Fatwas and Osama Bin Ladin

[Devadatta]

Following is the fatwa text:

In The Name of God, The Compassionate, The Merciful

Legal Fatwa

This is the reply to the (religious) inquiry presented by Mr. Muhammad Abdur-Rashid, the most senior Muslim chaplain in the American Armed forces. It concerns the permissibility of the Muslim military personnel within the US armed forces to participate in the war operations and its related efforts in Afghanistan and elsewhere in other Muslim countries.

In his question he states that the goals of the (war) operations are:

1) Retaliation against those "who are thought to have participated" in planning and financing the suicide operations on September 11th, against civilian and military targets in New York and Washington (he then detailed the consequences of these operations.)

2) Eliminating the elements that use Afghanistan and elsewhere as safe haven, as well as deterring the governments which harbor them, sanction them, or allow them the opportunity for military training in order to achieve their goals around the world.

3) Restoring the veneration and respect to the US as a sole superpower in the world.

Thanks very much for passing this along, along with the link. This is quite an interesting historical document, from more than one point of view. One thing I noticed is that the ruling didn't deal with point #3, the status of the U.S. as the sole superpower - and I guess for good reason, since the idea of a "sole superpower" is a controversial notion, and not just for Muslims.

Thanks again & all the best.

 

[thipps]

Hi Thipps. I posted a complete reply to your post in the "Politics & Society" section and in the thread "Where the west is wrong". I thought it made more sense there, in terms of what we've been discussing.
Cheers.

h|,
The thread was fine here. Islam is a way of life. Politics is a part of life. Islam has politics in it. Ofcourse, what islam means by politics is a separate issue. anyway, there was no need to take my comments from the thread and post in another place but you have already done that. You should have asked my permission. I thought you wanted a Muslim perspective on the issue. oh well.

 

[Devadatta]

h|,
The thread was fine here. Islam is a way of life. Politics is a part of life. Islam has politics in it. Ofcourse, what islam means by politics is a separate issue. anyway, there was no need to take my comments from the thread and post in another place but you have already done that. oh well.

I understand. But the message I've been gettin repeatedly is that Bin Laden and other terrorists are not properly speaking Muslims at all, since they are not submitting themselves to the will of God, and that Islam as religion is not in question. So I moved our conversation out of sensitivity to those opinions, and also because I felt we were moving into issues that were essentially political.

Now, I know that Islam has a more unitary conception of society than does Canada, for example, where I live, which follows the model of separation of church & state. However, I would maintain that even in Muslim countries the unitary conception is more ideal than real: politics pure & simple I think are always involved.

All the best.