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 (via archive.org).
Harun Yahya (Adnan Oktar), Turkish author:
“The
religion of Islam can by no means countenance terrorism. On the
contrary, terror (i.e. murder of innocent people) in Islam is a great
sin, and Muslims are responsible for preventing these acts and bringing
peace and justice to the world.”
Harun Yahya, Islam Denounces Terrorism.
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” (via archive.org).
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” (via archive.org).
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 (via archive.org).
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 (via archive.org).
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 (via archive.org).
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.”
Full-page ad in The Washington Post, September 16, 2001.
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.”
September 11, 2001 (via archive.org).
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 (via archive.org).
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 (via archive.org).
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 (via archive.org), and interview of October 22, 2001 (via archive.org).
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.”
“About us” (via archive.org). This
statement was replaced by a new statement in favor of peace by the
group’s successor organization, Muslim Voices for Peace.
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?” (via archive.org).
Ali Khan, professor of law, Washburn University School of Law, Topeka, Kansas:
“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.
Muqtedar Khan, then an assistant professor of political science, Adrian College, Michigan:
“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).”
“A Memo to American Muslims,” October 5, 2001.
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 (via archive.org).
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 (via archive.org).
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 (via archive.org).
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.
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 (via archive.org).
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 (via archive.org).
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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.
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.
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 then 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.
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.”
“United against terrorism,” The Daily Telegraph, London, England, June 30, 2003.
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
(via archive.org). Earlier version also on-line via archive.org.
Islamway website:
“The
message of the Quran is clear as we have seen, that the sanctity of any
human life is to be respected and any violation in that regard is
paramount to the worst crime. Mercy is at the heart of the Islamic call,
“We sent thee (O Muhammad) not save as a mercy for the peoples”
(21:107); a totally different message to what the terrorists are sadly
imparting to humanity.”
“What Does Islam Say About Terrorism?“
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; original Spanish version:
“La Comisi[b]ón Islámica de España emite una fatua condenando el
terrorismo y al grupo Al Qaida,” March 10, 2005.
The Amman
Message, proclaimed by 200 Islamic scholars from 50 countries at a
conference in Amman, Jordan, and later endorsed by hundreds of other
Islamic scholars and the Organization of the Islamic Conference:
“Islam
recognizes the noble station of [human] life, so there is to be no
fighting against non-combatants, and no assault upon civilians and their
properties, children at their mothers’ bosom, students in their
schools, nor upon elderly men and women. Assault upon the life of a
human being, be it murder, injury or threat, is an assault upon the
right to life among all human beings. It is among the gravest of sins;
for human life is the basis for the prosperity of humanity: Whoever
kills a soul for other than slaying a soul or corruption upon the earth
it is as if he has killed the whole of humanity, and whoever saves a
life, it is as if has revived the whole of humanity. (5:32)”
The Official Website of the Amman Message, July 2005
Fatwa signed by more than 500 British Muslim scholars, clerics, and imams:
“Islam
strictly, strongly and severely condemns the use of violence and the
destruction of innocent lives. There is neither place nor justification
in Islam for extremism, fanaticism or terrorism. Suicide bombings, which
killed and injured innocent people in London, are HARAAM – vehemently
prohibited in Islam, and those who committed these barbaric acts in
London [on July 7, 2005] are criminals not martyrs. Such acts, as
perpetrated in London, are crimes against all of humanity and contrary
to the teachings of Islam. … The Holy Quran declares: ‘Whoever kills a
human being… then it is as though he has killed all mankind; and whoever
saves a human life, it is as though he had saved all mankind.’ (Quran,
Surah al-Maidah (5), verse 32) Islam’s position is clear and
unequivocal: Murder of one soul is the murder of the whole of humanity;
he who shows no respect for human life is an enemy of humanity.”
British Muslim Forum, press release of July 18, 2005 (via archive.org).
