The Hypocrisy of the Fatwa Against Terrorism

Editor’s Note: This is Part II of an ongoing series by Robert Spencer highlighting human rights hypocrisy and fraudulent peace activists. For Part I, see last week’s article: “The Hypocrisy of the ‘Islamophobia’ Scam“

Last week, after jihad terrorists Mujaahid Abu Hamza and Ismail Ibn Abdullah (formerly Michael Adebolajo and Michael Adebowale) were convicted of murder for beheading British soldier Lee Rigby on a London street, I had an exchange with the prominent British “moderate” Muslim spokesman Mohammed Ansar on Twitter. Ansar asserted:

Know that despite the claims of these killers, Islam does not allow for their actions. They are wrong in Islam. They are wrong in the law.

Knowing that Mujaahid Abu Hamza had invoked the Qur’an on camera moments after murdering Rigby, I asked Ansar:

Adbolajo invoked the Quran sura 9 right after the killing. Can you please refer us to an exegesis of sura 9 that refutes his views?

Ansar responded:

“Fatwa on Terrorism and Suicide Bombings” a 512 page Islamic analysis by Qadri, that terrorism is unjust, evil + un-Islamic.

This didn’t really answer my question, as I was asking for sources giving a peaceful interpretation of sura 9, that is, Surat at-Tauba, the ninth chapter of the Qur’an, which Mujaahid Abu Hamza specifically invoked to justify his murder of Lee Rigby. Instead of offering that, Ansar referred me to Dr. Muhammad Tahir ul-Qadri’s Fatwa on Terrorism and Suicide Bombings. But as this massive fatwa is a monument of “moderate Islam,” I figured it was worth a look.

To be sure, I had never placed much stock in this fatwa as a genuine exercise in Islamic moderation, as Qadri was a chief framer of Pakistan’s notorious blasphemy laws, which have been used to victimize countless Christians in Pakistan. Still, his fatwa is often touted as the quintessential refutation of the “extremist” understanding of Islam, so it warrants careful consideration.

I thought I’d start by searching for what Qadri says about certain verses of the Muslim holy book, the Qur’an, that jihad terrorists often invoke to justify jihad violence and Islamic supremacism. After all, if he is a genuine reformer, then he is likely to offer a refutation of the jihadist interpretation of such verses and an alternative understanding of them, right?

So here are some of the Qur’an verses I searched for in Qadri’s voluminous document:

2:191-193: “And slay them wherever you come upon them, and expel them from where they expelled you; persecution is more grievous than slaying. But fight them not by the Holy Mosque until they should fight you there; then, if they fight you, slay them — such is the recompense of unbelievers, but if they give over, surely Allah is All-forgiving, All-compassionate. Fight them, till there is no persecution and the religion is Allah’s; then if they give over, there shall be no enmity save for evildoers.”

Qadri refers to this passage once (p. 197) but offers no explanation of the commands to “slay them wherever you come upon them” or to “fight them, till there is no persecution and the religion is Allah’s.”

4:89: “They wish that you should disbelieve as they disbelieve, and then you would be equal; therefore take not to yourselves friends of them, until they emigrate in the way of Allah; then, if they turn their backs, take them, and slay them wherever you find them; take not to yourselves any one of them as friend or helper.”