On November 9, 2005 ISNA reported, "French Muslim leaders on Sunday, November 6, issued a fatwa banning Muslims from joining the unlawful riots raging across the country. 'It is not acceptable to express feelings of desperation through damaging public properties and carrying out arson,' read the religious edict issued by the Union of French Islamic Organizations (UOIF)’s Fatwa Body. 'Under Islam, one cannot get one of his/her rights at the expense of others,' stressed the fatwa, a copy of which was obtained by IslamOnline.net. The fatwa cited noble verses that read: 'Lo! Allah loveth not aggressors.' (The Cow:190), 'Eat and drink of that which Allah hath provided, and do not act corruptly, making mischief in the earth.' (The Cow: 60) and 'Lo! Allah loveth not the corrupt.' (The Table: 64). Sheikh Ahmad Jaballah, member of the Fatwa Body, said that the fatwa sends a strong message to the French that these riots are un-Islamic. 'It came to counter allegations by rightists and extremists who maliciously tried to link the arson to French Muslims,' he told IOL. The fatwa further underlined that minorities in France should live in dignity and suffer no racial discrimination or maltreatment."

This article cross-posted at the Pluralism Project's International Religious Diversity News. Read more there on the Paris Riots.