YESTERDAY, Thomas Friedman wrote in his column, "To this day -- to this day -- no major Muslim cleric or religious body has ever issued a fatwa condemning Osama bin Laden."

Today, Juan Cole proves him wrong.

A "fatwa" is simply a considered opinion of a Muslim jurisconsult. Such opinions are numerous. First of all, almost all the major Shiite Grand Ayatollahs have condemned Bin Laden and al-Qaeda. You could say that is easy, since Shiites don't generally like Wahhabis. But they are the leaders of 120 million Muslims (some ten percent of the 1.2 billion). So that is one. ...

Cole then goes on to name seven more Muslim leaders who have issued fatwas condemning Osama bin Laden and Al Qaeda; and links to other sites with additional information about condemnations of terrorism in the Muslim world.