[Peace-discuss] Fwd: [SRRTAC-L:17186] Fwd: Islamic Statements Against Terror

[Al Kagan]

Begin forwarded message:

> From: Mark Rosenzweig <iskra at earthlink.net>
> Date: July 17, 2005 8:38:39 PM CDT
> To: SRRT Action Council <srrtac-l at ala.org>
> Subject: [SRRTAC-L:17186] Fwd: Islamic Statements Against Terror
> Reply-To: iskra at earthlink.net
>
> This web page is worth book-marking at the reference desk for the
> question:"Is it true no Islamic leaders or Islamic groups have spoken
> out against terrorism (as Fox News talking heads repeat endlessly)?"
> In my opinion this collection of statements, the web sites they refer
> us to, and the anthology 'Liberal Islam (Oxford Univ Press, 1998)
> whose author <http://www.unc.edu/~kurzman/> compiled this list,
> constitute a very useful collection of resources for promoting
> tolerance and understanding in the wake of terrorism, something to
> which librarians can and should contribute. These items below refer
> to the 9/11/01 events but their relevance to Madrid and London is
> clear.
> Thanks to Tom Baxter for bringing this to the attention of the  
> PLGNET-L list.
> Mark Rosenzweig
>
>>
>>
>> Islamic Statements Against Terrorism
>> http://www.unc.edu/~kurzman/terror.htm
>>
>>
>> Islamic Statements Against Terrorism
>> Mustafa Mashhur, General Guide, Muslim Brotherhood, Egypt; Qazi
>> Hussain Ahmed, Ameer, Jamaat-e-Islami Pakistan, Pakistan; Muti
>> Rahman Nizami, Ameer, Jamaat-e-Islami Bangladesh, Bangladesh; Shaykh
>> Ahmad Yassin, Founder, Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas),
>> Palestine; Rashid Ghannoushi, President, Nahda Renaissance Movement,
>> Tunisia; Fazil Nour, President, PAS - Parti Islam SeMalaysia,
>> Malaysia; and 40 other Muslim scholars and politicians:
>> "The undersigned, leaders of Islamic movements, are horrified by the
>> events of Tuesday 11 September 2001 in the United States which
>> resulted in massive killing, destruction and attack on innocent
>> lives. We express our deepest sympathies and sorrow. We condemn, in
>> the strongest terms, the incidents, which are against all human and
>> Islamic norms. This is grounded in the Noble Laws of Islam which
>> forbid all forms of attacks on innocents. God Almighty says in the
>> Holy Qur'an: 'No bearer of burdens can bear the burden of another'
>> (Surah al-Isra 17:15)."
>> MSANews, September 14, 2001,
>> http://msanews.mynet.net/MSANEWS/200109/20010917.15.html;
>> Arabic original in al-Quds al-Arabi (London), September 14, 2001, p.
>> 2,
>> http://www.alquds.co.uk/Alquds/2001/09Sep/14%20Sep%20Fri/Quds02.pdf
>>
>> Shaykh Yusuf Qaradawi, 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."
>> Statement of September 27, 2001. The Washington Post, October 11,
>> 2001,
>> http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A40545-2001Oct10.html
>> Full text of this fatwa in English and Arabic.
>>
>> Shaykh Muhammed Sayyid al-Tantawi, 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 judgement. ... 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."
>> Agence France Presse, September 14, 2001
>>
>> Abdel-Mo'tei Bayyoumi, al-Azhar Islamic Research Academy, Cairo,  
>> Egypt:
>> "There is no terrorism or a threat to civilians in jihad [religious
>> struggle]."
>> Al-Ahram Weekly Online, 20 - 26 September 2001,
>> http://www.ahram.org.eg/weekly/2001/552/p4fall3.htm
>>
>> Muslim Brotherhood, an opposition Islamist group in Egypt, said it
>> was "horrified" by the attack and expressed "condolences and
>> sadness":
>> "[We] strongly condemn such activities that are against all humanist
>> and Islamic morals. ... [We] condemn and oppose all aggression on
>> human life, freedom and dignity anywhere in the world."
>> Al-Ahram Weekly Online, 13 - 19 September 2001,
>> http://www.ahram.org.eg/weekly/2001/551/fo2.htm
>>
>> Shaykh Muhammad Hussein Fadlallah, spiritual guide of Shi'i Muslim
>> radicals in Lebanon, 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."
