Indian Muslims endorse anti-terrorism edict

Thousands of Indian Muslims have united to endorse a religious edict condemning terrorism as un-Islamic, a scholar said Monday.

The two-day weekend meeting in the southern city of Hyderabad drew around 6,000 Muslim clerics and scholars, and came after India was hit by a wave of bombings by suspected Islamist militants across the Hindu-majority nation.

Indian Muslim leaders have since complained that members of their community were being subjected to harassment by police.

The endorsed fatwa, or ruling, holds that the term jihad -- 'holy war' -- cannot be applied to terrorist acts.

"Jihad is basically a constructive phenomenon. Terrorism is based on destruction alone. Jihad is permitted only for restoring peace and is a fundamental right of a human being," the edict reads.

"It's a very good and important step which draws the distinction that jihad and terrorism have nothing in common," said Khalid Rasheed, a senior cleric from northern India who attended the meeting.

At the closing session on Sunday, K. Rahman Khan, deputy speaker of India's upper house of parliament, urged the scholars to help end "all forms of terrorism."

"It is only some misguided youth who are caught in the trap of those perpetrating terrorist acts. The clerics should bring them back on to the right track by explaining what jihad exactly stands for," he said.

Around 14 percent of India's billion-plus population is Muslim.