U.S. Muslim religious council issues Fatwa against terrorism
The Fiqh Council of North America wishes to reaffirm Islam's absolute condemnation of terrorism and religious extremism.
Islam strictly condemns religious extremism and the use of violence against innocent lives. There is no justification in Islam for extremism or terrorism. Targeting civilians? life and property through suicide bombings or any other method of attack is haram? or forbidden - and those who commit these barbaric acts are criminals, not ?martyrs.?
The Quran, Islams revealed text, states: "Whoever kills a person [unjustly] it is as though he has killed all mankind. And whoever saves a life, it is as though he had saved all mankind." (Quran, 5:32)
Prophet Muhammad said there is no excuse for committing unjust acts: "Do not be people without minds of your own, saying that if others treat you well you will treat them well, and that if they do wrong you will do wrong to them. Instead, accustom yourselves to do good if people do good and not to do wrong (even) if they do evil." (Al-Tirmidhi)
God mandates moderation in faith and in all aspects of life when He states in the Quran: We made you to be a community of the middle way, so that (with the example of your lives) you might bear witness to the truth before all mankind. (Quran, 2:143)
In another verse, God explains our duties as human beings when he says: Let there arise from among you a band of people who invite to righteousness, and enjoin good and forbid evil. (Quran, 3:104)
Islam teaches us to act in a caring manner to all of God's creation. The Prophet Muhammad, who is described in the Quran as a mercy to the worlds? said: All creation is the family of God, and the person most beloved by God (is the one) who is kind and caring toward His family."
In the light of the teachings of the Quran and Sunnah we clearly and strongly state:
1. All acts of terrorism targeting civilians are haram (forbidden) in Islam.
2. It is haram for a Muslim to cooperate with any individual or group that is involved in any act of terrorism or violence.
3. It is the civic and religious duty of Muslims to cooperate with law enforcement authorities to protect the lives of all civilians.
We issue this fatwa following the guidance of our scripture, the Quran, and the teachings of our Prophet Muhammad peace be upon him. We urge all people to resolve all conflicts in just and peaceful manners.
We pray for the defeat of extremism and terrorism. We pray for the safety and security of our country, the United States, and its people. We pray for the safety and security of all inhabitants of our planet. We pray that interfaith harmony and cooperation prevail both in the United States and all around the globe.
FIQH COUNCIL OF NORTH AMERICA
Members
1. Dr. Muzammil H. Siddiqi
2. Dr. Abdul Hakim Jackson
3. Dr. Ahmad Shleibak
4. Dr. Akbar Muhammad
5. Dr. Deina Abdulkadir
6. Shaikh Hassan Qazwini
7. Dr. Ihsan Bagby
8. Dr. Jamal Badawi
9. Dr. Muhammad Adam Sheikh
10. Shaikh Muhammad Al-Hanooti
11. Shaikh Muhammad Nur Abdallah
12. Dr. Salah Soltan
13. Dr. Taha Jabir Alalwani
14. Shaikh Yahya Hindi
15. Shaikhah Zainab Alwani
16. Dr. Zulfiqar Ali Shah
17. Dr. Mukhtar Maghraoui
18. Dr. Nazih Hammad
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Now, if you'll be so kind, please, point out to me where I was bigoted, racist and whatever the character of the beam in my eye would be.
Till we meet again, I bid you salam!
Understand democracy? What? US policies are democratic? To whom? To Haliburton and the less than 2% of the US p[opulation that happen to hold 90% of US capital? Do you think I was born yesterday or that I was a FOB? Information is available for those who seek it. I don't give a rat's ass worth on your religion, I don't care what you practice, all I know is not Islam, conventional Christianity or Orthodox Judaism.
