Where are the Muslim voices?

Where are the Muslim voices?
The following is a partial listing of Muslim scholars and organizations who have issued fatwas against extremism and terrorism. Muslim voices are loud and clear, they are simply ignored.

FATWAS BY MUSLIM SCHOLARS
Abdulkadir, Dr. Deina FCNA (U.S.) Fatwa against terrorism 7/05 Abdullah, Sh. M. Nur, FCNA (U.S.) minority rights & apostasy 3/06 Abdullah, Shaikh Muhammad Nur (U.S.) FCNA Fatwa against terrorism 7/05 al Abidin, Ali Zain al Jifri Renowned Islamic Scholar (Yemen) 2/06 Danish cartoons Al-Akiti, Shaykh Muhammad Afifi – against killing civilians 6/05 Amjad, Moiz – Refutation of bin Laden’s defense of terrorism (Pakistan) al Alwani, Shaykh Taha Jabir (U.S.) against 9/11 attack 9/01 Al Alwani, Dr. Taha Jabir (U.S.) FCNA Fatwa against terrorism 7/05 Al Alwani, Shaikhah Zainab (U.S.) FCNA Fatwa against terrorism 7/05 al Alwini, Muhammad Head of European Academy of Islamic Culture & Sciences, Brussels (Belgium) 2/06 Danish cartoons al Awda, Salman General Supervisor of “Islam Today” Institution (Saudi Arabia) 2/06 Danish cartoons Al-Awdah, Shaykh Salman (Saudi Arabia) condemns terrorism 5/03 Al Azhari, Muhammad Akhtar Rida Head of Barelwi Ulama (India) 2/06 Danish cartoons Al Bouti, Muhammad Saeed Ramadan Department Chair of Theology, University of Damascus (Syria) 2/06 Danish cartoons ] Al Hanooti, Shaikh Muhammad (U.S.) FCNA Fatwa against terrorism 7/05 al-Hanooti, Sheikh Muhammad Ali - against 9/11 (U.S.) 9/01 al-Hitar, Judge Hamoud (Yemen) he and four other Islamic scholars used Qur’an to challenge Al Qaeda’s views on terror 2/05 Al Husary, Yasmin Mahmud Khalil Head of Husary Islamic Foundation (Egypt) 2/06 Danish cartoons al Jundi, Khalid Renowned Islamic Scholar (Egypt) 2/06 Danish cartoons Al Kahlawi, Abla Muhammad Dean of Islamic & Arabic Studies College at Azhar University, Port Said (Egypt) 2/06 Danish cartoons Al Khalili, Ahmad bin Hamad General Mufti of the Sultanate of Oman (Oman) 2/06 Danish cartoons al Kubaysi, Ahmad Renowned Islamic spokesperson (Iraq) 2/06 Danish cartoons al Luheidan, Shaikh Saleh Chairman of the Supreme Judicial Council (Saudi Arabia) against 9/11 9/01 Al Mansur, Muhammad bin Muhammad Islamic Scholar of the Zaydi branch(Yemen) 2/06 Danish cartoons al Mazrui, Hamdan Muslim Assistant Undersecretary for Islamic Affairs in Ministry of Endowments (UAE) 2/06 Danish cartoons Al Milibari, Abu Bakr Ahmad Secretary General of Ahl al Sunna Association (India) 2/06 Danish cartoons Al Mashur, Abu Bakr al Adani bin Ali General Director of Islamic Tarbiya League (Yemen) 2/06 Danish cartoons Al-Munajid, Shaykh Muhammad, against violence Al Mutawwaa, Jasim Head of Iqra Satellite Channel (Kuwait) 2/06 Danish cartoons Al Qadiri, Muhammad Tahir Founder of Minhaj ul Quran International Organization (Pakistan) 2/06 Danish cartoons al Qaradawi, Shaykh Yusuf (Qatar) against 9/11 attack 9/01 Al-Qaradawi, Shaykh Yusuf – condemns Bali attacks 10/02 al-Qaradawi, Shaykh Yusuf - against harming places of worship (specifically a Jewish synagogue) 4/02 al Qarni, A’id Renowned Islamic Scholar (Saudi Arabia) 2/06 Danish cartoons Al Qudat, Nuh Ali Salman Renowned scholar of Jordan, former Mufti of the Jordanian Army (Jordan) 2/06 Danish cartoons al Sabil, Shaykh Muhammad bin ‘Abdallah member of the Council of Senior Religious Scholars (Saudi Arabia) against terrorism, obligation to protect non Muslims 12/01 Agence France Press al Saffar, Hasan Shiite Islamic Spokesperson (Saudi Arabia) 2/06 Danish cartoons Al-Sudeis, Sheikh Abdulrahman – (Saudi Arabia) tells 2 million pilgrims at Hajj that violence is not justified by Islam 1/05 al Suweidan, Tariq Renowned Islamic Spokesperson (Kuwait) 2/06 Danish cartoons Al Tantawi, Shaykh Muhammed Sayyid Imam of al Azhar Mosque (Egypt) against 9/11 attack 9/01 Al-Tantawi, Sheikh Muhammad Syed (Egypt) Condemned suicide bombings against Israeli civilians, and all terrorism 12/01 Alush Shaykh, Shaykh ‘Abdul ‘Aziz Grand Mufti (Saudi Arabia) against 9/11 attack 9/01 Alush Shaykh, Shaykh ‘Abdul ‘AzizGrand Mufti (Saudi Arabia) against suicide terrorism 5/01 al Zuhayli, Wahba Department Chair of Islamic Jurisprudence, College of Islamic Law, Damascus University (Syria) 2/06 Danish cartoons Awwa, Muhammad S (Egypt) against 9/11 attack 9/01 Badawi, Jamal FCNA (U.S.) minority rights & apostasy 3/06 Badawi, Dr. Jamal (U.S.) FCNA Fatwa against terrorism 7/05 Bagby, Dr. Ihsan (U.S.) FCNA Fatwa against terrorism 7/05 Bakri, Shaykh Omar leader of al Muhajirun (a radical group) (England) against 9/11 ** If Islamists did it—and most likely it is Islamists, because of the nature of what happened—then they have fully misunderstood the teachings of Islam. ... Even the most radical of us have condemned this. I am always considered to be a radical in the Islamic world and even I condemn it. ** 9/01 Bayyoumi, Abdel Mo’tei al Azhar Islamic Research Academy, Cairo (Egypt) against 9/11 attack 9/01 Bayyah, Abdullah bin Professor in King Abdalaziz University Jeddah (Mauritania) 2/06 Danish cartoons