Top Saudi clerics: protests are un-Islamic

No surprise here. Have they issued a fatwa yet? Or just a faswa?

"Saudi Arabia's top clerics have condemned calls for protests as un-Islamic, the Al Hayat newspaper reported Monday, ahead of a demonstration planned in the kingdom later this week.

The Council of Senior Scholars said that 'reform and advice do not take place by protests or methods that lead to sedition'.

A protest is being planned in Saudi Arabia Friday to call for political reforms, the release of political prisoners, more employment opportunities and greater freedoms."

Suddenly suicide is forbidden in Islam, says Al Azhar

Last month after an Egyptian man emulated the Tunisian fruit vendor who set himself on fire and helped spark a revolution, I read on some blog that some cleric issued a fatwa forbidding suicide. I forgot about it until I learned today that it wasn't any ordinary cleric from any ordinary mosque who issued the fatwa. It was from Al Azhar University: "Sharia law states that Islam categorically forbids suicide for any reason and does not accept the separation of souls from bodies as an expression of stress, anger or protest"

Today I'm wondering what those clerics of Al Azhar were saying between 2003 and 2010, when hundreds of Muslims volunteered to become suicide bombers in Iraq. Mohammed M. Hafez of the United States Institute of Peace wrote in his book Suicide Bombers in Iraq: the strategy and ideology of martyrdom:

Support for martyrdom came not only from radical bastions of Islamism such as Iran or Heabollah in southern Lebanon, but also from traditionally conservative institutions such as Egypt’s al-Azhar. Notable religious figures such as Sheikh Ahmed al-Teyyeb, mufti of Egypt, and Sheikh Muhammad Tantawi, imam of al-Azhar, affirmed the right of Palestinians to carry out “martyrdom operations” against Israelis. Yusuf al-Qardawi, a widely respected Muslim leader who has a weekly program, al-Saria wal-Hayat (Islamic Law and Life), on Al Jazeera satellite television, repeatedly issued religious rulings upholding the legitimacy of “martyrdom operations.”

Although al-Qardawi and other religious authorities did not endorse suicide attacks in Iraq, their support for these attacks in the Palestinian-Israeli context was sufficient to lead jihadists in Iraq to ask, “What is different about occupation in Palestine and occupation in Iraq?” The culture of martyrdom spawned by earlier waves of suicide attacks had created the template necessary for justifying suicide terrorism in Iraq.

A week ago a 'leading scholar from al-Azhar said on Friday that protesting is forbidden in Islam. Saeed Amer, head of the Fatwa – religious opinions – Committee at Al Azhar, Egypt and the Sunni Islamic world leading Sunni institute told al-Shourok newspaper that demonstrations that cause violence is “Haram,” or forbidden, within the religion.'

Today the Angry Arab wrote poignantly: "The Mufti of Al-Azhar--the religious institution that has only produced misogyny, repression, intolerance, fanaticism, and obscurantism--called Mubarak and expressed support for dictatorship. What do you expect from a bunch of unlearned clerics who produce fatwas for a fee?"

Paradoxical fatwas

Abd al-Aziz ibn Abd Allah ibn Baaz of KSA issued two key fatwas:

1. "During the [1991] Gulf War Ibn Baaz issued fatwa allowing the deployment of non-Muslim troops on Saudi Arabia soil to defend the Kingdom from the Iraqi army. Some noted that this was in contrast to his opinion in the 1940s, when he contradicted the government policy of Islamically allowing non-Muslims to be employed on Saudi soil.[12]"
2. From Shi'a–Sunni relations: "In recent decades the late leading Saudi cleric, Abdul-Aziz ibn Baz, issued fatwa denouncing Shia as apostates, and according to Shia scholar Vali Nasr "Abdul-Rahman al-Jibrin, a member of the Higher Council of Ulama, even sanctioned the killing of Shias,[125] a call that was reiterated by Wahhabi religious literature as late as 2002."[127]"

Shia in KSA, our "ally"

