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Is Osama Bin Laden's ‘Fatwa urging Jihad against Americans’ dated 23 February 1998 justified by Islamic law?

The title of this article is controversial if only because it suggests that there could be some form of justification for a document that is likely to have provided the inspiration for the attacks in New York and Washington on 11 September 2001. But the rationale for studying this issue is to further understanding rather than to escalate controversy. There has been an academic and media focus on the potential for prolonged conflict between the liberal democratic West' and the Islamic (Middle) 'East' for some time. Many of these studies have relied heavily on cliche and stereotype but they have proved seductive to a great many readers in both the West and the East. The irony is that the prophecies may turn out to be selffulfilling unless we actively try to prevent such a conflict. If a 'Clash of Civilizations' is to be avoided in the coming decades then it is more likely to be avoided by dialogue between those civilisations rather than through the rejection of countervailing opinions. This dialogue must be based on an accurate understanding of each other's beliefs and opinions rather than prejudice and ignorance. For those who have no interest in such a dialogue there is Sun Tzu's adage that knowledge of one's enemy is a prerequisite to victory. At the very least we have the advice of the current Adjutant General that '[w]hen we are challenged, we must start from the position that the challenger may be right'. In the wake of September 11 the Western media has made some attempt to understand the reasons for such actions. Many of the broadsheets have devoted time and column inches to analysing why young, intelligent, educated Muslims have proved willing to sacrifice their