Leading jihadist scholar clarifies rules of jihad: You can't kill innocents regardless of sect or religion

From the Arabic daily Asharq Al-Awsat:

Speaking from his prison in Egypt, founder of Al-Jihad Organization and Al-Qaeda ideologue, issued a call urging all jihadist and Islamist movements in the world to ensure that their jihadist operations are carried out in accordance with the rules of Shariaa.

Dr Fadl, also known as Sayyid Imam Abdulaziz al-Sharif stressed that his call is now necessary because of the rise in new forms of un-Islamic fighting and killing in the name of jihad that violate Shariaa law, like the of killing people based on their nationality, skin or hair color, or being affiliated with a certain sect, and also the killing innocent Muslims or non-Muslims.

So who is this Dr. Fadl? He was the chief ideologue of the same Egyptian terror group that Ayman al-Zawahiri, Bin Laden's righthand man, claimed to be a member.

Dr. Fadl is also the author of what Asharq al-Awsat describes as "the most important book on jihadist jurisprudence in the past quarter century," The Basic Principles in Making Preparations for Jihad. As the says:

This book is considered the jihadist movements' constitution and all researchers use it as a reference. It lays down the rules of jurisprudence for combat operations for all jihadist groups. Al-Qaeda regards the book as its guide for combat.

Dr. Fadl is reportedly serving a life sentence in Egypt for something having to do with Albania even though he claims he has never been to Albania.

In any case, as the newspaper writes, in his latest fatwa, Dr Fadl urges "jihadists not to use the excuse of human shields to expand the circle of killing, and to refrain from stealing and destroying property, as all these actions constitute aggression. God, he explained, prohibits aggression during jihad as illustrated by the Koranic injunction: 'Fight in the cause of God those who fight you, but do not transgress the limits; for God loveth not transgressors.'"

"We are prohibited from committing aggression, even if the enemies of Islam do that," he is said to have written in his letter.

Dr. Fadl's letter is reminiscent of the prohibition against violence issued by the Egyptian Islamic Group, the group headed by Sheik Omar Abdul Rahman, the alleged spiritual leader of the 1993 World Trade Center bombers, as well as the Day of Terror plotters.

This ceasefire, issued by the Islamic Group in 1997 brought a halt to mass-casualty terror attacks in Egypt and lasted until Sheik Rahman withdrew his support for the ceasefire via a communication delivered to Reuters news service by his American attorney, Lynne Stewart in 2000.

Stewart, the reader may recall, was convicted of providing material support to a foreign terrorist organization for her role in delivering this message. She was also convicted of defrauding the U.S. government because in shuttling the Sheik's message to Reuters, she violated a federal gag order.

Dr. Fadl in his letter to Asharq al-Awsat, reportedly acknowledged that his writings had incited many conflicts in Muslim and non-Muslim countries. This he reportedly explained, was why he had earlier written a clarifying memorandum in which, according to the newspaper report, he was encouraging the various jihadist factions in Egypt to incline toward peace and cease their violent rebellion against the Egyptian government.