'In modern day Saudi Arabia, the Wahabi rulers limit Shia political participation to a game of notables. These notables benefit from their ties to power and in turn, are expected to control their community.[8] Saudi Shias are a minority comprising only about 10-15%, about 2 million, of the some 20 million Saudi population.[9] Although some live in Medina (known as the Nakhawila), Mecca, and even Riyadh, the majority are concentrated in the oases of al-Hasa and Qatif in the oil-rich areas of the Eastern Province. For years, they have faced religious and economic discrimination because they’re viewed as Iranian puppets. They have usually been denounced as heretics, traitors, and non-Muslims. Shias were accused of sabotage, most notably for bombing oil pipelines in 1988. A number of Shias were even executed. In response to Iran’s militancy, the Saudi government collectively punished the Shia community in Saudi Arabia by placing restrictions on their freedoms and marginalizing them economically. Wahabi ulama were given the green light to sanction violence against the Shia. What followed were fatwas passed by the country’s leading cleric, Abdul-Aziz ibn Baz which denounced the Shias as apostates. Another by Adul-Rahman al-Jibrin, a member of the Higher Council of Ulama even sanctioned the killing of Shias. This call was reiterated in Wahabi religious literature as late as 2002.[9]

Unlike Iraq and Lebanon which hold sizable Shia wealthy, Saudi Arabia has nothing resembling Shia elite of any kind. There have been no Shia cabinet ministers. They are kept out of critical jobs in the armed forces and the security services. There are no Shia mayors or police chiefs, and not one of the three hundred Shia girls’ schools in the Eastern Province has a Shia principal.[9]

The government has restricted the names that Shias can use for their children in an attempt to discourage them from showing their identity. Saudi textbooks, criticized for their anti-Semitism, are equally hostile to Shiism often characterizing the faith as a form of heresy worse than Christianity and Judaism. Wahabi teachers frequently tell classrooms full of young Shia schoolchildren that they are heretics.[10]

In the town of Dammam, a quarter of whose residents are Shia, Ashura is banned, and there is no distinctly Shia call to prayer. There is no Shia cemetery for the nearly quarter of the 600,000 Shias that live there. There is only one mosque for the town’s 150,000 Shias. The Saudi government has often been viewed as an active oppressor of Shias because of the funding of the Wahabi ideology which denounces the Shia faith.[11]'

Mickey Mouse is Satan's Soldier

A Saudi cleric has issued a fatwa to kill Mickey Mouse. The cleric used to be a diplomat in Washington! Thanks Dad.

Backward views of some Shia

On my blog I have focused a great deal on the backward views of Wahhabi clerics, and more recently I have discussed the injustices carried out by the Iranian regime as well, but I have not written about the backward views of many Iraqi Shia, including Ayatollah Ali al Sistani. Over the weekend I watched an episode of the Turkish soap opera Nour, which has been dubbed in Arabic by mbc and is a huge hit in the Arab world. My cousin told me that Sistani has warned young Iraqis not to watch the soap, presumably because it promotes secular ideas. Showing women without veils no doubt irritates conservative Muslim clerics, and I'm not surprised by the Saudi grand mufti's attack on "malicious" Turkish soap operas, but to hear that Sistani has done the same surprises and upsets me. I cannot confirm that Sistani warned Iraqis not to watch Nour, but more seriously, Sistani did issue a fatwa against homosexuals and instructed to kill homosexuals "in the most severe way". Sistani eventually renounced the fatwa, but by then it was too late for many gay Iraqis.

Other fatwas by Sistani and practices by conservative Shia make me laugh, and some of them I find quite backward, even more so than fatwas by Wahhabis, because Sistani's words affect Iraqis directly. I have praised Sistani before, and I still admire him for calling for peace and unity among Iraqis, but I hope he respects the fact that much of Iraqi society is secular, and I hope he does not move to make Baghdad look more like Tehran.

Latest Fatwa: Open Buffets Haram

The stupid Wahhabis have issued another food-related fatwa. They have decided that open buffets are haram.

