MAKKAH, Jan 10: Muslim scholars meeting in Makkah stressed on Thursday that terrorism is alien to Islam, which the West has often associated with terror since the September 11 attacks on the United States.

In a statement issued after a six-day meeting, a group of scholars affiliated to the Muslim World League spelled out their definition of terrorism, saying it applied to “any unjustified attack by individuals, groups or states against a human being.”

This includes attacks on a person’s “religion, life, property and honour,” they said.

The scholars said “any act of violence or threat ... designed to terrorize people or endanger their lives or security” also amounts to terrorism.

“Damaging the environment and public or private facilities, and endangering natural resources” is equally an act of terror, as are “murder and banditry.”

But jihad (holy war or struggle) cannot be equated with terrorism, the scholars said, noting that “struggling against occupiers and colonial settlers who drive people from their land and against those who help them” is legitimate in Islam.

Struggling against “those who renege on their commitments” or prevent Muslims from “peacefully preaching” their religion is a form of jihad, they said.

But the scholars emphasized that Islam lays down rules for jihad, “prohibiting the killing of non-combatants and innocent women, children and elderly men, as well as fighters who surrender and prisoners.”

Also banned are attacks against “installations, sites and buildings not related to the fighting.”—AFP