The Devil made them do it!! says Saudi cleric

Remember, this comes from the same nation that has arrested a vulture for being an Israeli spy.

From The Ottawa Citizen

Saudi cleric sees ‘devil’ behind suicide attacks

AFP January 7, 2011, 10:01 AM

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Coptic Orthodox Christians carry a blood-splattered image of Jesus as they demonstrate against Saturday’s bomb attack in front of the Coptic Orthodox Church of the Two Saints in Alexandria January 2, 2011. The bomb killed 21 people outside the church early on New Year’s Day and seven people have been held for questioning, a security source said on Sunday.

Photograph by: Asmaa Waguih, Reuters

RIYADH – A top Saudi cleric has slammed suicide attacks by Islamist martyrdom-seekers as devilish acts that do not qualify as jihad, a Saudi newspaper reported on Friday.

“He (a suicide bomber) claims to be a mujahed (holy warrier) in the name of Allah, but he is not. He is fighting in the name of the devil who has tempted him and convinced him” to carry out the attack, said Sheikh Saleh al-Fawzan.

“A Muslim is prohibited from killing himself,” the member of the Saudi supreme council of Islamic scholars said in a lecture in Riyadh, according to Asharq Al-Awsat newspaper.

He said acts of violence branded as jihad, or Muslim holy war, were nothing more than “sabotage.”

“This is not jihad. This is sabotage and unrightful killing,” the cleric said, adding that jihad in Islam should only be declared by the leader of the Muslim community.

“Jihad has rules and regulations. It should be called for by the leader of the Muslims,” he said.

Martyrs in the Islamic faith are promised generous rewards in paradise.

Fawzan also condemned the New Year’s Day bombing of a Coptic church in Alexandria, Egypt that killed 21 churchgoers, slamming it as an act of “treachery.”

The newspaper termed his condemnation of suicide attacks as unprecedented in a country which was home to 15 out of the 19 hijackers of the passenger planes used in the September 11, 2001 attacks on the United States.

© Copyright (c) AFP

4 Replies to “The Devil made them do it!! says Saudi cleric”

  1. Richard

    I apologise for not reposting the link to the Der Spiegel article.

    Here it is

    The German Geert Wilders By Jochen-Martin Gutsch

    When Stadtkewitz discusses his party program, it seems clear that he wants to see Germany turned into something resembling Switzerland — just with fewer mountains. He advocates strict immigration laws, expedited deportation, a ban on minaret construction and direct democracy through referendums. He is critical of the EU and envisions a country that is oriented toward Christianity and the West, largely free of Muslims, patriotic, safe and rich, and with limited government. He wants to seal off the country, arguing that the things coming from beyond Germany’s borders, things like European bureaucracy, globalization, Islamists and foreigners taking advantage of the German social welfare system, are rarely good

    http://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/0,1518,737676-3,00.html

  2. Richard, Eeyore

    My excuse is that I hurt my back when I was ordered to take down the Christmas decorations.

  3. I can understand that excuse, today was the first day I haven’t had to lay on a heatpad so I could get out of bed and fix breakfast.