Clerics who issued a fatwa a few weeks ago declaring suicide attacks ‘haraam’ and illegal, are concerned at the fact that even fatwas have failed to stop such attacks by jihadi elements. These religious scholars are of the view that the existing volatile situation has gotten out of control and has reached a point where even religious decrees cannot prevent such elements from their actions.The Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam Fazl (JUI-F) NWFP organised a clerics convention on April 17 to protect religious madrassas and tell its activists that problems could be resolved only through peaceful means and not through military ones. The convention also issued a fatwa that said suicide bombing was haraam in Islam and against the law of the land. Over 2,000 clerics from various parts of the country endorsed it and some of it’s signatories were Maulana Fazlur Rehman, Maulana Saleemullah Khan, Maulana Muhammad Hanif Jalandhri, Maulana Muhammad Hassan Jan, Maulana Dr Abdul Razaaq Sikandar, Maulana Qazi Hameedullah, Maulana Dr Muhammad Adil Khan, Maulana Dr Sher Ali Khan, Maulana Mufti Ghulamur Rehman and Maulana Muhammad Ullah Jan.
However, the Charsadda suicide bomb attack seems to indicate that the clerics’ decree carried no weight and was ignored. “These are cruel and ignorant people. They have no knowledge and education and don’t even listen to religious scholars,” Sheikhul Hadith Maulana Hassan Jan, one of the fatwa signatories and head of Jamia Imdadul Uloom Al Islamia Darwaish Masjid Peshawar, told Daily Times.