The truth of Islam rears its head...and OMG...!

http://www.upi.com/Top_News/2008/11/08/Muslim_clerics_endorse_anti-terror_fatwa/UPI-38241226199440/

See now, this I could back.

its about fuckin time.

Means little I'm afraid as each area's religious leaders are a tribe unto themselves.

Won't help with our ME Islamic extremists unless it's endorsed by that area's leaders.

No, but it is a start. It's a major community stepping up to say, "This isn't good enough, we reject this." If we're lucky, others may follow suit.

The key would be to get a majority of the Imams to back this Fatwa, I truly believe that the record of Islam, over the ages, will show that it is a religion steeped not only in peace but in intellectual ideals and it will soon shed the extremists who intentionally misinterpret its teachings in order to gain power.

its a start. I have no illusions that this will help in the short term, but if the idea catches on, then the extremists will start losing the unspoken support of the silent majority that has allowed them to continue their actions without consequence. At least, thats what I'd hope would happen at any rate.

Hopefully something will come of this, but it's not a first.

Ahmad Khan, a famous Indian Muslim during the 19th century, widely preached the same thing, essentially that 'jihad' is an outdated, medieval principle. I guess extremists don't pay attention to useful advice from the history books.

It has also already been mentioned in this thread that Islam is spread across a vast array of tribal and ethnic cultures, not effectively unified in one body or head, especially when it comes to policy making.

Consider, for a moment, how badly Christianity is split between sects: Catholic, Protestant, Lutheran, Episcopal, Mormon, etc. And then, how some of those varied 'sects' are fracturing even now under controversies regarding gay rights and female ordination, etc. There has been likely as much bloodshed between Catholic and Protestant as between Sunni and Shiite.

If we cannot get members of the Episcopal church to agree on following the edicts of it's governing body, how can we expect members of the Shiite sect in Iraq/Saudi Arabia/Syria/Egypt/Iran/Afghanistan/Pakistan to follow the edict of those religious leaders in India?

Consider, for a moment, how badly Christianity is split between sects: Catholic, Protestant, Lutheran, Episcopal, Mormon, etc. And then, how some of those varied 'sects' are fracturing even now under controversies regarding gay rights and female ordination, etc. There has been likely as much bloodshed between Catholic and Protestant as between Sunni and Shiite.

If we cannot get members of the Episcopal church to agree on following the edicts of it's governing body, how can we expect members of the Shiite sect in Iraq/Saudi Arabia/Syria/Egypt/Iran/Afghanistan/Pakistan to follow the edict of those religious leaders in India?


There once was a place called Northern Ireland...

Hope dude...just hope...

An individual religion does not need to be unified to make a statement. Christian churches, for example, denounce the actions of other churches, especially hate groups operating under the disguise of religion - the KKK, or Westboro folks, for example. I think, or at least hope, that you'd be hard pressed to find a modern western church that supports the Crusades, or the violence between Protestants and Catholics.

The real danger seems to be the mixing of religion and politics, which would include the past struggles in Ireland and the current mix of fun in the Middle East.