Find me a Fatwa!

Those of you who know me will know that I have a bee in my bonnet about Direct Democracy.

I am now Jury Team MEP candidate at

http://www.juryteam.org/candidate-profile.php?id=10109

and receiving, I regret to report, not much support at all.

Perhaps I should take myself off to the nearest Easter Fair and sell kisses, or something, in exchange for a vote, costing no more than 25p and standard network charges for an SMS from your phone.

I then wondered whether Islamic scholars have a view on direct democracy and found this Find Me A Fatwa site at http://fatwaislam.com/

It calls itself "The Most Comprehensive Online Islamic Fatwa Guide" yet had nothing whatsoever on direct democracy.

I would like a fatwa from the Islamic scholar Tim Winter AKA Abdal Hakim Murad and wonder where I can go to order one.

Can one ask for one directly, or must one have an intermediary, analogous to going to a solicitor, who will in turn obtain Counsel's Opinion?

Does one have to be a Muslim to order one and will a fatwa fee be payable?

It appears not and is free, from

http://www.askimam.org/index.php

It is truly an excellent idea. Instead of agony aunts, the Muslims have agony uncles who are learned in the Koran. I have asked my question and can't wait to receive my answer, which should arrive in 3 days' time!

There is even a Fatwa Line at

0845 108 7799

which dispenses fatwas on Mondays to Thursdays between 12-1pm.

Abu Qatada "jail propaganda" denied

http://www.speroforum.com/site/article.asp?id=15663

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ukpress/article/ALeqM5jwx7p8ZiCJ17lSVltuNZCw1_FZvQ

I frankly do not find Abu Qatada's views that Muslim should not be in the armed forces of any country who is an ally of Israel and the US (and this means us!) offensive or extreme.

It is commonsense really. I would regard myself as having wasted my time as a parent were any child of mine to declare an ambition to enter the armed forces (and be sent to invade Muslim countries in ruinous, futile and unpopular wars), become a porn star, a lap dancer, a single mother or enter X Factor.

Where I find myself at a parting of ways with him is when he issued an opinion on an Algerian cleric's fatwa in 1994, in which he backed the view that the killing of women and children by militants in Algeria was justified.

What do he and his supporters have to say about that?

Anjem Choudary of http://www.islam4uk.com/ was asked at 0744hrs 5 April 2009: "Jason Burke's Al Qaeda p166 says Abu Qutada backed Algerian cleric's view that killing of women and children by militants in Algeria justified. Would you comment please?"

His response at 1102hrs 5 April 2009 was a simple "No".

Another question sent at 10:30hrs 5 April 2009: "Why not? Is it because you don't wish to defend such an indefensible view?"

and another sent at 1108 hrs 5 April 2009: "Or do you think the ends justify the means - an unIslamic view, surely?"

Neither questions received a response.