Fatwa to outlaw bombers

LONDON - Britain's top Muslim scholars are to issue a "fatwa" which will condemn the terrorists behind the bombings, in an unprecedented move to repudiate the Islamist militants suspected of the atrocities.

It is expected that the religious ruling, which will be drafted this week, will effectively outlaw the bombers among Muslims by stating the attacks were a breach of the most basic tenets of Islam.

Senior community leaders believe they must try to deflect another wave of revenge attacks by attacking the religious basis of the terrorists' alleged Islamist ideology and by questioning their right to describe themselves as Muslims.

The move follows a decision taken on Saturday at an emergency summit attended by about 100 of the country's most prominent Muslim leaders, held in private at the East London Mosque.

Sir Iqbal Sacranie, general secretary of the Muslim Council of Britain, said: "Those behind this atrocity aren't just enemies of humanity but enemies of Islam and Muslims.

"The people at the receiving end of this, both as some of the victims of the bombing and victims of the backlash, are Muslims."

The proposal was thrashed out amid fears that British Muslims face violent reprisals for the bombings.

Several religious centres - including a Sikh temple and a mosque in Leeds - have already been attacked, and several Muslims have reportedly been assaulted in southern England and north London.

Muslim leaders have also been sent hundreds of threatening emails, thought to have been orchestrated by neo-Nazi groups.

In the aftermath of the September 11 attacks on New York and the Pentagon, hundreds of British Muslims were assaulted, one fatally, with mosques firebombed and desecrated.

The statements - the first of their kind issued by British Muslim leaders - mark a turning point for the UK's Islamic scholars.

Under Islamic law, it is impossible to strip someone of their right to call themselves Muslim. Unlike the right of Catholic Popes to excommunicate, in Islam, that power is reserved to God.

Senior clerics and scholars are however able to repudiate a Muslim's actions and discredit the Islamic basis of their behaviour. But this approach has been controversial after Islamic scholars ruled the Ahmadi sect were not Muslims because they believe Muhammad was not the final prophet and that their founder was the messiah.

The council's official spokesman said: "If these bombers are found to be Muslims, we will make it clear we utterly disassociate ourselves from them - even if they claim to be Muslims or are acting under the mantle of the Islamic faith. We reject that utterly."

Within hours of the bombings, senior Islamic scholars in Egypt and Saudi Arabia condemned the bombing as un-Islamic.

Signed by dozens of prominent Muslim bodies, mosques, Islamic scholars and community groups, the council's edict will also state that Muslims have a moral duty to help the police catch the perpetrators.

Community leaders are also under intensifying political pressure to take these steps. Murad Qureshi, the only Muslim member of the Greater London Assembly and a former Labour councillor in Westminster, said, "If there was a fatwa issued, I would welcome it.

"It's about time we put clear distance between ourselves and so-called Muslim leaders like Osama bin Laden, who has been able to dictate the whole agenda with his video nasties."

- INDEPENDENT