Canada-based Dr Muhammad Tahir ul-Qadri has declared a 600 page fatwa against terrorism and was in London to speak about it:

He’s a man on a mission – a mission to state the obvious.

But for Dr Muhammad Tahir ul-Qadri it is the obvious facts that need stating loudest. Last week the Pakistani-born cleric took to a stage in London to declare his Islamic religious ruling, or fatwa, against terrorism.

There was a man from the other side of the world telling an audience that included Parliamentarians and other government officials what they had been wanting to hear. A clear, concise and quotable denouncement of al-Qaeda’s worldview.

Canada-based Dr Qadri spoke for more than an hour on his reasons why the Koran forbids the murder and mayhem of suicide bombings.

“This fatwa is an absolute condemnation of terrorism. Without any excuse, without any pretext, without any exceptions, without creating any ways of justification,” he said.

“This condemnation is in its totality, in its comprehensiveness, its absoluteness, a total condemnation of every act of terrorism in every form which is being committed or has been committed wrongly in the name of Islam.”

Will this convince anyone?  Probably not those who need to be convinced. As an as aside, in addition to writing 600 page fatwas, Dr. Qadri is adept at writing the word “Muhammad” in the clouds; I’m not sure if this reduces or increases his credibility.

Religion not a factor in wife beheading, judge rules.

Considering a Muslim did the beheading, it isn’t humorous – merely credulity stretching.

From the NY Post:

BUFFALO, N.Y. — The founder of an Islam-oriented television station who is accused of beheading his wife is due in a Buffalo courtroom for proceedings in advance of his murder trial.

Muzzammil “Mo” Hassan is tentatively scheduled to stand trial later this month for the death of his wife, Aasiyah Hassan, last year.

Pretrial motions are scheduled for Friday.

Hassan’s attorney plans a defense that includes claims that Hassan was abused by his wife and emotionally out of control. But prosecutors are fighting the use of a psychiatric defense.

The Pakistan-born Hassans started Bridges TV in 2004, in part to dispel negative Muslim stereotypes.

Muzzammil Hassan was served divorce papers shortly before his wife’s slaying.

The worry here is, if Hassan is found guilty and it turns out – perish the thought – that it does have something to do with the Religion of Peace, there could be a terrible backlash against Muslims: someone might even say something rude.

Has provoked the ire of a Muslim – who really should get out more:

A MUSLIM leader has blasted a pub for using the name of holy city Medina – branding it an insult to his religion.

The boozer in Dundee changed its name from Bar Rio to Medina Bar and Grill after a renovation.

But this has sparked outrage – as Saudi Arabian city Medina is the second-holiest site in Islam behind Mecca.

Medina is also a term used for a market or trading centre in north African cities.

But Mohammed Bashir Chohan, chairman of the Dundee Islamic Society, last night said: “People are upset about it because Medina is a holy city. It does hurt when somebody misuses the name, especially if they are going to sell liquor.”

Medina is also the name of, among other things, a café in Vancouver, a food quality control company, a Rotary club, a board game, and a conspicuously burkaless singer.

And there’s at least one dog named Medina.

According to a Pakistani Muslim scholar, Dr. Tahir ul-Qadri, blowing innocent people up in the name of Islam earns you a ticket to hell not to nuptial bliss with 72 virgins:

An influential Muslim scholar has issued a global ruling against terrorism and suicide bombing.

Dr Tahir ul-Qadri, from Pakistan, says his 600-page judgement, known as a fatwa, completely dismantles al-Qaeda’s violent ideology.

The scholar describes al-Qaeda as an “old evil with a new name” that has not been sufficiently challenged.

The scholar’s movement is growing in the UK and has attracted the interest of policymakers and security chiefs.

In his religious ruling, delivered in London, Dr Qadri says that Islam forbids the massacre of innocent citizens and suicide bombings.

“They [terrorists] can’t claim that their suicide bombings are martyrdom operations and that they become the heroes of the Muslim Umma [global brotherhood]. No, they become heroes of hellfire, and they are leading towards hellfire,” he said.

Anjem Choudary, living in the UK courtesy of British taxpayers, is unconvinced:

CBN News traveled to London to talk with Anjem Choudary, a leading Muslim radical who says Islamic teachings are what shaped his pro-jihad message.

Although both George W. Bush and Barack Obama have declared that Islam is a religion of peace, Choudary begs to differ.

A Religion of Peace?

“You can’t say that Islam is a religion of peace,” Choudary told CBN News. “Because Islam does not mean peace. Islam means submission. So the Muslim is one who submits. There is a place for violence in Islam. There is a place for jihad in Islam.”

Choudary is the leader of Islam4UK, a group recently banned in Britain under the country’s counter-terrorism laws. He wants Islamic Sharia law to rule the United Kingdom and is working to make that dream a reality.

While Islamic radicals in the United States usually prefer to speak in more moderate tones while in public, masking their true agenda, Choudary has no such inhibitions.

He has praised the 9/11 hijackers and has called for the execution of Pope Benedict. He also stirred controversy recently when video emerged of him converting a 10-year-old British boy to Islam.

Dr. Qadri is a Muslim who likes to promote interfaith dialogue and to play down extreme forms of Islam. He concentrates on the social and cultural teachings of Islam, and would like to portray Islam as rational and scientific.

In other words he is Islam’s Rowan Williams and, one presumes, has just about as much influence on the course of Islam as Rowan does on Christianity.