This is a fatwa I can get excited about

About a month ago, a piece hit the news about an Islamic cleric declaring that terrorists, and most specifically suicide bombers, were not the most faithful and believing of muslims, but rather misguided hell-bound "unbelievers".

Now there can be plenty of debate about exactly how influential Sheikh Tahir ul-Qadri really is. Islam is incredibly diverse with no true centralized governance, so he may only be preaching to the choir. There are other issues to worry about and criticize as well, but on the whole, I can only look at this declaration as a positive event.

My experience in the Iraq and thought and study before and after than convinces me that the ultimate end to the extremists' violent and frankly evil behaviors will need to be achieved by Muslims, not those of us who address the problem essentially from the outside. I'm aware that many believe that all of Islam has as a core tenet the desire to eradicate all other belief systems and impose Sharia law universally, but I don't buy it. It is a small fraction of the Muslim population that is causing all the heartache. I think there are, if you will, "moderate" Muslims who don't espouse violence and tyranny as the will of Allah. Declarations such as ul-Qadri's support my assertion. I have seen and heard declarations such as his before and hope to see that drumbeat from within grow louder and more frequent. 

I was glad to read the article. Truly good news.