Belkaziz, Dr. AbdelaouahedSecretary General of the OIC against 9/11 attack 9/01 Bishri, Tariq (Egypt) against 9/11 attack 9/01 Fadaq, Abdullah Renowned Islamic Spokesperson (Saudi Arabia) 2/06 Danish cartoons Fadlallah, Muhammad Husayn Renowned Shiite Scholar (Lebanon) 2/06 Danish cartoons Fadlallah, Muhammad Husayn Renowned Shiite Scholar (Lebanon) against 9/11 9/01 Faqih, Kaya Hajji Abdullah Head of Langitano Academy, Islamic Scholar, East Java(Indonesia) 2/06 Danish cartoons French Muslim Leaders Rioting, 11/05 Ghannoushi, Rashid President, Nahda Renaissance Movement (Tunisia) condemning 9/11 attack 9/01 signed by 46 scholars & leaders Hafeez, Umar bin Muhammad bin Salem bin Dean of Dar al Mustafa Institute, Hadramawt (Yemen) 2/06 Danish cartoons Hammad, Dr. Nazih (U.S.) FCNA Fatwa against terrorism 7/05 Hassun, Ahmad Badr al Din General Mufti of the Syrian Arab Republic (Syria) 2/06 Danish cartoons Hamada, Faruq Professor of Hadith Studies, Muhammad V University(Morocco) 2/06 Danish cartoons Hamza, Mustafa bin Professor of Islamic Law, Muhammad I University,(Morocco) 2/06 Danish cartoons Hijjawi, Saeed AbdalHafizGeneral Mufti of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan(Jordan) 2/06 Danish cartoons Hindi, Shaikh Yahya (U.S.) FCNA Fatwa against terrorism 7/05 Huwaydi, Fahmi (Egypt) against 9/11 attack 9/01 Huzami, Haji Muhammad ShafiRenowned Islamic Scholar of Jakarta (Indonesia) 2/06 Danish cartoons Izzat, Hiba RaoufLecturer in College of Economics and Political Science, Cairo University (Egypt) 2/06 Danish cartoons Jackson, Dr. Abdul Hakim (U.S.) FCNA Fatwa against terrorism 7/05 Jumua, AliGrand Mufti of the Arab Republic of Egypt (Egypt) 2/06 Danish cartoons Kachat, LarbiDirector of Dawah Mosque and Head of the Islamic Cultural Center, Paris (France) 2/06 Danish cartoons Kashmiri, Anzar ShahHead of Ulama of Deoband (India) 2/06 Danish cartoons Khalid, Rashid, Maulana Darul Ifta Firangai Mahal (Lucknow, India) attacking houses of worship & terrorism 3/06 Khamene’i, Ayatollah Ali supreme jurist ruler of (Iran) ** “Killing of people, in any place and with any kind of weapons, including atomic bombs, long range missiles, biological or chemical weapons, passenger or war planes, carried out by any organization, country or individuals is condemned. ... It makes no difference whether such massacres happen in Hiroshima, Nagasaki, Qana, Sabra, Shatila, Deir Yassin, Bosnia, Kosovo, Iraq or in New York and Washington.” ** Islamic Republic News Agency, September 16, 2001, Khatami, Muhammad President (Iran) at U.N. against 9/11 attack 9/01 Khayyat, Haytham (Syria) against 9/11 attack 9/01 Maghraoui, Dr. Mukhtar (U.S.) FCNA Fatwa against terrorism 7/05 Mustafa Mashhur General Guide, Muslim Brotherhood (Egypt) condemning 9/11 attack 9/01 signed by 46 scholars & leaders Mirzayev, Sultan mufti of (Chechnya) declares Jihad on terrorism 8/05 Muhammad, Dr. Akbar (U.S.) FCNA Fatwa against terrorism 7/05 Nasr, Seyyed Hossein – Islam and the question of violence Nizami, Mufti Rahman, Ameer Jamaat e Islami (Bangladesh) condemning 9/11 attack 9/01 signed by 46 scholars & leaders Nour, Fazil President, PAS Parti Islam Se (Malaysia) condemning 9/11 attack 9/01 signed by 46 scholars & leaders Qabbani, Muhammad Rashid General Mufti of Lebanon (Lebanon) 2/06 Danish cartoons Qadri, Tahirul head of the Awami Tehrik Party (Pakistan) against 9/11 attack 10/01 Qazi Hussain Ahmed Ameer, Jamaat e Islami (Pakistan) condemning 9/11 attack 9/01 signed by 46 scholars & leaders Qazwini, Shaikh Hassan (U.S.) FCNA Fatwa against terrorism 7/05 Rabbani, Shaykh Faraz on kidnapping and terrorism Sabri, Ikrimah Mufti of Jerusalem (Palestine) 2/06 Danish cartoons Sayf, Ahmad NurDirector of Islamic Sciences & Research Institute (UAE) 2/06 Danish cartoons Al-Tantawi, Shaykh M. Sayyid condemns bin Laden 11/01 Shah, Dr. Zulfiqar Ali (U.S.) FCNA Fatwa against terrorism 7/05 Shleibak, Dr. Ahmad (U.S.) FCNA Fatwa against terrorism 7/05 Shaltoot, Sh. Mahmood (Saudi Arabia) former head of Al Azhar (Egypt) on permissibility of following Shia schools of law 12/02 Sheikh, Dr. Muhammad Adam (U.S.) FCNA Fatwa against terrorism 7/05 Shinwari, Fazli Hadi Council of Islamic Leaders (Afghanistan) against kidnapping & harming foreigners 5/05 Siddiqi, Dr. Muzammil H (U.S.) FCNA Fatwa against terrorism 7/05 Sultan, Dr. Salah (U.S.) FCNA Fatwa against terrorism 7/05 Taskhiri, Muhammad AliSecretary General of the International Assembly for Understanding between the Islamic Sects (Iran) 2/06 Danish cartoons Taisaruddin Mufti of Darul Ifta Majidia (Varanasi, India) attacking houses of worship & terrorism Ul-Qadri, Tahir – condemns bin Laden (Pakistan) Usmani, Sh.Grand Mufti, Dar ul Uloom (Punjab, India) terrorism 7/06 Yilmaz, Mehmed Nuri Directorate of Religious Afairs (Turkey) against 9/11 attack 9/01 Yusuf, Hamza Renowned Islamic Scholar, Director of Zaytuna Institute(USA) 2/06 Danish cartoons Yassin, Shaykh Ahmad Founder, Islamic Resistance Movement HAMAS (Palestine) condemning 9/11 attack 9/01 signed by 46 scholars & leaders

