Another fatwa in the wall

A fatwa is a religious ruling based in Islamic law (sharia) issued by a ruling Islamic fatwa council, made up of accepted and recognized religious leaders both within and outside a particular area. A fatwa carries the same weight as our civil laws and rules, the difference is hat we, as humans make our laws based in what is best for the society as a whole, taking into account social norms, history, current feelings and local customs. Islam bases all it's jurisprudence in one book, the Qur'an and virtually all of its interpretations of those laws in the hadiths of Muhammad. In other words, whatever Muhammad did way back in 620Ad is good enough for Muslims today.

Thus when a fatwa is issued, it is always based in the Qur'an and the behavior of Muhammad, as told by his peers and Islamic historians, starting with Ibn Ishaq. When you read a fatwa it is reflecting Islamic doctrine from 1400 years ago, and is usually not compatible with any Western concepts of fairness or freedoms.

Example; this latest fatwa from a very prominent and respected fatwa council and Sheikh. It justifies the kidnapping, imprisoning and sexual penetration of non-Muslim women. Most Muslims will not practice this, nor will they try to stop it. They will dismiss it with a wave of the hand, claiming that it is only that "Tiny Minority of Extremists" doing such dastardly deeds. By staying silent, they are complicit in the abuse of these women.

In this article, the Sheikh uses Qur'anic quotes to justify his ruling. Are there any "moderate" Muslims who will stand and tell us where this Sheikh has gotten Islam all wrong? Aslan? Hooper? Armstrong? Esposito? Anyone at all?

From MEMRI November 30

Fatwa Permits Mujahideen to Kidnap, Imprison, and Have Sexual Intercourse with Infidel Women

On October 28, 2011, the jihadi forum Minbar Al-Tawhid Wal-Jihad published a fatwa by Sheikh Abu Humam Al-Athari, a member of its shari'a council, in which he unequivocally permits mujahideen to capture the infidels' women and have sexual intercourse with them, even those who are married, on the claim that their marriage bonds to infidels are dissolved as soon as they are taken captive.

(...)Is it permissible to imprison [an infidel woman who has been taken captive] in an infidel land, or must she be brought to Dar Al-Islam [the abode of Islam]? How much time must one wait before having sexual intercourse with her, regarding both one who is a virgin and one who is not?"

Al-Athari replies: "There is no doubt that taking the women of the combatant infidels captive – whether they are from Ahl Al-Kitab [i.e., Christians or Jews] or pagans – is permitted according to the shari'a... That being said, it must be done only after [the spoils] has been divided by an imam in Dar Al-Islam; if there is no imam at hand, prisoners may not be taken..."

Al-Athari emphasizes that before deciding to take infidel women captive, "one must consider the gains and losses that will result from this deed, which is to say that if the imam of the Muslims in a given country believes that taking the infidels' women captive will lead the infidels to band together and rape the Muslims' women, and that the Muslims are in too weak a state to prevent this, he should forbid taking [infidel women] captive..."

Al-Athari notes that "there are too many proofs of the permissibility of taking the infidels' women captive to enumerate here, but we can divide them into two categories: 'general proofs' and 'concrete proofs.'" He explains that the "general proofs" are those which clarify that it is forbidden to violate the honor of Muslim women, but that this does not hold true regarding the infidel women...

Read it all