Tonight's ABC news here in the US reports that Britain's leading Sunni group has issued a fatwa, a binding religious edicts, denouncing the London bombings as 'anti-Islamic and [saying] the Quran, the Muslim holy book, forbade such suicide attacks'. It goes on:
"Who has given anyone the right to kill others? It is a sin. Anyone who commits suicide will be sent to Hell," said Mufti Muhammad Gul Rehman Qadri, the council chairman. "What happened in London can be seen as a sacrilege. It is a sin to take your life or the life of others."
This is all extremely welcome. As I write, though, this piece of news has yet to picked up by the BBC or any other UK media outlet that I have surveyed. I hope this will change soon, especially as the lack of such a fatwa is frequently cited as a criticism of Muslim groups. Shouldn't this be extremely prominent news? It was about the third item on the evening bulletin in the States...
Now up on the BBC site:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/4691909.stm
Posted by: The Digester | 18 July 2005 at 01:42 PM
Sorry; better link here:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/4694441.stm
Posted by: The Digester | 18 July 2005 at 01:44 PM
Yes, it should be more prominent. It was front page of the Daily Record though...
Posted by: Ken | 18 July 2005 at 05:16 PM