London-based Muslim organisation led by Muhammad Tahir-ul-Qadri, founder of the increasingly popular Sufi movement Minhaj-ul-Quran, has issued a fatwa against Islamic terrorists. The move is being "hailed as a significant step forward in the fight against fundamentalism, and one that will have repercussions in the UK and beyond." The edict amounts to a "direct challenge to al-Qaeda's violent ideology" and declares "suicide bombings and attacks against civilian targets are not only condemned by Islam, but render the perpetrators as unbelievers."

Ul-Qadri said the edict, aimed at persuading young Muslims to turn their backs on extremism, goes further than any previous denunciation. "This is the most comprehensive fatwa on the subject of terrorism ever written," he said. A spokesman for a counter-extremist think tank said: "This fatwa has the potential to be a significant step towards eradicating Islamist terrorism. Fatwas such as this that demolish and expose Islamic fundamentalism will consign Islamist terrorism to the dustbin of history."