THE FOLLOWING ARE QUOTES FROM VARIOUS MUSLIM COMMUNITY LEADERS, SCHOLARS, AND ACTIVISTS.

Abdullah, Aslam U. S. You say that the word of God is the highest
Abdullah, Aslam U.S. You say that the word of God is the highest. Yes, it is. But you are not worthy of it. You have abandoned God and you have started worshipping your own satanic egos that rejoice at the killing of innocent people. You don’t represent Muslims or, for that matter, any decent human being who believes in the sanctity of life. Many among us American Muslims have differences with our administration on domestic and foreign issues, just like many other Americans do. But the plurality of opinions does not mean that we deprive ourselves of the civility that God demands from us. America is our home and will always be our home. Its interests are ours, and its people are ours. When you talk of killing of Americans, you first have to kill 6 million or so Muslims who will stand for every American’s right to live and enjoy the life as commanded by God. “Letter to Al Qaeda in Iraq: Kill Us Too, We Are Also Americans”

Abdullah, Aslam U.S. Respecting and protecting human life are acts of submission and worshipping to God. Submission has many great lessons for all of us that hear and watch on TV the scenes of a place after suicide bombing. The bomb does not know the difference between a soldier, a child, a mother, a grandfather or a grandmother. It is an awful and horrendous scene that we all wish to never see or witness. Islam totally disagrees with this kind of behavior and condemns the action that causes this. Sometimes some people try to argue that their enemy is killing children and mothers as well and that is why they justify actions that result in their destruction. But according to the divine faith, evil must be not repaid with evil and animosity must not be returned with animosity. Those who claim to the follow the final divine scripture must live up to highest moral standards, not to evil choices, and respect human life regardless of the label that it carries. The Divine demands from the follower of His message to work for peace and justice through peaceful means, not through violence or anger. The Divine demands that His followers should never lower their moral standards to the standard of the people who fight them. Following God’s law guarantees peace and victory while breaking it only guarantees more misery to all those involved.

Adi, Imam Tammam, Ph.D. Director of the Islamic Cultural Center of Eugene, Oregon, U.S..
“America’s fight against terrorism is justified by the Quran”, in an article “Fanatics and Terrorists are Misguided”

Afsaruddin, Asma U.S. To deny these lived realities of the Islamic past, which point to what we would term in today’s jargon a respect for pluralism and religious diversity, is to practice a kind of intellectual violence against Islam. Muslim extremists who insist that the Qur’an calls for relentless warfare against non-Muslims without just cause or provocation merely to propagate Islam and certain Western opinion makers who unthinkingly accept and report their rhetoric as authentically Islamic are both doing history a great disservice. Muslim extremist fringe groups with their desperate cult of martyrdom are overreacting to current political contingencies and disregarding any scriptural imperative. It is worthy of note that the Qur’an does not even have a word for martyr; the word “shahid,” now commonly understood to mean “a martyr,” refers only to an eyewitness or a legal witness in Qur’anic usage. Only in later extra Qur’anic tradition, as a result of extraneous influence, did the term “shahid” come to mean bearing witness for the faith, particularly by laying down one’s life, much like the Greek derived English word “martyr.”

Ahmad, Dr. Imad ad Deen U.S., President, Minaret of Freedom Institute. … it is the moral duty of Muslims to not merely condemn the attacks on noncombatant Americans (including hundreds of Muslims) that took place on September 11, 2001, but to engage in a positive effort to identify the planners and material supporters of the attacks, to confront them with the fact that their actions have violated the shari`ah in a most egregious manner, to urge them to repent, and to punish them if the families of the victims are unwilling to be merciful and accept compensation.

Parvez Ahmed, U.S. To contain terrorism, if not eliminate it, the way forward is to engage in common-sense methods of intelligence gathering without criminalizing entire groups of people, military strategies without resorting to indiscriminate bombings and enabling the emergence of democratic and civic societies by eliminating foreign occupations. Addressing grievances cannot automatically be dismissed as appeasement. Britain succeeded in disarming the IRA by engaging them, not ignoring its demands. In fact, the conversion of terrorist groups into peaceful political movements has often occurred when their rationale for violence ceased to exist.

Al-Luheidan, Shaikh Saleh , Chairman of the Supreme Judicial Council, SAUDI ARABIA
“As a human community we must be vigilant and careful to oppose these pernicious and shameless evils, which are not justified by any sane logic, nor by the religion of Islam.”

Al-Qaradawi, Shaykh Yusuf, QATAR; Tariq Bishri, EGYPT; Muhammad S
Al-Qaradawi, Shaykh Yusuf, QATAR; Tariq Bishri, EGYPT; Muhammad S. Awwa, EGYPT; Fahmi Huwaydi, EGYPT; Haytham Khayyat, SYRIA; Shaykh Taha Jabir al-Alwani, U.S. “All Muslims ought to be united against all those who terrorize the innocents, and those who permit the killing of non-combatants without a justifiable reason. Islam has declared the spilling of blood and the destruction of property as absolute prohibitions until the Day of Judgment. ... [It is] necessary to apprehend the true perpetrators of these crimes, as well as those who aid and abet them through incitement, financing or other support. They must be brought to justice in an impartial court of law and [punished] appropriately. ... [It is] a duty of Muslims to participate in this effort with all possible means.” “Our hearts bleed for the attacks that has targeted the World Trade Center [WTC], as well as other institutions in the United States despite our strong oppositions to the American biased policy towards Israel on the military, political and economic fronts.

Al-Qaradawi, Shaykh Yusuf, QATAR Islam, the religion of tolerance, holds the human soul in high esteem, and considers the attack against innocent human beings a grave sin, this is backed by the Qur’anic verse which reads: ‘Whosoever kills a human being [as punishment] for [crimes] other than manslaughter or [sowing] corruption in the earth, it shall be as if he has killed all mankind, and who so ever saves the life of one, it shall be as if he had saved the life of all mankind’ (Al-Ma’idah:32).”

Al-Sabil, Shaykh Muhammad bin ‘Abdallah, member of the Council of Senior Religious Scholars, Saudi Arabia “Any attack on innocent people is unlawful and contrary to Shari’a (Islamic law). ... Muslims must safeguard the lives, honor and property of Christians and Jews. Attacking them contradicts Shari’a.”

al-Shaykh, Shaykh Abd al Aziz bin Abdallah, The grand mufti of SAUDI ARABIA Islam forbids suicide terrorist attacks. “What you call suicide bombings in my view are illegitimate and have nothing to do with jihad in the cause of God. I am afraid it is another form of killing oneself.”

al-Tantawi, Sheikh Muhammad Sayyed, The Grand Sheikh of the al-Azhar mosque, EGYPT
Condemned suicide bombings against Israeli civilians and condemned terrorism in all its forms.

al-Tantawi, Sheikh Muhammad Sayyed, imam of al-Azhar mosque in Cairo, EGYPT “Attacking innocent people is not courageous, it is stupid and will be punished on the day of judgment. ... It’s not courageous to attack innocent children, women and civilians. It is courageous to protect freedom, it is courageous to defend oneself and not to attack.”

American Muslim Scholars STATEMENT REJECTING TERRORISM
“We wish again to state unequivocally that neither the al-Qaeda organization nor Usama bin Laden represents Islam or reflects Muslim beliefs and practice. Rather, groups like al-Qaeda have misused and abused Islam in order to fit their own radical and indeed anti-Islamic agenda. Usama bin Laden and al-Qaeda’s actions are criminal, misguided and counter to the true teachings of Islam. We call on people of all faiths not to judge Islam by the actions of a few. We believe in justice and peace for both Israelis and Palestinians. We are convinced that security for Israel can only be achieved by justice for Palestinians. … We say most clearly, however, that the killing of innocent civilians, whether Christian, Muslim, or Jewish, is always wrong and is forbidden in Islamic law and ethics. Illegitimate means can never be justified by a desirable or noble goal.”

