Islam bills itself as the religion of peace - but do its leaders believe that? Although Sunni Muslims are the more pro-Israel of the two major sects, even Sunni leader Sheikh Mohammed Sayyid Tantawi has positive words for suicide murders. Tantawi, the grand sheikh of Cairo\'s al-Azhar mosque/university, recently ruled that Palestinian suicide bombers are martyrs even when their attacks inadvertently kill women and children in Jewish communities. Egypt\'s official Middle East News Agency last week quoted Tantawi as praising the bombers for defending their people\'s dignity - although he added that they should not intentionally target \"the weak.\"
Tantawi took part two months ago in an interfaith conference and signed a joint statement condemning the killing of the innocent. Following criticism of his \"moderate\" opinions, however, Tantawi now holds that blowing oneself up among \"enemy aggressors\" is an act of martyrdom, and that even if women and children are thus killed, the killer remains a martyr, for, \"What can he do?… He is not able to differentiate between them.\"
Other Muslim voices have condemned suicide bombings. The Grand Mufti of Saudi Arabia said last April, for instance, that suicide bombings had \"nothing to do with Jihad.\" The BBC Middle East correspondent said at the time, however, that the Mufti\'s words would be unlikely to carry much weight in what he called the \"Palestinian territories,\" where resistance to Israel is often viewed as a \"national duty.\" Other voices of Islamic moderation include that of Sheikh Dr. Muhammad Tahir-ul-Qadri, a leading Pakistani Muslim scholar and president of the Pakistan Awami Tehreek, who wrote this past January: \"The killing of innocent people is terrorism irrespective of the fact whether they are Muslims or not. It is also terrorism to murder the peaceful people regardless of their being in state of war, when they are not fighting with you directly...\" Current events in Israel indicate that in the PA, at least, Muslims tend to adhere to the more bellicose Moslem schools of thought.
Tantawi took part two months ago in an interfaith conference and signed a joint statement condemning the killing of the innocent. Following criticism of his \"moderate\" opinions, however, Tantawi now holds that blowing oneself up among \"enemy aggressors\" is an act of martyrdom, and that even if women and children are thus killed, the killer remains a martyr, for, \"What can he do?… He is not able to differentiate between them.\"
Other Muslim voices have condemned suicide bombings. The Grand Mufti of Saudi Arabia said last April, for instance, that suicide bombings had \"nothing to do with Jihad.\" The BBC Middle East correspondent said at the time, however, that the Mufti\'s words would be unlikely to carry much weight in what he called the \"Palestinian territories,\" where resistance to Israel is often viewed as a \"national duty.\" Other voices of Islamic moderation include that of Sheikh Dr. Muhammad Tahir-ul-Qadri, a leading Pakistani Muslim scholar and president of the Pakistan Awami Tehreek, who wrote this past January: \"The killing of innocent people is terrorism irrespective of the fact whether they are Muslims or not. It is also terrorism to murder the peaceful people regardless of their being in state of war, when they are not fighting with you directly...\" Current events in Israel indicate that in the PA, at least, Muslims tend to adhere to the more bellicose Moslem schools of thought.