Fiqh
Council of North America, an association of 18 Muslim legal scholars,
fatwa endorsed by the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), the
Islamic Society of North America (ISNA), the Muslim American Society
(MAS), the Association of Muslim Social Scientists (AMSS), the
Association of Muslim Scientists and Engineers (AMSE), the Muslim Public
Affairs Council (MPAC), and more than 130 Muslim organizations, mosques
and leaders in the United States:
“We have consistently
condemned terrorism and extremism in all forms and under all
circumstances, and we reiterate this unequivocal position. 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 – prohibited in Islam –
and those who commit these barbaric acts are criminals, not ‘martyrs.’”
“Fatwa by U.S. Muslims Against Religious Extremism,” July 25, 2005 (via archive.org).
Islamic Society of North America, Anti-Terrrorism Anti-Extremism Committee:
“Humanity
lives today in an interdependent and interconnected world where
peaceful and fair interaction, including interfaith and intra-faith
dialogue, is imperative. A grave threat to all of us nowadays is the
scourge of religious and political extremism that manifests itself in
various forms of violence, including terrorism. In the absence of a
universally agreed upon definition of terrorism, it may be defined as
any act of indiscriminate violence that targets innocent people, whether
committed by individuals, groups or states. As Muslims, we must face up
to our responsibility to clarify and advocate a faith-based, righteous
and moral position with regard to this problem, especially when
terrorist acts are perpetrated in the name of Islam. The purpose of this
brochure is to clarify a few key issues relating to this topic, not
because of external pressures or for the sake of “political
correctness”, but out of our sincere conviction of what Islam stands
for.”
Islamic Society of North America, “Against Terrorism and
Religious Extremism: Muslim Position and Responsibilities,” 2005 (via
archive.org).
Shaykh Abdulaziz Al-Asheikh, chief mufti of Saudi Arabia:
The
London attacks, “targeting peaceful people, are not condoned by Islam,
and are indeed prohibited by our religion. … Attributing to Islam acts
of individual or collective killings, bombings, destruction of
properties and the terrorizing of peaceful people is unfair, because
they are alien to the divine religion.”
Fatwa-Online, July 9, 2005.
Shaykh
Muhammad ibn Abdul-Wahhaab al-’Aqeel, professor of creed (‘aqeedah) at
the College of Proselytising (da’wah), Islamic University of Madinah,
Saudi Arabia:
“Terrorism is the terror that is caused by those
groups or individuals who resort to killing and wreaking havoc and
destruction. Terrorism is therefore, according to the contemporary
compilers of modern Arabic dictionaries, killing akin to the riotous
killing that is mentioned within the texts of Shar’eeah. As the Prophet
(sallallaahu alayhi wassallam) mentioned with regards to the signs of
the end of time, the spread of ‘al-Harj’ (riotous killing). The meaning
of ‘al-Harj’ is killing and the increase of the spilling blood, which is
all from the signs of the end of time. To the extent that the one
killing will not know why he is killing and the one that was killed will
not know why he/she was killed. Islam is free from this riotous
killing, free from this terrorism and free from this kind of corruption.
Terrorism is established upon destruction of properties such as
factories, farms, places of worship, train stations, airports and the
likes; Islam is clearly free from such actions that are based upon
corruption and not upon rectification. Terrorists usually say that they
are going against the state in which they are based within. This is like
the mafia or other criminal organisations that are based on killing
people, causing fear and taking their monies. Such criminal
organisations have leaders, deputies and individuals that are
responsible for establishing regulations for the organisation and
individuals responsible for carrying out attacks, and all of them are
terrorists causing corruption on the earth. However the ugliest face of
terrorism is that which is established in the name of religion, all of
the religions from the Prophets (peace be upon them) are free from such
terrorism, even if some of the followers of the Prophets participated in
such terrorist activities, but the Prophets are free from such
corruptions.”
Lecture on “The Evils of Terrorism,” August 20, 2005, translated in Islam Against Terrorism – v1.20, September 17, 2005.
