Tuesday, March 02, 2010

LONDON: Prominent Islamic scholar Tahirul Qadri is to issue a 600-page religious edict denouncing terrorism in London on Tuesday (today), in what he says is a bid to persuade young Muslims to turn their backs on extremism. The fatwa from Qadri, a leading figure who has promoted peace and interfaith dialogue for 30 years, echoes edicts condemning extremism issued by a number of Islamic groups since the September 11 attacks on the United States.

But Qadri says his fatwa, which declares terrorists and suicide bombers to be unbelievers, goes further than any previous denunciation.

“This is the first, most comprehensive fatwa on the subject of terrorism ever written,” said Qadri, who has written about 350 books on Islamic scholarship and is a scholar of Sufism, a long tradition within Islam that focuses on peace, tolerance and moderation. “I have tried to leave not a single stone unturned on this particular subject and I have tried to address every single question relevant to this subject,” he told Reuters in a telephone interview.