エジプトのイスラム教最高指導者タンタウィ師が「米国のテロ」に対して行け行け宣言

Whoever Wants To Go TO Iraq To Fight, Can Go: Tantawi

"Whoever attacks others, spilling blood, harming the other's honor and land is a terrorist," Tantawi

Additional Reporting By Sobhi Mujahid, IOL Cairo Correspondent

CAIRO, April 5 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) - Egypt's top Islamic cleric slammed Saturday, April 5, the U.S.-British invasion of Iraq as an act by "terrorists", saying he gave his blessings to volunteers wishing to help the Iraqis fight against their invaders.
"Whoever attacks others, spilling blood, harming the other's honor and land is a terrorist," Mohamed Sayyed Tantawi told a news conference, in an apparent reference to the U.S.-British forces.

Head of Islam's highest authority, Tantawi, however, said the Iraq invasion was not a crusade against Islam since many Christian nations and religious leaders, including Pope John Paul II, have voiced their opposition to it.

"Permitted"

He made clear that martyr operations are "permitted under the Islamic religious law" to face this aggression.

"Whoever wants to head for Iraq to support the Iraqi people, the door is open, and I say the door for Jihad (holy struggle) is open until the day of judgment," the top Egyptian cleric said.

"Whoever wants to go to fight alongside the Iraqi people, I welcome him … I tell go with peace and I wish you well. We do not prevent anyone from going to help those who are facing injustice."

The Egyptian Bar Association announced a few days ago that volunteers could sign up to leave for Jihad against the U.S.-British war in Iraq, now in its third week.

Baghdad said that thousands of Arab volunteers had arrived in Iraq and are ready to "martyr" themselves in the war.

Tantawi had earlier told IslamOnline.net in an exclusive interview that attempts to stop a U.S. aggression on Iraq is “Jihad” and resisting such an attack is a binding Islamic duty”.

"Saddam To Blame"

In spite of his full support for the Iraqi people, The Grand Imam of Azhar slammed Iraqi President Saddam Hussein's refusal a call from the United Arab Emirates last month to cede power in order to spare his country the current aggression.

"Had this initiative gone through, it would have preserved the blood of many Muslims and we would not be seeing the massacres under way against the Iraqi people."

Tantawi described Iraq's August 1990-February 1991 occupation of Kuwait as a "terrorist" act.

But he hit out at Kuwait, without actually naming the emirate, saying "when an Arab country enlists the help of foreign forces against another Arab country for no reason, this is treason to religion."

On March 27, Syria's Grand Mufti Sheikh Ahmad Kaftaro, the country's top Muslim religious authority, called for "martyr" operations against U.S. and British troops in Iraq.

He called for stopping the war against Iraq, saying the invasion of Iraq allegedly to oust the regime of Saddam Hussein is all but an "unjust aggression".

"The war against the Iraqi people must, must, must stop as soon as possible," he added.

Renowned Islamic scholar Sheikh Youssef Al-Qaradawi also ruled that anybody killed in a military operation aimed at expelling American occupation forces from the Gulf is a martyr due to his good intention.

"Obligatory"

Islam universally bans suicide as a crime against oneself but it allows it in defense of Muslims and their land.

The Islamic Fiqh (Jurisprudence) Council, affiliated with Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC), stresses that martyr operations are a form of jihad, and carrying out those operations is a legitimate right that has nothing to do with terrorism or suicide.

"Those operations become obligatory when they become the only way to stop the aggressidon of the enemy, defeat it, and grievously damage its power., and celebrates as "martyrs" those who make the sacrifice," the Council earlier said.