Subject: Islamic scholars urge jihad if US attacks Iraq
From: The Watcher 
Date: Tue, 11 Mar 2003 08:08:11 GMT

Scholars urge jihad if Iraq war comes
Cairo center declares all Muslims threatened

By Anthony Shadid
THE WASHINGTON POST

AMMAN, Jordan, March 10 u Islamic scholars at CairoAEs Al-Azhar 
University, the preeminent seat of Sunni Muslim learning in the Arab 
world, have declared a U.S. attack on Iraq would threaten all Arabs and 
Muslims and urged a jihad to defend their interests.

THE STATEMENT, published in Egyptian newspapers today, said the U.S. 
military buildup in the Persian Gulf region in preparation for a likely 
invasion of Iraq is part of a new ocrusade,oe a highly emotive word in 
the Arab world, where the medieval Crusades still frame relations with 
the West.

oAccording to Islamic law, if the enemy steps on MuslimsAE land, jihad 
becomes a duty on every male and female Muslim,oe said the statement by 
the Islamic Research Academy, the center of religious scholarship at the 
1,000-year-old university. It calls upon oArabs and Muslims throughout 
the world to be ready to defend themselves and their faith.oe


Whatever the interpretation, the statement seemed likely to reverberate 
across the Arab world given Al-AzharAEs prestige as a source of spiritual 
guidance and EgyptAEs role as a U.S. ally.

Fears have arisen throughout the region that a U.S. invasion of Iraq 
could unleash tumult, and from North Africa to the Persian Gulf, the 
expected war is increasingly framed as targeting Islam. The statement by 
scholars at Al-Azhar, seen as a beacon by many orthodox Sunni Muslims, 
joined a chorus of Islamic voices urging resistance to a U.S. attack.


oOur Arab and Islamic nation, and even our faith, are a main target for 
all these [US] military build-ups,oe it said.


Some analysts have argued that by taking a hard-line on certain issues, 
the university has kept itself within an Islamic mainstream that has 
become increasingly radicalized.

- 2003 The Washington Post Company

For entire article, go to http://www.msnbc.com/news/883550.asp?0cl=c3


 

--- WtrGate v0.93.p9 Unreg