>> Agence France Presse, September 14, 2001
>>
>> 'Abdulaziz bin 'Abdallah Al-Ashaykh, chief mufti of Saudi Arabia:
>> "Firstly: the recent developments in the United States including
>> hijacking planes, terrorizing innocent people and shedding blood,
>> constitute a form of injustice that cannot be tolerated by Islam,
>> which views them as gross crimes and sinful acts. Secondly: any
>> Muslim who is aware of the teachings of his religion and who adheres
>> to the directives of the Holy Qur'an and the sunnah (the teachings
>> of the Prophet Muhammad) will never involve himself in such acts,
>> because they will invoke the anger of God Almighty and lead to harm
>> and corruption on earth."
>> Statement of September 15, 2001,
>> http://saudiembassy.net/press_release/01-spa/09-15-Islam.htm
>>
>> 'Abdulaziz bin 'Abdallah Al-Ashaykh, chief mufti of Saudi Arabia:
>> "You must know Islam's firm position against all these terrible
>> crimes. The world must know that Islam is a religion of peace and
>> mercy and goodness; it is a religion of justice and guidance.Islam
>> has forbidden violence in all its forms. It forbids the hijacking
>> airplanes, ships and other means of transport, and it forbids all
>> acts that undermine the security of the innocent."
>> Hajj sermon of February 2, 2004, in "Public Statements by Senior
>> Saudi Officials Condemning Extremism and Promoting Moderation," May
>> 2004,
>> http://www.saudiembassy.net/ReportLink/Report_Extremism_May04.pdf,
>> page 10
>>
>> Shaikh Saleh Al-Luheidan, 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."
>> Statement of September 14, 2001, in "Public Statements by Senior
>> Saudi Officials Condemning Extremism and Promoting Moderation," May
>> 2004,
>> http://www.saudiembassy.net/ReportLink/Report_Extremism_May04.pdf,
>> page 6
>>
>> Shaikh Saleh Al-Luheidan, Chairman of the Supreme Judicial Council,
>> Saudi Arabia:
>> "And I repeat once again: that this act that the United states was
>> afflicted with, with this vulgarity and barbarism, and which is even
>> more barbaric than terrorist acts, I say that these acts are from
>> the depths of depravity and the worst of evils."
>> Televised statement of September 2001, in Muhammad ibn Hussin
>> Al-Qahtani, editor, The Position of Saudi Muslim Scholars Regarding
>> Terrorism in the Name of Islam (Saudi Arabia, 2004), pages 27-28.
>>
>>
>> Shaykh Muhammad bin 'Abdallah al-Sabil, 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."
>> Agence France Presse, December 4, 2001
>>
>> Council of Saudi 'Ulama', fatwa of February 2003:
>> "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."
>> The Dawn newspaper, Karachi, Pakistan, February 8, 2003,
>> http://www.dawn.com/2003/02/08/top17.htm; also in "Public Statements
>> by Senior Saudi Officials Condemning Extremism and Promoting
>> Moderation," May 2004,
>> http://www.saudiembassy.net/ReportLink/Report_Extremism_May04.pdf,
>> page 10
>>
>> Shaykh Yusuf al-Qaradawi, chairman of the Sunna and Sira Council,  
>> Qatar:
>> "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. 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: 'Who so ever 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)."
>> Statement of September 13, 2001.
>> http://www.islamonline.net/English/News/2001-09/13/article25.shtml.
>> Arabic original at
>> http://www.qaradawi.net/site/topics/article.asp? 
>> cu_no=2&item_no=1665&version=1&template_id=130&parent_id=17
>>
>> Ayatollah Ali Khamene'i, 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
>> weopons, 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,
>> http://www.irna.com/en/hphoto/010916000000.ehp.shtml
>>
>> President Muhammad Khatami of Iran:
>> "[T]he 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."
