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Islamic scholar issues anti-terrorism fatwa

The World — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 21:30:07 +0000

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An influential Muslim scholar has issued a global ruling against terrorism and suicide bombing. Dr Tahir ul-Qadri, from Pakistan, says his 600-page judgement, known as a fatwa, completely dismantles al-Qaeda’s violent ideology. The scholar describes al-Qaeda as an “old evil with a new name” that has not been sufficiently challenged. Dr Qadri’s organization, Minhaj ul-Quran, is growing in Britain and has attracted the interest of policymakers and security chiefs. Marco Werman talks with The World’s religion editor Jane Little about the fatwa.

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MARCO WERMAN: I’m Marco Werman and this is The World, a co-production of the BBC World Service, PRI and WGBH Boston. On 9/11 Americans were confronted with a powerful weapon, people willing to face certain death while committing acts of terrorism. In the years since, suicide bombers have been used frequently by Islamic extremists across the world. But whether suicide bombers are allowed by Islam is the subject of heated debate. Today in London a leading Islamic scholar issued a fatwa, or religious edict against suicide bombings and terrorism. Jane Little is The World’s religion editor. Jane, what exactly does today’s fatwa say?

JANE LITTLE: Well Dr. Mohammad Tajil al Kadri says in a 600 page document that terrorism and suicide bombing can absolutely never be justified. He says that’s the difference between his fatwa and others that we’ve heard since 9/11 when we heard condemnations of certain suicide bombing missions. He said quite often there are equivocations that Israel is an exception, that various scholars do not absolutely condemn terrorism, but he says this is the most comprehensive look at suicide bombing and he says it can never be justified. Let’s hear from him.

MOHAMMAD TAJIL AL KADRI: This fatwa or ruling which I have passed contains an absolute condemnation of terrorism. Without any excuses, without any pretexts, without any exceptions, these kind of killings and terroristic activities they lead the terrorists to hell fire.

WERMAN: Jane Little, remind us what a fatwa is and how obliged is the Muslim world to obey a fatwa?

LITTLE: When we think of fatwas we often think of death warrants issued by Ayatollah Khomeini, the late Ayatollah against Salman Rushdi for instance, when he told Muslims to go out and kill the writer. But that’s not actually a fatwa, it’s simply a religious edict or ruling issued by a scholar in some standing. They are always on very specific theological issues. They can be on anything from how to prepare for prayers to suicide bombing.

WERMAN: And again, how obliged is the Muslim world to follow a fatwa or is it just kind of a position paper by cleric?

LITTLE: Well there is, as you know, no Pope figure within Islam. There is no ecclesiastical hierarchy and so for every fatwa basically there is always a counter-fatwa out there saying the opposite. But there are some scholars who are see to have great authority and some not. Dr. Tajil al Kadri is seen to have great authority by many followers in Pakistan from the Sufi tradition and by an increasing number of people in Britain and other parts of the world. But then, there are those in more hard line schools of thought, he comes out of a Sufi tradition. There are more hard liners who will dismiss his authority completely and there is one website calling him and idolater today.

WERMAN: So I guess my final question is with a fatwa like this against terrorism and suicide bombers, are we safer in the West?

LITTLE: Well that’s a very good question. I think it’s a big symbolic gesture. It’s using the right language. Of course a fatwa is not going to change things overnight. It’s not going to reach the hard liners who are already in training camps in Pakistan and elsewhere. But what Dr. Kadri and his followers hope is that it will stir debate and that the so-called swing voters, the young Muslims who could be drawn either way, will have pause for thought and be influenced in a positive way by this document.

WERMAN: The World’s religion editor, Jane Little, always good to speak with you Jane. Thank you.

LITTLE: You too Marco. Thank you.

WERMAN: You can learn about the psychology of suicide bombers on The World’s science podcast. This week we have an interview with science journalist Shankar Vendamtam author of the book, The Hidden Brain. He talks about the workings of the unconscious and how group psychology can create suicide terrorists. Listen to the interview and chat with Vendamtam online at the world dot org slash science.

