LONDON, March 2 (APP)- Eminent Muslim scholar and founder of the Minhaj-ul-Quran International, Dr. Muhammad Tahir-ul-Qadri Tuesday launched fatwa on suicide bombings and terrorism and declared such acts as out of fold of Islam and those carrying out these despicable activities as disbelievers.Dr.Qadri, who is considered a recognized authority on Islam, has authored the religious decree at a time of increasing concern about the radicalization of young British Muslims in university campuses and their recruitment by extremist organizations to commit acts of terror. Quoting extensively from the Holy Quran and the hadith of the Holy Prophet (Peace Be upon Him) Dr. Qadri hit hard on the terrorists describing them as misguided and brain washed persons who have no idea what the real Islam is.

Saying that terrorist acts expel a Muslim from Islam, the 59-year-old scholar announced categorically that suicide bombings and attacks against civilian targets are not only condemned by Islam, but render the perpetrators totally out of the fold of Islam, to become unbelievers in the divine, pristine message of Islam.

Pointing out that terrorists commit acts of self and mass murder with the firm conviction that they will be rewarded by God and that they are heaven bound, Dr.Qadri’s fatwa convincingly advances scriptural evidence to demonstrate that the perpetrators of suicide bombings are destined for hell, not heaven.

According to the scholar, modern terrorists justify their indiscriminate killings by claiming that Islamic scripture allows such campaigns in war. However, he opened new ground by citing Islamic sources which prohibit killing of women, children, elders, religious leaders, business people, non-combatants and even service personnel not engaged in aggression.

“Contrary to the mindset of the perpetrators of the 11th of September 2001 attacks in New York or the 7th July 2005 tube bombs in London, damaging enemy property or avenging a wrong done by another is strictly prohibited by sound Islamic scholarship,” Dr.Qadri told the audience. He said the Prophet Mohammad (peace be upon him) warned his followers about the dangers of extremism and terrorism.

The written fatwa collects evidence from early Islamic history about a group of violent renegades known as the Khawarij, the terrorist movement, emerged in the name of Islamic rule, universally accepted as being outside the fold of Islam by virtue of their extreme beliefs, violent acts, and terrorism and constantly labeling other Muslims as disbelievers.

“Al-Qaeda and its affiliates not only share these character traits, but share a theological and political outlook that is almost identical,” he said.

Dr.Qadri enlisted in this fatwa classical sources to illustrate that the vast majority of Muslim scholars, past and present, consider the Khawarij, the founders of terrorism, to be totally un-Islamic.” The terrorists are the Khawarij of our time, based on direct evidence from the Qur’an and Sunnah.”

He said Islam is not a religion of seclusion or detachment. “Those who are committing terroristic acts from Pakistan and Afghanistan and claiming it is jihad, they do not know what jihad is. It is forbidden. There will not be janna (paradise) for them.”

Dr. Qadri who now lives in Canada said Islam supports democracy and formation of alliances with other religious groups for the betterment and prosperity of the mankind. He urged the Ummah to stand up to the enemies of mankind and Islam and promote moderation, peace, inclusion and understanding.

The British Justice Minister Shahid Malik appreciated the efforts of Dr.Qadri in promoting moderate Islam and his fatwa against the misguided Muslims. He urged other Muslim scholars to come out and speak against radicalization and attempts to divide the society through negative impression about Islam.