that's great , Keith, now how about Fatwas?

Submitted by the Grand Infidel of Kaffiristan (Australia), Dec 16, 2008 at 19:31

Keith W (an ex-Christian) , one of the few Muslims to publically decry the Mumbai outrage . writes:

"In Islam, acts of terror are forbidden. The Qur'an says:"When they are told, do not cause corruption on the earth, they say, we are only putting things right. No indeed! They are the corrupters, but they are not aware of it. (2:11-12)"

Very good to hear you agree with so many decent people that this Islamic terrorism is a blight on humanity and totally unjustified.

But I'm curious as to how far your disapproval actually goes. I maintain that a Fatwa that demands the death of an individual or group is just an extension of Islamic terrorism.

Would you agree with that?
And seeing you state you are a member of the US military - you might or might not have been made aware of the following fatwa by Bin Laden and his associates :

"Osama bin Laden in Afghanistan, jointly with Ayman al-Zawahiri, proclaimed a fatwa in 1998 in the name of the World Islamic Front for Jihad Against Jews and Crusaders, declaring, "The ruling to kill the Americans and their allies – civilians and military – is an individual duty for every Muslim who can do it in any country in which it is possible to do it, in order to liberate the al-Aqsa Mosque [in Jerusalem] and the holy mosque [in Mecca] from their grip, and in order for their armies to move out of all the lands of Islam, defeated and unable to threaten any Muslim. This is in accordance with the words of Almighty God, 'and fight the pagans all together as they fight you all together,' and 'fight them until there is no more tumult or oppression, and there prevail justice and faith in God.'""

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_famous_fatwas

Hopefully you don't agree with it. Which then makes the whole system seem very arbitrary doesn't it? Some Muslims will agree with it, some won't. Some agree with it because it was issued by Sunni Imam XXX - but will be disapproved by followers of Shia Imam YYY. Presumeably these fatwa-issuing Imams etc are thinking they know what Allah wants and are bent on carrying out his plans. But both groups can't be right can they?

So where does that leave the whole concept of blinded religious fanatics issuing orders to kill other people?

Would you agree that other fatwas issued by the various illustrious and well-informed members of the Islamic religion that call for the death of individual(s) are justified?

When do the fatwas become justified in your eyes?

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