>> Address to the United Nations General Assembly, November 9, 2001,
>> http://www.president.ir/cronicnews/1380/8008/800818/800818.htm#b3
>>
>> League of Arab States:
>> "The General-Secretariat of the League of Arab States shares with
>> the people and government of the United States of America the
>> feelings of revulsion, horror and shock over the terrorist attacks
>> that ripped through the World Trade Centre and Pentagon, inflicting
>> heavy damage and killing and wounding thousands of many
>> nationalities. These terrorist crimes have been viewed by the League
>> as inadmissible and deserving all condemnation. Divergence of views
>> between the Arabs and the United States over the latter's foreign
>> policy on the Middle East crisis does in no way adversely affect the
>> common Arab attitude of compassion with the people and government of
>> the United States at such moments of facing the menace and
>> ruthlessness of international terrorism. In more than one statement
>> released since the horrendous attacks, the League has also expressed
>> deep sympathy with the families of the victims. In remarks to
>> newsmen immediately following the tragic events, Arab League
>> Secretary-General Amre Moussa described the feelings of the Arab
>> world as demonstrably sympathetic with the American people,
>> particularly with families and individuals who lost their loved
>> ones. "It is indeed tormenting that any country or people or city
>> anywhere in the world be the scene of such disastrous attacks," he
>> added. While convinced that it is both inconceivable and lamentable
>> that such a large-scale, organised terrorist campaign take place
>> anywhere, anytime, the League believes that the dreadful attacks
>> against WTC and the Pentagon unveil, time and again, that the cancer
>> of terrorism can be extensively damaging if left unchecked. It
>> follows that there is a pressing and urgent need to combat world
>> terrorism. In this context, an earlier call by [Egyptian] President
>> Hosni Mubarak for convening an international conference to draw up
>> universal accord on ways and means to eradicate this phenomenon and
>> demonstrate international solidarity is worthy of active
>> consideration. The Arabs have walked a large distancein the fight
>> against cross-border terrorism by concluding in April 1998 the Arab
>> Agreement on Combating Terrorism."
>> September 17, 2001,
>> http://www.leagueofarabstates.org/E_Perspectives_17_09_01.asp
>>
>> Dr. Abdelouahed Belkeziz, Secretary-General of the Organization of
>> the Islamic Conference:
>> "Following the bloody attacks against major buildings and
>> installations in the United States yesterday, Tuesday, September 11,
>> 2001, Dr. Abdelouahed Belkeziz, secretary-general of the 57-nation
>> Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC), stated that he was
>> shocked and deeply saddened when he heard of those attacks which led
>> to the death and injury of a very large number of innocent American
>> citizens. Dr. Belkeziz said he was denouncing and condemning those
>> criminal and brutal acts that ran counter to all covenants,
>> humanitarian values and divine religions foremost among which was
>> Islam."
>> Press Release, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, September 12, 2001,
>> http://www.oic-oci.org/press/english/september%202001/ 
>> america%20on%20attack.htm
>>
>> Organization of the Islamic Conference of Foreign Ministers:
>> "The Conference strongly condemned the brutal terror acts that
>> befell the United States, caused huge losses in human lives from
>> various nationalities and wreaked tremendous destruction and damage
>> in New York and Washington. It further reaffirmed that these terror
>> acts ran counter to the teachings of the divine religions as well as
>> ethical and human values, stressed the necessity of tracking down
>> the perpetrators of these acts in the light of the results of
>> investigations and bringing them to justice to inflict on them the
>> penalty they deserve, and underscored its support of this effort. In
>> this respect, the Conference expressed its condolences to and
>> sympathy with the people and government of the United States and the
>> families of the victims in these mournful and tragic circumstances."
>> Final Communique  of the Ninth Extraordinary Session of the Islamic
>> Conference of Foreign Ministers, October 10, 2001,
>> http://www.oic-oci.org/english/fm/All%20Download/frmex9.htm
>>
>> Mehmet Nuri Yilmaz, Head of the Directorate of Religious Affairs of  
>> Turkey:
>> "Any human being, regardless of his ethnic and religious origin,
>> will  never think of carrying out such a violent, evil attack.
>> Whatever its purpose is, this action cannot be justified and
>> tolerated."
>> Mehmet Nuri Yilmaz, "A Message on Ragaib Night and Terrorism,"
>> September 21, 2001, http://www.diyanet.gov.tr/duyurular/regaibing.htm
>>
>> Harun Yahya (Adnan Oktar), Turkish author:
>> "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."
>> Harun Yahya, "Islam Denounces Terrorism,"
>> http://www.islamdenouncesterrorism.com
>>
>> Shaikh Muhammad Yusuf Islahi, Pakistani-American Muslim leader:
>> "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."
