ULEMA and religious scholars at a seminar held by the Mir Khalil-ur-Rahman Memorial Society (MKRMS) has ruled in a joint declaration, "Not only the suicide attacks but all terrorist activities resulting in the loss of human life are Haram in Islam."
But, I think they're still somewhat in denial:
Dr Israr Ahmed said suicide attacks should be identified more as a social issue rather than a religious one as its prime causes were misery, poverty and deprivation of the people who were already on the verge of committing suicide due to their economic distress thus resort to earning money through suicide bombings and terrorist activities. He said the people carrying out these activities were not following any Islamic ideology.
Uh-huh. Like Bin Laden's was poor and deprived?
Bishop of Lahore Alexander John Malik said terrorism was not bound by any religious or territorial premise but instead it was a "political strategy" that was deployed by powers all over the world under different umbrellas of faith, caste, creed and race. He said the most important role of the ulema was to condemn all these acts in totality and should not by any means or hint justify these acts morally or as an act of vengeance.
A bishop got in on this. Good stuff.
He said true tribute to all those martyrs who lost their lives in these terrorist acts was to defy all these forces and defeat them in their evil ambitions.
I like the sound of that.
Now: will it actually mean anything? Hmmm....
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