2010-03-03

Influential Pakistani Islamic scholar, Dr. Tahir ul-Qadri, issued on Tuesday a 600-page fatwa condemning terrorists and suicide bombers, the Times of India reported Wednesday (March 3rd). The fatwa is a point by point theological rebuttal of arguments made in favour of terrorism by al-Qaeda and its offshoots. Although many scholars have made similar rulings in the past, the BBC reports that Dr. Qadri says his tome goes much further by omitting "ifs and buts" added by other thinkers.

"They [terrorists] can't claim that their suicide bombings are martyrdom operations and that they become the heroes of the Muslim Umma [global brotherhood]. No, they become heroes of hellfire, and they are leading towards hellfire," he told an audience of Muslims, clergy, MPs, police officers and other security officials in London. "There is no place for any martyrdom and their act is never, ever to be considered jihad."

Dr. Qadri also rejected the view put forth by other Islamist scholars who argue that using violence in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is an exceptional situation where suicide attacks can be justified. He said there were "no situations under which acts of vengeance, such as attacks on market places or commuter trains, could ever be considered a justifiable act of war," the BBC reported.