What is a “Fatwa”
Let us quote from the online encyclopedia
Wikipedia:
A “fatwa’’ (Arabic:
فتوى) plural ‘fataawa’, is a legal pronouncement in
Islam, issued by a religious law
specialist on a specific issue. Usually a fatwa is issued at the request
of an individual or a judge to settle a question where
“fiqh,”
Islamic
jurisprudence, is unclear. A scholar
capable of issuing fatwas is known as a
Mufti.
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Until the Islam Comic Book has been translated into other languages, this
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Because Islam has no centralized priestly hierarchy,
there is no uniform method to determine who can issue a valid fatwa and
who cannot. Some
Islamic scholars complain that too many
people feel qualified to issue fatwas.
Different Islamic clerics can issue contradictory
fatwas. The effect depends upon whether or not this takes place in a
nation where Islamic law (sharia)
is the basis of civil law.
In nations where Islamic law is the basis of civil law,
fatwas by the national religious leadership are debated prior to being
issued. Thus, they are rarely contradictory. If two fatwas were
contradictory, the ruling bodies (combined civil and religious law)
attempt to define a compromise interpretation that will eliminate the
resulting ambiguity.
In nations where Islamic law is not the basis of law,
Muslims often must face two contradictory fatwas. In such cases, the fatwa
deriving from leadership of their religious tradition would be honored.
For example,
Sunni Muslims would favor a Sunni fatwa
over a
Shiite one.
The overwhelming majority of fatwas are on mundane
matters (for examples see the archives linked below). Those declaring war
or pronouncing death sentences are indeed representative of many issued
fatwas, and the fact that they draw attention in English-language media is
probably a good thing. Such fatwas have caught the attention of the
western media and become widely renowned, especially among critics of
Islam.
The best known of these was proclaimed in 1989 by the Iranian
Ayatollah
Ruhollah Khomeini, against
Salman Rushdie‘s novel ’’The
Satanic Verses’’. The argument related to an ostensibly
blasphemous statement from an early biography of Prophet
Muhammad, regarding incorporating pagan
goddesses into Islam’s strongly
monotheist structure. Khomeini died shortly after issuing the fatwa. In
1998 Iran stated that it is no longer pursuing Rushdie’s death; however
the decree was again reversed in early 2005 by the present
theocrat,
Ayatollah
Ali Khamenei. See ’’Salman
Rushdie’’ for details.
Fundamentalists in
Bangladesh proclaimed a similar fatwa
against
Taslima Nasreen (which see for details)
in 1993, against a series of newspaper
columns in which she was critical of the treatment of women under Islam.
Osama bin Ladin in
Afghanistan, jointly with
Ayman al-Zawahiri, proclaimed a fatwa in
1998 in the name of the
World Islamic Front for Jihad Against Jews and
Crusaders, declaring, "The ruling to kill the Americans and
their allies – civilians and military – is an individual duty for every
Muslim who can do it in any country in which it is possible to do it, in
order to liberate the
al-Aqsa Mosque (in Jerusalem) and the
holy mosque (in Mecca) from their grip,
and in order for their armies to move out of all the lands of Islam,
defeated and unable to threaten any Muslim. This is in accordance with the
words of Almighty God, 'and fight the pagans all together as they fight
you all together,' and 'fight them until there is no more tumult or
oppression, and there prevail justice and faith in God.'" For more
information, see:
Osama bin Laden Fatwa.
(http://www.ict.org.il/articles/fatwah.htm)
Spanish Muslims proclaimed a fatwa against Bin Laden in
March of 2005
[1] (http://www.cnn.com/2005/WORLD/europe/03/11/madrid.anniversary/).
They said that he had abandoned his religion and they urged other Muslims
to make similar proclamations.
Well, if a Mufti in Spain can issue a fatwa against Osama
Bin Laden, then our own Dr. Abdullah Aziz, with two earned doctorates in
Islamic studies, can certainly issue a fatwa against all Muslims who reject
the inspired teachings of Mohammed as recorded in the Qur'an and the Hadiths
and as illustrated in the
Islam Comic Book and as
summarized here.
The Fatwa of Abdullah Aziz
Our fatwa is loosely based on the text of
Osama Bin-Laden's own fatwa against the United States and thus
the reader can be assured that it follows the proper form of Islamic
jurisprudence.
Text of Fatwah Urging Conversion of Unbelieving
Muslims
Published in Mecca in the
Islam Comic Book on May 11, 2005
Statement signed by
Abdullah Aziz, publisher of the
Islam Comic Book in Mecca, Egypt, Persia, Palestine, and throughout the
world.
A curse on Allah, who is alleged to have
“revealed”
the Qur’an, is alleged to control the
clouds, is alleged to defeat truth, and is alleged to say in the Qur’an
“But when the forbidden months are past, then fight and slay the
pagans wherever ye find them, seize them, beleaguer them, and lie in wait
for them in every stratagem (of war)”; and
a curse be upon the “Prophet”
Muhammad Bin-’Abdallah, who said
“I have been sent with the sword between my
hands to ensure that no one but Allah is worshipped, Allah who put my
livelihood under the shadow of my spear and who inflicts humiliation and
scorn on those who disobey my orders.”
In the light of the grave situation and the lack of
belief in the teachings of the “Prophet”,
we and you are obliged to discuss such events, and we should all agree on
how to settle the matter. No true Muslim argues today about three facts that
are known to all Muslims; we will list them, in order to remind everyone:
-
First, the Qur’an is
alleged to be the revealed word of Allah.
