“Muslim
American ‘Fatwa’: What Took so Long?”
By Omar Ricci
Vice chairman
Muslim Public Affairs Council
US
Thursday, more than 145 Muslim American organizations
did something their fellow Americans had been
looking for since Sept. 11 — they issued
a fatwa against extremism, terrorism and suicide
bombing. The logical question that comes to mind
is, “What took so long?” The answer
is not simple. It deals with issues of breaking
scholarly taboos, form over substance, understanding
the American psyche and the national media.
To clarify, the term “fatwa” means
a non-binding Islamic religious opinion rooted
in sources of Islamic law — the Qur’an
and the authentic sayings and actions of the Prophet
Muhammad (or “Sunnah”).
The use of this term by al-Qaeda and the like
to psychologically conscript ill-guided followers
has also led Americans to view a fatwa as a binding
Islamic edict; much like the Vatican issues binding
edicts to its followers. To lay Americans, the
issuance of a fatwa, from any corner of the Muslim
world, implied a force majeure in the lives of
all ordinary Muslims and therefore a cause for
concern.
But to Muslims in America and around the world,
a fatwa is not viewed with any binding force and
is in many respects similar to a legal opinion
without being law. So when Osama bin Laden issued
his fatwa in 2002 calling upon Muslim Americans
to fight in the West, it was shrugged off because
Muslims did not agree. Moreover, they viewed bin
Laden as a criminal and not a religious scholar.
Since Sept. 11, Muslim American organizations
have been tirelessly engaged in counter-terrorism
and counter-ideology efforts, all of which are
directly sourced in the Qur’an and Sunnah.
But why have these organizations not labeled any
anti-terrorism effort a fatwa? The answer stems
primarily from a deeply rooted scholarly desire
not to cheapen the meaning or spirit of the term,
and not stoop to the level of al-Qaeda in how
they have demeaned the use of a fatwa. Besides,
leaders of these organizations thought, the Qur’anic
basis from which anti-terrorism efforts emanated
clearly refutes the ideological beliefs of al-Qaeda.
Why is it, then, that America isn’t getting
the message? Why are Muslim American organizations
having a monumental PR crisis at such a critical
time?
The answer to this question lies both at the doorstep
of Muslim American organizations as well as the
national media. For Muslim American organizations,
there was a gross failure to recognize the co-opting
of the term fatwa by Muslim terrorist groups.
There was also a failure to recognize the psychological
impact the term fatwa had on fellow Americans.
These failures cost Muslim Americans dearly. It
allowed right-wing media pundits, with their politically
motivated ignorance of Islam, to put form over
substance and pin an entire community as not having
done enough to condemn terrorism. Their current
dominance of the national microphone influenced
those who didn’t hear any counterweight.
The national media, the modern day mountaintops
from which to shout, are also culpable. Muslim
Americans have been doing, and continue to do,
their share to protect the nation. But it is frustrating
that such efforts are analogous to a tree falling
in the forest, either because of issues of style
over substance, or the lack of reporting by national
media.
(Omar Ricci is vice chairman of the Muslim Public
Affairs Council. Courtesy San Francisco Examiner,
8/3/05)
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