Asmal, Dr. Abdul Cader U.S. The time to ratchet down hostilities is now. The coming together of typecast foes may not be easy. On the other hand allowing fascists to chart the future of humanity is not a viable option. Rapprochement is the only answer to Israel’s survival and Islam’s renaissance. There is nothing incompatible between Islam and Judaism that prevents Muslims and Jews from living together again. They have a moral imperative to do so, resting on the Muslim belief of a divinely-assigned stewardship of God’s creation, and the Jewish belief of ‘Tikkun’ or healing of God’s creation. With these credentials Muslims and Jews should not only be able to coexist but respond to the call, ‘peace on earth and goodwill to all men’, a timeless message with a universal appeal, we can all live with.

Azam, Hina, Ph.D. U.S. One hardly needs to ask al-Qaeda (and al-Qaedaesque) operatives what they think they are doing in their suicide attacks. The pronouncements and writings of Osama bin Laden and Abu Mus’ab al-Zarqawi make it abundantly clear that they believe they are engaging in a legitimate jihad. Never mind that they break cardinal rules of jihad as laid out in the Qur’an and the lawbooks of Islam. Never mind that they confuse basic distinctions, such as the one between combatants and civilians, and between suicide and martyrdom. … The truth of the matter, however, is that they are engaged in the very behavior that the Qur’an and Prophet came to combat: tribalism. Despite protestations to the contrary, Al-Qaeda and similarly-minded groups are engaged in no more than the old-fashioned tribal warfare, the hallmark of jahiliyya.

Aziz, Haris U. S. Anti-Semitism is against the basics of Islam
Aziz, Haris U.S. Anti-Semitism is against the basics of Islam. Islam promotes humility and warns against keeping enmity and anger in one’s heart. It is a positive sign that many Muslim intellectuals such as Akbar Ahmed and Tariq Ramadan are speaking out against anti-Semitism by Muslims. It is also crucial that the Jewish leaders also follow suit and encourage better understanding between Muslims and Jews. Tariq Ramadan says, ‘there is nothing in Islam that gives legitimization to Judeophobia, xenophobia and the rejection of any human being because of his religion or the group to which he belongs. Anti-Semitism has no justification in Islam, the message of which demands respect for the Jewish religion and spirit, which are considered a noble expression of the People of the Book’.

Badawi, Zaki, Principal, Muslim College in London BRITAIN
We desperately need for the recovery of the religious commitment that will inspire in all of us the respect for the rule of law over individualism and tribalism. Only then will we subscribe to the dignity and worth of all peoples, tribes, and individuals regardless of color, custom, tongue and traditions. And only then will we have a world at peace with itself.

Bakri, Shaykh Omar, Leader of al-Muhajirun, a radical Islamist movement based in London, ENGLAND
Condemned 9/11 attack. If Islamists did it—and most likely it is Islamists, because of the nature of what happened—then they have fully misunderstood the teachings of Islam. ... Even the most radical of us have condemned this. I am always considered to be a radical in the Islamic world and even I condemn it.

Bayyoumi, Abdel-Mo’tei, al-Azhar Islamic Research Academy, Cairo, EGYPT
“There is no terrorism or a threat to civilians in jihad [religious struggle].”

CAIR statement on holocaust denial
“No legitimate cause or agenda can ever be advanced by denying or belittling the immense human suffering caused by the murder of millions of Jews and other minority groups by the Nazi regime and its allies during World War II. Cynical attempts to use Holocaust denial as a political tool in the Middle East conflict will only serve to deepen the level of mistrust and hostility already present in that troubled region.”

Council of Ulama’, fatwa of February 2003, SAUDI ARABIA “What is happening in some countries from the shedding of the innocent blood and the bombing of buildings and ships and the destruction of public and private installations is a criminal act against Islam. ... Those who carry out such acts have the deviant beliefs and misleading ideologies and are responsible for the crime. Islam and Muslims should not be held responsible for such actions.”

Crane, Dr. Robert D. U.S. Many Muslims justify violence against civilians as self-defense. In response to 9/11 their only response was a defensive Don’t blame us!? The time has come for Muslims to do precisely this, to blame themselves. If religious extremism, regardless of its causes, can claim justification for incinerating and crushing thousands of innocent Americans in the name of Islam, then the silent majority of Muslims have an unmet responsibility to reclaim the wisdom of their Islamic heritage as a constructive force in global affairs. This must be the primary response to the challenge of 9/11. The specific challenge of such a response is how to organize in a positive way to promote more enlightened understanding of Islam, particularly by Muslims among Muslims.

El Fadl, Khaled Abou, U.S. Classical Muslim jurists, however, were uncompromisingly harsh toward rebels who used what the jurists described as stealth attacks and, as a result, spread terror. Muslim jurists considered terrorist attacks against unsuspecting and defenseless victims as heinous and immoral crimes, and treated the perpetrators as the worst type of criminals. Under the category of crimes of terror, the classical jurists included abductions, poisoning of water wells, arson, attacks against wayfarers and travelers, assaults under the cover of night and rape. For these crimes, regardless of the religious or political convictions of the perpetrators, Muslim jurists demanded the harshest penalties, including death. Most important, Muslim jurists held that the penalties are the same whether the perpetrator or victim is Muslim or non-Muslim.

El Amin, Imam Plemon U.S. Cowardly acts of terrorism upon innocent men, women, and children is not a doorway to Heaven, but a gateway to Hell. Blind aggression and retaliation are sins, and as Muslims we reject these practices by our selves, our kin, our foes, the rich, or the poor. Past and recent acts of terrorism that victimize innocent human beings, such as the World Trade Center bombing, the mosque assault by Baruch Goldstein, and the recent suicide bombing in Tel Aviv are deplored by our community and must be condemned by all God-conscious and civilized communities, both Muslim and others. We must all stand up for peace and toleration. Among both the Palestinians and the Israelis are those guilty and responsible for the many women and children left maimed and dead. Each side has produced both perpetrators of violence and victims of injustice.

Engineer, Dr. Asghar Ali, INDIA The Qur’an clearly lays down that killing any person without a just cause amounts to killing whole humanity and saving one person’s life amounts to saving entire humanity. This is truly humanistic and spiritual dimension of Islam and of any religion for that matter. Killing hundreds of innocent people can not qualify for being a religious act by any stretch of imagination. In fact whether fundamentalism and terrorism (in the sense in which they have been defined above) are linked together or not both are curses for humanity. No truly religious person should approve of such gross misuse of religion. A religious attitude has to be of humility, distance from political power and of non-violence. The Sufi Islam which was truly spiritual Islam always maintained its distance from power centres and believed in the doctrine of what is called sulh-i-kul i.e. peace with all.

Shaykh Muhammad Hussein Fadlallah
Said he was “horrified” by these “barbaric ... crimes”: Beside the fact that they are forbidden by Islam, these acts do not serve those who carried them out but their victims, who will reap the sympathy of the whole world. ... Islamists who live according to the human values of Islam could not commit such crimes.”

Ghannouchi, Shaykh Rached , chairman of Tunisia’s an-Nahda Movement, in exile in London, ENGLAND Such destruction can only be condemned by any Muslim, however resentful one may be of America’s biased policies supporting occupation in Palestine, as an unacceptable attack on thousands of innocent people having no relation to American policies. Anyone familiar with Islam has no doubt about its rejection of collective punishment, based on the well-known Quranic principle that ‘no bearer of burdens can bear the burden of another.’

