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April 6, 2012

FATWA On The Peninsula

Saudi Arabia's top Muslim cleric has issued a fatwa (religious decree) calling for all Christian churches on the Arabian Peninsula to be demolished (see below). Well, color us shocked, shocked.

Not really, since Christians have been persecuted, and churches burned throughout the Muslim world for as long as anyone can remember. Except now, this beaut of a cleric (pictured below) has made it official and Saudi King Abdullah is “embarrassed.” Not because the fatwa was issued, mind you, but because we found out about it.

You see, like all of Saudi Arabia's rulers, King Abdullah is from the House of Saud. The Sauds were a bunch of desert bandits who, some 250 years ago, hooked up with an obscure fanatic called Muhammad Ibn ‘Abd al-Wahhab. That’s right, al-Wahhab, of Wahhabism fame; the guy behind that nasty, violent, fundamentalist sect of Islam we’ve all come to know and NOT love (e.g., followers include Osama bin Laden, al-Qaeda, et al). Turns out that back then, the Sauds struck a grand bargain with al-Wahhab and his followers, and together they moved throughout the Peninsula, spreading their radical, hate-filled ideology, and brutally defeating and enslaving non-Wahhabi elements. 

Today, that grand bargain remains intact, and is basically the only thing keeping the Sauds in power.

So forgive us for not believing anything that comes out of a Saud's mouth or for being skeptical about their so-called efforts to “develop interfaith dialogue centers.” You'll note, of course, the proposed location for these centers is NOT Saudi Arabia -  where churches, synagogues and all other non-Muslim houses of worship are forbidden and interfaith anything is punishable by death - but multi-culti Europe and the West. That's because, as anyone who's ever read a history book (or been awake for the past decade or so) will tell you, when Islamists say “interfaith dialogue,” they mean: they do the talking and everyone else had better be listening…

Washington Free Beacon  |  April 6, 2012

Persecution On The Peninsula
Saudi Cleric Issues Fatwa To Demolish Christian Churches In Arabia

By Bill Gertz

Saudi Grand Mufti.jpg
Saudi Arabia's top Muslim cleric, Mufti Sheikh Abdulaziz Al al-Shaikh, issued a fatwah against his country's Christians in March, demanding that every Christian church on the Arabian Peninsula be demolished. Photo Credit: AP/Courtesy: times247.com

Saudi Arabia's top Muslim leader recently issued a religious decree calling for all Christian churches on the Arabian peninsula to be demolished, a move that elicited protests from the U.S. government and undermines recent efforts in the kingdom to promote interfaith tolerance.

Saudi Grand Mufti Sheikh Abdulaziz Al al-Shaikh issued the fatwa, or Muslim religious decree, on March 11, although government-controlled media in the country so far have not reported it.

A U.S. official said the mufti's fatwa is causing embarrassment for King Abdullah because al-Shaikh is said to be closely aligned to the king and ruling royal family.

Some observers note that the fatwa could put the mufti at odds with the monarch.

Also, King Abdullah recently sought to develop interfaith dialogue centers in Europe. The anti-Christian edict is undermining those efforts.

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton raised the issue of the fatwa during a meeting with the king March 30.

A State Dept. official declined to comment when asked if the fatwa was raised during the meetings, but said "issues of religious freedom and tolerance were raised in the secretary's bilateral meetings in Riyadh."

According to State Department officials who briefed reporters on the March 30 meeting between Clinton and the king, Clinton discussed the plight of women in Saudi Arabia during her 1 hour and 40 minute talk.

The meetings included discussion of sanctions on Iran over its nuclear defiance, Syria's revolution, Yemen, oil, and "reform in the Kingdom, including the role of women," a senior State Department official said after the meeting.

According to Arabic press reports, the mufti made the comments to members of Kuwait's parliament, stating that building any new churches in the Arabian Peninsula is forbidden under Islamic law. He then went on to state that all existing churches in the region should be demolished... more here


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