Osama’s Burial
Despite my previously stated intention not blog about the death of Osama bin Laden, I do have a few questions about the disposal of the body.
According to FoxNews,
Usama bin Laden was given a religious funeral prior to his burial at sea, senior military officials told Fox News.
Religious rites were conducted on the deck of the USS Carl Vinson aircraft carrier at about 1:10 a.m. Monday in the Persian Gulf.
In accordance with Islamic practice, bin Laden was washed and wrapped in a white sheet before buried at sea at 2 a.m. local time, senior U.S. military and intelligence officials said.
In another FoxNews article, there is this:
CAIRO — Muslim clerics said Monday that Usama bin Laden’s burial at sea was a violation of Islamic tradition that may further provoke militant calls for revenge attacks against American targets.
Although there appears to be some room for debate over the burial — as with many issues within the faith — a wide range of senior Islamic scholars interpreted it as a humiliating disregard for the standard Muslim practice of placing the body in a grave with the head pointed toward the holy city of Mecca.
Sea burials can be allowed, they said, but only in special cases where the death occurred aboard a ship.
Bin Laden’s burial at sea “runs contrary to the principles of Islamic laws, religious values and humanitarian customs,” said Sheik Ahmed al-Tayeb, the grand Imam of Cairo’s al-Azhar mosque, Sunni Islam’s highest seat of learning.
Something is amiss here.
If the United States is not fighting Islam, and those who commit terrorism and barbaric acts are not of the “true” Muslim faith, why did the US take the time to make sure that he was buried in “accordance with Islamic practices?”
At the same time, if the clerics and Muslims around the world wish to disavow actions of those who commits acts of terrorism in the name of Islam, how can they be offended if bin Laden is not buried in accordance with a religious tenant?
That is a definitive disconnect. If bin Laden was not representative of the “religion of peace,” then it matters not one iota how his body was disposed of. If those of the Islamic faith want to distance themselves from terrorists, they cannot take umbrage at bin Laden not being buried according to Islamic law.
The US government and Muslims around the world cannot have it both ways. They cannot say bin Laden was not representative of the Muslim faith, and then take offense if his body is not disposed of according to the faith to which they claim he did not represent or adhere. They cannot say that the war against terrorism is not against Islam or even radical Islam, and then insure that one of the most notable terrorist of all time is buried according to Islamic traditions.
[...] we previously noted if the war on terrorism is not against Islam and but against those who pervert Islam, then whatever [...]