Muslim leader's edict decries terrorism

The leader of a global Muslim movement Tuesday issued a rare religious edict condemning terrorism and denouncing suicide bombers as "heroes of hellfire" in an effort to help prevent the radicalization of young British Muslims.

The State Department welcomed the 600-page document known as a fatwa, which was released in London with the British government's support, as a "very important step" in "taking back Islam" from al Qaeda and other extremist groups.

Muhammad Tahir-ul-Qadri, a former Pakistani lawmaker and a leading scholar of Islam, has issued similar, shorter decrees in the past. But the new fatwa makes the most detailed and comprehensive case against Islamic extremism by a Muslim, diplomats and analysts said.

"Terrorism is terrorism, violence is violence, and it has no place in Islamic teaching, and no justification can be provided for it, or any kind of excuses or ifs or buts," Mr. Tahir-ul-Qadri said at a news conference in London. "Good intentions cannot convert a wrong into good; they cannot convert an evil into good."

It was not clear how much influence the fatwa will have in the broad Muslim world or even outside the South Asian community whose members are Mr. Tahir-ul-Qadri's most dedicated followers.

Timothy R. Furnish, a historian of Islam, said the fatwa may not carry significant weight for many Muslims because Mr. Tahir-ul-Qadri is a Sufi Muslim, and not a Koranic literalist, as are such Sunni groups as the Wahhabis and the Salafis, who form the core of groups such as al Qaeda.

"It would seem to be simply another example of this centuries-long Sufi/Wahhabi-Salafi spat over how to interpret the authoritative texts of Islam," said Mr. Furnish, who noted that he has not read Tuesday's fatwa. "For every such legal pronunciamento, there is an antithetical one from the literalist camp …, which justifies such attacks with clear Koranic and Hadith [Traditions] citations."

In recent years, Britain has coped with growing radicalization among its Muslim youths — a development that also has attracted young Muslims from other countries to study at British schools. One of them is Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, the 23-year-old Nigerian who later received training from al Qaeda and is charged with trying to blow up a Detroit-bound airliner in December.

Mr. Tahir-ul-Qadri, founder of the Minhaj-ul-Quran worldwide movement promoting a tolerant Islam, and his followers hope that his fatwa will show those youths an alternative to extremism, said Ghaffar Hussein, a spokesman for the Quilliam Foundation, a British government-funded think tank.

The foundation's backing and promotion of Tuesday's event drew much more media and public attention than it would have received otherwise, according to British press reports.

"This fatwa has the potential to be a highly significant step towards eradicating Islamist terrorism," Mr. Hussein said. "Terrorist groups, such as al Qaeda, continue to justify their mass killings with self-serving readings of religious scripture. Fatwas that demolish and expose such theological innovations will consign Islamist terrorism to the dustbin of history."

In a display of official support for Mr. Tahir-ul-Qadri's teachings, his news conference was attended by members of Parliament and representatives of London's Metropolitan Police. He spoke in both English and Arabic, and an English translation of the fatwa is expected in the coming weeks, said people who attended the event.

Mr. Tahir-ul-Qadri said that terrorism should never be "considered jihad," or holy war. "They can't claim that their suicide bombings are martyrdom operations, and that they become the heroes of the Muslim Umma," he said in reference to the wider Muslim community. "No, they become heroes of hellfire, and they are leading towards hellfire."

In Washington, State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley welcomed the fatwa, saying it is important that "Muslims themselves make their own judgment about the vision that al Qaeda and [Osama] bin Laden have propagated."

"At the heart of this, it's about a very small group of people that have tried to hijack a religion. And we certainly value the debate that is currently under way within Muslim-majority communities around the world about the nature of their religion, the implication and definition of the word 'jihad,' and to kind of take back the good name of Islam," Mr. Crowley said.

"Britain has had a very significant, detailed, extensive counter-radicalization strategy over the last few years," he added. "It has done extensive outreach with Muslim communities."

Mr. Tahir-ul-Qadri's fatwa echoed efforts by anti-extremist Muslims to use their religion to counter terrorists.

In October, a senior Muslim cleric, grand mufti Ali Gomaa of Egypt, told editors and reporters at The Washington Times that one strategy has been to try to declare terrorists "un-Islamic." But he also warned that going too far could prompt greater divisions rather than persuade radicals to change.

Juan Zarate, senior adviser at the Center for Strategic and International Studies and a former counterterrorism official at the National Security Council in the George W. Bush White House, said the new fatwa is important because it "adds to the growing list of rejections of al Qaeda's ideology" and is a "public recognition" of the group's "declining popularity and legitimacy."

