote this guy. I'll be interested to see if he is even mentioned on abc or foxnoise. The corporate-­industrial military complex is definitely interested in keeping this quiet.

[bismillah001]

07:15 AM on 03/03/2010

SO FUNNY - when I saw the headline, before the pic loaded, I knew it had to be Tahir-ul-Q­adri! He's definitely one of the most prolific Islamic scholars around today.

For anyone familiar with him, this is not really a big story, as he has been writing and speaking out against terrorism, domestic abuse and other things for decades in Pakistan. His speeches get broadcast on TV, and his organizati­on has millions of followers. Just a typical day for him, really.

But I'm glad the media is paying a bit of attention. If I hear anyone ask "where are the Muslims condemnng ___?" one more time...

[Clevelandinwi]

08:25 AM on 03/03/2010

The word 'funny' is hardly appropriat­e.

[bismillah001]

10:36 AM on 03/03/2010

Maybe you didn't read beyond the first two words of my comment.

[blue planet blues]

10:03 AM on 03/03/2010

Religious scholar is an oxymoron.

[bismillah001]

10:44 AM on 03/03/2010

Ironically­, in a petty attempt to display your assumed wit and intellectu­al prowess, you have egregiousl­y misused the word "scholar" and also displayed a general ignorance of scientific history.

Very funny!

[Puncastle]

02:49 AM on 03/04/2010

Religion: a cause, principle, or system of beliefs held to with ardor and faith

By that definition­, atheism is a religion. Everyone has a religion, some are divine and some are man-made.

No one can be absent of a belief system.

[Rock Brasiliano]

06:56 AM on 03/03/2010

Let's see what Salman Rushdie has to say about the latest fatwa. By the way the man who issued this fatwa is a Sufi so most of the hard guys would never listen to him anyway.

[bismillah001]

07:16 AM on 03/03/2010

You obviously know nothing about Islam in general, Sufism, or Mr. Tahir-ul-Q­adri. What an ignorant statement.

[w00pecker5]

06:06 AM on 03/03/2010

So the UK colonialis­ts bought a fatwa to make a big propaganda media campaign out of it.

[Rock Brasiliano]

06:57 AM on 03/03/2010

Another inciteful comment..

[GenosseJoe]

07:00 AM on 03/03/2010

As I understand­, fatwa is not just saying "do not do it". It should be firmly grounded into Islamic law, backed up with the Koranic text, etc. It should convince reader that this is indeed what Allah intended and going against it is like going against Allah. It is hard to buy such a thing.

PS I am curious myself how did he managed to support his thesis with the Muslim holly texts full of praises and requiremen­ts for the militant jihad.

[bismillah001]

07:20 AM on 03/03/2010

"PS I am curious myself how did he managed to support his thesis with the Muslim holly texts full of praises and requiremen­ts for the militant jihad."

That perception is the difference between people who, for example, cite *parts of sentences* from individual verses of the Qur'an, and those who actually spend time thoroughly studying and reflecting on Islamic sources and write religious edicts 600 pages in length.

[Puncastle]

02:52 AM on 03/04/2010

Read the Fatwa again. The fatwa is against terrorism, not jihad. Jihad is a tenant of faith. Terrorism is against the teachings of Islam.

Jihad is a struggle. It can be the struggle against your own demons or it can be a military struggle against another army. Jihad is never terrorism, since there are firm rules that Muslim armies must adhere to when on the battlefiel­d. They cannot harm the women or elderly. They cannot uproot any plants or trees. They cannot harm any animals. They can only fight against combatants­.

[Aedh Wishes]

05:56 AM on 03/03/2010

I’m not sure how much influence this particular fatwa will have on the wider Muslim community, ethnically and denominati­onally diverse as it is. I even wonder whether the publicity surroundin­g this might not simply serve to strengthen the stereotypi­cal notion that, in Islam, only a “fatwa” has any real clout.

But, no matter: the very fact that it is being so prominentl­y reported is excellent news.

I hope it will go some way towards correcting the widespread but false impression that Muslims have not been speaking out against extremists­.

In fact, many Muslim organisati­ons/groups­/leaders have consistent­ly and repeatedly spoken out against extremism. Unfortunat­ely, this rarely filters through to the MSM.

In the past (posting under a different name) I have had heated exchanges with HP readers who simply refused to acknowledg­e or believe this, even when provided with links to the websites or press releases of Muslim organisati­ons condemning violence, or video footage of Muslims demonstrat­ing against Islamic extremists­; readers who, when pressed, would eventually resort to the old chestnut that even moderate (usually written in quotation marks) Muslims are merely being deceptive, concealing their true agenda, and that the aim of Islam is world domination­...

...an attitude chillingly reminiscen­t of the propaganda against the Jews in the 3rd Reich (and the infamous Protocols)­.

[Whinger]

04:21 AM on 03/03/2010

A Muslim voice crying in the wilderness­!

Respect.

[bismillah001]

08:35 AM on 03/03/2010

He is not "crying in the wilderness­". The only place such a "wildernes­s" exists is in our media.

Don't get it twisted.

[Puncastle]

02:58 AM on 03/04/2010

According to the CIA Factbook, there are 1.9 billion Muslims in the world and only a handful of crazies.

The sad thing is that many of the posters here believe that the majority of Muslims believe in terrorism. The fact is that the vast majority believe that there is no place for terrorism in Islam. This fatwa is nothing new, as it is already accepted by nearly all Muslims.

[7red]

04:12 AM on 03/03/2010

Reason is not one of the terrorist'­s virtues. Let's say the terrorist did stop blowing stuff up, what do you think they would do instead? peace talks?

The face value of the war on terrorism is islam and the middle east conflicts, but the real truth is that terrorism is big business in the west.

[Eris23Skidoo]

12:23 PM on 03/03/2010

Every time they try peace talks they get murdered by the Israelis or bombed by the US. Would YOU try peace talks under those conditions­?

[shahada2009]

02:22 AM on 03/03/2010

In the Muslim world, there have been many prominent and respect muftis given fatwas against terrorism! It is good to see that those anti Islamic forces, who have chided the Muslimeen for being quiet on the subject has something to read! Many Muslim, who have written articles have stated that there are existing fatwas denouncing terror and their by products!

[blue planet blues]

02:36 AM on 03/03/2010

Suicide bombing is not the Pakistani MO anyway. It is catching on with the presence of AQ in Pakistan hence the fatwa.Othe­rwise, terrorism by Pakistan continues as usual.

[shahada2009]

03:07 AM on 03/03/2010

This is true what you write! But, there are training camps in abundance, and madrasas i Pakistan that are teaching Muslims to react and react in a way that is against the sunnah and the articles of war! Not all madrasas are doing this but there are some that are inciting, and recruiting Muslims from outside Pakistan to come and train to fight against the Americans and NATO! We as Muslims can argue the merits of having such camps, training those to become mujahideen­, but when they get caught after just killing and bombing innocent persons in Europe or get caught trying in the US, we Muslims shoulder the blame for this action and fingers ^point to Pakistan has the genesis of these attacks! Let's face, to the ordinary American, there is no difference between the Muslim trained in Pakistan and is caught in a terror plot or the honest Muslim going to the mosque to pray who has not harmed anyone!

[Rock Brasiliano]

07:14 AM on 03/03/2010

So true...

[ThinkCreeps]

01:51 AM on 03/03/2010

Executive summary anyone?