[(Continued from p.8)]
Muslim religious rights are not recognized, when Muslims are compelled to change their religion by force, when they are forbidden to raise mosques, when they are not permitted public prayer. In that case it is possible to engage in jihad. But this is not the case at all here. When there is no restriction on freedom of religion, Muslims must abide by the law of the country, whether it is a Muslim or non-Muslim government. The case of Israel is not different from any other part of the world. If the law contains something that is against Islam, a Muslim must not obey that part of the law. But as long as his basic religious rights are honored it is forbidden to rebel against the government or engage in sedition against the government. That's true in Egypt, it's true in Italy, it applies to the United States and to Israel too.
On the Mufti of Jerusalem's fatwa stating that there never was a Jewish presence in Jerusalem: A fatwa means a decree clarifying some aspect of Islamic law. A Moslem is obliged to abide by a fatwa when he is convinced the contents of the fatwa itself are in agreement with Islamic law and when the fatwa itself contains the proof. That means the fatwa must contain a reference to the Koran, a reference to a hadith or a reference to a book of scholars about the same argument. In this case we see the statement there has never been Jewish settlement in Jerusalem is not even a fatwa because there is no proof for it but on the contrary we have proofs to the contrary in the Koran.
On suicide bombers and child "martyrs": This is a consequence of the distortion of the idea of jihad. A martyr is someone who dies in jihad. If you distort the notion of jihad you automatically distort the notion of the martyr who dies in jihad. In this case the terrible aspect is that it is used to legitimize the action of someone who commits a crime. This is a real disaster because according to Islam acting according to false belief is worse than committing a crime while knowing it is a crime. The punishment of one who commits a crime while knowing it is a crime is less than the punishment of one who commits a crime believing his crime is approved by Islam. The situation is reaching such a point that even those Moslem scholars who live in other parts of the world feel the need to speak out. I recently saw a fatwa by the deputy president of the Council of Muftis of Russia who wrote that if Islam forbids people to abuse people verbally, to insult them, how can you say Islam permits people to engage in mass murder? He was specially referring to the destruction of the grave of Joseph. He said, how is it possible in the name of Islam someone is justifying destroying the grave of someone considered as a prophet in the Koran.
On Oslo: My first visit to Israel, in 1996, and the first time I was questioned about it, I said in my opinion this Oslo agreement was the worst mistake Israel ever made. If you are going to make peace you must understand what partner for peace you are choosing. The Oslo agreement will be very bad for Israel but a complete tragedy for the Arabs because they realize what it is like to be ruled by Arafat and his gang. And now there is a movement of mukhtars, village leaders in East Jerusalem and the area immediately surrounding it, who are protesting against the risk of being transferred to Arafat's control against their will. They are writing to the United Nations, they wrote to President Clinton and are writing to President Bush saying they want a right to a referendum about their future. These people have relatives in Jericho and Gaza and see what it means to live under a Palestinian administration, and even the most extreme will say that if living in Israel is not ideal, it is better than living under a Palestinian administration.
The former Imam of Rome, Sheikh Palazzi is secretary general of the Italian Muslim Association. He studied at Al-Azhar University in Cairo and holds a doctorate in Islamic Sciences granted by the Grand Mufti of Saudi Arabia. He is Muslim co-chairman of the Root and Branch Association's Islam-Israel Fellowship which promotes cooperation between Israel and Muslim nations.
On May 18, the Council of Scholars of the Italian Muslim Association, comprised of nine sheikhs who live in Rome but come from Egypt, Morocco, Pakistan, Somalia and other countries (including Sheikh Palazzi and Qadi Abu Ibrahim Ali al-Siddiqi), issued a declaration condemning "those parents, teachers, and murderous criminals who raise children on a poisoned diet of apostasy, hatred and violence, [who] send our children to die in acts of sedition, while they direct the suicidal sacrifice and slaughter of these children from safe command posts, far from the battle....This regime even dares to declare that Islam approves of these criminal acts. There are courageous Sunni scholars in Jerusalem, risking their lives and the lives of their children by declaring that sedition against the State of Israel, shooting, stabbing and throwing stones at Israelis are acts of sedition and are therefore forbidden, deserving Allah's punishment."
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June-July 2001 - 9 - Outpost