ThePoliticallyIncorrect Guide to Islam (and the CrusadeOsama bin Laden's murder of three thousand
people in. the World Trade Center towers was
no t ful fi ll in g th e re qu ire men ts of Isl ami c
jihad, but a crime against humanity.
Yet Islamic law is not clear-rut in its con-
demnation of the killing of non-combatants. It
prohibits the killing of women and children
"u nle ss th ey ar e fi ght in g aga in st th e Mu s-
lims."' This has been widely interpreted as
allowing civilians to be killed if They are per-
ceived as somehow aiding the war effort. This
is one bas is for the comm on ass ert ion tha t
there are no civilians in Israel, Some Muslim
leaders have argued for that on the basis that
everyone, simply by virtue of being in Israel_is
tres passi ng on Musl im land and is thus atwar with Islam. Others, like the internationally famous Sheikh Yusuf al-
Qaradawi, are more nuanced: "Israeli women are not like women in our
societ y because Israeli women aremilitar ized. Secondl y, I consid er this
type of martyrd om operat ion as indication of justic e of Allah almight y.
Allah is just, Through his infinite wisdom he has given the weak whatthe
strong do not possess and that is the ability to turn their bodies into bombs
like the Palestinians do.""A Book You're Not
Supposed to ReadUmdat al-Saliktranslated by Nuh Fla Mim
Keller into English asReliance oftheTravele r:
ACl as si c Ma nu alorIs la mi c Sa cr edLaw:
Amana Publications, 1994. This is a Shafi'i
Legal manual intended as a handy guide to
Islamic lawfor lay Muslims. It is endorsed by
Al-Azhar University, SunniIslam's most
revered authority! .Al-Azhar's Islamic Research
Academy certifies thatthisboo k 'co nfo rms to
di e pr act ice and fai th ofthe orthodox Sunni
community'