>> "Messages From Shaikh Muhammad Yusuf Islahi,"
>> http://www.icna.org/wtc_islahi.htm
>>
>> Abdal-Hakim Murad, British Muslim author:
>> "Targeting civilians is a negation of every possible school of Sunni
>> Islam. Suicide bombing is so foreign to the Quranic ethos that the
>> Prophet Samson is entirely absent from our scriptures."
>> "The Hijackers Were Not Muslims After All: Recapturing Islam From
>> the Terrorists,"
>> http://dspace.dial.pipex.com/masud/ISLAM/ahm/recapturing.htm
>>
>> Syed Mumtaz Ali, President of the Canadian Society of Muslims:
>> "We condemn in the strongest terms possible what are apparently
>> vicious and cowardly acts of terrorism against innocent civilians.
>> We join with all Canadians in calling for the swift apprehension and
>> punishment of the perpetrators. No political cause could ever be
>> assisted by such immoral acts."
>> Canadian Society of Muslims, Media Release, September 12, 2001,
>> http://muslim-canada.org/news09112001.html
>>
>> 15 American Muslim organizations:
>> "We reiterate our unequivocal condemnation of the crime committed on
>> September 11, 2001 and join our fellow Americans in mourning the
>> loss of up to 6000 innocent civilians."
>> Muslim American Society (MAS), Islamic Circle of North America
>> (ICNA), Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR), Muslim
>> Alliance of North America (MANA), Muslim Student Association (MSA),
>> Islamic Association for Palestine (IAP), United Association for
>> Studies and Research (UASR), Solidarity International, American
>> Muslims for Global Peace and Justice (AMGPJ), American Muslim
>> Alliance (AMA), United Muslim Americans Association (UMAA), Islamic
>> Media Foundation (IMF), American Muslim Foundation (AMF),
>> Coordinating Council of Muslim Organizations (CCMO), American
>> Muslims for Jerusalem (AMJ), Muslim Arab Youth Association (MAYA),
>> October 22, 2001, http://www.icna.org/wtc_pr.htm
>>
>> 57 leaders of North American Islamic organizations, 77
>> intellectuals, and dozens of concerned citizens:
>> "As American Muslims and scholars of Islam, we wish to restate our
>> conviction that peace and justice constitute the basic principles of
>> the Muslim faith.  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."
>> Statement Rejecting Terrorism, September 9, 2002,
>> http://www.islam-democracy.org/terrorism_statement.asp
>>
>>
>> American Muslim Political Coordination Council:
>> "American Muslims utterly condemn what are apparently vicious and
>> cowardly acts of terrorism against innocent civilians. We join with
>> all Americans in calling for the swift apprehension and punishment
>> of the perpetrators. No political cause could ever be assisted by
>> such immoral acts."
>> http://capwiz.com/cair/issues/alert/?alertid=49818&type=CU&azip=
>>
>> Dr. Agha Saeed, National Chair of the American Muslim Alliance:
>> "These attacks are against both divine and human laws and we condemn
>> them in the strongest terms. The Muslim Americans join the nation in
>> calling for swift apprehension and stiff punishment of the
>> perpetrators, and offer our sympathies to the victims and their
>> families."
>> http://www.amaweb.org/AMA%20Condemns.html
>>
>> Hamza Yusuf, American Muslim leader:
>> "Religious zealots of any creed are defeated people who lash out in
>> desperation, and they often do horrific things. And if these people
>> [who committed murder on September 11] indeed are Arabs, Muslims,
>> they're obviously very sick people and I can't even look at it in
>> religious terms. It's politics, tragic politics. There's no Islamic
>> justification for any of it. ... You can't kill innocent people.
>> There's no Islamic declaration of war against the United States. I
>> think every Muslim country except Afghanistan has an embassy in this
>> country. And in Islam, a country where you have embassies is not
>> considered a belligerent country. In Islam, the only wars that are
>> permitted are between armies and they should engage on battlefields
>> and engage nobly. The Prophet Muhammad said, ``Do not kill women or
>> children or non-combatants and do not kill old people or religious
>> people,'' and he mentioned priests, nuns and rabbis. And he said,
>> ``Do not cut down fruit-bearing trees and do not poison the wells of
>> your enemies.'' The Hadith, the sayings of the Prophet, say that no
>> one can punish with fire except the lord of fire. It's prohibited to
>> burn anyone in Islam as a punishment. No one can grant these
>> attackers any legitimacy. It was evil."