Crazy Fatwas

Recently a discussion about the term "Wahhabi" took place in the comments section, and Anand suggested that "Takfiri" is the politically correct term, and that a "Wahhabi" is not necessarily a bad person who wants to kill me because I am Shi3i. This is true, and it is also true that Saudi Arabia has spent billions of dollars on mosques worldwide to promote their brand of Islam, and many mosques such as the King Fahad Mosque in LA may be Saudi-funded and Saudi influenced, but the Muslims who run these mosques, in most cases, do not teach Wahhabi doctrine. In 2002 I met one of the Sheikhs at the King Fahad Mosque, and he is a very nice man from Ghana.

In Saudi Arabia, however, it's a different story. The Shia in Saudi Arabia are not killed, thankfully, but they aren't well respected either. Saudi Shia clerics are not allowed to appear on Saudi TV, and Shia schoolchildren in KSA are told regularly that they are apostates. The latest outrageous and embarrassing example of takfiri thought comes from Saudi Arabia's most revered cleric Sheikh Abdul-Rahman al-Barrak, who issued a fatwa declaring that 'two writers should be tried for apostasy for their "heretical articles" and put to death if they do not repent.' I don't know if the writers are Shia, but apparently they have written that Muslims should be allowed to follow other religions:

He said the articles suggested Muslims were free to follow other religions. Rights groups have accused Wahhabism of a xenophobic attitude which demonises other religions.

Abdullah bin Bejad al-Otaibi, one of the two writers, said he feared for his life and called on the government to intervene. The second writer was Yousef Aba al-Khail.

"My articles have been met with fatwas before but it never got to this level of directly inciting murder or directly accusing someone of no longer being a Muslim," he told Reuters.

"If this is allowed to pass, this country will be transformed into an arena of bloodshed. It will be chaos."

Barrak is the same cleric who declared in December 2006 that Shia are infidels. This reminds us that the Wahhabi really is a takfiri, a person who has decided that worshipping God in any other way than his way is punishable by death. This kind of thinking originates in Saudi Arabia, and has been the root of the sectarian conflict in Iraq. The takfiri have been rejected for the most part in Iraq. I have been told by two Saudi Shia I met in the last year that King Abdallah has made some progress in giving Saudi Shia more rights since he took over. It will be interesting to see how the King reacts to Barrak's provocative crazy fatwa.

Note at 9:35 EST I changed the title from "Wahhabi = Takfiri = Intolerant Crazy?" to "Crazy Fatwas"

Iraqi expats want to stop Al Jazeera broadcasts in Europe

More GOOD news! 