My personal anger on the world? Dude! America is part of the world not the world! And yes! I will always attack the US government as long as they unconditionally support Israel! Supporting a country or a people in all they do and especially in massacres and humiliations of another ethnicity is downright barbaric, uncivilized, fascist, nazi and racist! How would you want me to choose to be ignorant of these? You know, I mind God, I'm not afraid of Him because I'm not a criminal(harami). But by me denying the suffering of people for the benifit of dictatorships like Israel and US(with the homeland security and Patriot act, US is slowly becoming the Saudi Arabia of the new world).
I think I'm wasting my time on you since you will neither see nor understand the obvious. It was not part of your programming by the US media. My last message to you is what the Australians used to say to the Asian immigrants:'nick off!'
opressive attitude that no one appreciates. No one is going to
"step down" or disappear or go away just because you command
it.
You accuse others of being racist and self-righteous through a
racist and self-righteous remark about whites yourself. You
accuse me of being hypocritical, based on what? As far as you
attacking the US governement, well, thats indicative of your
attitude. Attack and oppress seems to be your only agenda. Do
not make the mistake of judging all Amercans based on the
actions of our governement. If you do, you dont understand
democracy or a majority rule. You are just showing ignorance by
judging, attacking, and oppressing.
You say you understand I am 'born again'/'witness'/Mormon,etc,
yet I have not spoken on anything that would indicate what
religion I practice. Again, you are just attacking with your
prejudgement and anger. Also, I have not spoken on any belief
that just because someone is white that God is on their side.
You are expressing a lot of anger, judgement, racism and
oppression without anyone bringing it up. Your comments are
so far off topic about my dilemma with my father and needing
help from believers in the muslim religion, that one could only
summize that you have picked a random venue to mount your
personal attacks and release your personal anger on the world.
Try Love, not hate.
I understand you are a 'born again'/'witness'/Mormon,etc, but lift your chin and try to look beyond the spiritually deadening fence that your sect built around your supposedly free spirit. If you are created by God, you need nobody to sense God's presence or absence in developing scenarios in His world. And believe, God is not on your side only because you are white,Christian and live in America!
Peace out!
through the Bible, the Quran, or any other source including my
fellow man) is that God created us, gave us life and reserves the
right as all powerful being, to take it away. I think that message
was clear when he commanded thou shalt not kill. Punishment
for killing is described as a mortal sin and condemned to hell for
eternity. I think it makes perfect sense as anyone would be harsh
if they created something and someone else came along and
destroyed it. I think God was very clear that he has not given you
the right to kill anything he created with a few exceptions that
God made clear, and that is to live off the land and that he
created animals to populate the earth and some of them you can
kill for food and some you may not kill and eat. This is also a
very clear message from Godand spelled out very clearly in the
BIble. The message is clear, do not kill another human being
that God created (and he created all human beings) not even
your enemy since he breathed life into and gave life to your
enemy also. To your enemy, Jesus is very clear, as roman
soldiers shoved a spear into his chest whi8le being crucified on
the cross, "Forgive them, for they know not what they are
doing". Not smite at their necks because they are attacking me.
in your passive aggresive nature that we have all been witness to
in recent times connected with Islam and brotherly love.
I made an incorrect reference (and yes I have read the bible
many times from front to back cover) when I stated "The Bible
does not suggest or advocate violence or killing at all" I actually
meant God (or Jesus). All your references to combat where I
misspoke myself was out of context. However, to make things
clear, the Bible is a collection of Stories, of Accounts, of Prayers,
and Song. It is parables, messages, and kinship (lineage of
families) and a great many things aside from being the word of
God. Yes, there are stories and accounts of killing, and savage
behaviour, and anger, and love, and brotherhood. That's why it
is a collection, from many people, from many different times,
about a great many events. The Bible is a message, a teaching
tool, a reference, a guide and the Word of God. Now, as for your
retort, yes, there is reference to killing and violence as recorded
by various people in the bible, yet God nor Jesus EVER said Kill
or Smite another human being. in Fact the Commandments bear
this out as I stated "Thou shalt not kill", period. (which by the
way means character assassination since that is a form of killing)
Not only does the Bible carry a literal message, but it also
implies a set of rules for us to follow throughout time. Which
means a lot of it is not meant to be literal, but as a guide and set
of rules that can be applied no matter what year it is until the
end of time. Hence the parables and stories contained in it. But
thank you for attacking me based on a small mistype and not
reading the whole message. I still love you , my brother.
