This is exactly what Omer Muzaffar said in his ‘rebuttal’ which you reccommend in your article.

The use of the ’surname’ alone (without a title/prefix), especially if the individual is a writer or notable individual is a recognised norm in academic discourse. It is not meant as a mark of disrespect – on the contrary it shows either respect or recognition as someone prominent. You can check various journals, books, articles and other literature and also check the references contained within. Granted, you may be unfamiliar with it.

The opinions and statements expressed in that blog allegedly by [Imam] Al-Awlaki, are exactly what an Al-Qaeda fanatic would say. The Al-Qaeda narrative is not only rejected by IFE but by the vast (VAST) majority of Muslims and scholars. Of course there obviously are some Muslims who agree with it, you may or may not be one of them.

[Imam] Al-Awlaki may be more ‘knowledgeable’ than many of us, but that does not mean his conclusions are correct. Scholars of much more ‘knowledge’ than him have refuted the Al-Qaeda narrative. Not only is it right for IFE to publicy state that he is wrong, we have a ‘duty’ to point out his errors.

Knowledge and piety is not a license to say or do whatever we want. The Khawarij were among the most knowledgable and most pious, yet Muslims were ordered to fight them and even kill them as the Khalifa Ali did. (I’m not calling Al-Awlaki a Khariji). We judge people on their actions and statements.

No one is disputing the right of an occupied people to resist, or that there is great injustice against the Muslim world. Al-Awlaki is not the first or only person to raise this, but his [alleged] conclusion is not acceptable as you correctly recognise. All I did was point out that Al-Awlaki was wrong [Islamically] to say Major Hasan was justified in ’slaying’ people – which is exactly the same as what you said. If we’re agreed on that – how can you then say IFE is wrong to say it?

I notice some other inconsistencies in your arguments. You state, “And I concur that fighting the US army is a joint duty upon Muslims.” Is this your opinion based on your Islamic scholarship? or someone else’s fatwa? Is this duty ’specific’ for the Muslims in those countries or a ‘general’ duty upon every Muslim including us in Europe and America? It’s very easy to state things based on emotion, the job of a Mufti is to substanciate the statement with the texts and context.

You also state, “We all wish, dream, aspire and hope for a world that does not persecute the Muslims but what are we doing to achieve that? BLOGGING??!!!” What else can we do in the West, other than speak out against injustice (writing is one way to do that) and use the political tools to raise awareness of it? What exactly do you propose that we do instead?

Well said. I think it’s exactly that side of scholarly guidance – whether you agree with it or not – that is being missed or hushed away in discussing contemporary affairs, and at least Imam Anwar filled this void. For that at least he deserves credit…

May Allah lead us to a more fruitful course of action aameen.