Islam’s most revered authority of Al-Azhar issued a fatwa banning Arab states from dealing with the Iraqi Governing Council, saying the U.S.-picked up body is “illegitimate.”
“The council lacks religious and secular legitimacy, as it had been imposed on the Iraqis under the power of occupation and does not conform to Islam’s established principle of shura (counseling),” read the fatwa, according to IslamOnline.net.
The fatwa, dated August 19 and published Tuesday, called on Arab or Islamic states not to back the interim body – whose 25 members were selected by the U.S. occupation forces in Iraq.
“Iraq is an Islamic country whose government should be legitimate and set up in accordance with the principle of Shura,” read the religious decree.
Two weeks ago, Jordan’s Islamic Labor Front (ILF), the political wing of Muslim Brotherhood, issued a similar edict calling on Muslims not to join the council. (Albawaba.com)