>> San Jose Mercury News, September 15, 2001,
>> http://www0.mercurycenter.com/local/center/isl0916.htm
>>
>> Nuh Ha Mim Keller, American Muslim author:
>> "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."
>> "Making the World Safe for Terrorism," September 30, 2001,
>> http://66.34.131.5/ISLAM/nuh/terrorism.htm
>>
>> Yusuf Islam (formerly Cat Stevens), prominent British Muslim:
>> "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."
>> [On singing an a cappella version of "Peace Train" for the Concert
>> for New York City:] "After the tragedy, my heart was heavy with
>> sadness and shock, and I was determined to help in some way.
>> Organizers asked me to take part in a message for tolerance and sing
>> 'Peace Train.' Of course, I agreed. ... 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."
>> Press release of September 13, 2001, and PR Newswire, October 22,
>> 2001, both at http://www.mountainoflight.co.uk/pages/news/2001.html
>>
>> Muslims Against Terrorism, a U.S.-based organization:
>> "As Muslims, we condemn terrorism in all its forms and
>> manifestations. Ours is a religion of peace. We are sick and tired
>> of extremists dictating the public face of Islam."
>> http://www.muslimsagainstterrorism.org/aboutus.html. This statement
>> has been replaced by a new statement in favor of peace by the
>> group's successor organization, Muslim Voices for Peace,
>> http://www.mvp-us.org.
>>
>> Abdulaziz Sachedina, professor of religious studies, University of  
>> Virginia:
>> "New York was grieving.  Sorrow covered the horizons.  The pain of
>> separation  and of missing family members, neighbors, citizens,
>> humans could be felt in every corner of the country.  That day was
>> my personal day of "jihad" ("struggle") - jihad with my pride and my
>> identity as a Muslim. This is the true meaning of jihad - "struggle
>> with one's own ego and false pride."  I don't ever recall that I had
>> prayed so earnestly to God to spare attribution of such madness that
>> was unleashed upon New York and Washington to the Muslims.  I felt
>> the pain and, perhaps for the first time in my entire life, I felt
>> embarrassed at the thought that it could very well be my fellow
>> Muslims who had committed this horrendous act of terrorism.  How
>> could these terrorists invoke God's mercifulness and compassion when
>> they had, through their evil act, put to shame the entire history of
>> this great religion and its culture of toleration?"
>> "Where Was God on September 11?,"
>> http://www.virginia.edu/~soasia/newsletter/Fall01/God.html
>>
>> Ali Khan, professor of law, Washburn University School of Law:
>> "To the most learned in the text of the Quran, these verses must be
>> read in the context of many other verses that stipulate the Islamic
>> law of war---a war that the Islamic leader must declare after due
>> consultation with advisers. For the less learned, however, these
>> verses may provide the motivation and even the plot for a merciless
>> strike against a self-chosen enemy."
>> "Attack on America: An Islamic Perspective, September 17, 2001,
>> http://jurist.law.pitt.edu/forum/forumnew29.htm
>>
>> Muqtedar Khan, assistant professor of political science, Adrian
>> College, Michigan, USA:
>> "What happened on September 11th in New York and Washington DC will
>> forever remain a horrible scar on the history of Islam and humanity.
>> No matter how much we condemn it, and point to the Quran and the
>> Sunnah to argue that Islam forbids the killing of innocent people,
>> the fact remains that the perpetrators of this crime against
>> humanity have indicated that their actions are sanctioned by Islamic
>> values. The fact that even now several Muslim scholars and thousands
>> of Muslims defend the accused is indicative that not all Muslims
>> believe that the attacks are unIslamic. This is truly sad. ... If
>> anywhere in your hearts there is any sympathy or understanding with
>> those who committed this act, I invite you to ask yourself this
>> question, would Muhammad (pbuh) sanction such an act? While
>> encouraging Muslims to struggle against injustice (Al Quran 4:135),
>> Allah also imposes strict rules of engagement. He says in
>> unequivocal terms that to kill an innocent being is like killing
>> entire humanity (Al Quran 5:32). He also encourages Muslims to
>> forgive Jews and Christians if they have committed injustices
>> against us (Al Quran 2:109, 3:159, 5:85)."