Ghannoushi, Soumaya The causes al-Qaida extremists speak for are certainly just causes. The sanctioning of genocide and occupation in Palestine, slaughter of hundreds of thousands in Iraq through exposure to depleted Uranium and years of barbaric sanctions first, then through bombing and shelling without bothering to count the dead, brutal invasion of the country, destruction of its infrastructure and humiliation of its people, undoubtedly rank among modern history’s bloodiest crimes and darkest tragedies. But the mindless killing of the innocent in Madrid, New York, or London is the wrong answer to these real grievances. These are illegitimate responses to legitimate causes. Just as occupation is morally and politically deplorable, so too is any blind aggression masquerading as Jihad.

Hajoo, Imam Jamil U.S. The terrorists, whoever they are, could not be worthy Muslims. The Islamic message is a message of justice, peace and mercy to all mankind. A cowardly act of terrorism against innocent people is not a doorway to heaven but a gateway to hell. Islam rejects aggression and self-serving retribution. Islam holds the human soul in high regard and considers the attack against one human being a grave sin. The Holy Qur’an warns: “Whoever killed a person not in retaliation of murder or in spreading mischief in the land it would be as if he killed all mankind and if anyone saved one life it would be as if he saved all mankind” (Qur’an 5: 32). Prophet Muhammad said “Whoever hurts a dhimee (a Jew or a Christian protected by Islamic state) he would be like hurting me and who hurts me, he hurts God.”

Hasan, Usama - Britain Suicide-bombing of civilian targets is evil and prohibited under Islamic Law. I would tell suicide-bombers intending to attack civilians that they would be murderers, not martyrs, and that they would go to Hell, not Heaven.

Hassaballa, Dr. Hesham U. S. From where has this all come
Hassaballa, Dr. Hesham U.S. From where has this all come? By what stretch of the imagination could the killing of Margaret Hassan, or the attack on the elementary school in Beslan, Russia be deemed as “Islamic”? Where in our ancient and rich scholarly tradition has the murder of non-combatants ever been sanctioned? As I search deep into my soul for answers to these invariably difficult questions, my soul is struck with a deep pang of pain. I fear that the Nation whose legacy to the world had once been Astronomy, Medicine, and Philosophy has devolved into one whose legacy to the world will be suicide bombings, kidnappings, and be headings. I fear that the phrase “parle l’arabe (he speaks Arabic),” once a symbol of elevated social status, will become a stain of shame, worthy of concealment.

Hassaballa, Dr. Hesham U. S
Hassaballa, Dr. Hesham U.S. No matter what wrong has been done to the Muslims, there is no justification for the taking of innocent life. It is not “defending Islam” in the least; it is not “martyrdom,” but cold-blooded murder. The Qur’an is quite clear: “Do not let the hatred of some people move you to commit injustice.” (5:8). Never can the legitimate suffering of Muslims around the world be justification for the murder of innocent human beings, no matter where they are, no matter who they are, no matter what faith they claim to profess.

Hathout, Dr. Maher, American Muslim scholar.
In spite of our deep understanding and sympathy towards the Palestinian suffering and the frustration of trying to move the conscience of the world through peaceful means and throwing rocks, and in spite of our condemnation of the brutal practices of the Sharon apartheid regime, we still took a clear stand against suicide bombing that compels a person use his or her body as a weapon to destroy noncombatants. We took that stand conscientiously based on our understanding of Islam, as well as the awareness that once we glorify death and cheapen human life, it takes us to a downhill spiral that does not limit itself to one field or one cause. Now we see what we were dreading happening daily, resulting in the killing of Iraqis in Iraq, the Shias, in Pakistan, the Kurds in Mosul. Suicide killing has become a “modus operandi,” not a desperate aberration. ... If we truly believe in this religion, we ought to go through very serious questioning and soul-searching. How did we, as a group, fail to nip this ugly phenomenon in the bud? How did we indulge in the luxury of theoretical debates, and craft all kinds of euphemisms to let this go on, spill out and grow?

Hathout, Dr. Maher U.S. “Two weeks ago, we saw how a group of young Muslims swallowed the bait of fiery rhetoric riddled with out-of-context verses spun in order to serve a nihilistic ideology of anger and despair offered to them disguised as Islam. Within a short period of time, these young men fell prey to the hate-filled dogma and were transformed into beings capable of blowing themselves up, taking with them innocent lives whom God has also blown in them from his spirit and “conferred dignity on the children of Adam” (Quran 7:70) which cuts through barriers of race, gender and creed...As they commit the crime against themselves and others, they drag with them the reputation and image of the religion they claim to venerate. They not only violate its basic teachings, but disfigure the message of “mercy to the worlds” into a justification for cruel, cowardly and repulsive behavior. In this way, hearts that were supposed to be opened to the word of God got closed and minds that were hoped to have been opened to the light of guidance are shut.”

Heminski, Sheikh Kabir U. S
Heminski, Sheikh Kabir U.S. There are many prophecies that suggest that we are at a point of global crisis. In addition to many other voices, the indigenous peoples of the world, and especially of my own continent of North America, are trying to call our attention to the unavoidable truth: The world is more out of balance than ever in human history. Not only the ummahs of the land, but the ummahs of the sky and sea are suffering and dying from these imbalances. We have truly forgotten the sacredness of all life as we have become entangled in our own egoistic, nationalistic, and even sectarian concerns.

Henzell-Thomas, Dr. Jeremy BRITAIN There are even finer distinctions to be drawn here. We might recognize the distinction between “Islamic” terrorist and “Muslim” terrorist, but we might also want to say that a “Muslim terrorist” is also an oxymoron, because a true Muslim can, by definition, never be a terrorist (i.e. one guilty of hirabah, or unholy war), in the same way as Islam, by definition, can never sanction such behavior. We then have to distinguish between the misleading phrase “Muslim terrorist” and some such phrase as “criminal terrorist” who calls himself a Muslim. ... The logical consequence of this reasoning is to deny to anyone a faith-based identity who does not live up to the precepts of the faith or does not embody a completely idealized version of the faith he or she claims to follow. Ultimately then, are there any Muslims, Christians and Jews apart from the Prophets and Saints? One way round this is to understand that the Qur’an promises nothing to the Muslims, only to the mumin, the People of Faith, who may also be Jews, Sabeans and Christians, and, in fact, people of other faith communities too, given the fact that the Qur’an tells us that a Prophet has been sent to every human community and that We make no distinction between any of them..

Ibrahim, Anwar , Islamic activist and former deputy prime minister, MALAYSIA, Never in Islam’s entire history has the action of so few of its followers caused the religion and its community of believers to be such an abomination in the eyes of others. Millions of Muslims who fled to North America and Europe to escape poverty and persecution at home have become the object of hatred and are now profiled as potential terrorists. And the nascent democratic movements in Muslim countries will regress for a few decades as ruling autocrats use their participation in the global war against terrorism to terrorize their critics and dissenters. This is what Mohammed Atta and his fellow terrorists and sponsors have done to Islam and its community worldwide by their murder of innocents at the World Trade Center in New York and the Defense Depart-ment in Washington. The attack must be condemned, and the condemnation must be without reservation.

