NationStates Jolt Archive

Many on this forum have argued that moderate Islamists need to get their militant cousins in line about this whole suicide bombing thing. Others--including myself--have argued that moderate Islamists have about as much pull with their radical cousins as the Pope has on Pat Robertson and to expect them to do anything is ludicrous. If anyone's going to have an effect on radical Islam, it's going to have to come from within radical Islam.

Well, someone's stepped up. (http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1&click_id=24&art_id=qw1125140041936B231)

Now, I don't honestly expect this to have much of an effect--zealots of any stripe have the mindset that anyone who isn't as zealous as they are have lost the true faith, and I imagine there will be calls of "traitor" from the rooftops over this. But it's a start.

Dubai - A prominent London-based militant Islamic scholar has issued a fatwa, or religious edict, banning suicide operations of the kind carried out by followers of the al-Qaeda network.

"To my mind, these operations are closer to suicide than to martyrdom-seeking, and they are taboo and not permissible" for a number of reasons, wrote Syrian-born Abdul Menem Mustafa Halimeh, alias Abu Baseer al-Tartussi, on his website.

The Saudi-owned pan-Arab daily Asharq Al-Awsat, which reported Tartussi's fatwa on Saturday, described him as a top ideologue for Islamist militants and said his edict had provoked angry reactions on Islamist websites, with some accusing him of letting down al-Qaeda followers.
His reasoning is put forth in greater detail in the article. I can't say I'm thrilled by it, but it's a start.

Many on this forum have argued that moderate Islamists need to get their militant cousins in line about this whole suicide bombing thing. Others--including myself--have argued that moderate Islamists have about as much pull with their radical cousins as the Pope has on Pat Robertson and to expect them to do anything is ludicrous. If anyone's going to have an effect on radical Islam, it's going to have to come from within radical Islam.

Well, someone's stepped up. (http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1&click_id=24&art_id=qw1125140041936B231)

Now, I don't honestly expect this to have much of an effect--zealots of any stripe have the mindset that anyone who isn't as zealous as they are have lost the true faith, and I imagine there will be calls of "traitor" from the rooftops over this. But it's a start.


His reasoning is put forth in greater detail in the article. I can't say I'm thrilled by it, but it's a start.

It's about time, but in London this dude is in the vast minority among the muslim population.

Others have stepped up - but most of them are now dead. Particularly the ones in the Middle East. It takes courage to confront hate and enact change. Good luck to them all.

It's about time, but in London this dude is in the vast minority among the muslim population.
He's in the minority, but he's got pull, more pull than any moderate Muslim cleric has, simply because he's radical. And like I said, among the really hardcore, he won't have any effect--they'll look at him as an old man who's lost his nerve and doesn't want to give up the cushy London life. But among the people on the fence, perhaps those who are looking for an excuse to not be a fanatic and die, he might be an out.

Like I said, I don't expect this to have much effect, if any. But it's a statement, and it's good as far as it goes.