It is not only Islamic radicals who have expressed their sup****t for
suicide
terrorism, many mainstream Muslim leaders have done so too.
No fatwah condemning the suicide atrocity of 9 September 2001 was issued.
I have referred to a number of public statements by Sheikh Muhammad Sayyid
Tantawi, Grand Imam of Al-Azhar University commending Palestinian suicide
bombings and permitting suicide attacks in Iraq. The Mufti of Egypt,
Sheikh
Dr Ahmad Al-Tayyeb has also sup****ted Palestinian suicide bombing (MEMRI
Special Dispatches Series 363, 7April 2002).
A congress of 50 Islamic scholars from seven countries meeting in Lebanon
in
January 2002 confirmed the legitimacy of suicide attacks on Israel (AFP
re****t dated 10 January 2002, in the "Middle East Times", 11 January)
Again in 2002 a meeting of the Organization of the Islamic Conference in
Kuala Lumpur, representing all Muslim countries refused to condemn suicide
bombing ("The Independent" 11 April 2002).
Sheikh Yusuf al-Qaradhawi, as Head of the European Council for Fatwa and
Research, gave a re****t to the Council in July 2003 approving of the
suicide attacks in Palestine on the basis that the situation was one of
extreme necessity and therefore that normal prohibitions did not apply. He
said:
"What weapon can harm their enemy, can prevent him from sleeping, and can
strip him of a sense of security and stability, except for these human
bombs - a young man or woman who blows himself or herself up amongst their
enemy? This is a weapon the likes of which the enemy cannot obtain, even
if
the US provides it with billions and the most powerful weapons, because it
is a unique weapon which Allah has placed only in the hands of the men of
belief. It is a type of divine justice on the face of the earth... it is
the
weapon of the wretched weak in the face of the powerful tyrant..."
("Al-Sarq
al-Awsat" 19 July 2003, tr in MEMRI Special Dispaches Series 542 24 July
2003).
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