Islahi, Shaikh Muhammad Yusuf, Pakistani-American Muslim leader, U. S
Islahi, Shaikh Muhammad Yusuf, Pakistani-American Muslim leader, U.S. “The sudden barbaric attack on innocent citizens living in peace is extremely distressing and deplorable. Every gentle human heart goes out to the victims of this attack and as humans we are ashamed at the barbarism perpetrated by a few people. Islam, which is a religion of peace and tolerance, condemns this act and sees this is as a wounding scar on the face of humanity. I appeal to Muslims to strongly condemn this act, express unity with the victims’ relatives, donate blood, money and do whatever it takes to help the affected people.”

Islam, Yusuf (formerly Cat Stevens), prominent British Muslim, singer, songwriter, BRITAIN “I wish to express my heartfelt horror at the indiscriminate terrorist attacks committed against innocent people of the United States yesterday. While it is still not clear who carried out the attack, it must be stated that no right thinking follower of Islam could possibly condone such an action: the Qur’an equates the murder of one innocent person with the murder of the whole of humanity. We pray for the families of all those who lost their lives in this unthinkable act of violence as well as all those injured; I hope to reflect the feelings of all Muslims and people around the world whose sympathies go out to the victims at this sorrowful moment.”... As a Muslim from the West, it is important to me to let people know that these acts of mass murder have nothing to do with Islam and the beliefs of Muslims.”

ISNA Fatwa Against Terrorism and Religious Extremism: Muslim Position and Responsibilities, U.S. IN PART: [1] All acts of terrorism, including those targeting the life and property of civilians, whether perpetrated by suicidal or any other form of attacks, are haram (forbidden) n Islam. [2] It is haram for a Muslim to cooperate with any individual or group that is involved in any act of terrorism or prohibited violence. [3] It is the civic and religious duty of Muslims to undertake full measures to protect the lives of all civilians, and ensure the security and well-being of fellow citizens.

Sherman Jackson, American Muslim Scholar Terrorism in Islamic law (under the name of hirabah) is publicly directed violence (not just public violence but publicly directed violence), i.e., violence that indiscriminately targets innocent, non-combatant civilians. As for suicide bombings, even leaving aside the question of suicide itself, inasmuch as they target innocent, non-combatant, civilian populations, they are crimes under Islamic law, whether they are carried out against non-Muslim, civilian populations, such as in Israel, or Muslim civilian populations, such as in Iraq. It is true that at least one prominent modern jurist, Shaykh Yusuf al-Qaradawi, has exempted Israel from this judgment, arguing in effect that such bombers are martyrs in a legitimate jihad. But this is not the view of the majority, who find it lacking in scriptural proof, as well as inconsistent with the judgment that even this jurist would apply to identical acts committed elsewhere. As for situations such as Iraq, they really reflect the extent to which the contemporary Muslim reality betrays Islamic ideals. For here the Qur’ân explicitly addresses the Muslims with the following warning: “And whoever intentionally kills a believer, their recompense shall be hell, where they shall abide. God’s anger and curse shall be upon them, and God shall prepare for them a severe punishment.”

Jackson, Sherman, American Muslim scholar
Jackson, Sherman, American Muslim scholar. In the interest of honest communication and meaningful global dialogue, I think that all of us should abandon our hypocritical claims to passivism and honestly lay out the circumstances under which we will sanction violence and those under which we will accept peace. At the very least, this could provide us with an opportunity to recognize our respective contributions to peace and violence in the world, instead of always seeing our violence as noble and justified and our enemy’s violence as gratuitous and barbaric. Of course, many will see this as a veiled indictment of American action in the world. In point of fact, however, I see Muslims as being just as guilty of high-handed arrogance and blatant disregard for both the sanctity of human life and the teachings of the religion they profess. I am actually writing this missive from the gulf state of Qatar, where I have spoken with numerous Muslims who bemoan what they describe as a frightening and deep-seated sickness that seems to have gripped a segment of the Muslim population. They recognize the horrific political, social and economic conditions under which this segment lives. But they do not condone their wanton, publicly directed violence and terror; and they do not recognize it as part of their religion.

Keller, Nuh Ha Mim, American Muslim scholar, U. S
Keller, Nuh Ha Mim, American Muslim scholar, U.S. “Muslims have nothing to be ashamed of, and nothing to hide, and should simply tell people what their scholars and religious leaders have always said: first, that the Wahhabi sect has nothing to do with orthodox Islam, for its lack of tolerance is a perversion of traditional values; and second, that killing civilians is wrong and immoral.”

Khamene’i, Ayatollah Ali, Supreme jurist-ruler of Iran
“Killing of people, in any place and with any kind of weapons, including atomic bombs, long-range missiles, biological or chemical weapons, passenger or war planes, carried out by any organization, country or individuals is condemned. ... It makes no difference whether such massacres happen in Hiroshima, Nagasaki, Qana, Sabra, Shatila, Deir Yassin, Bosnia, Kosovo, Iraq or in New York and Washington.” **

Khan, Muqtedar, Ph.D. U.S. Let me tell you that I would rather live in America under Ashcroft and Bush at their worst, than in any “Islamic state” established by ignorant, intolerant and murderous punks like you and Mullah Omar at their best. The US, Patriot Act not withstanding, is still a more Islamic (just and tolerant) state than Afghanistan ever was under the Taliban. Remember this: Muslims from all over the world who wished to live better lives migrated to America and Muslims who only wished to take lives migrated to Afghanistan to join you. We will not follow the desires of people (like you) who went astray and led many astray from the Straight Path. (Quran 5:77). I conclude by calling upon you Mr. Bin Laden and your Al Qaeda colleagues and Mr. Saddam Hussein to surrender to International Courts and take responsibility for your actions and protect thousands of other innocent Muslims from becoming the victims of the wars you bring upon them.

Khatami, President Muhammad of IRAN
“The September 11 terrorist blasts in America can only be the job of a group that have voluntarily severed their own ears and tongues, so that the only language with which they could communicate would be destroying and spreading death.”

Khatami, President Muhammad condemns bin Laden “First, because of the crimes he conducts,” he said, “and second because he conducts them in the name of Islam, the religion which is a harbinger of peace and justice.” Khatami, whose speech in Farsi was relayed through a translator, said he was one of the first world leaders to condemn “the barbarous acts” of Sept. 11. In response to a question about the notion of suicide bombers gaining entry to heaven as reward for their martyrdom, Khatami said, “Those who put others through hell will never go to heaven.”

