The Shiite View.

Shaikh Mohammad Hussein Fadhlallah, the spiritual guide of the Shiite Lebanese guerrilla group Hizbollah, however, says no Islamic combatant has such authority and all should refer each case to an authorised mujtahid (guide). He is uncomfortable by the fact that the majority of those killed by Salafi insurgents in Iraq are Shiite Arabs. While the majority view among Salafi activists justify tattarrus, many voices are raised against it.

Grand Ayatollah Ali Al-Sistani, the highest Shiite religious authority in Iraq, condemns tattarrus in its current sense as an "innovation" (bid'ah). He has repeatedly called on Iraq's Shiite Arabs not to embark on revenge killings against Sunni Arab jihadis or political figures.

Shaikh Mohammad Sayyed Tantawi, dean of Cairo's Al-Azhar University, the most prominent Sunni Arab institution of mainstream Islam, insists that Islamic law "rejects all attempts on human life and all attacks on civilians". He says: "Nothing in Islam justifies the deliberate killing of non-combatants. Tattarrus applies to collateral damage in a war between two regular armies and not to action perpetrated by self-styled combatants" (also called muqatileen).

Hisham Abdel-Zaher, a Sunni theologian in Egypt, says the killing of Iraqi civilians by Salafi insurgents in Iraq is "totally unjustifiable under any circumstances". He adds: "Tattarrus is relevant only in the case of Muslim women and children who are captured in a war by the infidel. In such a situation it would be permissible to kill them to prevent them from being converted into other faiths by the infidel or abused by infidel soldiers".

Najeh Al-Ibrahim, an Egyptian scholar of the Sunni mainstream, castigates "the abuse of tattarrus", saying: "No one can use tattarrus to justify the shedding of innocent blood. The only time tattarrus is allowed is when Muslim Mujahedeen have to kill a fellow Muslim who is captured by the infidel and may, under torture, reveal secrets which could help the infidel against the true believers. Apart from that, shedding Muslim blood is the gravest of the sins in Islam".

Jassem Al-Shammari, a Saudi theologian, rejects the authority of the "self-styled ulema" to reinterpret Islamic concepts for political goals, saying: "These gentlemen sit in air-conditioned rooms and drink iced mango juice and issue fatwas for indiscriminate killing. We never see any of them or their children sent on suicide missions". The theologian, a Wahhabi, belongs to the Shammar confederation of Arab tribes.

Abdel Mohsin Al-Ubaikan, a Saudi theologian of the Wahhabi order, proposes "a theological summit" to discuss tattarrus and related issues. He asks: "Is it enough for a man to say he is fighting for Islam in order to claim a licence to kill anyone, anywhere and anytime?" Ubaikan is among the moderate Wahhabi scholars who support the royal family of Saudi Arabia.