Ed Palmer
07-12-05, 02:25 PM
Muslim scholar- Killing civilians OK
Responding to questions about the terrorist attack on London, a Muslim scholar in the British capital asserted Islam makes no distinction between civilians and military targets.
"The term 'civilians' does not exist in Islamic religious law," said Hani Al-Siba'i, head of the Al-Maqreze Centre for Historical Studies in London.
Al-Siba'i, in an interview with the Arab news channel al-Jazeera, elaborated, "There is no such term as 'civilians' in the modern Western sense. People are either of Dar Al-Harb or not."
Dar Al-Harb refers to the Muslim concept of the world being divided into two "houses," the House of Islam and the remaining territories, the House of War, or Dar Al-Harb.
Al-Siba'i speculated that a Western nation could have been responsible for the attack, but he acknowledged it could have been carried out by Osama bin Laden's terrorist organization, according to a transcript provided by the Middle East Media Research Institute, or MEMRI.
"If al-Qaida indeed carried out this act, it is a great victory for it," he said. "It rubbed the noses of the world's eight most powerful countries in the mud."
But al-Siba'i said British Prime Minister Tony Blair "made a grave error when he spoke before the investigation and claimed that the perpetrators of these acts were acting in the name of Islam."
The Muslim leader said "the possibility that it was done by the intelligence agency of another Western country hostile to Britain" should not be ruled out.
He also conjectured it could have been done by "some Zionist Americans who wanted to overshadow the G-8 summit."
Responding to questions about the terrorist attack on London, a Muslim scholar in the British capital asserted Islam makes no distinction between civilians and military targets.
"The term 'civilians' does not exist in Islamic religious law," said Hani Al-Siba'i, head of the Al-Maqreze Centre for Historical Studies in London.
Al-Siba'i, in an interview with the Arab news channel al-Jazeera, elaborated, "There is no such term as 'civilians' in the modern Western sense. People are either of Dar Al-Harb or not."
Dar Al-Harb refers to the Muslim concept of the world being divided into two "houses," the House of Islam and the remaining territories, the House of War, or Dar Al-Harb.
Al-Siba'i speculated that a Western nation could have been responsible for the attack, but he acknowledged it could have been carried out by Osama bin Laden's terrorist organization, according to a transcript provided by the Middle East Media Research Institute, or MEMRI.
"If al-Qaida indeed carried out this act, it is a great victory for it," he said. "It rubbed the noses of the world's eight most powerful countries in the mud."
But al-Siba'i said British Prime Minister Tony Blair "made a grave error when he spoke before the investigation and claimed that the perpetrators of these acts were acting in the name of Islam."
The Muslim leader said "the possibility that it was done by the intelligence agency of another Western country hostile to Britain" should not be ruled out.
He also conjectured it could have been done by "some Zionist Americans who wanted to overshadow the G-8 summit."