-
Second, Mohammed is alleged to be Allah's Prophet.
-
Third, if a Muslim refuses to believe the words of the
Prophet as recorded in the Qur’an and in
the Hadiths, he or she is to be treated as “dar-al-Harb”—that
is to say, as if he or she is a part of the world at war against
Islam.
Any such individual must make his or her choice:
-
Accept Islam as completely true, accepting without
reservation all of the teachings of Mohammed as set forth in the Qur’an
and Hadiths, including the
revelations as illustrated in the Islam Comic Book,
or
-
Reject Islam and the teachings of Islam as completely
false and face the consequences of such rejection.
On that basis, and in compliance with the orders of
the One True God (and Who is not Allah,
and Whose character and Words have already been declared through the People
of the Book, and Whose Book most Muslims have never bothered to read for the
truths that have already been revealed therein),
we issue the following fatwa to all Muslims and unbelievers everywhere:
 ou have
broken God’s holy Law. You don’t think so? “I’m not so bad,” you tell
yourself.
Really? Ask yourself some questions. Have
you ever lied? Yes, you have. Have you ever stolen anything? Yes, you
have.
Have you ever committed adultery? Yes, you
have, because Jesus (God's Peace Is Upon Him) says that to even lust after a woman is the same as
committing adultery. My friend, you have broken three out of ten. And by
desiring her in the first place, you are coveting someone’s wife or
daughter. That’s four.
Shall we try for five out of ten? Jesus
says to hate someone is to commit the sin of murder in your heart. And
that’s where sin starts. Let’s check the balance sheet. You have
admitted that you are a lying, thieving, covetous, murdering,
adulterer—and we’ve only looked at five of the ten.
Shall we go for six? By doing all these
things, you have dishonored your father and mother. My friend, you’ve
broken six out of ten. If you will be honest with yourself, you have
broken all the others, too. And these are just a summary of God’s holy
Law.
You’ve got a problem, my friend. And it’s
a serious problem, because the penalty for breaking God’s Law is severe
indeed. But it’s not just your problem. It’s my problem, too. In fact,
it’s everybody’s problem. The penalty is death, and not just physical
death. The penalty is eternal death, separation from God in a place that
you really don’t want to go to.
But there’s some good news. In fact, it’s
great news. That eternal penalty has already been paid. God Himself paid
it and paved the road for our salvation through Jesus Christ.
The road to salvation through Jesus Christ
is clearly presented in the New Testament. These Seven Principles of
Salvation are set forth in Paul’s letter to the Romans.
As it is written, “Not even one person is righteous.
No one understands. No one searches for God. All have turned away.
Together they have become worthless.” —Romans 3:10-12
This means that
no one is righteous before God and, in fact, no one is even searching
for Him.
… since all have sinned and continue to fall short
of God’s glory. —Romans 3:23
This means that you have sinned.
You have not earned, and do not deserve, eternal life. There are two
things you need to know to be saved: First, you need to know that you
are a sinner who has violated God’s laws. Second, you need to know that
there is a terrible and eternal price for sin.
Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one
man, and death through sin, so death spread to everyone, because all
have sinned. —Romans 5:12
Adam sinned and
gave Satan a foothold in the world. By nature, we are all separated from
God. We are all born in sin. We deserve death and hell.
For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of
God is eternal life in union with Christ Jesus our Lord. —Romans 6:23
You have earned
death, not eternal life. So Jesus, in effect, went to the “Bank of
Heaven” and paid your debt for you. Jesus paid the price for you to
obtain salvation and eternal life. You cannot earn this payment. Eternal
life must be accepted as a gift from God.
But God demonstrates his love for us by the fact
that Christ died for us while we were still sinners.
— Romans 5:8
Due to
unconditional love, Christ died in your place, paying a debt He did not
owe. We all have an unpaid debt of sin that Christ is willing to pay for
us. How do we get our debts paid by Christ? If you accept His payment of
your debt by receiving Him as your Lord and Savior, He will make you His
child and take you to heaven when you die.
For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will
be saved.” — Romans 10:13
The word
“everyone” includes you. How do you “call on the name of the Lord” to be
saved?
…if you declare with your mouth that Jesus is Lord,
and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be
saved. For a person believes with his heart and is justified, and a
person declares with his mouth and is saved. — Romans 10:9-10
The Bible promises
us that God forgives our sin when we accept the work that Christ did for
us when He died on Calvary. You can do this by praying this short,
simple prayer:
“Lord, Jesus, I know that
I am a sinner and I need you. I know that you paid the price for my sins
by dying on the cross. I ask that you forgive my sins; and I receive you
as my Savior and Lord. I thank you for forgiving my sins and giving me
eternal life. Take control of the throne of my life. Make me the kind of
person you want me to be. Amen.”
Look to God’s Word for encouragement as you begin your new life in
Christ. Remember these simple truths from God’s Word:
If we make it our habit to
confess our sins, he is faithful and righteous to forgive us those sins
and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. —1 John 1:9
The Spirit himself testifies
with our spirit that we are God’s children. —Romans 8:16
For by such grace you have
been saved through faith. This does not come from you; it is the gift of
God and not the result of works, lest anyone boast. —Ephesians 2:8
For I consider that the
sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing to the glory
that will be revealed to us. —Romans 8:18
I have written these things
to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know
that you have eternal life. —1 John 5:13
Therefore, if anyone is in
Christ, he is a new creation. Old things have disappeared, and—look!—all
things have become new! All of this comes from God, who has reconciled
us to himself through Christ… —2 Corinthians 5:17-18a
  
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