New Fatwa issued by Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani

Updated Wed. Jun. 14 2006 12:58 PM ET
CTV.ca News Staff

Representatives of Canada's Islamic community issued a call to action on Wednesday, urging Muslims to obey a religious edict that condemns violence and sanctions peace.

"Muslims have undertaken to obey the laws of a country of their residence, and thus they must be faithful to that undertaking," according to the fatwa issued by Iraq's top Shiite cleric Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani earlier this week.

The Lebanese Islamic Centre's Linda Clark told reporters at a pres conference in Montreal that the edict means it is a sin for Muslims in Canada to act against the fatwa.

They are urged to "protect the country they are living in and they must not let it be exposed to harm in any way for they are guests of that country," said Clark, reading a quote from a Muslim scholar translated into English.

"And as soon as they enter it they are pledged to live there in the same manner as the rest of the population without causing any harm to public security and safety."

Sistani's representative in North America, Sayyed Nabil Abbas, told reporters the fatwa compels all Muslims to act in the best interests of their country of residence by protecting it from all acts that might jeopardize public safety and security.

"We condemn all forms of violence and ask the Canadian to investigate any act or gesture that might have harmful repercussions on our common security," Abbas said in French.

The Muslim leaders called the press conference in Montreal on the heels of the stunning arrests of suspects on terrorism-related charges that have fuelled discussion on the implications of homegrown extremists.

"In addition we ask the government representatives in all objectivity to take the necessary measures in order to judge and punish, if need be, any individuals of whatever cultural or religious origin they may be," Abbas said.

Islamic groups in Canada have come out to condemn terrorism and violence, while urging Canadians not to rush to judgment or broadly paint all Muslims with the label of terrorists

"Those accused must be considered innocent until proven guilty in a transparent and fair trial that respects due process and natural justice," The Muslim Council of Montreal said in a written statement last week.

"If they are found guilty then they should be viewed as criminals who neither reflect our community's values nor our faith."
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I was literally overjoyed when I read this. Considering the precipice many Canadians feel they’ve been standing on since the arrests I think this is very very significant for us, and for the broader issue globally as well. Muslim community leaders have been vocal on this issue from the start, I should add. There are something like 700,000 Muslims in the greater Toronto area and many leaders spoke out very quickly strongly condemning extremism after the arrests. More than that, they were digging into the roots of this particular group and saying that a couple of the people who were arrested had been showing warning signs and asking if something could have been done sooner. Someone had tipped the police off about these guys quite a while ago, though, as they had been tracking them for quite a few months. Through all the discourse that has followed I think it’s become very clear to most Canadians that the vast majority of Muslims are strongly against extremism, and I think that’s been a very positive increased level of understanding that’s come out of this.