>> "Memo to American Muslims," October 5, 2001,  
>> http://www.ijtihad.org/memo.htm
>>
>> Dr. Alaa Al-Yousuf, Bahraini economist and political activist:
>> "On Friday, 14 September [the first Friday prayers after 11
>> September], almost the whole world expressed its condemnation of the
>> crime and its grief for the bereaved families of the victims. Those
>> who abstained or, even worse, rejoiced, will have joined the
>> terrorists, not in the murder, but in adding to the incalculable
>> damage on the other victims of the atrocity, namely, Islam as a
>> faith, Muslims and Arabs as peoples, and possibly the Palestinian
>> cause. The terrorists and their apologists managed to sully Islam as
>> a faith both in the eyes of many Muslims and non-Muslims alike."
>> Interview with the International Forum for Islamic Dialogue, London,
>> http://www.islam21.net/pages/keyissues/key7-6.htm
>>
>> Dr. S. Parvez Manzoor, Swedish-based Muslim author:
>> "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."
>> Interview with the International Forum for Islamic Dialogue, London,
>> http://www.islam21.net/pages/keyissues/key7-6.htm
>>
>> Anwar Ibrahim, Malaysian Islamic activist and former deputy prime  
>> minister:
>> "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."
>> Anwar Ibrahim, "Growth of Democracy Is the Answer to Terrorism,"
>> International Herald Tribune, October 11, 2001,
>> http://www.iht.com/articles/35281.htm
>>
>> Ziauddin Sardar, British Muslim author:
>> "The failure of Islamic movements is their inability to come to
>> terms with modernity, to give modernity a sustainable home-grown
>> expression. Instead of engaging with the abundant problems that
>> bedevil Muslim lives, the Islamic prescription consists of blind
>> following of narrow pieties and slavish submission to inept
>> obscurantists. Instead of engagement with the wider world, they have
>> made Islam into an ethic of separation, separate under-development,
>> and negation of the rest of the world."
>> Ziauddin Sardar, "Islam has become its own enemy," The Observer,
>> October 21, 2001,
>> http://www.observer.co.uk/waronterrorism/story/0,1373,577942,00.html
>>
>> Khaled Abou El Fadl, Kuwaiti-Egyptian-American legal scholar:
>> "It would be disingenuous to deny that the Qur'an and other Islamic
>> sources offer possibilities of intolerant interpretation. Clearly
>> these possibilities are exploited by the contemporary puritans and
>> supremacists. But the text does not command such intolerant
>> readings. Historically, Islamic civilization has displayed a
>> remarkable ability to recognize possibilities of tolerance, and to
>> act upon these possibilities."
>> Khaled Abou El Fadl, "The Place of Tolerance in Islam: On Reading
>> the Qur'an -- and Misreading It," Boston Review, December
>> 2001/January 2002, http://bostonreview.mit.edu/BR26.6/elfadl.html
>>
>> Sheikh Muhammad Ali Al-Hanooti, Palestinian-American mufti and
>> member of the North American Fiqh Council:
>> "The people who attacked the WTC and Pentagon and hijacked the forth
>> plane that crashed in Pennsylvania are criminal who deserve the
>> severest punishment as the Quran elaborates. They are murderers and
>> terrorists. If there were any person who felt happy for that
>> incident we would not be able to equate them with those criminals,
>> but we can say no one with faith and ethics would accept anything of
>> that murder and targeting of innocent people."
>> Sheikh Muhammad Ali Al-Hanooti, "Fatwa Session on Latest Tragic
>> Events," IslamOnline, September 20, 2001,
>> http://www.islamonline.net/livefatwa/english/Browse.asp? 
>> hGuestID=pdwD2E
>>
>> Syed Shahabuddin, Indian Muslim author:
>> "Islam prohibits terrorism as well as suicide. Jihad is neither and
>> has no place for taking innocent lives or one's own life. No cause,
>> howsoever noble or just, can justify terrorism. So while one may
>> sympathize with the legitimate aspirations of the Palestinian people
>> and support their claim to a state of their own, while one may
>> appreciate the democratic awakening among the people of many Muslim
>> states and uphold their demand for withdrawal of foreign presence
>> from their soil and support their struggle for revision of the terms
>> of trade for their natural resources, no thinking Muslim can go
>> along with the use of terrorism for securing political goals."
