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Posted on 02/01/2004 12:03:43 PM PST by Luis Gonzalez
MOUNT ARAFAT, Saudi Arabia - Saudi Arabia's top cleric called on Muslims around the world Saturday to forsake terrorism, saying those who claim to be holy warriors were an affront to the faith.
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In a sermon that was remarkable not only for its strong language but also its timing — at the peak of the annual hajj — Sheik Abdul Aziz al-Sheik told 2 million pilgrims that terrorists were giving their enemies an excuse to criticize Muslim nations.
"Is it holy war to shed Muslim blood? Is it holy war to shed the blood of non-Muslims given sanctuary in Muslim lands? Is it holy war to destroy the possessions of Muslims?" he asked.
A large number of the victims of suicide attacks in Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Iraq (news - web sites) and elsewhere have been been Muslims.
Al-Sheik, who is widely respected in the Arab world as the foremost cleric in the country considered the birthplace of Islam, spoke at Namira Mosque in a televised sermon watched by millions of Muslims in Saudi Arabia and other Gulf states.
The mosque is close to Mount Arafat, where the pilgrims converged Saturday for the climax of their annual trek. This year's hajj has been carried out amid heightened security after a year of terror attacks in the kingdom.
In speaking of terrorists who killed fellow Muslims, al-Sheik was clearly referring to the Prophet Muhammad's final sermon, delivered on Mount Arafat 14 centuries ago.
It contained the line: "Know that every Muslim is a Muslim's brother, and the Muslims are brethren. Fighting between them should be avoided."
Al-Sheik also criticized the international community, accusing it of attacking Wahhabism, the sect whose strict interpretation of Islam is followed in Saudi Arabia.
"This country is based on this religion and will remain steadfast on it," he said.
"Islam forbids all forms of injustice, killing without just cause, treachery ... hijacking of planes, boats and transportation means," he said.
Saudi Arabia came under Western pressure after the Sept. 11 attacks on the United States, in which 15 of the 19 hijackers were Saudi citizens.
The Saudi government conducted a crackdown on extremist groups after suicide bombers attacked housing compounds inhabited by foreigners in May. Saudi and U.S. officials blamed the attack, and a similar suicide bombing in November, on groups linked to al-Qaida, which is led by the Saudi-born Osama bin Laden (news - web sites).
On Thursday, suspected terrorists shot dead six Saudi security personnel in a shootout in a house in suburban Riyadh.
In total last year, bombings in Saudi Arabia killed 51 people, including eight Americans. Saudi and U.S. officials have blamed the bin Laden's al-Qaida network. Bin Laden is a Saudi exile.
U.S. officials have been encouraging Saudis to crack down on financing for terrorism via religious charities and curtail teaching of religious extremism in schools as well as mount a campaign to undercut popular support al-Qaida.
Liberal intellectuals in Saudi Arabia and Kuwait also called for such revisions in the teaching of Islam in schools and mosques.
Governments in Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Jordan have taken steps toward purging school books of terms offensive to other religions, and reformers argue that change should start by lessening the religious grip on education.
Al-Sheik warned against "changing the religion's basics" in school curricula.
"The minds of youth in the Islamic nation need to be shielded with Islamic sharia (law) and good manners and deeds. The nation's future generations will only be reformed by what reformed the past generations," he said.
Pilgrim Mustafa al-Shawwaf, a Canadian of Syrian origin, said he agreed that terrorists had tarnished Islam. He criticized Muslim fundamentalists, including the Wahhabis, for practicing an exclusive form of the faith.
"Such rigidity of thought needs to be changed," he said.
The pilgrims arrived at Mount Arafat in the early hours of Saturday. Worshippers of all ages and origins, moving slowly, shoulder-to-shoulder, shaded themselves from the sun with white umbrellas, chanting in unison "at thy service, at thy service, oh God."
Emergency workers directed the crowd as it converged 12 miles southwest of Mecca, in a ritual believed to represent the Day of Judgment, when Islam says every person will stand before Allah, or God, and answer for his deeds.
