http://www.qando.net/ - A different kind of Fatwa

Yesterday, on October 1, 2007, Saudi Mufti Sheikh Abd Al-'Aziz bin Abdallah Aal Al-Sheikh issued a fatwa prohibiting Saudi youth from engaging in jihad abroad. In his fatwa, he stated that setting forth to wage jihad without authorization by the ruler is a serious transgression, and that young Saudis who do so are being misled by suspicious elements from both the East and the West who are exploiting them in order to accomplish their own aims, and who are actually causing serious damage to Saudi Arabia, Islam, and the Muslims.

So what is a mufti?

A mufti is an Islamic scholar who is an interpreter or expounder of Islamic law (Sharia). A muftiat or diyanet is a council of muftis. These individuals and councils are capable of issuing fataawa (plural of "fatwa").

His role in a government such as Saudi Arabia's?

In various Muslim countries, the person in the position of mufti rules if the application of the criminal law is in accord with Islamic jurisprudence and the sharia and sometimes overrules criminal courts.

The equivalent in a Shia culture is an ayotollah. So the mufti issuing this fatwa isn't some minor character.

Fascinating. I wonder what, if any effect this might have?

The editor of the London based Al-Sharq Al-Awsat seems to think this should have some impact:

"Saudi Mufti Sheikh Abd Al-'Aziz bin Abdallah Aal Al-Sheikh did well to issue a clear and unambiguous fatwa forbidding young Saudis from leaving the country in order to engage in jihad... The sheikh [is worthy of] the utmost gratitude and appreciation. His statement that our young people have become a commodity that is being bought and sold is a truth that unfortunately can be discerned wherever where we look. No matter who enticed or exploited them, there have always been those who incite [young people,] on any pretext. It is good that statements [condemning this phenomenon] are coming today from the Saudi mufti...

I have to agree with him ... long time coming, but there it is. Tareq Al-Humaid, the editor of the newspaper quoted, points to the fatwa's value:

"It is true that some of these [young people] have become enslaved by Al-Qaeda and its ideology, and are now beyond hope; however, the importance of the fatwa lies in the impact that it will have on most of the Saudi public, and in particular the fathers and mothers. Its value lies in the fact that it will wrest from the hands of the 'politicized sheikhs' the card that they have been using all this time.

Time will tell, won't it? But this is definitely a shot at al Qaeda that strikes at the heart of its recruiting effort.

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"I advise those with money to be careful about where it’s spent so it does not damage Muslims and I urge scholars and preachers to explain the truth and take young people by the hand so that they see the reality," he said. "Saudis go for Gihad [sic] because they are passionate about their religion but they are not wise enough to know right from wrong," he said.

I wonder if the money is spent killing Americans, or non muslims only, so long as if it doesn’t "damage" muslims, is that right or wrong?

This mufti seems to throw the whole, "jihad is a peaceful inner struggle" notion under the bus.

Written By: Jimmy the Dhimmi
URL: http://www.warning1938alert.ytmnd.com

This mufti seems to throw the whole, "jihad is a peaceful inner struggle" notion under the bus.

Well if he’s a whabbist, I’m not sure that’s surprising.

OTOH, if he is, this fatwa is actually a good thing.

Written By: McQ
URL: http://www.qando.net/blog

The problem with these fatwas is that other clerics can offer competing ones, and you can pick and choose which ones you like. So, if you are a jihad-inclined youth, you will ignore this fatwa and buy some more of those bootleg recordings of more radical clerics. While it is welcome and might deter some jihadis (and perhaps their parents) I doubt it will have a massive effect.

Just as an example is the use of Takfir by extremists to where they can call any Muslim who doesn’t agree with their interpretation an "unbeliever" who then can legitimately be killed in a jihad.

Written By: Harun
URL: http://

So what is a mufti?

A mufti is an Islamic scholar...

Damn. I thought it was the fifth Teletubby.

Written By: Aldo
URL: http://

There’s also this:
http://time-blog.com/middle_east/2007/09/news_flash_muslim_denounces_te.html

What makes this important is the source—Osama is being repudiated by a cleric whom he took as one of his theological mentors.

Trivia fact: the Quranic passage is actually an almost literal version of a famous passage from Tractate Sanhedrin (part of Judaism’s Mishnah) Chapter 4:
Why was Adam created alone?
To show that he who saves a life is accounted as saving the entire universe. To show that he who destroys a life is accounted as destroying the entire universe. So that no one can say there is more than one Creator (that is, say that each "original person" was created by a different god). So that no one can say "my father was superior to yours". To show the excellencies of the Most High. For a mortal king mints coins that look all alike, but the King of Kings mints humans each according to a different pattern.

(the above is quoted from memory, so it may be inaccurate in some of the exact wording. Also, some versions of the first two sentences specify "an Israelite’s life" and some do not. The limitation is due to the context: in true Talmudic fashion, the passage erupts from a technical discussion of the oath administered in homicide trials, which would have been limited to cases of Jewish murderers who killed Jewish victims, and depicts the court warning witnesses of the consequences of false testimony—if their testimony is the basis for a death penalty being inflicted, then they are guilty of murdering a fellow Jew (and would themselves be subject to the death penalty if the perjury was discovered after the execution of the innocent man.) And if a fellow Jew dies because of their testimony—well, Adam was created as a unique creation, equal to the universe in himself, and therefore, etc. etc.

Written By: kishnevi
URL: http://

Iraqis don’t like Biden’s partition.

Written By: Neo
URL: http://

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