>> Syed Shahabuddin, "Global war against terrorism - the Islamic
>> dimension," Milli Gazette newspaper, New Delhi, India, November 1,
>> 2001, http://www.milligazette.com/Archives/01112001/34.htm
>>
>> Dr. M. A. Zaki Badawi, principal of the Muslim College, London,  
>> England:
>> "Neither the law of Islam nor its ethical system justify such a  
>> crime."
>> Dr. M. A. Zaki Badawi, "Terrorism has no place in Islam," Arab News,
>> Jiddah-Riyadh-Dhahran, Saudi Arabia, September 28, 2001,
>> http://www.arabnews.com/?page=5&section=0&article=9314&d=28&m=9&y=2001
>>
>> Mufti Nizamuddin Shamzai, head mufti at Jamiat-ul-Uloom-ul-Islamia
>> seminary, Binori Town, Pakistan and a leader of the Jamiat
>> Ulema-e-Islam (JUI) party, Pakistan:
>> "It's wrong to kill innocent people. ... It's also wrong to praise
>> those who kill innocent people."
>> The New York Times, September 28, 2001, p. B3
>>
>> Shaykh Omar Bakri, leader of al-Muhajirun, a radical Islamist
>> movement based in London, England:
>> "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."
>> The Gazette (Montreal, Quebec, Canada), September 13, 2001, p. B6
>>
>> Zuhair Qudah, a preacher at al-Lawzieen mosque, Amman, Jordan:
>> "We stand by our Palestinian brothers in their struggle to end the
>> occupation, but we don't condone violence, ugly crimes and the
>> killing of innocent people."
>> Associated Press, September 14, 2001
>>
>> Salih bin Muhammad Lahidan, chairman of the Supreme Judicial
>> Council, Saudi Arabia:
>> "Killing the weak, infants, women, and the elderly, and destroying
>> property, are considered serious crimes in Islam. . . . Viewing on
>> the TV networks what happened to the twin towers . . . was like
>> watching doomsday. Those who commit such crimes are the worst of
>> people. Anyone who thinks that any Islamic scholar will condone such
>> acts is totally wrong. . . . This barbaric act is not justified by
>> any sane mind-set. . . . This act is pernicious and shameless and
>> evil in the extreme."
>> The Washington Post, October 13, 2001, p. B9
>>
>> Shaykh Rached Ghannouchi, 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.'"
>> The Washington Post, October 13, 2001, p. B9
>>
>> Shaykh Salih al-Suhaymi, religious scholar, Saudi Arabia:
>> "Based upon what has preceded, then we say that that which we
>> believe and hold as our religion concerning what happened to the
>> World Trade Centre in America - and in Allaah lies success - that
>> the terrorist attacks that took place and what occurred of general
>> (mass) killing, then it is not permissible and Islaam does not allow
>> it in any form whatsoever."
>> "Shaykh Saalih as-Suhaymee speaks about current affairs...," October
>> 18, 2001, translated by Abu 'Iyaad,
>> http://www.fatwaonline.com/news/0011018.htm
>>
>> Dr. Sayed G. Safavi, Iranian religious scholar and director of the
>> Institute of Islamic Studies, London, England:
>> "The targeting of innocent persons cannot be allowed. Islam is
>> against any form of terrorism, whether it be carried out by an
>> individual, a group or a state. ... For Muslims to kill civilians
>> unconnected with any attack on them is a crime. The principal law of
>> Islam is: don't attack civilians. This includes civilians of any
>> faith, whether Jewish, Muslim or Christian. According to Islam, all
>> people are the family of God. The target of religion is peace."
>> Letter to the Editor, The Daily Telegraph, London, England, June 30,
>> 2003,
>> http://www.telegraph.co.uk/opinion/main.jhtml?xml=/opinion/2003/06/ 
>> 30/dt3001.xml
>>
>> Iqbal Siddiqui, editor of Crescent International, London, England:
>> "History also teaches us that the only effective way of challenging
>> oppression and the only effective way of fighting injustice is
>> through force; that is simply the way of the world. Pacifism is all
>> too often a weapon of the status quo.... When Islamic movements in
>> the world do need to resort to the use of force, that force must be
>> used morally. When extreme fringes of those movements are pushed to
>> use force indiscriminately, immorally, wrongly against illegitimate
>> targets, and using illegitimate weapons (such [as] hijacked jumbo
>> jets), those are crimes for which the people who share their cause,
>> who share their view of the world, their understanding of the need
>> to use force, must also criticise them, turn against them, isolate
>> them. Our standards must be higher than those of the people whom we
>> are fighting, because if we descend to their standards then there is
>> no difference between us."
