DOHA,
March 20, 2005 (IslamOnline.net) – Prominent Muslim scholar Sheikh
Yusuf Al-Qaradawi strongly denounced on Sunday, March 20, a car
bombing that killed a Briton and inured 16 others in the Qatari
capital as a violation of both religion and law.
“Islam,
which is the official religion of Qatar, sees an aggression on
innocent lives a major sin whose doer deserves punishment in this life
and in the Hereafter,” Qaradawi told IslamOnline.net.
“Prophet
Muhammad (PBUH) said: ‘To God, the annihilation of the whole world
is less serious than the extrajudicial killing of one Muslim’,”
said the eminent scholar.
He
also cited a verse from the Noble Qur’an that says: “For that
cause We decreed for the Children of Israel that whosoever killeth a
human being for other than manslaughter or corruption in the earth, it
shall be as if he had killed all mankind.’”
Egyptian
Omar Ahmad Abdullah Ali rammed a car laden with explosives into a
one-storey theatre frequented by westerners near a British school in
Doha during a production of Shakespeare's “Twelfth Night” on
Saturday, March 19.
Ali,
38, worked as a computer programmer at Qatar Petroleum and had been
living in Doha since 1990.
Investigators
hunted for clues on Sunday as to whether Al-Qaeda was behind the
bombing.
Audiotapes
and messages attributed to Al-Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden and other
associates have called for attacks against Western targets and oil
installations in the Gulf region.
The
latest came on Thursday, when a recording attributed to Al-Qaeda's
Saudi chief, Saleh Al-Oufi, encouraged attacks in Qatar, Bahrain,
Oman, the United Arab Emirates and other countries neighboring Iraq.
Insane
Islam,
Sheikh Qaradawi stressed, also denounces destroying public property
and sabotage.
“Such
crimes are committed by insane persons who have no religious
affiliation and play well into the hands of the enemies.”
The
prominent scholar, who heads the Dublin-based International
Association of Muslim Scholars (IAMS), also said that the bombing was
a violation of law.
“All
laws condemn such irresponsible and deadly acts, which should be
strictly faced with deterrent punishments.”
“Virus”
 |
|
Smoke
rises from the site of the bomb blast in Doha. (Reuters)
|
Sheikh
Qaradawi likened the bombing to a “virus” attacking Qatari
society.
“Qatari
society would not allow anyone to strip it of the security blessing.
It is keen on protecting the prevailing fraternity and unity as it
roundly condemns such crimes, which destabilize its fabric and
stability,” he added.
“I
urge all Qataris to stand united in facing such an epidemic and uproot
it to nip the infection in the bud, otherwise it will spread like
wildfire.
“I,
in the name of all scholars in Qatar, denounce such a horrendous crime
and pray that it would be the last and implore God to protect this
secure country.”
The
suicide bombing sent jitters through the expatriate community,
prompting some Western schools to shut their doors.
It
was the first time Qatar, home to the US Central Command and the
operational base for the US-led war on Iraq in 2003, has been the site
of such an attack against a Western target.
Around
5,000 Britons live in the country which has a total population of
840,000, according to a Reuters count.
Last
year, a car bomb in Doha killed exiled Chechen leader Zelimkhan
Yandarbiyev.
A
Qatar court sentenced two Russian spies to life imprisonment for the
assassination but they were later extradited to Moscow to serve the
jail term there.
