Sheik Says Biofuels Are Prohibited by Islam
Biofuels may have hit an unexpected roadblock with a pronouncement by Sheik Mohamed al-Najimi of the Saudi Islamic Jurisprudence Academy that the fuel may be prohibited by Islam. According to al-Najimi, the prophet Muhammad prohibited the buying, selling, transporting, drinking, and manufacturing of alcohol - including the ethyl alcohol present in ethanol.
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If other religious leaders take al-Najimi’s opinion seriously, biofuel could be banned in Muslim countries that currently disallow alcohol. That means Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Libya, and Sudan could potentially become biofuel-free zones.
While al-Najimi says that his recommendation should not be considered a fatwa (a legal pronouncement in Islam), he does believe that restriction of biofuels should go beyond Muslim countries to include Muslims around the world.
Photo CC-Licensed by xeni
How conveeeeeenient!
I’m not saying that there aren’t truly devoted Islamic leaders who may be genuiely concerned about these issues, but I *AM* saying that widespread adoption of this idea would keep OPEC and fossil fuels on the table for many more decades to come … and that, in my opinion, this seems more of a political move than anything else.
Biofuels join the list of EVERYTHING ELSE IN THE WORLD that has been pronounced to be banned by Islam.
I wonder what the sheik thinks about this?
http://www.usoilshale.com/index.php/ENERGY-INDEPENDANCE.html
Let me get this straight.
He is in effect saying, “We don’t care about the environment, we don’t want to use this based on the words of a person who lived thousands of years ago, if he existed at all”?
Nice.
Coming from Saudi Arabia, the world’s largest oil producer–who produce nothing else of value, this has zero credibility, It only demonstrates how closely the Saudi royal family run and control the kingdom for its own benefit.
You’re kidding, right? That’s the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever heard. The passages regarding alchohol are obviously intended to prevent the consumable type! Bio-fuel is as poisonous as regular gasoline. I agree with Jo on this one, that this is a political ploy intended to benefit the petroleum industry.
Maybe the time has come to ban Islam and sharia? I would feel pretty good about that. Islam has nothing to offer beyond rigid restrictions and extreme penalties for breaking them.
Maybe Muslims would lighten up if they had a drink or smoke once in a while. They live largely in desert areas - maybe solar energy would be good for them? Or algae based biofuels - that would grow quite well in Saudi Arabia all year round.
Wonder how Muhammad feels about biodeisel?
The purpose of the ban on the trade of alcohol was to prevent Muslims from drinking it. I’m sure Sheik al-Najimi is a reputable scholar, but it sounds like he’s missed the mark on this one. Islamic Jurisprudence is not a blind and rote process that produces literal results to the point of absurdity; the divine law is always understood in both spirit and letter before applied. Sheik al-Najimi has not followed the spirit of the law in pronouncing his ruling. As a Muslim, I would not hesitate to ignore this ruling.
Those of you making fun of Islam should be ashamed of yourselves. You should not allow the pervading ignorance and fear to make you so prejudice.
I am 100% sure that Muhammad prohibited alcohol for human ingestion…consumable/drinkable alcohol that could be used for the purpose of intoxication.
If he would have prohibited sustainable “fuel”, that just so happens to be a form of alcohol, then he should not be listened to anyway. I sure hope that as many young and educated Muslim’s as possible speak up loudly around the world against this absurd interpretation of the religious prohibition.
This is ridiculous.
Why do religious people not realize that their prophets were basing their decisions on the technology and scientific information that was available in their time. I KNOW that these same prophets today would base their decisions , teachings, and laws on what is most humane today…based on current realities and information, not ancient realities and information.