December 6, 2007	No.1778
European Arabs Launch Campaign to Stop Al-Jazeera Broadcasts in Europe Arabs in Europe have launched a public campaign to stop Al-Jazeera TV broadcasts in Europe. In a petition, they accuse the channel of fostering extremism among European Arab youth and of supporting terrorism. While the petition's initiators have not provided their names, it seems likely that they are Iraqi expatriates; although various Arab news websites, such as Elaph, [1] have reported on the campaign, the petition itself has been posted primarily on Iraqi websites. These sites include the Iraqi news site Sotaliraq; [2] the Iraq of Tomorrow news site; [3] the Al-Najaf News site; [4] the website of Al-Fayhaa TV, a liberal Iraqi station; [5] the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan website; [6] Bahzani, a news and opinion website focusing on the Yazidi community and other Iraqi minorities; [7] the Yezidi Community website; [8] the website of the GilgamishCenter for Kurdish Studies and Research; [9] and the Kurdistan Times e-journal. [10] In addition, on November 28, 2007, Iraqi exile Joseph Shallal wrote an article on the Arab left-liberal Modern Discussion website urging a boycott of Al-Jazeera. TO VIEW MEMRI TV'S PAGE OF AL-JAZEERA CLIPS VISIT: http://www.memritv.org/subject/en/166.htm The following are excerpts from the petition and from Shallal's article: "Since Its Inception, Al-Jazeera Has Chosen the Path of Fostering Violence and Hatred" "Why should Al-Jazeera be blocked in liberal Europe? "More than 10 years after the emergence of the extremist Al-Jazeera channel, the time has come for Arabs who live in Europe and believe in a free Europe to defend the principles of a continent that has sacrificed millions of victims to reach its current state of progress, respect for human rights, rejection of extremism, and rejection of the fostering of hatred. "Since its inception, Al-Jazeera TV has chosen the path of fostering violence and hatred in the world, and has acted so as to be an arm of terrorist forces, such as Al-Qaeda and other extremist forces. [Al-Jazeera TV] has already been prevented from operating in many countries, and some of its presenters and technical crew have been arrested for their involvement in aiding obscurantist terrorist forces like Al-Qaeda and others." "The Time Has Come for… 'The Bin Laden Channel' to Face Its Day of Reckoning on the European Continent" "The time has come for Al-Jazeera TV, whose name has become 'the bin Laden channel,' to face its day of reckoning on the European continent. "It would be difficult, in this brief [overview], to provide examples of the calamitous influence, danger, and ignominy that Al-Jazeera TV has presented and continues to present. Every day that this channel [continues to] broadcast constitutes a clear violation of the principles of the media, and poisons the minds of the youth…" Al-Jazeera is Exploiting Europe's Democratic Environment in Order to Wholeheartedly Oppose Freedom and Respect "One cannot remain silent in the face of the dangerous insinuations broadcast by Al-Jazeera, that are aimed at trying to show that there is an extremist religious campaign against Muslims in Europe. "One cannot remain silent, given the statements of European political and cultural researchers as to Al-Jazeera's dangerous influence on the Arab youth in Europe. "One cannot remain silent in the face of [Sheikh Yousef] Al-Qaradhawi calling Christians and Westerners 'infidels' on Al-Jazeera, [and in the face of] his calls for violence. "European governments cannot but note Al-Jazeera's record in the Middle East, and the restricting orders issued against it in countries such as Iraq, Kuwait, and Saudi Arabia. Perhaps these countries are not models of the kind of democracy found in Europe - but their judges and media personnel presented clear and irrefutable evidence of Al-Jazeera's involvement in actions unbefitting a media outlet. "One cannot remain silent in the face of Al-Jazeera's continued exploitation of the European continent's democratic environment in order to practice a media policy that is wholeheartedly opposed to the freedom and respect that European principles promote. "It is not our intention here to mention further examples of the Qatari Al-Jazeera channel's extremism. We will leave it to every free and sincere Arab individual to remember the many hours of anger he has spent viewing Al-Jazeera's destructive