Ribal Al-Assad blasts hypocrisy of Grand Mufti of Saudi Arabia
Miércoles, 20 Agosto 2014
Grand Mufti: IS is Islam’s ‘enemy No. 1’
Saudi Gazette
Grand Mufti Sheikh Abdulaziz Aal Alsheikh on Tuesday blasted Al-Qaeda and Islamic State militants as “enemy number one” of Islam.
“The ideas of extremism, radicalism and terrorism... have nothing to do with Islam and (their proponents) are the enemy number one of Islam,” the Kingdom’s top scholar said in a statement issued here on Tuesday.
He cited militants from the Islamic State, which has declared a “caliphate” straddling large parts of Iraq and Syria, and the international Al-Qaeda terror network.
“Muslims are the main victims of this extremism, as shown by crimes committed by the so-called Islamic State, Al-Qaeda and groups linked to them,” the grand mufti said, quoting a verse from the Holy Qur’an urging the “killing” of people who do deeds harmful to Islam, the official Saudi Press Agency (SPA) said.
Alsheikh’s stance reflects the growing international hostility toward Islamic State militants, known for their brutality.
IS militants, already well established in Syria, launched an offensive in Iraq on June 9 and rapidly seized control of vast swathes of Sunni territory there.
“In the circumstances the Islamic nation is living through, several countries have been destabilized” by extremists, who “divide Muslims” in the name of religion, Alsheikh said.
He warned: “In Islam, after heresy, dividing Muslims is the greatest crime.”
The mufti urged “tolerance, which was at the origin of Islam’s growth and longevity.”
The statement comes at a time when hundreds of young Saudis are believed to have traveled to Syria and Iraq to join rebel and militant groups.
Authorities have sternly warned Saudis against traveling outside for the purpose of fighting along side militants.
Saudi Arabia labeled Islamic State, Al Qaeda, Syria’s Al-Nusra Front and other groups as “terrorist” in March and imposed long prison terms for offering them public support or giving them moral or material aid.
Recently, Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah vowed “not to allow a handful of terrorists, using Islam for personal aims, to terrify Muslims or undermine our country and its inhabitants.”
The King urged Muslim scholars and leaders to fight against militant groups bent on creating havoc in society.
Responding to the news, IMAN Chairman, Ribal Al-Assad said:
"I am amazed at the attitude of the Grand Mufti of Saudi who has completely forgotten that he too has been a proponent of sectarian violence - not only did he welcome Sheikh Al-Qaradawi's statement last year inciting sectarian violence and calling on all Sunni Muslims to join jihad in Syria against the "infidel" Shiaas and Alawites, he also called for the destruction of all churches in the Arabian peninsular.
It would appear now that the international community are taking action against the Islamists he has had a change of heart - notwithstanding the fact that the Islamists are now also posing a direct threat to the security of the Gulf states.
Of course the Islamist threat should have been foreseen from the beginning; have they learned nothing from the earlier mistake of Afghanistan where they supported the Islamist 'Mujahideen' who later formed 'Al-Qaeda'?
It is well known that Al-Qaeda, I.S. and other Islamist extremist groups, who by the way all share the same perverted ideology, wish to overthrow all Middle Eastern and North African governments who they label as 'infidels'; their aim to replace all these nations with a single Islamic Caliphate State.
Now that the international community has finally come together with the UN Security Council it is the hope of the Iman Foundation that all those who have incite hatred, sectarian violence and killing will be exposed and brought to justice."
