A senior Muslim cleric in London issued a fatwa saying that suicide operations are halāl [religiously permissible], according to Islamic sharīca. He even said that they are a religious obligation. However, following the bombings on the London Underground that killed scores of people and has led to Britain keeping a closer eye on Muslim clerics, the same scholar issued another fatwa declaring suicide operations harām [religiously impermissible] and stated that suicide bombers are not martyrs.