Rocket
Qur'an as a whole (as the car, not the driver), but I have to ask, if
the car is a finely tuned machine built with precision and pride in
excellence and if the whole car (Qur'an) were of the highest
quality and one wheel (chapter or Surah) was square (smite at
their necks rather than love and tolerate), how can the car
function realiably and at peak effeciency?
want to disrespect my father by confronting him and doing
battle with him over the Islam religion for it is he who brought
me into this world and he who teaches me from his wisdom and
how to love and be loved. I understand there are extremists in
religion, and that we will have problems because of them. I have
to correct myself however, because the Qur'an does promote
violence in a few places, one such chapter is (Quran, 47:4)
"Therefore, when ye meet the Unbelievers (in fight), smite at
their necks; At length, when ye have thoroughly subdued them,
bind a bond firmly (on them): thereafter (is the time for) either
generosity or ransom: Until the war lays down its burdens..."
and (Quran, 5:32) "Whoever kills a person [unjustly] it is as
though he has killed all mankind. And whoever saves a life, it is
as though he had saved all mankind."
The Bible does not suggest or advocate violence or killing at all.
In fact one of the comandments is Thou Shalt Not Kill. No other
words accompany this, no words to imply a justifiable killing.
Because God, Allah will be the Judge, not people. Elsewhere in
the bible it states "turn the other cheek" when harm is done to
you and "to forgive your enemy as I have forgiven you". Not
strike back at them and smite them at their necks. Not even if
they try to kill you. Defend yourself yes. Kill...never. I guess I am
trying to find the credibility and though I believe the vast
majority of Islam are peaceful and tolerant people, I could make
my case better with my father if the Qur'an didn't have chapters
suggesting killing of any kind. Even though most of the Qur'an
promotes peace and love and tolerance for the unbelievers, it is
those few chapters that weakens my cause. I would enjoy any
help on this.
i would like to inform rocket some logic information that if you or ur father wanted to buy a car would you judge the car by its driver or by its performance.offcourse if the car is driven by micheal schumacher it will give u a great impression on car and if the same car is driven by learner it will spoil the car and do damage to car so its better to judge a car by its perfomance rather than driver.like wise if you want to judge a religion dont judge by its peoples or followers b'cos you might find good and bad in all religions,so judge religion by its qualities and islam is the religion of truth and best way of life for all mankind islam has got solutions for every problem let it be if it is religion,business,economy,trading,science,laws etc which are great and best from others.i hope you understand islam by its qualities and ask guidance from god.may Allah guides you and all
Rocket should run for the presidency to save the United States...And if I ever immigrate from Yathrib to Yorkshire, NY, ROCKET is going to get my vote...
- are you having hard time swallowing the truth? Muslims, the true believers of this Earth, speak the truth even if the truth goes against them or against their sweehearts...
The only solution to decrease the violence and hypocrisy in the world today is to put the American "smart" president, Bush Jr and the criminals in U.S. gov't in a ROCKET and send them out of this world and never allow them re-entry...b/c they are the true criminals of our time...
If you can't handle my comment then that's just too bad...find a ranch and feed cows, instead of reading comments here and calculating the ratios of which comments are good and which comments are bad...I, HA, is going to say what you like to hear...
Have fun @ the ranch!!!
trying hard to be unbiased here. I'm not seeing a lot of
educated OR truly "religious" based comments here except for
Amin. I see a LOT of Extremist comments which seems to be a
pretty good cross section of the Islam public at large, and most
of the comments are driven by anger and hate that I see no basis
for, since after having read the Quran, I only see contradictory
actions by Muslim. The Quran has many passages that "teach" us
to act in a caring manner to all of God's creation. Yet I see 90%
of the posts in direct contradiction of this religious teaching.
