MNLF urges ASG to free German couple

From Tempo (Oct 3): MNLF urges ASG to free German couple

The Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) appealed yesterday for the freedom of two Germans in the hands of the Abu Sayyaf Group (ASG), in Jolo, Sulu, stressing that kidnapping, beheading and all forms of torture are prohibited in Islam.

Ustadhz Zain Jali, chairman of the MNLF’s B angsamoro People’s National Parliament (BPNP), made the appeal in an interview.

He said that “even good intentions do not make abduction or kidnapping acceptable. It is ‘haram’ and, thus, un-Islamic.”

Jali, one of the top religious advisers of MNLF founding Chairman Nur P. Misuari, is an expert on Islamic Law (Shari’ah) and jurisprudence, having graduated from the Al-Azhar University in Cairo, Egypt, in the late 1970s.

In fact, he said, all forms of torture, physical or mental, are prohibited in Islam.

He said the MNLF does not condone mutilation of the human body, such as beheading or decapitation, acts which the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) and the ASG had committed.

“No one is allowed to mutilate the body. It goes against Islam and its principles and teaching,” said Jali.

There are two kinds of haram (meaning illegal or not allowed), he said.
They are the “forbidden” and the “prohibited” as he differentiated the two.
“If you say an act or thing is forbidden, like marrying one’s mother or sister, it indicates it is haram forever, permanently,” said Jali.

On the other hand, he said that for Muslims eating pork is one kind of prohibition, meaning it is haram on a temporary basis because Islam believers are allowed to eat the meat of swine if that is the only way to survive.

Apparently riding on the ISIS exploits, the ASG has threatened to behead one of their German captives if the P250 million ransom they are demanding will not be paid by their government.

The captives are yachtmen Stefan Viktor Okonek, 71, and Herike Dieasen, 55, who disappeared while sailing off Palawan waters on April 25.
Military officers believe the ASG bandits are only riding on the ISIS popularity.

http://www.tempo.com.ph/2014/10/mnlf-urges-asg-to-free-german-couple/#.VC9rYsZ0yAI