discourse." "Sign Your Name With Us and Take a Stand Against Hatred and Extremism" "Who is behind this campaign? "This is a campaign of Arabs and Europeans aimed at implementing peaceful pressure against European governments and the European Union to stop broadcasting by the extremist Al-Jazeera satellite channel on European cable networks, as a first step towards stopping the channel from broadcasting over the European satellite [service] Hotbird… "This is an appeal to all Arabs and Europeans, those who live in the European continent and those outside it, to add their names to the campaign. "This is an appeal to all academics and intellectuals, to provide us with their testimony regarding the terrorist channel. "This is an appeal to all lawyers and rights specialists, in Europe and elsewhere, to help us with their legal expertise in order to draw up a legal paper that we can present to the European parliaments and the EU. "This is an appeal to you, as an Arab and a European, and as a consumer, to join us in pressuring the European cable networks to remove Al-Jazeera… You do not want yourself, or anyone close to you, to turn to extremism and to hatred for the countries that have given us so much love. "Sign your name with us, and take a stand against hatred and extremism. Sign on to our campaign for 'a Europe without Al-Jazeera.' "Sign at this address: stop_aljazeera_in_eu@yahoo.com." "When Will Al-Jazeera's Hatred for Iraq and the Iraqis End?" In an article titled "When Will Al-Jazeera's Hatred for Iraq and the Iraqis End?" published November 28, 2007 by the Arab left-liberal Modern Discussion website, Joseph Shallal, an Iraqi exile living in Germany, wrote that Al-Jazeera is biased against Iraq, and urged a boycott against it. (It is not clear whether Shallal is connected to the petition initiative.) He also argued that Qatar, which sponsors Al-Jazeera, is hypocritical, since it is home to the largest U.S. military base in the region: "The Al-Jazeera channel was struck with hysteria after the fall of the late Saddam regime… "The goal of Al-Jazeera, and of those who stand behind it, is to harm intra-Arab relations as well as relations between Arabs and the countries of the world, and to sow and deepen religious and [Sunni-Shi'ite] sectarianism and hatred among all elements if the Arab region. "Most guests on its shows are from a single school and tendency… If we look at the Al-Jazeera Direct broadcasts, all we see are things harmful to the Iraqis and to Iraq - speeches, meetings, and conferences by Islamist terrorists from Al-Qaeda and from [other] terrorist organizations… "At the same time, Al-Jazeera Direct ignores anything positive, inside or outside Iraq… While it carried a speech by wanted Iraqi terrorist Harith Al-Dari, who represents nothing in Iraq, it did not carry the ceremony of Iraqi Patriarch Emmanuel Delly's ordination as cardinal… "What can we hope for and expect from a channel whose religious spokesman [i.e. Sheikh Yousef Al-Qaradhawi] calls day and night for jihad, killing, and terrorism, and issued a fatwa permitting the killing of Iraqis, and another fatwa permitting criminal terrorist suicide operations - so-called martyrdom operations - that violate all international laws[?]… "The channel [i.e. Al-Jazeera] says that Iraq is occupied. The occupation of Iraq was [based on] international resolutions, and was declared openly by the American administration. What we don't know is how Qatar was occupied and became the largest U.S. base… Did it take place with the agreement of the Al-Jazeera channel and its religious spokesman, or with that of the ruler of Qatar and his group? "The occupation of Iraq will end one day. But is the ruling family of the Qatari emirate and mini-state capable of expelling the Americans from their land?... "For these reasons, I call for a boycott of Al-Jazeera, and of Qatar. Every noble Iraqi should refrain from participating in Al-Jazeera programs, and refrain from visiting Qatar. And we demand that European countries remove Al-Jazeera from European satellite [services], particularly Hotbird, and that the channel's employees be denied entry to European and Arab countries because there are question marks regarding some of them - as was the case with Al-Jazeera correspondent and cameraman [Sami Al-Hajj] in Afghanistan. "We demand that Iraq break off all relations with the mini-state of Qatar, its government, and its biased media…" [11]

