NEWS\
Wednesday
8 December 2004 |
Makkah
Imam Urges Muslims to Shun Terror
As millions of faithful marked 'Eed
al-Adhaa yesterday, Muslims
were warned against heeding militant calls to wage terrorist
attacks in the name of Islam.
The
warning came, amid a surge in militant attacks in Muslim
countries
and
beyond, from Sheikh Abdulrahman Al-Sudais,
imam of the Grand
Mosque in Makkah, while addressing
Haj pilgrims in a customary 'Eed sermon.
The imam also advised Islamic scholars to preach moderation
to confront this “rotten” phenomenon.
“Islam is the religion of moderation. There is no
room for extremism in Islam,” he said.
He called
on Muslims to “protect non-Muslims in the
Kingdom and not to attack them in the country or anywhere.
Islam is a religion of peace that abhors attack on innocents.” Militants
were using misguided interpretations of Islam to justify
violence, he added.
“Because Muslims have strayed from moderation, we
are now suffering from this dangerous phenomenon of branding
people infidels and inciting Muslims to rise against their
leaders to cause instability,” Al-Sudais said.
“The
reason for this is a delinquent and void interpretation
of Islam
based on ignorance...faith does not mean killing
Muslims or non-Muslims who live among us, it does not mean
shedding blood, terrorizing or sending body parts flying.”
Al-Sudais
warned that extremism would ruin the Muslim nation, adding: “This
phenomenon has expanded so much that scholars must confront
it with concrete proof from Islam
to protect our youth from its stench and rottenness.”
He added: “One of the main issues that needs to be
tackled in principle is reform”. He criticized dissident
Saad Al-Faqeeh who is calling to rebel against the government
in order to create disunity among the people. He described
him as a reckless adventurer who is obsessed with publicity.
..........
Click
here for further fataawa regarding terrorism
|