I agree with the letter Have fatwa banning suicide bombings. The question is, of course, who should come up with the fatwa. The most famous fatwa in that manner was by the Grand Mufti of Saudi Arabia Sheikh Abd Al-Aziz bin Abdallah in October 2001.
This was seen as a knee-jerk reaction to the Sept 11 attacks against the Twin Towers in New York. However, in February 2003, the Grand Mufti of Saudi Arabia came up with another fatwa banning Valentine's Day celebrations and forbidding shopkeepers from selling roses five days prior to Feb 14.
In December of the same year, the fatwa was extended to include a ban on Christmas and New Year celebrations. How does one seriously take the fatwa banning suicide bombings in light of that the same authoritative body also endorsing the banning of non-Muslim festivities?
The second most important Islamic figure who issued a fatwa banning suicide bombings was Sheikh Youssef Al-Qardawi, a prominent Palestinian cleric viewed as the voice of moderate Islam.
After the July 7 bombings in London, he met with London mayor Ken Livingstone and condemned suicide bombings against 'civilians'. He claimed that the Sept 11 and July 7 suicidal attacks were "haram" (sinful).
However, he said suicide bombings carried out by Hamas against Israeli soldiers and Israeli settlers on Palestinian land were not sinful. So, suicide bombing is sometimes "good" but most times "bad". Israeli has rejected this fatwa due to its inconsistency.
The first suicide bombing carried out by Hamas against Israel was at Mehola on April 16, 1993. Suicide bombings then spread to Kashmir when adopted by groups such as the Hizb-I-Mujahidin and by the wives of fallen Chechen soldiers known in Russia as "the black widows".
The fact is that while most most Muslim leaders unanimously reject suicide bombings in Bali, New York, London, Kenya etc, the reality is that not one Muslim country would publicly denounce suicide bombings against Israel.
On top of that, Israel's withdrawal from Gaza is seen as the triumph of the suicide bombers and confirms that terrorism actually works.