Muhammad Tahir-ul-Qadri, a Pakistan born Islamic scholar with an intriguingly wide range of opinion Tuesday issued an Islamic edict condemning terrorism and suicide bombings and challenged “al—Qaeda’s violent ideology.”
Founder of Minhaj-ul-Quran movement who has a large following in Britain made his formal proclamation of a fatwa, or religious edict, at a news conference in London.
Muhammad Tahir-ul-Qadri, who is also a lawyer, in past has successfully argued for Blasphemy law in Pakistan- a law commonly used to punish minorities and dissenters. The controversial Blasphemy Law was passed after Mr. Qadri after presented his arguments to a Pakistani court, “over a period of three days, culminating in an Act of Parliament.”
Now presented chiefly as a ‘Sufi’, Mr. Qadri was very close to a Pakistani dictator, General Zia ul Haq. In a landmark enactment of Parliament concerning ad-diya (blood-money) of a murdered woman Mr. Qadri had presented his arguments in the President House of Pakistan during a special legislative session chaired by General Zia ul Haq.
But Mr. Qadri now seems like ‘a new and improved’ scholar with 600 page fatwa describing the al-Qaeda movement as an “old evil with a new name.”
His fatwa said that “suicide bombings and attacks against civilian targets are not only condemned by Islam, but render the perpetrators totally out of the fold of Islam, in other words, to be unbelievers.”
Mr. Qadri hopes his arguments would attract the attention of politicians and security services in western nations.
The document is not the first to condemn terrorism and suicide bombings. Following the terrorist attacks in London during July 2005 many scholars came together to denounce the bombers and urged communities to root out extremists.
Muhammad Tahir-ul-Qadri founded Minhaj-ul-Qur’an International (MQI), an organization with branches and centres in more than 90 countries around the globe which has become a leading voice of Islam for inter-faith dialogue. His followers believe that he reflects the renaissance of Islam.
It remains to be seen if Mr. Qadri’s fatwa (an edict issued by a learned Muslim scholar) will have any impact.
The term fatwa became famous in the western world in 1989 after the author Salman Rushdie was forced into hiding following a “death fatwa” issued by Ayatollah Khomeni, on the grounds that his book, the Satanic Verses had “insulted” Islam.
March 2nd, 2010 at 12:03 pm
NOT before time!!!
March 30th, 2010 at 2:48 am
Tahirul Qadri is, excuse me, an actor. Today he is the self-appointed Sheikhul Islam. He even dons the cap of a Middle East Mufti Azam. Seeking publicity he once claimed that some people had fired shots at his home. When the Nawaz Sharif government instituted an inquiry commission and he was summoned to appear before it, he backed away. Later it was suspected that he had himself arranged for the shooting drama.
As to phutwa, he is not the first. Under US and Saudi influence such phutwas have been issued before by “scholars” including Saudi scholars.
But they haven’t caused the slightest dent in the “popularity” either of al Qaeda or suicide bombing.
Reasons; One, people reject such scholars on the ground that when they cannot remove the casus belli, they have no right to restrain the avengers. Two, that in desperate situations Islam allows what is otherwise forbidden, such as even eating swine meat.
April 4th, 2010 at 5:17 pm
Regretably, because it is a worthwhile exercise, Tahir ul Qadri is more interested in promoting himself than the actual issue.
You may be aware that last year a Fatwa was issued following a conference of Ahle Sunnah scholars from across Pakistan organised by the Jamaat Ahle Sunnat.
You may also be aware that one of the leading lights, Mufti Sarfraz Naeemi (RA), of the conference was later martyred by a suicide bomber at his Maddrasa in Lahore.