http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/islamic-scholar-says-suicide-bombers-will-go-to-hell-1914048.html

Islamic scholar says suicide bombers will 'go to hell'

By Jerome Taylor, Religious Affairs Correspondent


Monday, 1 March 2010


 

Shaikh ul-Qadri is explicit in his condemnation of suicide bombings, 
kidnappings and the killing of innocents which he describes as ?absolutely 
against the teachings of Islam?

  a..  enlarge 




A respected Islamic scholar will publish a seminal fatwa tomorrow that 
unequivocally condemns terrorism and warns suicide bombers that they will "go 
to hell" for their attacks. 


Pakistani-born Shaikh Dr Tahir ul-Qadri is launching his fatwa in London as 
part of a drive to combat the power of jihadist rhetoric on the web and provide 
English-speaking Muslims with an authoritative theological explanation 
detailing why terrorism is not permitted. 

Although numerous fatwas condemning terrorism have been released by scholars 
around the world since 9/11, Shaikh Dr Qadri's 600-page ruling is both 
significant and unusual because it is one of the few available in English and 
online. 

Those hoping to combat terrorism have long spoken of their frustration at the 
traditional Islamic hierarchy's inability to exert their influence on the 
internet where violent jihadists and Saudi-influence Wahabis have long reigned 
supreme. 

Until recently English speaking Muslims could easily obtain fatwas justifying 
suicide bombings and terrorism, but many would have struggled to locate the 
much more mainstream opinion that such attacks are not justified. 

Shaikh Dr Qadri's ruling is unlikely to sway committed extremists who view any 
form of dissent from their uncompromising theological outlook as takfir, a sign 
of unbelief. But counter terrorism officials and mainstream scholars hope it 
will help persuade those who may be moving towards a violent extremism but have 
yet to fully devote themselves to terrorism. 

Within the British Pakistani community Shaikh Dr Qadri - and his grassroots 
organisation Minhaj-ul Quran - is well known and respected. He is a "shaikh 
ul-Islam", one of the highest positions in Islamic jurisprudence, and the UK 
branch of Minhaj boasts some 25,000 signed up members, most of whom hail from 
the British Pakistani community. 

He learned Islamic jurisprudence under the guidance of Tahir Allauddin, a 
globally admired scholar who was born in Iraq and migrated to the Pakistani 
city of Quetta in the late 1950s. Although their teachings have Sufi leanings - 
like much of Pakistan's Barelwi school of Islam does - the Minhaj school of 
thought is very much considered part of the Sunni mainstream. 

Finding fluent and approachable Pakistani scholars is important because the 
majority of British-born extremists involved in domestic or overseas plots have 
family or cultural links within the Pakistani community. 



In his fatwa Shaikh Dr Qadri, 51, is explicit in his condemnation of suicide 
bombings, kidnappings and the killing of innocents which he describes as 
"absolutely against the teachings of Islam". 

"Today's tragedy is that terrorists, murderers, mischief-mongers and rioters 
try to prove their criminal, rebellious, tyrannous, brutal and blasphemous 
activities as a right and a justified reaction to foreign aggression under the 
garb of defence of Islam and national interests," he writes. 

"It can in now way be permissible to keep foreign delegates under unlawful 
custody and mirder them and other peaceful non-Muslim citizens in retaliation 
for interference, unjust activities and aggressive advances of their countries. 
The one who does has no relation to Islam." 

Shahid Mursaleen, spokesman for Minhaj ul Quran's British wing, described the 
fatwa as an attempt to sow doubt in the minds of wannabe extremists. 

"[Shaikh Dr Qadri] has hit hard on the terrorists as it prevents Islamists from 
considering suicide bombers as 'martyrs'. This fatwa injects doubt into the 
minds of potential suicide bombers. Extremist groups based in Britain recruit 
the youth by brainwashing them that they will 'with certainty' be rewarded in 
the next life and Dr Qadri's Fatwa has removed this key intellectual factor 
from their minds." 

Unlike extremists, traditional Islamic authorities have been notoriously slow 
to catch on to the appeal of the web in spreading their message. Violent groups 
such as Al Qa'ida, and fundamentalist Islamic schools such as Saudi Arabia's 
Wahabism, have long used the net to propagate their uncompromising messages. 
Their fatwas have been translated into scores of languages and are readily 
accessibly, describing suicide bombers as "shahideen" (martyrs) and those 
committed to violence as "mujahideen" (holy warriors). 

In contrast, traditional Islamic exegesis has remained stubbornly impenetrable 
to most of the world's one billion Muslims. It is usually written in complex 
religious Arabic and is rarely accessible on the web. 

But some mainstream scholars are beginning to play the extremists at their own 
cyber game. In November the Independent revealed how Cairo's Al Azhar, the 
Islamic world's oldest and most respected university, had published a series of 
fatwas in English that explicitly deconstructed the more hardline rulings from 
Saudi Arabia's Wahabis clerics. The 200-page book of fatwas, known as The 
Response, was published freely online both in English and Urdu, the language 
spoken most commonly in Pakistan. 

Shaikh Dr Qadri's fatwa has been welcomed by a number of Muslim groups, many of 
whom do not usually agree with each other. 

The Quilliam Foundation, an anti-extremist think thank comprised of former 
Islamists, described it as a "significant step" in countering Saudi and 
extremist rhetoric. 

"Fatwas by Wahabi-influenced clerics and Islamist ideologues initiated modern 
terrorism against civilians," a spokesperson said. "Terrorist groups such as 
al-Qaeda continue to justify their mass killings with self-serving readings of 
religious scripture. Fatwas that demolish and expose such theological 
innovations will consign Islamist terrorism to the dustbin of history." 

Inayat Bunglawala, the former spokesman of the Muslim Council of Britain who 
has frequently clashed with Quilliam but has gone on to found his own 
anti-extremist group "Muslims4UK", also agreed. 

"This adds to the view of many Islamic scholars internationally that terrorism 
and suicide bombings are unacceptable in Islam," he said. "It is a positive 
initiative. Anything that helps move young people away from violence and from 
those who promote violence must be welcomed." 

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