Moslem Role In War on Terror
by Mamoun Fandy
For Muslims, a role in the war on terror
The time has come to issue a fatwa to excommunicate Osama bin Laden and his followers from the world of Islam. In fact, as terrorism rages, we need a stream of solid counter-fatwas - legal pronouncements in Islam — from the Muslim community.
Thus far we have heard fatwas, such as the one issued last month by the Fiqh Council of North America, telling us that Islam does not condone violence or that Islam condemns these actions. These types of words are not enough. We need to move beyond abstract condemnations and actually exclude those who give Islam a bad name.
In the same spirit that bin Laden and his group label moderate Muslims as Western lackeys, it is time Muslim leaders pronounce bin Laden by name as non-Muslim. That's right, excommunicate him. A clear fatwa should come from the centers of theology in the Muslim world — from al-Azhar University, a prestigious school of Islamic law in Cairo, and from Mecca.
And if a mosque is used as a place to plan attacks or to shield the perpetrators, Muslims should withdraw the name of that mosque, meaning it can no longer serve its holy purpose. It has been desecrated by such evil. The terrorists of Leeds, Britain, allegedly cooked their plots to bomb London inside a mosque, putting signs outside the door that they were praying. Praying for what — for God or for Satan?
God said that those who spread destruction on earth should be punished and that their hands and legs should be cut off, a metaphor for the severity of the punishment. Yet some Muslims continue to cheer bin Laden. The unspoken message sent to him is that "you are doing to the West what we want done."
Unless extreme pressure is applied on Muslims all over the world to come up with counter-fatwas, little will happen in Muslim communities to fight terrorism. Unless we speak up, Muslims will appear in the eyes of the world as providing tacit support for terrorists.
I have talked with many Muslims, especially in the West, who in public condemn violent acts but in private conversations say, "The West deserves this." In public, they will say it is a revenge for Palestine and Iraq, but in private I hear blind hatred, a virus that is taking over too many Muslim minds.
Only two things can stop terrorism: serious counter-fatwas from all Muslims to excommunicate bin Laden and his supporters, and a more skeptical eye in the West for Islamists who say one thing while advocating another.
There are no moderate Islamists that I have seen. There are ordinary Muslims who are living decent lives, and there are terrorists or would-be terrorists.
http://www.usatoday.com/news/opinion/editorials/2005-08-11-muslims_x.htm
Mamoun Fandy is a senior fellow of Middle East and Islamic politics at Baker Institute at Rice University.
For Muslims, a role in the war on terror
The time has come to issue a fatwa to excommunicate Osama bin Laden and his followers from the world of Islam. In fact, as terrorism rages, we need a stream of solid counter-fatwas - legal pronouncements in Islam — from the Muslim community.
Thus far we have heard fatwas, such as the one issued last month by the Fiqh Council of North America, telling us that Islam does not condone violence or that Islam condemns these actions. These types of words are not enough. We need to move beyond abstract condemnations and actually exclude those who give Islam a bad name.
In the same spirit that bin Laden and his group label moderate Muslims as Western lackeys, it is time Muslim leaders pronounce bin Laden by name as non-Muslim. That's right, excommunicate him. A clear fatwa should come from the centers of theology in the Muslim world — from al-Azhar University, a prestigious school of Islamic law in Cairo, and from Mecca.
And if a mosque is used as a place to plan attacks or to shield the perpetrators, Muslims should withdraw the name of that mosque, meaning it can no longer serve its holy purpose. It has been desecrated by such evil. The terrorists of Leeds, Britain, allegedly cooked their plots to bomb London inside a mosque, putting signs outside the door that they were praying. Praying for what — for God or for Satan?
God said that those who spread destruction on earth should be punished and that their hands and legs should be cut off, a metaphor for the severity of the punishment. Yet some Muslims continue to cheer bin Laden. The unspoken message sent to him is that "you are doing to the West what we want done."
Unless extreme pressure is applied on Muslims all over the world to come up with counter-fatwas, little will happen in Muslim communities to fight terrorism. Unless we speak up, Muslims will appear in the eyes of the world as providing tacit support for terrorists.
I have talked with many Muslims, especially in the West, who in public condemn violent acts but in private conversations say, "The West deserves this." In public, they will say it is a revenge for Palestine and Iraq, but in private I hear blind hatred, a virus that is taking over too many Muslim minds.
Only two things can stop terrorism: serious counter-fatwas from all Muslims to excommunicate bin Laden and his supporters, and a more skeptical eye in the West for Islamists who say one thing while advocating another.
There are no moderate Islamists that I have seen. There are ordinary Muslims who are living decent lives, and there are terrorists or would-be terrorists.
http://www.usatoday.com/news/opinion/editorials/2005-08-11-muslims_x.htm
Mamoun Fandy is a senior fellow of Middle East and Islamic politics at Baker Institute at Rice University.
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