CBS Duped by Tainted Fatwa

CBS Duped by Tainted Fatwa
Frank Salvato, Managing Editor - TheRant.us

On July 28th, CBS News reported that the 18-member Fiqh Council of North America wrote issued a fatwa -- a religious edict -- that stated:

"There is no justification in Islam for extremism or terrorism," the scholars wrote. "Targeting civilians' life and property through suicide bombings or any other method of attack is haram or forbidden."

The report went on to say that the fatwa stated that those who perpetrated terrorism (read suicide bombings) in the name of Islam were "criminals, not martyrs," and that it is a Muslim's "civic and religious duty" to help law enforcement investigate terror attacks and protect civilians.

By all appearances this fatwa was exactly what the American people and the people of the free world have been expecting from the Muslim community. But appearances can be deceiving and CBS News has been deceived.

According to Laura Mansfield, an analyst for the Northeast Intelligence Network - an organization whose work has been recognized by the FBI - the Muslim scholars who head up the Fiqh Council of North America have praised suicide bombers, endorsed jihad in support of Palestinian aggression and have been convicted of having ties with terror organizations.

Ms. Mansfield reports:

"According to the chronology of Islam in America, on the American Muslim Perspective website, on March 10, 1998 the ISNA Fiqh Committee was reorganized as the Fiqh Council of North America “to create a larger and more authoritative body of Muslim scholars to effectively confront the many legal issues facing Muslims in North America.”


"Taha Jabir Alawan (Alawani) was publicly identified in an affidavit by U.S. Customs special agent David Kane as a director of "Safa Group companies including International Institute of Islamic Thought (IIIT), FIQH council of North America, Graduate School of Islamic & Social Sciences, and Heritage Education Trust." It went on to state "In October 1999, a confidential asset of the FBI, who has provided reliable information in the past, furnished the Washington Field Office of the FBI a copy of a fatwa 36 (declaration) signed by Al-Alwani at some point between December 1988 and November 1989, proclaiming the truth by the powers invested in us by Allah, that Jihad is the only way to liberate Palestine; that no person or authority may settle the Jews on the land of Palestine or cede to them any part thereof, or recognize any right therein for them. "

"Muzamil Siddiqi, head of the Fiqh Council, is quoted in an interview regarding the fatwa as saying "Suicide bombing is forbidden in Islam. This is not the solution, it is not the right way of doing things. Occupation is wrong, of course, but at the same time this is not the way." But in a 1995 speech he praised suicide bombers. "Those who die on the part of justice are alive, and their place is with the Lord, and they receive the highest position, because this is the highest honor," he was quoted as saying by the Kansas City Star on Jan. 28, 1995.

"One of the better known former members of the Fiqh Council of North America is Abdurahman Alamoudi, currently serving time in federal prison after pleading guilty to terrorism related crimes."

In light of the fact that al Qaeda training manuals captured in Afghanistan during Operation Enduring Freedom instruct terrorists within their organization to deceive their captors, it is hard to believe, given their history, that Aalawani, Siddiqi and Alamoudi were ingenuous in their fatwa.

Recently, The People’s Truth Forum, a non-partisan organization sponsoring the symposium The Radical-Islamist Threat to World Peace and National Security to be held in Connecticut on September 21^st, was rebuked by CBS/Infinity Radio when the PTF’s president, Jeffrey Epstein tried to buy commercial time to publicize the event. The official statement from CBS/Infinity Radio was that, “Too many people might be emotionally affected by the subject matter…It’s too controversial to be aired at this time.”

CBS/Infinity Radio’s decision comes on the heels of the recent terrorist bombings in London which claimed over fifty lives while injuring thousands. It also comes as CBS covers debate over whether a controversial “Museum of Tolerance” should be included at the new World Trade Center.