“I advise young Saudis not to go to Iraq.”

In March I wrote a post about an interview with this man.   Ex-Fighter in Iraq Tells His Story Arab News

Ahmad Abdullah Al-Shaie   BURAIDAH, 23 November 2007 — A young Saudi, who was brainwashed to fight in Iraq where he narrowly escaped death and suffered scarring to his face and hands in a failed suicide attack, recently called on young Saudis not to follow in his footsteps and be wary of militant groups in Iraq. Ahmad Abdullah Al-Shaie, a young Saudi from Buraidah who describes himself as a victim, told Al-Riyadh newspaper that he was brainwashed into going to and fighting in Iraq. "The Iraqis who were supposed to train me and prepare me to fight the occupation tried to kill me by making me an unwilling suicide bomber," said Al-Shaie, who was tricked into driving a truck full of explosives. In 2005, Al-Shaie went to Iraq to fight American troops. The leader of his group, Abu Abdul Rahman, asked him to drive a gas tank to a place in the Al-Mansour district of Baghdad. The Saudi youngster said he was suspicious why he had been chosen. He had no experience, did not know his way around, and felt an Iraqi would have been better suited. The young Saudi had arrived in Iraq to undergo military training to take part in the insurgency. "We thought the Iraqis were on our side. I never doubted them, as I used to see them fasting and praying. I thought they were doing jihad and it never crossed my mind that they may want to kill me," said Al-Shaie. On the day he was to deliver the truck, Al-Shaie was shown how to maneuver it. Iraqi fighters guided him through Baghdad and when they reached a certain point they (the Iraqis) sped off in a waiting car. Al-Shaie recalls the moment when he was left alone. "I continued driving. After around 500 meters, the truck exploded. It was a nightmare. I couldn't believe what had happened. Twelve people died and many were injured," said Al-Shaie, adding that later he learned that his truck, which was carrying 26 tons of liquid explosives, was aimed at bombing the Jordanian Embassy. Al-Shaie arrived in Iraq in 2005 after meeting an old friend, who told him about jihad and stories of fighters in Afghanistan and Chechnya. The friend showed him a "fatwa" permitting Saudis to go to Iraq to fight without the approval of their parents and the ruler of the country. In the last 10 days of Ramadan in 2005, Al-Shaie told his parents he was going camping. "I knew that if I told them about my real intentions they would have objected. We went to Syria where we met a Saudi called Abu Abdullah," he said, adding that all of the people he met used nicknames and never their real names. In Syria, he was introduced to a Syrian man called Mazin, who arranged for his passage into Iraq. "When we entered Iraq, we met two young Iraqis carrying two Yemenis, who were wounded in Falluja. The Iraqis told us to move on before sunrise, otherwise the Americans would come after us," said Al-Shaie. In Iraq, Al-Shaie and his group met the leader of foreign Arab fighters. "His name was Abu Aseel and asked us if we wanted to be martyrs. None of us raised our hands because we had all come to fight and not to kill ourselves," said Al-Shaie. The group was told of the rewards given to martyrs in Islam. However, the group remained unconvinced. Their passports were taken from them and they were handed $100 each and sent to the Al-Anbar province where they joined a group of 40 Arab fighters. "After one week, we went to Ramadi where we were supposed to be getting training... We complained to the leader of the camp that we weren't getting any training. He just said we would be taken to Baghdad the next day," said Al-Shaie, adding that an explosives expert called Abu Omar Al-Kurdi received the group in Baghdad. It was in Baghdad under Al-Kurdi that Al-Shaie was tricked into driving the truck on that fatal morning. After the truck he was driving exploded, the young Saudi, having sustained burns, was taken to the Abu Ghraib Prison Hospital. After one month, US officials handed Al-Shaie and a group of other young Saudis into the custody of the Saudi government. Al-Shaie says he does not know the fate of his friend, who brought him to Iraq. He believes he may have died fighting. "The conditions in Iraq are very difficult... We were brainwashed and were used by these people," he said. "Most Saudis in Iraq have gone because of fatwas permitting them to fight. However, we all know that the Kingdom's Higher Scholar Committee has not approved these decrees. Many young Saudis that went to Iraq have been influenced by what they see on websites and hear in cassettes," he said. "The Iraqis are not happy with foreigners fighting in Iraq. They think we're interfering in their internal business," he said. "I advise young Saudis not to go to Iraq."

The Sunni-Shia Fatwa Against Violence

Even more good news!  Thanks RhusLancia.

From Times Online

November 8, 2007
 

First Sunni-Shia 'fatwa against violence' to be signed in Iraq

Ruth Gledhill Religion Correspondent of The Times

Senior religious leaders in Iraq are preparing to sign an unprecedented "fatwa against violence" that will help reconcile the rival Sunni and Shia branches of Islam and herald new hopes for peace in the war-torn country.

The fatwa, negotiated by the peace organisation run by the Anglican "Vicar of Baghdad" Canon Andrew White, will mark a significant move towards a settlement between the Shia and Sunni communities and ease the process towards a political solution.

It comes in the context of plummeting fatalities among both coalition troops and civilians and is a further vindication of the"surge" security strategy of US General and Iraq commander David Petraeus.

