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Orange County Register – July 17, 2005
New York Times columnist tarred Islam without facts
By Fouad Khatib
New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman makes the claim, "[t]o this day - to this day - no major Muslim cleric or religious body has ever issued a fatwa condemning Osama bin Laden" ["What can we do to limit the fallout?" Commentary, July 10]. His claim is absurd.
On Oct. 13, 2001 Rep. Joseph Pitts, R-Pa., informed the House of Representatives that the grand imam of Al-Azhar, Sheikh Tantawi, denounced bin Laden. Rep. Pitts was clear in characterizing Sheikh Tantawi as "the highest and most respected Islamic authority in the world."
Within days after 9/11, Talgat Tajuddin, the high mufti of Russian Muslims, called for the extradition of bin Laden from Afghanistan. The high mufti stressed that a man who advises to kill cannot be God's counselor, however much he may quote the Quran.
The North American Fiqh (jurisprudence) Council issued a formal fatwa on Sept. 27, 2001, that condemned bin Ladin's actions of 9/11 and sanctioned Muslim participation in the United States' military response in Afghanistan.
On April 3, 2002, an extraordinary session of the Organization of Islamic Conference foreign ministers in Kuala Lumpur adopted a stark resolution condemning the brutal terror attacks of Sept. 11. Although the OIC is not a religious body, it is an umbrella organization of 57 Islamic countries.
On March 12 of this year, Spain's leading Muslim clerics issued a religious order condemning bin Laden and declaring that he had violated Islam by backing attacks such as the Madrid train bombings. The order was issued after consultations with North African religious scholars in Morocco, Algeria and other countries.
http://www.ocregister.com/ocr/2005/07/17/sections/commentary/READER%20REBUTTALS/article_599221.php
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