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January 21, 2006

UK: Muslim Cleric Puts Koran On Trial

Time now to review the end of the second week of the trial of Egyptian-born Muslim cleric, Abu Hamza , at the Old Bailey in London.

The Times reports that on Thursday, copies of the Koran were handed out to jurors. The defence argued that some of the "offensive" statements made by Hamza in his videotaped sermons came straight out of the Koran.

Edward Fitzgerald QC, defending, said Hamza interpreted the Koran as giving an obligation to Muslims, to perform jihad and to fight in defence of their faith.

After describing the prosecution claims as "simplistic in the extreme". Fitzgerald said: "It is said he was preaching murder, but he was actually preaching from the Koran itself."

Fitzgerald quoted Chapter 2, verse 216 and Chapter 9 verse 111, which he claimed gave theological justification to the words which have now brought him before the court.

2:216 "Warfare is ordained for you, though it is hateful unto you; but it may happen that ye hate a thing which is good for you, and it may happen that ye love a thing which is bad for you. Allah knoweth, ye know not."

9:111"Lo! Allah hath bought from the believers their lives and their wealth because the Garden will be theirs: they shall fight in the way of Allah and shall slay and be slain. It is a promise which is binding on Him in the Torah and the Gospel and the Qur'an. Who fulfilleth His covenant better than Allah ? Rejoice then in your bargain that ye have made, for that is the supreme triumph."

His comments about Jews came from the Hadiths, in which fighting between Jews and Muslims is predicted. In these collections of Mohammed's sayings, it is written that the trees will call out to the Muslims "there is a Jew behind me, come and kill him."

Fitzgerald concluded: "Mr Hamza has said things that most people will find deeply offensive and hateful. But he is not on trial for describing England as a toilet. There is no crime of simply being offensive."

The Guardian yesterday described Fitzgerald's questioning of his client on Thursday. The defence counsel asked about his contacts with SPecial Branch and MI5 in the late 1990s.

Hamza claimed that Special Branch told him theu had commenced their surveillance on him in 1994. He had engaged in meetings with someone from MI5. He said he had asked officers of Special Branch: "My sermon, is it a problem?" Their response, he said, was: "You have freedom of speech. You don't have anything to worry about as long as we don't see blood on the streets."

Today, the Guardian describes the proceedings on Friday. Hamza said that he believed suicide bombings were a legitimate tool of war. "Bombing is a tactic of war if it is used for a good reason."

When Fitzgerald asked when suicide bombing could be used, he answered: "If it is the only way to stop enemies of Islam attacking and you have no other means of resisting oppression then that will be your only tactic of war. If it is targeting people or places where it is forbidden to target them then it is immoral. It is not a strategy, it is not an aim, it is a tool of war if there are no other means."

It was legitimate in Palestine, he said. "When they see tanks, bulldozers and soldiers are coming to knock down houses with people inside them ... yes, it is legitimate within the boundaries of Islam."

Posted by Giraldus Cambrensis at January 21, 2006 10:14 PM

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