Rob Satloff, executive director of the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, said the fatwa undoubtedly will have "a useful, positive impact among Pakistanis and other South Asians," who form the base of Minhaj-ul-Quran's membership of hundreds of thousands.

However, globally, "any one particular fatwa, especially by an imam known predominantly in a single ethnic and linguistic group, is probably not too consequential," Mr. Satloff said.

"It's all very positive and very welcome, but there remain loud and influential voices arguing the opposite view — that 'invaders,' 'Crusaders' and 'Zionists' are all legitimate targets, some wherever they may be found," he added. "It is important to amplify the voices of moderation and marginalize the voices of radicalism."

• Bill Gertz contributed to this report.

Source: http://washingtontimes.com/news/2010/mar/03/muslim-leaders-edict-decries-terrorism/

Fatwa: Terrorism is ‘disbelief’

In the wake of terrorist explosions and suicide bombings around the world and in particular Pakistan which is witnessing the worst period of violence and bloodshed in its history, there is a pressing need to clarify the Islamic stance on suicide bombings and terrorism. This wave of terrorism in the last few years has not only killed hundreds of thousands of innocent people but has also damaged the reputation of Islam and Muslims.

There is no doubt that the majority of right-minded Muslims in the world condemn terrorism and accept that that it has no link with Islam. Unfortunately there are some elements within society that remain silent on this issue and this can be construed as a tacit approval of these atrocities. Moreover there are others that attempt to justify it by focusing on the politics that cause these atrocities. Today Muslims, non Muslims and government officials are looking for a leader and an authoritative figure in the Muslim world who will openly condemn suicide bombings and terrorism and clarify the misconceptions about its true Islamic viewpoint.

The only person that has been able to produce what is an unprecedented 600-page fatwa (religious edict) against terrorism is a leading authority in Islam, Dr Muhammad Tahir-ul-Qadri. In what is the most comprehensive edict on this topic in the history of Islam, Dr Qadri has explicated how suicide bombings and terrorism is unequivocally un-Islamic. In his Fatwa book to be published in three languages he has stated that “all these acts are grave violations of human rights and constitute disbelief (kufr) under Islamic law.”

Unfolding the background of the fatwa, he explained that their actions caused harm not just to Islam but to humanity. He also went on to say that “its existence is an open danger against the integrity of Pakistan and world peace.” He added “The entire nation should dissociate itself from these elements and condemn them in the strongest possible terms unequivocally and with one voice. It is the need of the time for Pakistan to unite among its ranks at every level.”

Dr. Tahir-ul-Qadri added that the first ever war against terror in Islamic history occurred during the Caliphate of Sayyidina Ali (r.a). The Khawarij and Harooria were a rebellious group of people and the first militant terrorists. They rejected Sayyidina Ali’s (r.a) policy of dialogue, arbitration and peaceful means of dispute resolution and they were in favour of resolution through armed conflict. They used Islamic slogans of Jihad and rebelled against the state and justified human killings according to their extremist theology. The Khawarij committed acts of terrorism and used the Divine law in their defence insisting that they were acting for the dominance of Islam. However the Prophet (peace be upon him) had already identified the Khawarij and this is recorded in more than fifty Prophetic traditions. He (peace be upon him) stated that the Khawarij were outside the ambit of Islam, had no legitimate authority to declare jihad and instead were the worst of humankind.

Moreover Dr Qadri clarified that the fatwa is not in support of the US and its allies and nor should it be taken as an approval of their policies in the region. In the same way it did not support the disputed policies of the government of Pakistan and its unpopular style of governance and undemocratic attitude.

This edict is particularly important for Britain due to the fact that the majority of Muslims are from South Asia and some extreme elements are confused about the religious viewpoint. Young British Muslims have been particularly targeted by extremist groups.