We have a number of different religions here in the US as
well as Muslim, and we have our extremists as well (sadly),
however, since when did our Bible or the Quran "EVER" teach us
to strike out in anger and smite an entire race or country of
people let alone for something we dont understand? the answer
is never. I am currently battling my father's ill-informed opinion
that all Islam and all Muslim are blood thirsty people out to kill
any human (mostly american) that is not of the pure religion of
Islam and I quote him: "Remember, WE are the non-believers of
Islam and it is their duty to kill all of us. The ultimate goal of
Islam is to be the only religion in the world. Period. No
discussion. That was Mohammed's command 400 years ago and
it's the same command preached today by extremist Muslim
religious leaders."
Now..how am I to battle my father and show him he is wrong
(other than quoting the Quran to him and trying to find where
Mohammed commanded you to kill all non-believers) if certain
Iraqi Muslim (like yourselves) keep PROVING him to be right..and
making it 10 times more difficult for me to prove him wrong??
The US is not "occupying Iraq" just to occupy Iraq. We are
hunting Terrorists Iraq is harboring. If you Want Sadam
back, to kill and mame hi
"No Muslim should join the United States military because no Muslim can unjustly kill another Muslim."
Why have they not done that? They will never do that because this whole charade is nothing more than an Uncle Sam pleasing act.
Or, how about this fatwa:
"No Muslim should cooperate with the United States military - and it is the responsiblity of every Muslim to do everything within the rules of Sharia to oppose the US wars on Muslims and Islam." It can then list the ways to oppose these attacks - such as participating in anti-war movements - and even acts of non-violent civil disobedience.
Don't hold your breath for that fatwa - it will never appear - because Uncle Sam will go after these guys before you can say "good Muslim."
And please stop pretending you care about Iraqis and Afghanis unless you were just as outspoken back when Saddam ruled Iraq and the Taliban were executing women in footbal stadiums, and can also tell me that your level of outrage over the terrorists in Iraq would be as minimal as it is were they non-muslim terrorists instead. This fatwa is a great thing!!
And if Muslims think it's always acceptable to refer to other wrongs as justification for violence, then perhaps we should start giving more credence to criticism of some of the wrongs committed during Islamic expansion several centuries ago, or for that matter defending any poor treatment of Muslims in the war on terror simply becuase of wrongs committed by some of our people. You can't have it both ways.
Today's Muslims should really start thinking about a better way to spin "nothing" and "whined" when asked by Allah on the day of judgement what they did to prevent his message from becoming so twisted.
I don't hide behind a pseudonym.
Asif
I do know *a bit* of Islam to know what is permissible in a Muslim state vs a non-Muslim state.
Killing of Muslim by a Muslim is absolutely haraam and so is killing of Muslim civilians by non-Muslims is haraam (and vice-versa).
My point (and I think I stated it clearly in original post) is the fatwa contents are not wrong (not one bit), but they don't cover a word about root causes. The document has tried to be everything to everyone and that just doesn't work.
Maybe it will help - but if I can project from the limited information I have, I don't think it will serve anything. But thats why we have leaders - they have a certain vision and they have not made it clear why they did this. It seems to me it was out of pressure.
Asif
..
The intention of the Fiqh Council is to denounce religious extremism and terrorism where ever it is occurring. Sure, the problem in Palestine is one of the root causes of religious extremism, but that doesn't mean Muslims deviate from the Shariah! Muslims killing Muslims is a form of kufr! The bombings in Egypt, Iraq, Morocco, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, etc. illustrate many times Muslims killing innocent Muslims and non-Muslims. We must first criticize ourselves and become better before we tackle challenges we face as a whole. Allah does not change the condition of a people unless they change themselves. Fatwa against U.S. occupation in Iraq and Afghanistan - what do you mean Asif Zaidi? The U.S. is not a Muslim country- it will be utterly useless to issue a fatwa to a non-Muslim. Understand basic islamic terminology before typing. Understand Islam by studying Islam. If you want to change the situation of Muslims - here's one and only solution: take classes on Islam and implement Islam in your life! Are you upto it? We Muslims have become so lazy that we don't even want to learn our own religion. This laziness is turning us into ignorant and arrogant fools. Give yourself a break and learn Islam before criticizing our ulema. The Fiqh Council has done a great job in issuing this fatwa.
