6/2/2008: Intel News Brief: Fatwa against Terrorism issued by Radical
Muslim Seminary:

NEW DELHI (Agencies): A radical Muslim seminary in India, said to have
inspired the Taleban, has issued a “fatwa”, or edict, against
terrorism in a meeting attended by thousands of clerics and students.
The Darool-Uloom Deoband, a 150 year-old institute controlling
thousands of smaller Islamic seminaries in India vowed to wipe out
terrorism late on Saturday in New Delhi, an ageing rector said. “Islam
rejects all kinds of unjust violence, breach of peace, bloodshed,
murder and plunder and does not allow it in any form,” Habibur Rehman,
a senior rector said. Teachings of the Deoband school and its strict
interpretation of Islamic law, have spread to many countries,
including Britain and Afghanistan. Thousands of clerics and students,
wearing white skull caps and flowing spotless tunics, cheered as
Rehman read out a statement:”The religion of Islam has come to wipe
out all kinds of terrorism and to spread the message of global peace.”

Senior clerics chanted slogans against terrorism, and many held
placards that said “Islam mean peace” and “terrorism is an enemy,
finish it”. Leaders asked those gathered to pledge and fight terror in
all forms, witnesses said. Analysts described the meet as a
significant step towards addressing terrorism and bringing relief to
India’s 140 million Muslims, who feel the acts of some individuals
were tarnishing the image of the community as a whole. “It is an
awakening among them (Muslim groups) to the dangers that face them as
a fallout of terrorism and suspected association of terrorism with
Muslims,” Pran Chopra, a political analyst told Reuters on Sunday.
Indian Muslims have been implicated in bomb attacks in India in 2006
and a failed attack in Britain last year.

Last month, a group calling themselves “Indian Mujahideen” claimed
responsibility for a blast that killed 65 people in Rajasthan state.
The same group also criticised Muslim organisations in an email sent
to various media houses last month.

Analysts say such threats were not making any impact as more and more
religious groups were openly denouncing terrorism. “The response by
the Muslim population...has been worth noticing and the fatwa is a
very welcome development,” Chopra said. The Dalai Lama speaking at the
conference said that the international community needs to deal with
the root causes of terrorism and it was wrong to brand all Muslims as
militants. “Every action comes from some motivation. We have to
address or deal with the motivation which creates terrorist actions,”
the Tibetan spiritual leader said. He didn’t elaborate. The Dalai Lama
referred to the Sept 11, 2001, terror attacks on the United States,
but said it was wrong to generalize and blame Islam for acts by some
members of the Muslim community.
The Dalai Lama said he was dismayed by the conflict between Catholics
and Protestants in Northern Ireland and Shias and Sunni Muslims in
Iraq and Pakistan.
Source: Morning Intel News Brief via Arab Times; Kuwait