The writer Shahid Mursaleen is a spokesman of Minhaj-ul-Quran International UK and can be contacted at spokesman@minhajuk.org

Muslim inventions that shaped the modern world

By Olivia Sterns for CNN
January 29, 2010 7:53 a.m. EST

London, England (CNN) -- Think of the origins of that staple of modern life, the cup of coffee, and Italy often springs to mind.
But in fact, Yemen is where the ubiquitous brew has its true origins.
Along with the first university, and even the toothbrush, it is among surprising Muslim inventions that have shaped the world we live in today.
The origins of these fundamental ideas and objects -- the basis of everything from the bicycle to musical scales -- are the focus of "1001 Inventions," a book celebrating "the forgotten" history of 1,000 years of Muslim heritage.
"There's a hole in our knowledge, we leap frog from the Renaissance to the Greeks," professor Salim al-Hassani, Chairman of the Foundation for Science, Technology and Civilisation, and editor of the book told CNN.
"1001 Inventions" is now an exhibition at London's Science Museum. Hassani hopes the exhibition will highlight the contributions of non-Western cultures -- like the Muslim empire that once covered Spain and Portugal, Southern Italy and stretched as far as parts of China -- to present day civilization.

Here Hassani shares his top 10 outstanding Muslim inventions:
1. Surgery
Around the year 1,000, the celebrated doctor Al Zahrawi published a 1,500 page illustrated encyclopedia of surgery that was used in Europe as a medical reference for the next 500 years. Among his many inventions, Zahrawi discovered the use of dissolving cat gut to stitch wounds -- beforehand a second surgery had to be performed to remove sutures. He also reportedly performed the first caesarean operation and created the first pair of forceps.
2. Coffee
Now the Western world's drink du jour, coffee was first brewed in Yemen around the 9th century. In its earliest days, coffee helped Sufis stay up during late nights of devotion. Later brought to Cairo by a group of students, the coffee buzz soon caught on around the empire. By the 13th century it reached Turkey, but not until the 16th century did the beans start boiling in Europe, brought to Italy by a Venetian trader.
3. Flying machine
"Abbas ibn Firnas was the first person to make a real attempt to construct a flying machine and fly," said Hassani. In the 9th century he designed a winged apparatus, roughly resembling a bird costume. In his most famous trial near Cordoba in Spain, Firnas flew upward for a few moments, before falling to the ground and partially breaking his back. His designs would undoubtedly have been an inspiration for famed Italian artist and inventor Leonardo da Vinci's hundreds of years later, said Hassani.
4. University
In 859 a young princess named Fatima al-Firhi founded the first degree-granting university in Fez, Morocco. Her sister Miriam founded an adjacent mosque and together the complex became the al-Qarawiyyin Mosque and University. Still operating almost 1,200 years later, Hassani says he hopes the center will remind people that learning is at the core of the Islamic tradition and that the story of the al-Firhi sisters will inspire young Muslim women around the world today.
5. Algebra
The word algebra comes from the title of a Persian mathematician's famous 9th century treatise "Kitab al-Jabr Wa l-Mugabala" which translates roughly as "The Book of Reasoning and Balancing." Built on the roots of Greek and Hindu systems, the new algebraic order was a unifying system for rational numbers, irrational numbers and geometrical magnitudes. The same mathematician, Al-Khwarizmi, was also the first to introduce the concept of raising a number to a power.
6. Optics
"Many of the most important advances in the study of optics come from the Muslim world," says Hassani. Around the year 1000 Ibn al-Haitham proved that humans see objects by light reflecting off of them and entering the eye, dismissing Euclid and Ptolemy's theories that light was emitted from the eye itself. This great Muslim physicist also discovered the camera obscura phenomenon, which explains how the eye sees images upright due to the connection between the optic nerve and the brain.
7. Music
Muslim musicians have had a profound impact on Europe, dating back to Charlemagne tried to compete with the music of Baghdad and Cordoba, according to Hassani. Among many instruments that arrived in Europe through the Middle East are the lute and the rahab, an ancestor of the violin. Modern musical scales are also said to derive from the Arabic alphabet.
8. Toothbrush
According to Hassani, the Prophet Mohammed popularized the use of the first toothbrush in around 600. Using a twig from the Meswak tree, he cleaned his teeth and freshened his breath. Substances similar to Meswak are used in modern toothpaste.
9. The crank
Many of the basics of modern automatics were first put to use in the Muslim world, including the revolutionary crank-connecting rod system. By converting rotary motion to linear motion, the crank enables the lifting of heavy objects with relative ease. This technology, discovered by Al-Jazari in the 12th century, exploded across the globe, leading to everything from the bicycle to the internal combustion engine.
10. Hospitals
"Hospitals as we know them today, with wards and teaching centers, come from 9th century Egypt," explained Hassani. The first such medical center was the Ahmad ibn Tulun Hospital, founded in 872 in Cairo. Tulun hospital provided free care for anyone who needed it -- a policy based on the Muslim tradition of caring for all who are sick. From Cairo, such hospitals spread around the Muslim world.

