Could we have a fatwa with that?

Guardian Unlimited | Special reports | Muslim leaders appeal to captors: "'It is un-Islamic to ask someone to bear the sins of another,' he said. 'Whatever mistakes, errors, sins or crimes the British committed, we don't believe a British national should be held responsible. Mr Bigley is a victim as much as civilians in Falluja are victims.'"

It is realy good to see and hear of prominent Muslims doing this. Picking up something from a few days ago, though, how about a few fatwas? That would make it absolutely clear that we are dealing with a mianstream opinion. If Salman Rushdie could be fatwa'd then why not these people?

Then, on another tack, is the interesting link to Christian concerns: bearing the sins of another: I am developing in my own thinking a way of thinking about atonement that re-frames the idea of Jesus bearing our sins. It has to be said that, outside of the circles where the evangelical/catholic view of sin-bearing seesm to make sense, it makes very little sense to many; it even seems unjust and a recipe for licence [which St.Paul seems to admit]. We desperately need to reframe atonemtn but not going the way of eliminating the connection with the traditional language of, eg, the Agnus Dei and even scripture itself. We need to be able to do this also, clearly, to be able to commend Christian perspectives to Muslims.