The Grand Imam of Al-Azhar Sheikh Mohamed Sayyed Tantawi ruled as "forbidden" that any Arab or Islamic country helps foreign forces launch a military offensive against Iraq. "We strongly refuse attacking Iraq, as it is a sort of aggression on Islam, and thats why all possible efforts should be geared up to turn the specter of war away," Tantawi said in response to a question about the presence of American troops in some Arab countries in preparation for a looming war against Iraq. "Under Shariaa (Islamic Law) it is not allowed to give any support to these foreign troops to carry out their aggressive plans."
The grand imam of Cairo's thousand-year-old prestigious centre of learning and highest authority for the Islamic world had issued a fatwa to the effect that Arab and Islamic countries should not allow their territories to be used in launching a military offensive against any Muslim countries. "We stand with the Iraqi people and against any aggression on its land. We will never accept injustice and aggression against any Islamic and Arab country whatever it is. When we show our objection to any aggression against the innocent and isolated Iraqi people, we are defending not the Iraqi regime, but the Muslims living there, as they are part and parcel of us, Tantawi told the Kuwaiti Al-Rai Al-Am daily in September.
This is a reiteration of the Islamists' position that no Muslim regime, anywhere, can be attacked for any reason, no matter what they do. It'll be interesting to see what his position is when it's all over. Memories are short, especially in the Middle East, so the Baghdadis will probably welcome him and forget about the way he confuses his political views with his relgion... |