A Muslim scholar has issued a fatwa saying that suicide bombers go to hell:
Muhammad Tahir ul-Qadri condemned terrorism and criticized Islamic extremists who cite their religion to justify violence.
Ul-Qadri’s 600-page fatwa is “arguably the most comprehensive theological refutation of Islamist terrorism to date,” according to the Quilliam Foundation, a London organization that describes itself as a counterterrorism think tank.
“Terrorism is terrorism,” ul-Qadri said at a news conference hosted by the foundation. “Violence is violence. It has no place in Islamic teaching, and no justification can be provided to it …”
I’d be interested in Mathurine’s take on this, but I’m guessing that this man is in a different sect than the terrorists, so they won’t care what he says. Probably something like the Pope issuing a decree about Protestants — amusing to Protestants but in no way binding.
I hope it does some good, but unfortunately I doubt it will. They’re just arguing over what a holy book says, instead of appealing to the fact that it’s just wrong to blow other people up and they wouldn’t want to get blown up themselves.
But I guess some people need the threat of hell not to blow people up, huh?
This is new. Hmmm… at least it is a change for the better. Lets hope people pay attention to him and actually follow what he says.
People like this tend to get shot.
or get nailed to a cross. just like what Douglas Adams says in Hitchhiker’s Guide.
Technically, you’re right, which is why I assume you chose “binding.” But, if the Pope were to issue a 600-page encyclical that was directed toward Protestants, a LOT of Protestants would read it, engage it critically, and accept criticism where it was justified.
Would right-wing fundamentalists? No. And you’re probably right about Islamic terrorists not listening to Ul-Qadri either.
It still serves an important purpose in preventing what I’d call slippage of the middle. It is true that folks already disposed to violence are not likely to listen to advice against it from clergy, but it helps to keep people who might toy with the notion away from taking the plunge.
It’s more like the difference between the pope calling for the killing of protestants and the pope saying that although they are wrong protestants should not be burned at the stake. While both are equally based on the premise that god/jesus exist and that the pope has some way to know what he/they/it really want I still think that most of us will find option 2 (not killing people for not following a specific brand of woo) preferable.
I think this is a good step instead.
Extremists will not read it, but it will burn the ground around them, isolate them and remove some of the support they may enjoy among the more moderate Muslims.
I don’t think anything very solid can be extracted from a religious book, otherwise we would not have so many sects, but I really hope his work is consistent and convincing.
No matter what the ‘so called moderates’ say, it is pure BS. I admit I am going with other authority as far as the koran but just as some nitwit xtian says the buybull does not advocate violence.
Anyone who has read most of it will know the nitwit never read it. And any ‘moderate’ cult of islam or xtian is just a breeding ground for future extremists.
This is seen in history. In europe now xtians are moderate but they were the main killers of jews & witches, with Hitler making jew killing into a mass production. In most of their history islam was moderate and tolerant, now they have breed the extremists and we now have them killing all over the place.
Will the moderates help stamp out the extremists??? Just about as good as they did to stop the witch burnings, meaning not at all!!!! they hide in fear of their own group.
So long as they acclaim the koran or buybull as their foundation, violence is inevitable.
Ul-Qadri never read the Koran? wat?
It is true that many of these fatwas require creative interpretations of parts of the scripture, as different parts support different positions, but that doesn’t make their authors completely ignorant.
Hard to see what difference it’ll make, when the Koran itself says the same thing in 4:29.
Still, every little bit helps.
“it’s just wrong to blow other people up and they wouldn’t want to get blown up themselves.”
Well, actually…
“But I guess some people need the threat of hell not to blow people up, huh?”
That’s easier than to actually take moral responsibility for your actions.
I know the Quran says Muslims are forbidden to kill Muslims, but the party who wants to do the killing just deploys the “no true Scotsman” fallacy. It seems all the major religions are burdened with contradictory texts. anyway, I hope this puts a little starch in the bloomers of moderates.
It is equally encouraging that this Fatwah also puts a spoke in the wheel of the Islamaphobes who constantly and tiresomely (and sadly not always from the far right) try to argue that there is something fundamentally violent about Islam as opposed to Christianity.
They are both fundamentally violent – Islam is just more explicitly so.
Muhammad Tahir ul-Qadri is a Sufi Muslim. Sufis are considered apostate by much of the Islamic mainstream, and even more so by the sorts of people who are attracted to a more aggressive reading of Islam (they listen to music and even dance!). They are a sort of Islamic Quakers (a crude analogy i know). I´m not sure why western media outlets, such as the BBC were clamouring to get interviews with this guy, touting him as a spokesman for “the real Islam”. Wishful thinking I guess.
Dancing? Music? Such terrible people! Next you’ll tell me they engage in even more dangerous devilry, such as looking each other in the eye.
The greatest singer who ever lived, Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, was a Sufi.
The greatest singer who ever lived, Frank Sinatra, was a Catholic.
To put things in perspective terrorists are not Suicide bombers.
To kill and be killed assures heaven says quran (9:111).
Here is the link from this gentleman’s website:
http://www.irfan-ul-quran.com/quran/english/contents/sura/cols/0/ar/1/ur/0/ra/1/en/1/sid/9/Read%20Holy%20Quran%20with%20English%20&%20Urdu%20Translations%20Sura%209%20at-Tawbah.html
111. Surely, Allah has bought from the believers their souls and wealth in return for Paradise for them. (Now) they fight in the way of Allah. So they kill (for the Truth) and are slain (themselves too. Allah has taken) the firm promise as a bountiful obligation on Him in the Torah, the Gospel (the Injil) and the Qur’an. And who is truer to his promise than Allah? So, (believers,) rejoice over your bargain against which you have sold (your souls and wealth). This is but a colossal achievement.