Extremes..........         
“Saudi Arabia's top religious authority on Friday denounced terror attacks as un-Islamic and condemned the killing of civilians, saying such attacks have nothing to do with the Muslim religion. "Terrorism is criminal and spills the blood of innocents," said Grand Mufti Sheikh Abdul Aziz bin Abdullah al-Sheikh, the kingdom's senior most cleric. "It attacks security, spreads terror among the people and creates problems for society ... Such acts are forbidden by Islamic law," he said in a statement reported on the official SPA news agency. "It is necessary to fight against the attempts by some to attach terrorism to Islam and Muslims with the goal of distorting the religion and to assail its leadership role in the world," he added. The statement was for a conference on international cooperation in fighting terrorism and its financing, to open Saturday in Riyadh…………..”

Shaikh Al is right to do so. It sure took him a few years, and probably some royal pressure, to come to it, but better late than never. But Al did not mention all the daily terror killings in Iraq (coincidentally most of the victims are of a certain sect of Islam of which the Mufti does not approve, to put it mildly).

Did I mention that Shaikh Al al-Shaikh is a direct descendant of Mohammed Bin Abdul-wahab whose name was given to the Wahhabi sect? He was an ally of the al-Saud in the old days in Najd and the alliance of potentates and clergy was sealed then. Al’s ancestor should not be mistaken for Mohammed Abdelwahab the late great Egyptian singer and composer who was not a fundamentalist at all.

Cheers

mhg

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