But I think this 'Fiqh' council sold out the Muslims in America (west). They didn't issue one word against the root cause of the problem and instead just issued a very politically correct statment.
This 'fatwa' will not appease the neo-cons - they will simply see that they can push the Muslims around. Like one post said, lets wait for a fatwa from evagelical community for not targetting Muslims in Palestine !!
Next time these 'religious' leaders rail out against the injustices of present day Arab rulers, they should look at themselves in the mirror and consider that the pressures they face are the same pressures that these pathetic Arab leaders face. These 'religious' leaders simply cannot voice the opinion of the people and just are bent on protecting their own prestige - very much like our Arab/Muslim political leaders.
Completely disgusted with the Fiqh council. Not one word mentioned about injustice against Muslims (Palestine, Iraq, Chechnya, Kashmir)
Asif
Allah-khalik
THey issue fatwa that it is haram to "2. It is haram for a Muslim to cooperate with any individual or group that is involved in any act of terrorism or violence.", but they never issue fatwa that it is haram to cooperate with american killer army to help them kill muslims in iraq and afghanistan.
3.28 Let not the believers take the disbelievers as Auliya (supporters, helpers, etc.) instead of the believers, and whoever does that will never be helped by Allah in any way, except if you indeed fear a danger from them. And Allah warns you against Himself (His Punishment), and to Allah is the final return. Al-Imran [3:28]
5.57 O you who believe! Take not for Auliya (protectors and helpers) those who take your religion for a mockery and fun from among those who received the Scripture (Jews and Christians) before you, nor from among the disbelievers; and fear Allah if you indeed are true believers. Al-Ma'idah [5:57]
and many more..
these are just hypocrites..
4.144 O you who believe! Take not for Auliya (protectors or helpers or friends) disbelievers instead of believers. Do you wish to offer Allah a manifest proof against yourselves?. An-Nisa [4:144]
4.139 Those who take disbelievers for Auliya (protectors or helpers or friends) instead of believers, do they seek honor, power and glory with them? Verily, then to Allah belongs all honor, power and glory. An-Nisa [4:139]
29.41 The likeness of those who take Auliya (protectors and helpers) other than Allah is as the likeness of a spider, who builds (for itself) a house, but verily, the frailest (weakest) of houses is the spiders house; if they but knew. Al-'Ankabut [29:41]
Agreed.
Hope this will stop the nonsense call that the acts of wilful killings is condone by muslims. We equally awaits similar rulings by the Christian fundamentalists on Israel, Bush and his Cohorts. But will it come?
The ayat you referred to, "..it would be as if he slew the whole ppl.., etc." is taken out of context. This ayat refers to the story of Cain. Murdering one for his/her ideals is as if you those that uphold the ideal. This is what the ayat is about. Stop taking ayat out of context in order to appease your neighbors. Speak the truth. Allah will reward you and you you will earn REAL respect from your neighbors. Refer, instead, to the hadith: Narrated Anas bin Malik - The Prophet (saws) said, "The biggest of Al-kabair (the great sins) are (1)to join others as partners with Allah, (2) TO MURDER A HUMAN BEING, (3) to be undutiful to one's parents and (4) to make a false statement or give false witness." Bukhari, vol. 9 hadith no. 10
Also, the fact that the "fiqh council" is issuing this fatwa but saying nothing of America's continued brutality across the globe (and even here in American territory) is cowardly and hypocritical. If you will issue a fatwa against your brother, have the guts, or the faith in Allah, to speak out against criminal first world regimes, like the so-called democratically elected governments of the United States.
salam alaikum