>> Iqbal Siddiqui, "Terrorism and political violence in contemporary
>> history," Conference on Terrorism, Institute of Islamic Studies,
>> London, England, November 13, 2001, published in Muslimedia
>> International, February 16-28, 2002,
>> http://www.muslimedia.com/archives/movement02/terror-hist.htm.
>> Earlier version on-line at
>> http://www.islamic-studies.org/terrorconfer.pro.htm
>>
>> Islamway website:
>> "In light of these and other Islamic texts, the act of inciting
>> terror in the hearts of defenseless civilians, the wholesale
>> destruction of buildings and properties, the bombing and maiming of
>> innocent men, women, and children are all forbidden and detestable
>> acts according to Islam and the Muslims."
>> "What Does Islam Say About Terrorism?"
>> http://english.islamway.com/bindex.php?section=article&id=126
>>
>> Islamic Commission of Spain:
>> "Muslims, therefore, are not only forbidden from committing crimes
>> against innocent people, but are responsible before God to stop
>> those people who have the intention to do so, since these people
>> 'are planting the seeds of corruption on Earth'.... The perpetration
>> of terrorist acts supposes a rupture of such magnitude with Islamic
>> teaching that it allows to affirm that the individuals or groups who
>> have perpetrated them have stopped being Muslim and have put
>> themselves outside the sphere of Islam."
>> "Text of the Fatwa Declared Against Osama Bin Laden by the Islamic
>> Commission of Spain," March 17, 2005, http://webislam.com/?idn=537;
>> original Spanish version: "La Comisión Islámica de España emite una
>> fatua condenando el terrorismo y al grupo Al Qaida," March 10, 2005,
>> http://www.webislam.com/?idn=399.
>>
>>
>> See also:
>>
>> Bernard Haykel, assistant professor of Islamic law at New York  
>> University:
>> "According to Islamic law there are at least six reasons why Bin
>> Laden's barbaric violence cannot fall under the rubric of jihad: 1)
>> Individuals and organizations cannot declare a jihad, only states
>> can; 2) One cannot kill innocent women and children when conducting
>> a jihad; 3) One cannot kill Muslims in a jihad; 4) One cannot fight
>> a jihad against a country in which Muslims can freely practise their
>> religion and proselytize Islam; 5) Prominent Muslim jurists around
>> the world have condemned these attacks and their condemnation forms
>> a juristic consensus (ijma') against Bin Laden's actions (This
>> consensus renders his actions un-Islamic); 6) The welfare and
>> interest of the Muslim community (maslaha) is being harmed by Bin
>> Laden's actions and this equally makes them un-Islamic."
>> The Dawn newspaper, Karachi, Pakistan, October 8, 2001,
>> http://www.dawn.com/2001/10/08/op.htm#2
>>
>> See other collections of statements:
>>
>> Omid Safi, Colgate University, "Scholars of Islam & the Tragedy of
>> Sept. 11th," http://groups.colgate.edu/aarislam/response.htm
>>
>> Tim Lubin, Washington and Lee University, "Islamic Responses to the
>> Sept. 11 Attack," http://home.wlu.edu/~lubint/islamonWTC.htm
>>
>> The Becket Fund, "Osama Bin Laden Hijacked Four Airplanes and a
>> Religion," October 17, 2001,
>> http://www.becketfund.org/other/MuslimAd.html
>>
>> Islam for Today, "Muslims Against Terrorism,"
>> http://www.islamfortoday.com/terrorism.htm
>>
>> ReligiousTolerance.org, "Aftermath of the 9-11 Terrorist Attack:
>> Voices of Moderate Muslims,"
>> http://www.religioustolerance.org/reac_ter16.htm
>>
>> Islamic Stand on Terrorism: An International Conference, Al-Imam
>> Muhammad Ibn Saud Islamic University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, 20-22
>> April 2004, http://www.islamstand.org/english/abaakail.htm
>>
>> Back to C. Kurzman home page.
>> Liberal Islam Web Links.
>
>

Al Kagan
Africana Unit, Room 328
University of Illinois Library
1408 W. Gregory Drive
Urbana, IL 61820
USA

tel. 217-333-6519
fax 217-333-2214
akagan at uiuc.edu
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