“We [Muslims] cannot clear our names unless we own up to the shameful fact that terrorism has become an Islamic enterprise …”  

Abdelrahman al-Rashid, managing editor of the extremely popular Arabic language satellite television channel al-Arabiyya, in his editorial published in Saturday’s al-Sharq al-Awsat. Al-Rashid wrote his editorial in response to last week’s bloody hostage crisis that occurred in the town of Beslan, which may be linked to separatist movements in Chechnya. While some radical Islamic clerics justify civilian deaths as a consequence of legitimate jihad, al-Rashid holds such Muslim clerics responsible for distorting the message of Islam and encouraging Islamist violence.

While many other critics of radical Islamist movements have voiced similar criticisms, al-Rashid’s condemnation is notable both because he is a leading Saudi journalist and because he directed his sharp criticism at Yousef al-Qaradawi, an influential but controversial Egyptian cleric. Al-Jazeera, another leading satellite channel in the Arabic-speaking world, frequently airs al-Qaradawi’s opinions.

Mimi Hanaoka