March 12, 2010

The Islamic scholar who issued a powerful fatwa, or religious ruling, against terrorism and suicide bombers said Thursday that he was not afraid of reprisals from his enemies and did not fear for his life.

"I am not afraid of any human being on the surface of Earth," Sheikh Muhammad Tahir ul-Qadri told CNN's Christiane Amanpour.

"I am working ... to bridge up the Muslim world and the Western world, to remove the hatreds, to remove all misunderstandings."

"So this is a good cause. I am not afraid of anybody. It depends upon whatever my Lord wants. If I have to live, I will live. Otherwise, I am not afraid."

Ul-Qadri was speaking to CNN just over a week after he issued a 600-page fatwa in London denouncing terrorists as "the biggest enemies of Islam."