A radical Muslim seminary in India that is considered the most influential school for Islamic law in Asia — and is said to have inspired the Taliban — has issued a fatwa, or edict, against terrorism in a meeting attended by thousands of clerics and students.
The Darool-Uloom Deoband, a 150 year-old institute controlling thousands of smaller Islamic seminaries in India, vowed to wipe out terrorism late on Saturday in New Delhi.
“In its [Islam’s] eyes, on any part over the surface of earth spreading mischief, rioting, breach of peace, bloodshed, killing of innocent persons and plundering are the most inhuman crime,” the fatwa said.
Reading out the fatwa, Riyasat Ali Bijnouri, cleric of the seminary, quoted the Koran as saying: “Do not mischief on the earth after it has been set in order.”
“Islam loves peace. Islam rejects all kinds of unjust violence,” the fatwa read, “and does not allow it in any form.”
Teachings of the Deoband school and its strict interpretation of Islamic law have spread to many countries, including Britain and Afghanistan.
Thousands of clerics and students, wearing white skull caps and flowing spotless tunics, cheered as Rehman read out a statement: “The religion of Islam has come to wipe out all kinds of terrorism and to spread the message of global peace.”
Senior clerics chanted slogans against terrorism and many held placards that said “Islam means peace” and “Terrorism is an enemy, finish it.”
Leaders asked those gathered to pledge and fight terror in all forms, witnesses said.
Analysts described the meet as a significant step towards addressing terrorism and bringing relief to India’s 140 million Muslims, who feel the acts of some individuals have tarnished the image of the community as a whole.
“It is an awakening among them [Muslim groups] to the dangers that face them as a fallout of terrorism and suspected association of terrorism with Muslims,” Pran Chopra, a political analyst, said yesterday.
Indian Muslims have been implicated in bomb attacks in India in 2006 and a failed attack in Britain last year.
Last month, a group calling themselves “Indian Mujahideen” claimed responsibility for a blast that killed 65 people in Rajasthan.
Analysts say more and more religious groups are openly denouncing terrorism.
“The response by the Muslim population ... has been worth noticing and the fatwa is a very welcome development,” Chopra said.
Muslims make up about 13 percent of India’s officially secular but predominantly Hindu population — giving it the third-largest Islamic population after Indonesia and Pakistan.
Religious leaders from different faiths voiced their support for the Deoband school’s stand yesterday.
India, with an estimated 151 million Muslims, is home to the third-largest Muslim population in the world.
In February, the Darul-Uloom Deoband denounced terrorism as “un-Islamic” and against the teachings of Islam.
The Deoband school was established in the late 19th century and has adherents from Afghanistan, Pakistan and Southeast Asia.
The Taliban have often claimed adherence to the Deoband seminary, which has been strongly denied by the scholars there.
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