Jan. - March 2006 
Year 12    No.114

Cover Story


Muslim fatwa against terrorism

 
Fatwas against terrorism

March 13, 2006, LUCKNOW:
A leading 400-year-old Islamic seminary, the Darul-Ifta Firangi Mahal on Monday issued a ‘fatwa’ against ter-
rorists targeting places of worship and killing innocent people. The Lucknow-based institution issued the fatwa on an application moved by local businessman Sajid Umar, who had sought Firangi Mahal’s verdict on the issue.

According to Firangi Mahal chief Maulana Khalid Rasheed, who was also the imam of Lucknow’s Idgah, "Sajid Umar wanted to know what Islam had to say about those people who were attacking places of worship and killing innocent people in cold blood."

The maulana ruled, "There was absolutely no room for terrorism in Islam and murder of one innocent person amounted to the murder of entire humanity." Quoting from the 32nd Ayat of Surah Mayda in the holy Koran, he pointed out, "God has very explicitly stated that if any human being kills any other human being, he would be guilty of murdering humanity."

Rasheed told this scribe, "I further pointed out that in this reference the holy Koran does not talk about any particular religion; it is a reference to entire humanity."

Quoting yet another excerpt from the holy Koran, he added, "Ayat 107 under the Surah Ambia chapter of the Koran says that the prophet’s objective is to ensure the well-being of the entire universe, which includes not only human beings but even animals, trees and plants."

He said, "It is notable that the prophet never reacted violently even against those who not only attacked him in various ways but also tried to cause physical harm to him; the prophet was also totally against causing the slightest harm to any place of worship, belonging to any faith."

While emphasising that "Islam has always laid stress on peace and harmony", the maulana’s fatwa added, "If any Muslim causes harm to any place of worship or indulges in killing of innocent people, Islam would regard it as the worst possible crime and the Shariah would consider it absolutely unlawful."

(Courtesy: rediff.com)

March 14, 2006, HYDERABAD:
Muslim clerics in different parts of the country have come out strongly against Islamic terrorist groups,
issuing as many as four separate fatwas on using Allah and Prophet Muhammad to name militant outfits.

The imam of Teele Wali mosque in Lucknow went so far as to call the terrorists "shaitans" (devils), indicating that even religious opinion was turning against these violent groups.

The fatwas came in the wake of an unknown Islamic group calling itself Lashkar-e-Qahar (Army of the Subduer) claiming responsibility for the Varanasi blasts.

Other terrorist groups which operate in India, such as Jaish-e-Mohammed (Army of Mohammed), Lashkar-e-Taiba (Army of the Righteous) are named after the prophet and seek to draw their legitimacy from the divine connect.

Names like Qahar and Rashid are among the 99 different ways of addressing the prophet. "Islam is a religion of peace and using holy names against peace is disrespecting Islam."

"The religion, which does not even allow harming a tree or an animal, cannot condone killing innocent people in the name of jihad," said Syed Shah Badruddin Qadri al-Jeelani, president of Jamiat-ul Mashaiq al-Hind and All-India Sunni Ulema Board.

"Through the fatwa our organisations wanted to send a message that Islam in no way supports violence. The religion is being branded with terrorism just because of a few people," Jeelani said on Monday (March 13).

Maulana Mastan Ali, director of Jamiat-ul Mominath – one of the largest seminaries in South India – who issued a fatwa on Sunday (March 12) on using the prophet’s name, said: "If they (jihadis) can’t shun the path of violence, they must at least drop the names so that the entire Muslim community is not blamed."

(Courtesy: The Times of India.)

March 17, 2006, VARANASI:
Slaying an individual without any reason is a heinous crime and sin; if one kills an innocent person it is the
killing of entire humanity and if one saves an innocent person it is an act of protecting entire humanity," says Allah (in the holy text of the Koran; Surah Mayda, Ayat 32).

Quoting references from the holy Koran, Maulana Abdul Batin Nomani, Mufti-e-Benaras and imam of Shahi Masjid Gyanvapi, said in his written fatwa against terrorism on Wednesday that the Koran strongly condemned and restricted fitn-o-fasad (violence).

"Islam is synonymous with peace and protection of humanity," he said, adding that Allah has expressed unhappiness at all those acts that breach the peace.

The fatwa against terrorism came in response to the written queries put before the mufti by Prof. Qamar Jehan, former head of the department of Urdu, Banaras Hindu University, and Dr Muniza Rafiqu Khan, registrar of the Gandhian Institute of Studies, to know whether terrorism had any place in Islam.

Perhaps it was for the first time that Muslim women came forward to demand a fatwa against terrorism to clear the confusion, she said.

The three-page fatwa said that all human beings of the world were members of the family of Allah. The safety of each individual is essential and there is no barrier of religion or geographical boundary.

The holy Koran strictly denounces the act of violence through its different Ayats, including Surah Bakara -60 and 205, Surah Araf -56 and Surah Qasas -83.

It is the duty of each and every Muslim to have good relations with all individuals, irrespective of their religion. The fatwa further stated that a person of any country or religion involved in the act of terrorism is going against the teaching of his religion and he is a culprit.

Such persons could not be termed as religious-minded persons, as terrorists have no religion.

(Courtesy: The Times of India.)


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