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Egypt to ban full women’s veils

The World — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 20:20:32 +0000

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Egypt’s highest Muslim authority has said he will issue a religious edict against the growing trend for full women’s veils, known as the niqab. Although most Muslim women in Egypt wear the Islamic headscarf, increasing numbers are adopting the niqab as well. The practice is widely associated with more radical trends of Islam. Reporter Aya Batrawy has the story.

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The niqab in Islam

MARCO WERMAN: In Egypt, there’s a debate underway over whether Muslim women should cover their faces. Now one of the country’s highest religious authorities has weighed in. Sheikh Mohammed Tantawi is head of Cairo’s Al Azhar University. He recently called on a young girl to remove her niqab, which covers the face. And he suggested that he would ban female university students from wearing it. But as Aya Batrawy reports from Cairo, many women in Egypt disagree with him.

[SOUND OF A YOUNG GIRL STUDYING THE KORAN]

AYA BATRAWY: Young women studying the Koran at Al Azhar University, Sunni Islam’s premier seat of learning. Here, they study in all-female classrooms. Most are dressed modestly and wear the hijab, or headscarf. But there are also hundreds studying here who choose to wear the niqab – a full length covering from head to toe, often black, with only a small opening for the eyes. Zizi even has her eyes obscured by a black cloth and wears black gloves. She started wearing the niqab just nine months ago and says she doesn’t care if Sheikh Tantawi himself asked her to remove it, she wouldn’t.

[SOUND OF ZIZI'S VOICE]

BATRAWY: [IN ARABIC] I respect him greatly, she says, but there is something greater and that is God.

Such defiance is rare, but debate over the niqab has touched a raw nerve in Egypt, where some see its increasing popularity as part of an Islamist threat to the state. Others regard wearing it as a religious duty. So when Sheikh Tantawi recently told a middle school student to remove her face veil, he sparked an outcry. According to local news reports, the sheikh told the girl that the niqab has nothing to do with Islam and is only a custom. And he was reported to have said that he would issue a fatwa, or religious edict, against wearing it in his university. In a later effort to clarify his remarks, the sheikh appeared on a popular news program hosted by a woman who does not cover her hair.

[SOUND OF THE TALK SHOW HOST AND TANTAWI SPEAKING]

BATRAWY: He said that 99 percent of scholars agree that the niqab is not mandatory, so he is not going to follow the one percent that disagrees. And he explained why he said he urged a limited ban on the niqab.

[SOUND OF THE TALK SHOW HOST AND TANTAWI SPEAKING]

MOHAMMED TANTAWI: [In Arabic] The higher council of Al Azhar banned the niqab in a class of all females led by a female teacher because who is she hiding her face from? Does she want to say that she is right and everyone else is wrong? If that girl wants when the class is over to put on the niqab, she is free to do so.

BATRAWY: But the ban at Al Azhar has yet to take effect and the controversy continues. Al Azhar and its head have been accused of carrying out political orders. The government has also banned the niqab from the dormitories of state universities – shutting out dozens of students who refused to un-veil. Dr. Akram Shaar, an independent member of parliament who belongs to the politically banned Muslim brotherhood, says such moves are aimed at keeping Islamists out of universities – and are an attack on civil liberties.

DR. AKRAM SHAAR: [IN ARABIC] Do we ban scantily dressed women from university dorms? No. We do not agree with banning scantily dressed women nor do we agree with banning women wearing the niqab because this is a personal decision based on free will.

BATRAWY: This is merely the latest twist in a long-running back and forth over the face veil in Egypt. Until the beginning of the 20th century, upper-class women wore a sheer, silky veil over the face as a sign of their status and wealth. Later the veil was seen as a mark of oppression – removing it was an act of women’s liberation. Now many women are claiming it as a religious and civil right. Asmaa is studying at Al Azhar. All her niqab reveals are her large brown eyes.

[SOUND OF ASMAA, SPEAKING IN ARABIC]

BATRAWY: It’s not right to force a girl to do something she doesn’t want to do, she says, we will not allow anyone to step on our rights and the freedom to choose. Dozens of others currently barred from the dorms of Cairo University and elsewhere agree – even at the cost of an education. For The World, this is Aya Batrawy, Cairo.