Kenneth R. Timmerman interviewed top Islamic scholars in Egypt about suicide bombings and terrorism, and encountered a shockingly alien moral code: A Religion of Peace?

The Egyptian state appoints the Grand Mufti, the highest religious authority in the land and a man who has the power to issue fatwas and interpretations of shari’a law. Grand Mufti Sheikh Ahmad Al-Tayyeb was named by Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak to the post earlier this year after his predecessor issued a ruling in favor of Palestinian suicide bombers. But if Mr. Mubarak was embarrassed by that Mufti’s public embrace of murder, he may have to reconsider his new choice.

Mr. Al-Tayyeb received me in his office near Al Azhar University, the oldest institution of higher learning in the Arab world. Throughout a 90-minute interview, conducted mostly in Arabic through a government-provided translator, he repeated in excruciating detail his reasoning for encouraging Palestinians to murder innocent civilians through suicide attacks. He also displayed a remarkable flexibility when it came to defining terrorism. To him, American Christian leader Jerry Falwell is a “terrorist” because he has said things that offended Muslims. Palestinians, on the other hand, are justified in massacring Israeli civilians in cold blood “because they are defending their land and have no other weapons at their disposal.” Pointedly he added: “If you do not do this, you have no loyalty to your country.” As I interviewed him I remembered that President Mubarak is ostensibly a U.S. “partner” in the war on terrorism. And yet he appointed this cleric who believes that Palestinian suicide bombers who enter restaurants, pool halls, discotheques, and shopping malls to murder innocents—children and adults, Israelis and foreign tourists and whoever else happens to be around—are doing God’s work. Furthermore, the cleric openly condemns any Palestinian who refuses to take such a step as a traitor. …

My interviews with these scholars made it clear that Westerners concerned by the violence in the Middle East need to understand that the two parties to this conflict do not use the same logic, nor do they believe in the same moral code. Those of us who have been brought up in the Judeo-Christian tradition have been taught that respect for life is one of God’s most basic commandments.

But according to these Islamic scholars—and they are not alone—the search for “justice” legitimizes the wanton targeting of innocent civilians. Targeting is the key word here. Civilians die in all wars, something known as “collateral deaths.” But according to these scholars, Islam accepts purposely seeking out innocent civilians in order to sow terror in their society.