WASHINGTON, July 29, 2005 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) – Top US Muslim scholars issued a fatwa (religious edict) banning all forms of terrorism against civilians, calling on Muslims to help authorities fight the scourge of violence against innocent civilians.

"Islam strictly condemns religious extremism and the use of violence against innocent lives. There is no justification in Islam for extremism or terrorism," said the Fiqh Council of North America (FCNA) Thursday, July 28.

"We clearly and strongly state that all acts of terrorism targeting civilians are haram (forbidden) in Islam," FCNA said, according to the Islamic Society of North America (ISNA) Web site.

"It is haram for a Muslim to cooperate with any individual or group that is involved in any act of terrorism or violence."

"It is the civic and religious duty of Muslims to cooperate with law enforcement authorities to protect the lives of all civilians."

Muslims around the world have strongly condemned the London terrorist bombings, which left 56 people killed and more than 700 injured, and the Sharm El-Sheikh blasts, which killed 88 people and wounded hundreds, as running counter to the merciful teachings of Islam.

The fatwa was signed and endorsed by some 130 North American Muslim organizations and scholars.

The Fiqh Council is an association of Islamic legal scholars that interprets Fiqh (Islamic Jurisprudence).

The fatwa comes as part of efforts by the Muslim minority in North

"The presence here today of American Muslim leaders indicates the willingness of our community to strengthen national security," Awad said.

 America to clear misconceptions linking Islam with terrorism and avert any negative backlash following the terrorist attacks in London and Egypt, Reuters reported.

"Having our religious scholars side by side with our community leaders leaves no room for anybody to suggest that Islam and Muslims condone or support any forms or acts of terrorism," said Esam Omeish, president of the Muslim American Society, one of the groups which announced the fatwa.

The Council of American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) urged that the fatwa be read by Muslim imams at Friday prayers across the United States, according to CAIR Web site.

"United, we can confront the terrorists and frustrate their goal of sparking an apocalyptic war between faiths and civilizations," said CAIR Executive Director Nihad Awad.

"The presence here today of American Muslim leaders indicates the willingness of our community to strengthen national security and to work with policy-makers to gain victory over this international menace to humanity."

A nationwide advertising campaign was launched by American Muslims this month in which they declared that those who committed terrorist acts in the name of Islam were betraying the merciful teachings of the Noble Qur'an.

The International Association of Muslim Scholars (IAMS) condemned Sunday, July 25, the latest series of attacks that rocked the Egyptian Red Sea resort of Sharm El-Sheikh, London and elsewhere as running counter to the merciful teachings of Islam.

"All divine religions in general and Islam in particular assert the sanctity of human life and strongly prohibit aggression against it," the IAMS president, Sheikh Yusuf AL-Qaradawi said.

A statement issued by over forty leading mosque imams, muftis and scholars representing all sections of Muslims in Britain stressed that "there can never be any excuse for taking an innocent life".

The scholars asserted that those behind the July 7 London bombings cannot consider themselves martyrs.