Maqsood, Ruquaiyah Waris BRITAIN It is high time that the followers of this anti-Muslim teaching are properly labeled for what they are. Their brand of Islam is not Islam. They do not have an identifying name at the moment - the word Fundamentalist is not accurate, neither is extremist. I would like to call their faith something like Islamiolatry. They are not Muslims but Islamiots or Zealotologists. Once a sectarian can be identified by a name, then people find it much easier to understand that these are at least deviants from the faith, and more usually enemies to the faith. ... When people choose to kill themselves and take out over five thousand miscellaneous persons with them, this is hardly what Islam defines as Jihad and these people are not martyrs - a jihad is a struggle for the will of God in which any attack on the weak, the child, the female, the aged, the animal or the plant is totally forbidden. A martyr is someone who has been put to death for what they believe. It is not the rights of a Muslim minority that are under threat - but the rights of the Muslims, the majority, Islam itself, the millions of believers, that are being hijacked by these murderers who dare to call themselves Muslims.

Manzoor, Dr. S. Parvez, SWEDEN If these acts of terror indeed have been perpetrated by Muslim radicals or fundamentalists, they have reaped nothing but eternal damnation, shame and ignominy. For nothing, absolutely nothing, could remotely be advanced as an excuse for these barbaric acts. They represent a total negation of Islamic values, an utter disregard of our fiqhi tradition, and a slap in the face of the Ummah. They are in total contrast to what Islamic reason, compassion and faith stand for. Even from the more mundane criteria of common good, the maslaha of the jurists, these acts are treasonous and suicidal. Islamic faith has been so callously and casually sacrificed at the altar of politics, a home-grown politics of parochial causes, primeval passions, self-endorsing piety and messianic terror.

Mattson, Ingrid, Ph.D. U.S. These days, I find myself in the position of being asked to explain the motives of these unknown terrorists. I am a Professor of Islamic Studies, not a criminologist. I can explain Islamic law, ethical norms, and religious practices, I do not understand the way a terrorist thinks. The best I can do is describe how terrorism is treated in Islamic law and theology.

Minai, Ali Ahmed U.S. Those who lament the fact that Islam today wears the face of militancy in the eyes of the world should keep this in mind: When those who are moderate do not speak as loudly as the militants, the militants speak for them too. The only way to reclaim the enlightened aspect of Islam is to pursue it aggressively. Call it extremism in the pursuit of moderation. And that is no vice.

Mohammed, Dr. Mahathir, Prime Minister MALAYSIA
Salvation could not be achieved through the killing of innocent people.”

Muhammad, Imam W. D. U.S. `Islam insists that the best human behavior be demonstrated even when engaging an enemy in war, Our Prophet Muhammed (prayers and peace be on him) ordered that civilians not be made the victims of war. He (the Prophet) cautioned the Muslims to take care not to attack those who were not bearing arms against them. Islam and the Prophet’s life require of us that we uphold justice and be a peace-seeking people.’

Mulkhan, Abdul Munir Indonesia - The word jihad does not signify “war” (qital) alone, but can also mean to strive mightily to defeat one’s own ego, so as to become humble and at peace with oneself, with God, and His varied creation. As many others have stated, the Prophet himself explicitly made this point, upon returning from the “lesser jihad” at the battle of Badr to the “greater jihad,” through which he exhorted his Muslim followers to overcome their egotistical nature and desires. Violence is generally born of egotism and arrogance, even when veiled in the sanctity of religious justification. The wave of suicide bombings we have witnessed in recent years is no exception. True jihad consists of opposing such violence, in the name of God and His religion. For only God Himself has any right or claim to absolute possession of the Truth.

Murad, Shaykh Abdul Hakim BRITAIN Certainly, neither bin Laden nor his principal associate, Ayman al-Zawahiri, are graduates of Islamic universities or seminaries. And so their proclamations ignore 14 centuries of Muslim scholarship, and instead take the form of lists of anti-American grievances and of Koranic quotations referring to early Muslim wars against Arab idolators. These are followed by the conclusion that all Americans, civilian and military, are to be wiped off the face of the Earth. All this amounts to an odd and extreme violation of the normal methods of Islamic scholarship. Had the authors of such fatwas [non-binding legal opinions] followed the norms of their religion, they would have had to acknowledge that no school of traditional Islam allows the targeting of civilians. An insurrectionist who kills non-combatants is guilty of baghy, “armed transgression”, a capital offence in Islamic law. A jihad can be proclaimed only by a properly constituted state; anything else is pure vigilantism

Musaji, Sheila, Editor The American Muslim U. S
Musaji, Sheila, Editor The American Muslim U.S. As an American-Muslim I feel moral repugnance towards terrorism and violence, and at the same time I feel concern and frustration for what is happening to Muslims (and others in the third world) daily. Because the legitimate grievances of some have been hijacked by criminals as a pretext for terrorism does not de-legitimize the concerns. The issues still need to be addressed.. Much of the world suffers from oppression, occupation, tyranny and injustice. We cannot stop terrorism without first working to end the injustice.

Musaji, Sheila Editor, The American Muslim Journal, U. S
Musaji, Sheila Editor, The American Muslim Journal, U.S. Issued a STATEMENT ON THE TRAGEDY OF SEPTEMBER 11th which said in part: We are Americans and Muslims and proud to be both. We are as shocked and horrified by this insane act of terrorists as any other Americans. Our hearts go out to the victims and their families. We also want those responsible to be caught and brought to justice. They may happen to consider themselves Muslims (as Timothy McVey and Slobodon Milosovic may have considered themselves to be Christians) and may even have twisted the teachings of their religion to justify their actions, but terrorism is not the act of any person who understands anything about the teachings of any of the world’s religions. There is no religious justification for such actions. September 29, 2001

Noor, Farish MALAYSIA But Islam, it must be remembered, also happens to be a faith that does not possess a clerical class or a supreme leader like the Pope. On the positive side this lends the creed an egalitarian outlook which puts all Muslims on par with each other. But on the negative side the absence of a centralised hierarchy also means that the Muslim world is full of self-proclaimed ‘leaders of the faith’ like the Taliban and their unwanted guest, Osama bin Laden. It is this absence of a clerical order and the plasticity of religious discourse that allows concepts like ‘Jihad’ to be hijacked by such self-appointed defenders of orthodoxy. Coupled with this is the predicament of a Muslim world that feels itself increasingly threatened and marginalised by the forces of globalisation, leading to the defensive posture being adopted by many Muslim leaders themselves.

