by Rob Welham

BEIJING, March 2 (Xinhuanet) -- Dr Tahir ul-Qadri, an influential Muslim scholar from Pakistan, is to issue a Fatwa against terrorism and suicide bombing.

Dr Qadri says his 600-page judgement completely dismantles al-Qaeda's violent ideology and describes the organisation as an "old evil with a new name".

Dr Qadri says that Islam forbids the massacre of innocent citizens and suicide bombings and his movement, Minhaj ul-Quran International, has now drawn the interest of policymakers and security chiefs.

Shahid Mursaleen, spokesman for Minhaj-ul-Quran in the UK, said the fatwa was hard-hitting and would "inject doubt into the minds of potential suicide bombers." The document is not the first to condemn terrorism and suicide bombing to be launched in the UK. Following the terrorist attacks in London during July 2005 many scholars came together to denounce the bombers and urge communities to root out extremists.

A fatwa, an edict issued by a learned Muslim scholar, may concern any aspect of Islamic life. The term became famous in the western world in 1989 after the author Salman Rushdie was forced into hiding following a “death fatwa” issued by Ayatollah Khomeni, the then Supreme Leader of Iran, on the grounds that his book, the Satanic Verses had “insulted” Islam.

(Agencies)