http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=45553
More fatwa fibs
Posted: August 2, 2005 1:00 a.m. Eastern C 2005 WorldNetDaily.com
To considerable press fanfare, the Fiqh Council of North America
issued a fatwa, denouncing terrorism. The religious edict decreed
that "targeting civilians' life and property through suicide bombings
or any other method of attack is forbidden, and those who commit
these barbaric acts are criminals, not martyrs."
What religious authority does the FCNA possess? Does its authority
supersede that of say, the imam of the Mosque of Mecca, Sheik Abd-al-
Rahman al-Sudays? If so, does the fatwa extend to those the eminent
(but unoriginal) imam dubbed "pigs and monkeys" (a synonym for Jews
among many Islamic scholars)? This foremost Islamic authority had
hateful - and hate-inspiring - words for Hindus and Christians as
well. Is that all in the past now that the FCNA has spoken?
The Council on American-Islamic Relations participated in the canned
performance. CAIR's executive director promised that this was "the
strongest statement that can be made by the Islamic community." The
Muslim Council of Britain made similar sounds after July 7. We know
they were not exactly channeling the British "Islamic community," of
which 6 percent justified the murders, 24 percent sympathized with
the murderers, and 14 percent would not rat them out. (Since surveyed
subjects tend to give answers that depict them favorably, these
results are likely overoptimistic).
And did that Council's fatwa nullify the opinions of the mayor of
London's favorite "progressive" theologian, Yusuf al-Qaradawi? As
Civitas' David Conway recently reported, the mayor galvanized
Qaradawi's compendious knowledge to draw a sharp "moral distinction"
between suicide-bombings against ordinary Londoners (not good) and
those against ordinary Israelis (perfectly good).
And is CAIR qualified to preach peace? Not according to terrorism
expert, Steven Emerson:
Officials of both groups [CAIR and the FCNA] have been linked to
various terrorist organizations. The reigning chairman of the Fiqh
Council [Taha Jaber Al-Alwani] is an unindicted co-conspirator in the
case against Sami al-Arian, the alleged North American leader of
Palestinian Islamic Jihad.
Al-Alwani has also funded Islamic Jihad front groups in Tampa.
To meet an FCNA trustee by the name of Abdurrahman Alamoudi, you'd
have to visit a jail cell, where he'll be ensconced for the next 23
years for illegal financial dealings with Libya and immigration
fraud. He has also admitted to partaking in a plot to assassinate the
Saudi crown prince, has voiced enthusiastic support for Hamas and
Hezbollah, and has allegedly acted as a financier for al-Qaida.
Another Council member, Sheikh Muhammad al-Hanooti, maintained ties
to Hamas, but has otherwise exercised remarkable restraint, merely
calling for jihad against America, England and the Jews.
The flower of the flock is undoubtedly Muzammil Siddiqui, president
of the FCNA. Mercifully, he has confined himself to cursing America
("the wrath of God" and all that stuff).
CAIR's credentials are not much better, says Emerson: "In the past 4
years, several CAIR officials have been convicted of or charged with
various terrorism-related offenses." The organization has championed
and defended officials and leaders of Islamic terrorist groups such
as Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad. Any prosecution of Islamic
terrorists; any freezing of funds for their various front
organizations; any deportation of radical Islamic clerics who preach
jihad - CAIR greets with squalls of "Islamophobia" and "war against
Islam." According to CAIR, the indictment of Palestinian Islamic
Jihad leader Sami al-Arian on conspiracy to murder more than 100
people was "politically motivated" and instigated by "the attack dogs
of the pro-Israeli lobby."
Speaking of "the Children of Israel," one particular Quranic verse
(5:32) quoted by the Fiqh folks in support of Islam's humanity piqued
my curiosity because of a similar sounding Talmudic saying. As the
Fatwa has it, this ayah declares that, "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."
Prompted by Dr. Daniel Pipes, I examined the context of the passage
in "The Meaning of the Qur'an," by Abdullah Yusuf Ali, only to find
that the FCNA has "decontextualized" it. The Quran actually says the
following:
On that account: We ordained
For the Children of Israel
That if anyone slew
A person - unless it be
For murder or for spreading
Mischief in the land -
It would be as if
He slew the whole people:
And if anyone saved a life,
It would be as if he saved
The life of the whole people.
Then although there came
To them Our Messenger
With Clear Signs, yet,
Even after that, many
Of them continued to commit
Excess in the land.
The verse apparently concerns the dread-Jew. At the very least, it's
fair to say this Quranic ayah is considerably less humanistic and
universal than the Council claims. "Spreading mischief," whatever
that entails, qualifies as a reason to slay a person. Unjust killing
is clearly not too circumscribed an activity. The fatwa finesses the
original words - and their context.
Devoid of the killing component, the Talmudic version simply and
unequivocally states that, "To save one life is like saving the
world." Contrary to the Quranic ayah, it doesn't whittle down
humanity.
The real issue here is this: Whatever ancient Jewish or church
teachings may have preached, the modern nation-states dominated by
Jews and Christians (believers and non-believers) follow the rule of
enlightened Western law. It's indeed possible there are sadistic
Americans and Israelis who'd like to put apostates and blasphemers to
death, genitally mutilate little girls, amputate the hands of
thieves, beat their wives with impunity, stone women for committing
adultery (the definition of which includes rape) and homosexuals for
sodomy, or consider the testimony of a non-Jewish or Christian male
to be worth half that of a Jewish or Christian male (women witnesses
are similarly weighted in Islam). But they can't. Or if they did,
they'd be punished. Western law won't countenance such cruelty.
Not so the law in Pakistan, Afghanistan, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Sudan,
or in other Muslim countries where the Quran and the Sunnah of the
Prophet (Sharia) are law. Yet the Fiqh Council assures us that the
Quran embraces humanity. Even more ironic: In the process of
persuasion, the Islamic community's professed front men find the need
to fib about what the Quran really says.
Ilana Mercer is the author of "Broad Sides: One Woman's Clash With A
Corrupt Culture." She is an analyst and blogger-at-large for the Free-
Market News Network. For more about her work, visit IlanaMercer.com.
http://www.ilanamercer.com
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