Temperatures approached 86 degrees. The sunshine made parasols a popular purchase at $1.30 each, and street vendors sold fruit, prayer mats and drinks. Along the path to Mount Arafat, sprinklers mounted on poles cooled worshippers. Free water and milk were handed out.
"This is the worst day for the devil, when he sees thousands of Muslims gathered in such a show of force and piety," said Egyptian Abdel Aziz al-Jezairi.
Fatima Farouk, a Nigerian, said that despite the demanding journey, she was thrilled "because after Mount Arafat, you're almost promised heaven."
And the Moslem Shills here claim that Moderates out number the Radicals by Far. Seems I can see Millions of Fundi-Islamics burning American and Jewish flags, but Moderates I can count on one hand.
For people who claim to have invented Math, they sure have a funny way of applying it.
Pretty slim, since the only ones with the authority to issue world wide Fatwah's are too darn busy issuing world wide fatwah's against Israel and America. But perhaps when they sober up they might sing a different tune out of the other side of their face, most likely the english speaking side.
Have you ever seen one anywhere?
Your intellectual dishonesty is truly mind boggling.
If the Qu'ran itself is terroristic and it is, and the Attack on the United States was filled with citizens of Mecca which is the location that All of Islam prostrates to 5 times a day, who the heck is the REAL Islam, and where are they based out of, Podunk Idaho? Are you forgetting that all these Fatwahs and radical newspaper articles calling for the destruction of America and Israel are coming from Newspaper Offices based in DICTATORSHIPS? You are living proof that Denial is not just a river in Egypt.
Which means that you are not seeing hundreds of millions doing the same.
Who needs to debate you when you defeat your own arguments?
"For people who claim to have invented Math, they sure have a funny way of applying it."
Fuzzy math seems to be your problem.
I hardly think your musings on what I see is valid. My statistic was to point out that in the United States we locked up one man who was a blood thirsty killer that taught to kill people was holy. His name was Charles Manson.
In Arabia they made him a Prophet and worship him.
Anybody, and I mean anybody who becomes a Moslem at this point is so corrupt or so foolish they should not be allowed to own pointy objects.
As for the comments about the media somehow not pointing out Moderate Islamics:
ROTFLMAO! I ain't a touching that one.
I didn't make it simple enough for you, or so it seems.
Moderates don't march ANYWHERE.
Not here, not in Europe, not in China, Iran, Egypt.
By their very nature, moderates don't march.
Those were not moderates marching against the Vietnam War in the '70's. They were not moderates marching on either side of the Bush/Gore recount issue, they were not moderates marching to make their opinion known on the WMF in Seattle.
Lets see, in the Philippines you got Moslem "extremests" kidnapping people and chopping off their heads. In Indonesia you got entire Christian towns being wiped out by Moslem "extremists" and in China there is no news because China never speaks of its problems. I guess since the door is shut there, you expect that the actions are different than in all the other nations in the entire world that Moslems have reached over 10% population? Shoe fits, try wearing it. If 95% of the worlds wars are based in Islam, you might think that perhaps...
That is, if you think. But then that has not yet been demonstrated. You accuse, you label, but you do not read any of the very fine points many freepers have presented to you on this thread. You cannot post any statistics saying different because frankly Islam is a religion of Death with a 1400 year history of the same to prove it. You cannot quote the Qu'ran because by far the Qu'ran matches what the Moslems themselves say it is, a religion/governmental system of conquest and war.
Somehow, you, a Roman/Catholic/Mexican/Jewish/Christian know more about the Moslems then the Moslems themselves, who, if you have not noticed have pronounced a JIHAD or HOLY WAR on the Western World.
Just what part of dumber than a fence post applies here?
But since they are Islamic countries, it's hard to make the argument that the problem is Islam, because they would not be having a problem...would they?
There are no fine points that any of you have presented, your "fine points" differ very little from the teachings of the most extremists of fundamentalist Islamic clerics in the most backwards of countries.
They preach "hate all Christians and Jews because they are evil", and you claim that this makes them evil. You preach "hate all Muslims because they are evil"...that makes you kin to them, and equally as evil.
And that fact, in and of itself, exposes you as part of the problem.
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