For more information on muslim inventions go to: muslimheritage.com. For more information about the exhibition at London's Science Museum go to: science museum.org.uk

Source: http://www.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/meast/01/29/muslim.inventions/index.html?hpt=Mid

‘Khilafa’ or nation-states

You wouldn’t know it from listening to the news but many British Muslims have been cheering Home Secretary, Alan Johnson’s announcement this week that he’s banning the extremist group Islam4UK while a London based group Minhaj-ul-Quran holds a seminar at the Parliament to explore solutions of tackling extremism amongst the youth at UK campuses.

It makes better headlines about ‘crazy extremist’ stereotype but for the majority of UK Muslims who are both moderate and law abiding it is not only the extremism of the views of extremist groups that causes them distress but also the misrepresentation of the teachings of Islam.

Hussain Mohi-ud-Din Qadri, an Australian academic speaking at a parliamentary seminar on radicalism this week, called for an end to the slogans of ‘Khilafa’ promoted by extremists amongst young British Muslims.

Until this week the website of Islam4UK stated “The struggle for Khilafa system will continue.” This ideology is based on establishing one globalised political authority of the Muslim ummah or Islamic state, Islamic government, or Islamic rule. In today’s world of nation of states, this ideology is not just un-Islamic, baseless and outdated but it’s also absurd.

According to professor of Islamic law, Dr Muhammad Tahir-ul-Qadri, the meaning of Khilafa “The literal meaning of khilafa is trusteeship (Niyaba) and vicegerency (amaana)”.

This system of one globalised political authority never existed in the history of Islam and extremist groups who portray this ideology need to consult the history books. They will discover that Islam advocates a system of open democracy, freedom of speech, parliament and supports the nation-state theory. According to Dr Qadri, after the demise of Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) the Caliphs were either elected by the citizens or appointed by an elected committee. We can see both these systems today in the presidential and parliamentary forms of government. Extremists must understand that Islam has never advocated a single rule of the world.

Speaking at the seminar, Communities minister Shahid Malik MP has echoed the point urging British Muslims to “Look at ourselves first and learn about Islam first before preaching to others.”

The question if poverty or globalisation supports extremism or radicalism is discussed by Contrary to popular belief poverty does not play a significant role in creating extremists - in the west most of the extremists come from educated and middle class families. However, we must look to Pakistan which has around 20,000 traditional madrassas (religious schools) if it really wants to tackle the problem of extremism. The majority of madrassas are run by the schools of thought similar to that of Islam4UK. The pupils who attend such madrassas are from lower class families who cannot afford to send their children to state or public schools. I believe the scholars who preach extremism and in some cases violent radicalism have attended such madrassas. British youngsters are receiving support and guidance from these dangerous institutions and their literature is distributed at University Islamic societies. If we are serious about tackling radicalism amongst British Muslims they need to join forces with other moderate elements, get the madrasses closed down and instead offer an alternative modern, scientific education to those who don’t have the mean to pay for their education.

The writer Shahid Mursaleen is a spokesman of Minhaj-ul-Quran International UK and can be contacted at spokesman@minhajuk.org

Muslim group Minhaj-ul-Quran issues fatwa against terrorists

The 600-page document, drawn up by Dr Muhammad Tahir-ul-Qadri, declares that attacks on innocent citizens are "absolutely against the teachings of Islam"

A leading Muslim organisation in Britain has issued a fatwa against suicide bombings and terrorism, declaring them un-Islamic.

Minhaj-ul-Quran, a Sufi organisation based in East London which advises the Government on how to combat radicalisation of Muslim youth, will launch the 600-page religious verdict tomorrow. It condemns the perpetrators of terrorist explosions and suicide bombings.

The document, written by Dr Muhammed Tahir-ul-Qadri, a former minister of Pakistan and friend of Benazir Bhutto, declares suicide bombings and terrorism as "totally un-Islamic". It is one of the most detailed and comprehensive documents of its kind to be published in Britain.

The fatwa, which was released in Pakistan last month, uses texts from the Koran and other Islamic writings to argue that attacks against innocent citizens are "absolutely against the teachings of Islam and that Islam does not permit such acts on any excuse, reason or pretext".

Tahir-ul-Qadri, who is based in Canada and has written more than 400 books on Islamic law, said: "All these acts are grave violations of human rights and constitute kufr, disbelief, under Islamic law."

