2010-03-03

LONDON -- Influential Pakistani Islamic scholar and former member of the Pakistan’s national assembly, Dr. Tahir ul-Qadri, issued a 600-page fatwa March 2 condemning terrorists and suicide bombers, news media reported March 3.

The fatwa is a point-by-point theological rebuttal to the fanaticism of al-Qaeda and its offshoots. Although many scholars have made similar rulings in the past, the BBC reports that Qadri said his tome goes much further by omitting the “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, 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”.

Qadri also rejected the view put forth by scholars who argue that using violence in the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians 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.

The Pakistani-born Islamic scholar and Sufi has published some 400 books, and is the founding leader of Minhaj ul Qur’an International, an international organisation working to create understanding between communities, and to educate young people in classical Islamic sciences to promote peace.