Shaykh
Muhammad Afifi al-Akiti, Malaysian Muslim scholar and research fellow
in Islamic philosophy and theology, Oxford Centre for Islamic Studies,
U.K.:
“If you still insist that your [religious or civil]
authority should declare war with the non-Muslim state upon which you
wish war to be declared, then the most you could do in this capacity is
to lobby your authority for it. However, if your anger is so
unrestrained that its fire brings out the worst in you to the point that
your disagreement with your Muslim authority leads you to declare war
on those you want your authority to declare war on, and you end up
resorting to violence, then know with certainty that you have violated
our own religious Laws. For then you will have taken the Shari’a into
your own hands.”
Shaykh Muhammad Afifi al-Akiti, Defending the
Transgressed by Censuring the Reckless against the Killing of Civilians,
Germany: Warda Publications, and United Kingdom: Aqsa Press, 2005,
p.49.
Abd al-Hakim Murad, British Muslim scholar:
“This
is a decadence that is profound. And that it happens in the holy land
is particularly worrying. Near the muqadsāt, where we are particularly
required to conform entirely to the adāb of the Shari’ah. This is a deep
subversion. And as for those who think that for reasons of masfahah
that the door can be opened there, but somehow that door will remain
closed elsewhere in the world, that this door can be opened because the
Palestinians are so oppressed and somehow it’s going to help them, but
of course we keep it closed in Chechnya and Kahsmir and certainly in
London, that logic doesn’t seem to have worked too well. That rage, that
desire to self annihilation, to lash out and the men, women and
children, whoever in the vicinity, is now becoming a global epidemic.
And the ‘ulama who opened the little door now see these legions rushing
through it in every place don’t know what to do about it. That door has
to be closed. Islam is too good for such practices, for such baseness,
for such wild expression of futility and despair and vindictiveness.”
Interview, December 16-18, 2005, London-Leeds-Manchester (via archive.org).
Islamic Society of North America:
“The
Islamic Society of North America (ISNA) condemns in the strongest terms
the recent acts of terrorism in Glasgow, London and Yemen. We reaffirm
our long-standing, unqualified condemnation of all acts of terrorism and
all acts of violence committed against the innocent, and our
denunciation of religious extremism and particularly the use of Islam to
justify terrorism in any of its forms. We sympathize with the victims
of these senseless attacks and offer our heart-felt condolences to the
families who have lost their dear ones.”
“Islamic Society of North America Statement in Response to Recent Bombings,” July 10, 2007 (via archive.org).
Maulana Marghubur Rahman, organizer of “Anti-Terrorism Convention” and rector of the Dar ul-Ulum Deoband madrasa, India:
“We
condemn all forms of terrorism … and in this we make no distinction.
Terrorism is completely wrong, no matter who engages in it, and no
matter what religion he follows or community he belongs to.”
February 2008, translated by Yoginder Sikand.
Muhammad Tahir-ul-Qadri, founding leader of Minhaj-ul-Quran International, Pakistan:
“[T]he
killing of Muslims and the perpetration of terrorism are not only
unlawful and forbidden in Islam but also represent the rejection of
faith.”
Fatwa on Suicide Bombings and Terrorism, March 2, 2010.
New Mardin Declaration, Turkey:
“Ibn
Taymiyya’s fatwa concerning Mardin can under no circumstances be
appropriated and used as evidence for leveling the charge of kufr
(unbelief) against fellow Muslims, rebelling against rulers, deeming
game their lives and property, terrorizing those who enjoy safety and
security, acting treacherously towards those who live (in harmony) with
fellow Muslims or with whom fellow Muslims live (in harmony) via the
bond of citizenship and peace.”
The New Mardin Declaration, March 28, 2010 (Arabic version).
More
statements are released by Muslim organizations and religious scholars
on a regular basis, but multiplying the examples may not persuade those
who dismiss these dozens of examples.
http://kurzman.unc.edu/islamic-statements-against-terrorism/
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