OIC - Organization of the Islamic Conference, Summit Conference
OIC - Organization of the Islamic Conference, Summit Conference. “We are determined to fight terrorism in all its forms. ... Islam is the religion of moderation. It rejects extremism and isolation. There is a need to confront deviant ideology where it appears, including in school curricula. Islam is the religion of diversity and tolerance.” Daily Star (Beirut, Lebanon), December 9, 2001

Philippine Muslim Leaders Condemn Terrorism, PHILLIPINES Islamic religious authorities have declared terrorism “haram” (unlawful) in Monday’s simultaneous open congregational prayers to mark Eid’l Fitr in town centers of Muslim-dominated provinces and cities. Ustadz Abdulrauf Guialani, a member of the Assembly of Philippine Da’rul Ifta (APDI) or Houses of Opinion, declared senseless violence haram three times as he delivered the khutba. Ustadz Esmael Ebrahim, a senior member of the APDI, said a similar teaching was given in Eid’l Fitr open field prayers elsewhere in the country, particularly in the areas of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM). September 23, 2006

Qadri, Tahirul head of the Awami Tehrik Party, PAKISTAN “Bombing embassies or destroying non-military installations like the World Trade Center is no jihad. ... “[T]hose who launched the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks not only killed thousands of innocent people in the United States but also put the lives of millions of Muslims across the world at risk. ... Bin Laden is not a prophet that we should put thousands of lives at risk for.” United Press International, October 18, 2001

Ramadan, Tariq The situation is far too serious for one to be satisfied by simple explanations based on current frustrations. In the name of their faith and their conscience, Muslims must take a clear position so that a pernicious atmosphere does not take hold in the Western countries. Nothing in Islam can legitimize xenophobia or the rejection of a human being due to his/her religious creed or ethnicity. One must say unequivocally, with force, that anti-Semitism is unacceptable and indefensible. The message of Islam requires respect of Jewish faith and spirituality as noble expressions of “The People of the Book”.

Sachedina, Abdulaziz, Ph. D. U. S
Sachedina, Abdulaziz, Ph.D. U.S. I continued to search for the religious sources of terrorism, if there were any, available to the extremists in the scriptures or in the tradition ascribed to the Prophet. As I searched, I became aware that the term ‘jihad’, which is commonly used by these terrorists to legitimize their criminality, does not appear in the meaning of “holy war against the infidels” at all. In fact, terrorism in any form does not qualify as anything more than a cowardly act and an expression of rejection of God’s blessing of life. To be sure, the term `jihad’ in the lexicon of these murderers does not appear in more than a contrived meaning to cover up the horror of their satanic behavior.

Sardar, Ziauddin MALAYSIA Creating the Kingdom of God on earth, as it is in heaven, is the basic message of Islam. This is the true meaning of jihad. Now there’s a word. The very mention of the term sends shivers down ‘civilized’ spines and leads many, glibly, towards ‘holy war’. Surely, these paradise-seeking martyrs have declared jihad on America? Acts of terror are not jihad. They violate the explicit word of God, Prophet Muhammad and the reasoned consensus of all believers. The greatest jihad is the war on injustice in one’s own soul, the injustice that can conceive of terror tactics and lose all restraints and respect for the sanctity of a human life. Jihad is the reasoned struggle of each individual to work within the bounds of moral action, to extend the protection of justice equitably to every human being, irrespective of color, creed or place of origin. Jihad is the obligation to make peace a lived reality for all human beings. ... Islam cannot explain the actions of the suicide hijackers, just as Christianity cannot explain the gas chambers, Catholicism the bombing at Omagh. They are acts beyond belief, religious belief, by people who long ago abandoned the path of Islam.

Schleifer, S. Abdallah EGYPT That is why, in my opinion, the Amman Initiative called last spring [2005] by Jordan’s King Abdallah II was so important. The conference made manifest by the Amman Initiative was organized on the king’s behalf by the Aal al Bayt Institute for Islamic Thought, an institute that embraces both the ulema in the most classical sense and contemporary Muslim intellectuals of various perspectives. Together, the ulema and the intellectuals signed off on a document that affirmed the mutual recognition of all classical schools of Islamic law, be they Sunni or Shiàh, and condemned all attempts to takfir Muslims – a doctrine that allows one Muslim to classify another Muslim as an apostate worthy of being slaughtered. This is the doctrine that has been used in an attempt to justify terrorism, in Islamic terms, within Egypt since the mid-1970s and now is the basis for the almost daily mass murder of Shiàhs in Iraq. This declaration, which embraced fatwas by the sheikh al-Azhar, the mufti of Egypt, and the rector of al-Azhar University; Grand Ayatullah Sayyid Ali Sistani and many other outstanding Shiàh ulema in Iraq and Iran; muftis in Jordan, Oman, and other Sunni countries; as well as by an officer of the Fiqh Council of Saudi Arabia and Sheikh Yusuf al-Qaradawi, struck at the very roots of theologically justified terrorism. By mutually recognizing all Sunni and Shiàh schools of law and by insisting that only those scholars who have mastered the traditional legal disciplines within their respective schools have the authority to issue fatwas, the mainstream ulema and Muslim intellectuals who participated in Amman also explicitly declared that Islam is not a do-it-yourself store-front religion.

Shakir, Imam Zaid U.S. This is a war being guided on both sides by self-righteous murderers whose motives and proclamations mirror each other. Each side sees God as being exclusively with them. That being the case, the restraint and judiciousness urged by Christian and Islamic theology to guide the execution of war is cast aside with wanton impunity. Each side manipulates a vulnerable public to create a climate that allows for the perpetuation and the inevitable escalation of the ongoing slaughter. Each side reserves the right to use the spectacle of indiscriminate violence to “Shock and Awe” the opposition, yet will deny that its tactics can be described as terrorism. Each side sees their civilian population as hapless, innocent victims, while the suffering innocent civilians on the other side are acceptable collateral damage.

Shakir, Imam Zaid U.S. Islam has instituted fighting to defend life, honor, property, to restore usurped rights, and to protect the integrity of the religion and the community of the faithful. However, that fighting is governed by well-established laws and principles that articulate rules, regulations, and limitations that outline for Muslims when, where, how, and against whom it is permissible to fight. Those laws and principles have never sanctioned anarchist terrorism, wanton murder, tumult, and mayhem.

Sullivan, Dr. Antony T. BRITAIN My fundamental argument is that terrorism and Jihad are not identical twins but historic enemies. I will maintain that a new vocabulary is essential to demonstrate the radical antipathy that has separated these concepts until very recent decades. Terrorism is not only un-Islamic but anti-Islamic, and those who commit terrorism should be designated as criminals rather than as holy warriors or resistance fighters. Moreover, this paper will suggest that a new focus by Muslims on the Holy Quran, at the expense of medieval fiqh, is now very much in order (I frequently suggest to Muslim fundamentalists that their only problem is that they are not fundamentalist enough). In addition, an argument will be made that the meaning of Jihad must be reassessed through analysis of its linguistic roots, and re-conceptualized to incorporate the phenomenon of culturally traditionalist and inter-religious efforts designed to address some of the most difficult problems of modernity. Indeed, ecumenical Jihad is today not an oxymoron, but a necessity. If the perceived linkage between terrorism and Jihad can be ruptured, and Jihad re-conceptualized as constituting a means by which all of the children of Abraham may strive to create a better world, the foundations for a brighter future will surely have been laid. This paper will conclude with a discussion of one ecumenical effort already underway which seeks to join Muslims and Christians who are culturally traditionalist and truly religious in a common effort to oppose the radical secularism so characteristic of contemporary Western modernity

Yahya, Harun (Adnan Oktar), author, TURKEY “Islam does not encourage any kind of terrorism; in fact, it denounces it. Those who use terrorism in the name of Islam, in fact, have no other faculty except ignorance and hatred.”

”If you hate the West, emigrate to a Muslim country.”
Shaik Hamza Yusuf ”If you hate the West, emigrate to a Muslim country.”

Where are the Muslim voices?

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