Mar 03, 2010

An influential Islamic scholar has issued a sweeping and unreserved condemnation of terrorism in all its forms as un-Islamic. "Terrorism is terrorism, violence is violence and it has no place in Islamic teaching and no justification can be provided for it," Sheikh Tahir ul-Qadri wrote in his 600-page fatwa ruling against terrorism. He warned that suicide bombers are not martyrs but "heroes of hellfire" whose actions can never be considered part of holy war.

Qadri is far from the first Islamic scholar to condemn terrorism, but he goes further than most by declaring terrorists unbelievers instead of merely declaring terrorist acts forbidden, the Independent notes. His ruling is one of the few available both online and in English, and experts hope it may sway Western-born Muslims leaning toward extremism. An Urdu-language version will soon be issued in Pakistan, where a close friend of Qadri's was assassinated last year after issuing a similar fatwa.