Muslim Religious Figures Condemn Terrorism

• "Hijacking Planes, terrorizing innocent people and shedding blood constitute a form of injustice that can not be tolerated by Islam, which views them as gross crimes and sinful acts."

Shaykh Abdul Aziz al-Ashaikh (Grand Mufti of Saudi Arabia and Chairman of the Senior Ulama, on September 15th, 2001)

• The terrorists acts, from the perspective of Islamic law, constitute the crime of hirabah (waging war against society)."

Sept. 27, 2001 fatwa, signed by:

Shaykh Yusuf al-Qaradawi (Grand Islamic Scholar and Chairman of the Sunna and Sira Countil, Qatar)

Judge Tariq al-Bishri, First Deputy President of the Council d'etat, Egypt

Dr. Muhammad s. al-Awa, Professor of Islamic Law and Shari'a, Egypt

Dr. Haytham al-Khayyat, Islamic scholar, Syria

Fahmi Houaydi, Islamic scholar, Syria

Shaykh Taha Jabir al-Alwani, Chairman, North America High Council

• "Neither the law of Islam nor its ethical system justify such a crime."

Zaki Badawi, Principal of the Muslim College in London. Cited in Arab News, Sept. 28, 2001.

• "It is wrong to kill innocent people. It is also wrong to Praise those who kill innocent people."

Mufti Nizamuddin Shamzai, Pakistan. Cited in NY Times, Sept. 28, 2001.

• "What these people stand for is completely against all the principles that Arab Muslims believe in."

King Abdullah II, of Jordan; cited in Middle East Times, Sept. 28, 2001.

• Ingrid Mattson, a professor of Islamic studies and Muslim-Christian relations at Hartford Seminary in Hartford, said there was no basis in Islamic law or sacred text for Mr. bin Laden's remarks. "The basic theological distortion is that any means are permitted to achieve the end of protesting against perceived oppression."

Dr. Ingrid Mattson, a practicing Muslim.