Friedman wrong about Muslims again

“To this day – to this day – no major Muslim cleric or religious body has ever issued a fatwa condemning Osama bin Laden”. Thomas Friedman’s monumentally ignorant claim in his New York Times article (see here) is demolished by Juan Cole.

Cole remarks: “I don’t personally care for Yusuf al-Qaradawi. He is an old-time Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood preacher who fled to Qatar and now has a perch at al-Jazeera. But he does have some virtues. He … absolutely despises Bin Laden and al-Qaeda. Al-Qaradawi has repeatedly condemned the latter. He even gave a fatwa that it was a duty of Muslims to fight alongside the US in Afghanistan against al-Qaeda!”

Informed Comment, 9 July 2005