Canon White, who will tonight be presented with the first Woolf Institute "Pursuer of Peace Award" in London in recognition of his work in the Middle East, said the fatwa was to be signed by Sheikh Ahmed al Kubaisi, acknowledged by Iraqis as the senior Sunni religious authority and whose Friday sermons from Dubai reach 20 million, and Ayatollah Sayyid Ammar Abu Ragheef, chief of staff for Grand Ayatollah Ali al Sistani, leader of the Shia community in Iraq and beyond. The fatwa, which will have the equivalence of statutory authority for all Shia and Sunni Muslims in Iraq, is the culmination of years of dialogue with religious leaders behind the scenes in Iraq and throughout the region by Canon White. It follows a meeting in Cairo in August organised by Canon White's Foundation for Relief and Reconciliation in the Middle East, at which the two Islamic leaders were present and where they agreed to "end terrorist violence" and to work towards the fatwa.

The meeting was described by the Wall Street Journal as "truly historic". Robert McFarlane, a former national security adviser to Ronald Reagan, wrote in the Journal: "A fatwa such as this will carry the force of law for all followers. Think about that. After more than four years of brutal warfare and untold suffering, the leading religious authorities in Iraq have joined hands and said "Enough," and have committed to use their authority to bring peace to their country.

Speaking to The Times in London, Canon White, who has seen six of his Baghdad church leaders killed and 45 members kidnapped and not returned since the present campaign began, said: "The fatwa will definitely happen." He said that a military solution to Iraq on its own had no chance of working. "One of the key things is getting the governments to recognise that." But a reconciliation solution on its own would also be ineffective.

"There is not a quick, easy solution," he continued. "This is long-term work. We have to engage with these people continually. The key thing is talking to them every day. Never before has there been a Sunni-Shia fatwa against violence. It has never been heard of in history. Will it make a difference? Not immediately. But I hope eventually it will."

Tonight's award to Canon White is being made by the influential Woolf Institute of Abrahamic Faiths, based in Cambridge and dedicated to promoting understanding between Muslims, Christians and Jews. Institute director Dr Edward Kessler said the award was for "Andrew's tireless work in bringing hope to broken people in a torn region."

Canon White, Vicar of St George's Church in Baghdad and International Director of the Iraqi Institute of Peace, has in recent years acted as a negotiator in many conflict and hostage situations including the siege of the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem in 2002 and the riots between Muslims and Christians in Northern Nigeria in 2004. In July this year he briefly left Iraq after receiving death threats for attempting to secure the release of five British hostages seized in May.

Good News

August 3, 2007
Shia cleric bans ‘honour’ killings

BEIRUT Lebanon’s most senior Shia Muslim cleric has issued a fatwa banning “honour” killings, calling the custom of murdering a female relative for sexual misconduct “a repulsive act”.

The fatwa by Grand Ayatollah Muhammad Hussein Fadlallah is a rare condemnation of the practice by a prominent cleric. Grand Ayatollah Fadlallah is the religious authority for Lebanon’s 1.2 million Shias. Honour crimes are rarely reported in Lebanon, but the ayatollah’s spokesman Hani Abdullah said that his office had received reports of an increase in “honour” killings, though he could not give specific figures.

Although the practice is illegal in Arab countries, perpetrators often go unpunished or receive light sentences. The overwhelmingly Sunni populations of Jordan – where it is estimated that some 20 women are killed every year by their male relatives – and the Palestinian territories are unlikely to heed the ayatollah’s fatwa. However, the cleric does have followers among Shias in Iraq, where he lived for 30 years in the holy city of Najaf. (AP)

Fatwas Against Murder of Shia

I have read about fatwas against suicide bombings, issued by both Sunni and Shia clerics. However, I have never read or heard about a fatwa by a top Sunni cleric that denounces the murder of Shia, which seems to be so popular these days in Iraq. I have never read about a senior Saudi Sheikh say that Shia are not infidels, that Shia are Muslims whose murder will not be rewarded by God. I wish the top Sunni Arab clerics would issue such a fatwa. Maybe it would convince the Wahabis that blowing themselves up among veggie-shopping Shia in Iraq will definitely not be rewarded with a trip on the fast track to Heavenly Paradise.