CNN (Video Comments) : Muslim scholar's fatwa condemns terrorism

March 3, 2010 -- Updated 2318 GMT (0718 HKT)

London, England (CNN) -- A Muslim scholar has issued a fatwa, or religious ruling, that says suicide bombers are destined for hell.

Muhammad Tahir ul-Qadri condemned terrorism and criticized Islamic extremists who cite their religion to justify violence.

Ul-Qadri's 600-page fatwa is "arguably the most comprehensive theological refutation of Islamist terrorism to date," according to the Quilliam Foundation, a London organization that describes itself as a counterterrorism think tank.

"Terrorism is terrorism," ul-Qadri said at a news conference hosted by the foundation. "Violence is violence. It has no place in Islamic teaching, and no justification can be provided to it ..." Ul-Qadri is the founder of the Minhaj-ul-Quran, an organization with hundreds of thousands of followers in South Asia and the United Kingdom, according to the Quilliam Foundation.

The foundation refers to ul-Qadri as a mainstream Muslim scholar who is a "widely recognized and respected authority on Islamic jurisprudence."

He criticized Muslims who, in justifying terrorism, say it furthers the goal of correcting wrongs done to Muslims.

"No good intention -- even one thousand good intentions put together -- cannot justify a wrong and forbidden act," he said. "Good intentions cannot convert a wrong into good." Some extremists have interpreted the Quran to suggest that those who kill in the name of Allah will be rewarded after death with 72 virgins and a place in paradise.

Source : http://edition.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/europe/03/03/fatwa.against.terror/