Minhaj-ul-Quran is an organisation based in 80 countries that follows Sufi teachings of peace and moderation. It is gaining influence in Britain as the Government seeks to gain ground among Muslim groups eager to combat the radicalisation of young people.

The group receives no government funding but its agenda is comparable to the official Prevent strategy, under which community organisations are encouraged to work together to counter extremism.

Radical Islamists will dismiss the fatwa but it will be welcomed by many Muslims from the large community of South Asian heritage in Britain, among whom confusion about religious teaching is exploited by extremists seeking to recruit suicide bombers.

"Extremist groups start brainwashing the young students from British universities and eventually convince them to oppose integration in British society," said Shahid Mursaleen, a spokesman for Minhaj-ul-Quran.

The fatwa would help fight extremist recruitment of young Muslims and was "one of the most comprehensive verdicts on this topic in the history of Islam", he added.

Inayat Bunglawala, former spokesman of the Muslim Council of Britain and founder of the new group Muslims4UK, set up to counter the radical message of the newly banned Islam4UK and other extremist groups, welcomed the fatwa.

"This adds to the view of many Islamic scholars internationally that terrorism and suicide bombings are unacceptable in Islam," he said. "It is a positive initiative. Anything that helps move young people away from violence and from those who promote violence must be welcomed.

Source: http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/faith/article6991483.ece

Parliament Seminar Supports Government Ban on Extremist Groups

LONDON. Minhaj-ul-Quran international UK (MQI UK) fully supports the Government’s Ban on extremist groups effective from this Thursday. At a Seminar at the Houses of Parliament, the keynote speaker Mr Hussain Mohi-ud-Din Qadri said that “we fully support this ban on extremist groups and propose ways of resolving this wave of extremism amongst the youth of Britain.”

Shahid Malik MP speaking at Poverty, Radicalism and Religion seminar at the Houses of Parliament, 12 January 2010

MQI UK spokesman and event organiser Shahid Mursaleen said that “We support the ban on the extremist groups but suggested to ban extremist individuals too as they will appear again with a different name. We have organised this seminar to present solutions to the Government for addressing the current issue of youth radicalisation at British Universities, which has for long been ignored.”

He stated “The Government must promote a voice of moderation in order to get rid of the extremist tendencies in our society.”

Dr Waqar Azmi said that “The Government needs to work with moderate groups and it is required to change ideologically.”

Dr Hany el Hanna said that “It can take many years to change the ideology of extremist and it’s not a short term problem.”

Shahid Malik who represented the Government said that “We recognise that this is a big problem and we will ban the extremist groups. We need a brave Muslim leader who can condemn terrorism.”

He added that “We need to ensure that Muslims understand the true message of Islam and he prised Minhaj-ul-Quran for their role against extremism.”

Other important participants included Paul Goodman MP, Lord Sheikh, Peter Bottomley MP and Prof Jeffery Haynes.

If Anjem Choudary wants an anti-war march, let's give him one

I particularly like the response of Minhaj-ul-Quran International UK (MQI UK) to the proposed anti-war march by Muslims in Wootton Bassett, proposed by Islamist clown Anjem Choudary.

MQI UK, which was founded by Dr Muhammad Tahir-ul-Qadri in 1981 to promote religious moderation and modern Islamic sciences, expresses its deep concern about a march that would consist of “extremists and trouble-makers”:

“Extremists like these always claim to speak for Islam and British Muslims yet they are not qualified to do either. These kind of extremists do not represent British Muslims.This march will achieve nothing other than to incite hate crime against innocent law abiding British Muslims.”

Of course Choudry won’t do it. And not for the perfectly decent and sensible reasons that the British Army wouldn’t parade through the streets of Kabul. Choudry is just simply engaged in a silly publicity stunt – and more fool the BNP, English Defence League and other low-foreheaded Little Englanders who allow themselves to get wound up by him.

Admittedly the Police would have grounds for stopping Choudary if he looked like causing a breach of the peace. But I say let’s just eclipse him. If he wants a “peace march” let’s give him one. Perhaps the MQI UK could propose one, all faiths and none welcome, all ethnicities together, politicians, soldiers, British and Afghans. It might even turn-out to beat the million-plus who marched to oppose the invasion of Iraq. And it would be more helpful than Choudary’s silly little look-at-me game.

By: George Pitcher who is Religion Editor of Telegraph Media, http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/georgepitcher/100021298/if-anjem-choudary-wants-an-anti-war-march-lets-give-him-one/