The ''Fatwa on Terrorism and Suicide Bombings'' is a 600-page (Urdu version), 512-page (English version) Islamic decree by scholar

Muhammad Tahir-ul-Qadri Muhammad Tahir-ul-Qadri ( ur, ‎; born 19 February 1951) is a Pakistani–Canadian Islamic scholar and former politician who founded Minhaj-ul-Quran International and Pakistan Awami Tehreek. He was also a professor of international co ...

which demonstrates from the Quran and Sunnah that terrorism and suicide bombings are unjust and evil, and thus un-Islamic. It was published in London as a book. The English edition was published in the UK by Minhaj-ul-Quran Publications. Qadri released the fatwa on 2 March 2010. This fatwa is a direct refutation of the ideology of Al-Qaeda and the

Taliban The Taliban (; ps, طالبان, ṭālibān, lit=students or 'seekers'), which also refers to itself by its state name, the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is a Deobandi Islamic fundamentalist, militant Islamist, jihadist, and Pasht ...

. It is one of the most extensive Islamic anti-terrorism rulings, an "absolute" condemnation of terrorism without "any excuses or pretexts" which goes further than ever and declares that

terrorism Terrorism, in its broadest sense, is the use of criminal violence to provoke a state of terror or fear, mostly with the intention to achieve political or religious aims. The term is used in this regard primarily to refer to intentional violen ...

kufr Kafir ( ar, كافر '; plural ', ' or '; feminine '; feminine plural ' or ') is an Arabic and Islamic term which, in the Islamic tradition, refers to a person who disbelieves in God as per Islam, or denies his authority, or rejects ...

under

Islamic law Sharia (; ar, شريعة, sharīʿa ) is a body of religious law that forms a part of the Islamic tradition. It is derived from the religious precepts of Islam and is based on the sacred scriptures of Islam, particularly the Quran and the ...

. The launch was organised by Minhaj-ul-Quran UK. Qadri said during the launch that "Terrorism is terrorism, violence is violence and it has no place in Islamic teaching and no justification can be provided for it, or any kind of excuses or ifs or buts."

Overview

The fatwa received widespread media attention and was positively covered by the international press. According to CNN, some experts see the fatwa as a significant blow to terrorist recruiting. CNN's

Amanpour ''Amanpour'' (stylized as ''Amanpour.'') is a global affairs interview television program hosted by British-Iranian journalist Christiane Amanpour, airing weeknights 6pm GMT/ 1pm ET & 7PM CET on CNN International. The program is also aired on ...

show added the fatwa summary to its website and declared it to be fatwa for peace, while the US State Department declares the fatwa to be significant step in taking Islam back from terrorists. Before it had been released, Douglas Murray described the Fatwa on Terrorism, in an article in the ''

Evening Standard The ''Evening Standard'', formerly ''The Standard'' (1827–1904), also known as the ''London Evening Standard'', is a local free daily newspaper in London, England, published Monday to Friday in tabloid format. In October 2009, after be ...

'', as "potentially important", although he said "A single-fatwa will not change the level of denial and self criticism inherent in so much of modern Islam". ITV news channel questioned the credibility of the fatwa and asks if it was not by the British government because senior

counter-terrorism Counterterrorism (also spelled counter-terrorism), also known as anti-terrorism, incorporates the practices, military tactics, techniques, and strategies that governments, law enforcement, business, and intelligence agencies use to combat or ...

officials from Scotland Yard and

MI5 The Security Service, also known as MI5 ( Military Intelligence, Section 5), is the United Kingdom's domestic counter-intelligence and security agency and is part of its intelligence machinery alongside the Secret Intelligence Service (MI6), G ...

were present at the launch. The 512-page English book version of the fatwa, ''Fatwa on Terrorism and Suicide Bombings'', (London: Minhaj-ul-Quran, 2011. ) has a foreword by John Esposito and an introduction by

Joel Hayward Joel Hayward (born 1964) is a New Zealand-born British scholar, writer and poet. The daily newspaper '' Al Khaleej'' called Hayward "a world authority on international conflict and strategy". '' The National'' newspaper called Hayward "eminent" ...

, both of whom share Qadri's scholarly assessment that, regardless of any intention, the evil of terrorism remains evil and must be exposed, opposed and condemned. The Fatwa on Terrorism has been officially endorsed by Al-Azhar University in Cairo, Egypt. In January 2011, the fatwa was discussed at the

World Economic Forum The World Economic Forum (WEF) is an international non-governmental and lobbying organisation based in Cologny, canton of Geneva, Switzerland. It was founded on 24 January 1971 by German engineer and economist Klaus Schwab. The foundation, ...

Annual Meeting 2011. In June 2011, Pope Benedict XVI received a copy of the fatwa from representatives of Minhaj Interfaith Relations. The Pope reportedly appreciated that it promoted peace, harmony and interfaith dialogue. The Fatwa on Terrorism was reviewed positively by Kemal Argon who published a review in ''The Journal of Rotterdam Islamic and Social Sciences'', Vol. 2, No. 1, 2011, pp. 149–160. Islamic University of Rotterdam, Netherlands.

References

External links

Islamic scholar Tahir ul-Qadri issues terrorism fatwa

Muslim leader's edict decries terrorism: U.S. hails 'taking back Islam'

Tahir ul-Qadri and the difficulty of reporting on fatwas

Global Media Coverage of Fatwa on Terrorism

The Reality of Terrorism at WEF 2011

The Fatwa on Terrorism and Suicide Bombings – book details

The Fatwa on Terrorism and Suicide Bombings – free downloadable PDF

Young Turks : Where are the Fatwas?

* ttp://www.thehindu.com/news/international/article125059.ece The Hindu : Muslim scholar issues 'fatwa' condemning al-Qaeda terrorism
Guardian UK: Fatwas can be a force for good

* ttp://intellectualconservative.blogspot.com/2010/03/muslim-cleric-issues-fatwa-against.html Intellectual Conservative: Muslim Cleric Issues Fatwa Against Terrorism
Geo News: Tahir-ul-Qadri declares suicide attacks 'un-Islamic'
{{Minhaj-ul-Quran International Islamic terrorism Fatwas Suicide bombing Counterterrorism Books about Islamism 2011 documents

Overview

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