Moroccan press slam Muslims' fatwa
2001-10-08 20:24
Rabat - Morocco's pro-government press on Monday condemned as
"outrageous" the behaviour of 16 Muslim theologians who decreed
that Morocco was not allowed to participate in a US-led alliance
against terrorism.
The fatwa, or religous ruling, handed down by 16 mullahs on
Friday said that for Morocco to join a US-led alliance was not
permitted by Islamic law and would amount to "apostasy", or a
renunciation of the faith.
"It is not permitted for Morocco, its government and people, to
join the alliance against terrorism which the United States has
called for in its own terms," the mullahs wrote.
The decree was "vile lunacy", the daily Liberation commented on
Monday.
"These supposed theologians are preachers of hatred," added the paper, run by the governing Socialist Union of Popular Forces
(USFP). It denounced any decreeing of fatwas outside legal
institutions in the north African country.
"By what right can a preacher or a group of preachers authorise
themselves ... to assume such power, which is a matter for the
king?"
King Mohammed VI is Morocco's most senior religious authority
and holds the title Commander of the Faithful.
After Sunday's first airstrikes by the United States and Britain
against Afghanistan, the Moroccan foreign ministry urged caution in
the overall military response to the September 11 terrorist attacks
on the United States.
"The kingdom of Morocco expresses its wish for the operation in
progress to be wise and measured," the foreign ministry said in a
statement released overnight.
"To be effective, Morocco considers that the operations should
be targeted and carried out in a manner which spares innocent
lives," the statement read.
Two days after the attacks in the United States, the king told
the US ambassador to Morocco, Margaret Tutwiller, that Rabat would
join forces with Washington against "all forms of terrorism".
The king said he wanted "Morocco and the United States to be
associated in an effort that favours dialogue, negotiation and
fairness, while also forming a united front against all forms of
terror".
Moroccan authorities have remained quiet in response to last
week's fatwa, which expressed compassion with US victims of
terrorism but urged Washington to rethink its foreign policy. One
of those to sign it was Driss Kettani, the secretary general of the
influential Club of Islamic Thought.
Liberation expressed anger at "the silence and passiveness of
the powers that be in the face of tolerance".
The League of Ulemas of Morocco, which includes hundreds of
mullahs gathered into religious councils, has taken no public
position.
However, another paper close to the governing socialists,
Al-Ahdat Maghriba, said that those behind the fatwa had no claim to
the authority of ulemas.
"They're just preachers, teachers, people frustrated at being
ignored," the paper said.
A Moroccan specialist in Islamic matters, Mohamed Darif, pointed
out last week that the stance of the mullahs was similar to that
taken by ulemas in the Islamic world after US President George W
Bush called the war on terrorism a "crusade".
- Sapa-AFP
- SAPA