Posted on 04/09/2002 7:13:09 AM PDT by jgrubbs
Special Dispatch No. 363: Leading Egyptian Government Cleric Calls For: "Martyrdom Attacks that Strike Horror into the Hearts of the Enemies of Allah"
Within the past year, Sheikh Muhammad Sayyed Tantawi, the top Egyptian cleric of Al-Azhar University, has shifted his position regarding the targeting of civilians in suicide bombings. While he previously stated that Palestinians should refrain from targeting civilians,(1) he recently declared that martyrdom (suicide) operations and the killing of civilians are permitted acts and that more such attacks should be carried out. Tantawi's positions were posted on www.lailatalqadr.com, a website associated with Al-Azhar. The following are excerpts from the report:
"The great Imam of Al-Azhar Sheikh Muhammad Sayyed Tantawi, demanded that the Palestinian people, of all factions, intensify the martyrdom operations [i.e. suicide attacks] against the Zionist enemy, and described the martyrdom operations as the highest form of Jihad operations. He says that the young people executing them have sold Allah the most precious thing of all."
"[Sheikh Tantawi] emphasized that every martyrdom operation against any Israeli, including children, women, and teenagers, is a legitimate act according to [Islamic] religious law, and an Islamic commandment, until the people of Palestine regain their land and cause the cruel Israeli aggression to retreat…"
These words were spoken at a reception held by Sheikh Tantawi for Israeli Arab Democratic Party leader Abd Al-Wahhab Al-Darawsheh and the delegation that accompanied him. During the meeting, Al-Darawsheh stressed the depth of relations between the Palestinian and Egyptian peoples, and stated that the Palestinian people was steadfast, would not abandon its land and would continue in its path until it achieved one of two good things: victory or martyrdom.(2)
Egypt’s new mufti, Sheikh Dr. Ahmad Al-Tayyeb, also expressed his support for suicide attacks. Sheikh Al-Tayyeb took office when the term of his predecessor, Sheikh Nasr Farid Wasil, was not renewed due to his opposition to Sheikh Tantawi’s previous religious rulings against suicide attacks.
Until now, in all of his interviews with the Egyptian press since becoming mufti, Sheikh Al-Tayyeb has avoided discussing suicide bombings. But since Sheikh Tantawi's call for suicide attacks, Sheikh Al-Tayyeb has declared that "the solution to the Israeli terror lies in a proliferation of Fidai [martyrdom] attacks that strike horror into the hearts of the enemies of Allah. The Islamic countries, peoples and rulers alike, must support these martyrdom attacks."(3)
It should be noted that a March 18, 2002 demonstration at Al-Azhar University featured eight students who had been trained to carry out suicide attacks against Israelis.(4) Volunteering for suicide bombings against Israelis has become a popular expression in Egypt – so much so that Mahmoud Al-Zahhar, a Hamas leader in Gaza, told the Israeli Arab weekly Kul Al-Arab, "Two days ago, in Alexandria, enrolment began for volunteers for martyrdom [operations]. Two thousand students from the University of Alexandria signed up to die a martyr’s death. This is the real Egyptian people."(5)
Endnotes:
(1) MEMRI Inquiry & Analysis No. 53, "Debating the Religious, Political and Moral Legitimacy of Suicide Bombings Part 1: The Debate over Religious Legitimacy," May 2, 2001.
(2) www.lailatalqadr.com/stories/n040401.shtml, April 4, 2002.
(3) www.lailatalqadr.com/stories/p4040401.shtml, April 4, 2002.
(4) Al-Mustaqbal (Lebanon), March 19, 2002.
(5) Kul Al-Arab (Israel), April 5, 2002.
NeverGore
They MUST learn to fear us or they will win. I believe it's as simple as that.
We won't be holding our breaths waiting to see him carrying out his own convictions.
Once in the '80s, a group of Egyptians kidnapped some Russian diplomats and held them for ransom. Russian special forces captured a few people in the group, took them down to a beach, and put their heads on spikes. Then the Russians called the Egyptians, told them to shove their ransom, and told them where they could find their missing guys. The Russian diplomats were realeased without incident.
Even if they never get to the point where they fear us, if it could be arranged for them to simply stop living, that would be just peachy-keen. Wascally wagheads! "Mullah" must somehow translate into "a vociferous lunatic in great need of projectile-induced cranial ventilation". Works for me!
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Wonder why they never seem to want to kill leaders or grown men - only young teenagers, women, girls and children? Seems so cowardly to me. All those rich arab countries cannot afford to build an army, cannot afford guns and weapons and have to rely on their innocents to strap bombs on themselves to sneak in and bomb other innocents.
Looks to me like those countries are run by extreme cowardly men (and I use that term lightly). They manage to stay away from the bombs but send their children to fight for them.
Wipe this scum off the face of the Earth.
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