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Grand Mufti of Saudi Arabia: "Destroy *all* the churches" on the Arabian peninsula

Posted by Olog-hai on Fri Mar 23 23:22:40 2012

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Washington Post
Posted at 11:20 AM ET, 03/22/2012

Saudi’s top sheikh: ‘Necessary to destroy all churches’

By Nasim Rehmatullah and Harris Zafar
On Monday, March 12th, the Grand Mufti of Saudi Arabia, Sheikh Abdul Aziz bin Abdullah — Saudi Arabia’s supreme religious official — created a stir when he stated that it is “necessary to destroy all the churches of the region.” While responding to a question from a Kuwait-based NGO delegation to clarify Islamic law’s position about a proposed Kuwaiti ban on the construction of new churches, the mufti argued that the Prophet Muhammad said the Arabian Peninsula must exist under only one religion and, thus, all churches in the region must be destroyed.

Needless to say, his words have provoked heated responses from Christians throughout the Middle East. All fair-minded people are rightly upset by his remarks, which hold the dangerous likelihood of triggering acts of violence against churches in the Middle East. As Muslims, however, we are also deeply disappointed and offended by the mufti’s blatant disregard for the principles for which Islam’s Holy Scripture and prophet have stood.

The Koran establishes the principle that the origin of all religions is in divine revelation and that their Founders were divinely appointed messengers who must be equally respected. It further commands Muslims to defend all places of worship — churches, synagogues, temples, cloisters, etc. — even with their own lives. Far from sanctioning any destruction, our faith instructs us to protect places of worship of all religions.

How can the highest recognized cleric in Saudi Arabia have completely abandoned such clear and direct commandments in the Koran? It is entirely disappointing to see a man in a position of leadership in the Muslim world sanction — and even promote — the violent destruction or demolition of any house of worship, wherein the name of God is oft commemorated.

In fact, Islam goes even further. Muslims have also been made to promise to defend followers of other faiths from unjust and cruel attacks. In 628, the Prophet Muhammad delivered the Charter of Privileges to the monks of St. Catherine Monastery in Mt. Sinai. This charter protected the human rights of all Christians and remains a guide for all Muslim states’ relations with non-Muslim minorities. In this charter, the Prophet Muhammad made a declaration that nullifies the Saudi Mufti’s call to destroy all churches. The charter, still preserved in Mt. Sinai today, states: “None of their churches or other places of worship will be desolated, destroyed or demolished. No material of their churches will be used for building mosques or houses for the Muslims. Any Muslim doing so will be regarded as disobedient to God and His Prophet.”

The only logical deduction to make from the Prophet of Islam’s clear instruction is that this Grand Mufti of Saudi Arabia is disobedient to God and His Prophet. The Prophet Muhammad even goes further by stating “every help shall be given (Christians) in the repair of their churches.” So we can forget the notion of destroying churches. We, as Muslims, are expected to help in repairing churches.

For those Muslims who may assert that this charter does not apply today, they need not look any further than Muhammad’s first words of the charter: “I have caused this document to be written for Christians of the East and the West, for those who live near, and for those of distant lands, for the Christians living at present and for those who would come after, for those Christians who are known to us and for those as well whom we do not know.” The charter concludes, “Let this document be not disobeyed till the Judgment Day.”

The Ahmadiyya Muslim Community calls upon the appointed leaders in different parts of the Muslim world to adhere to the words of the Prophet of Islam and to stop prohibiting the free exercise of faith. As followers of Mirza Ghulam Ahmad — who claimed to be the second coming of Jesus and Messiah for all people to remove misconceptions in religion, revive the true teachings of Islam, and bring mankind back to God — the community advances his message that Islam forbids any act of aggression or terrorism against any religion. Before innocent people are victimized by those seeking to fulfill the mufti’s commandment, he must align himself with the views of Islam’s scripture and Prophet by retracting his dangerous statement.

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Re: Grand Mufti of Saudi Arabia: ''Destroy *all* the churches'' on the Arabian peninsula

Posted by SelkirkTMO on Fri Mar 23 23:59:01 2012, in response to Grand Mufti of Saudi Arabia: "Destroy *all* the churches" on the Arabian peninsula, posted by Olog-hai on Fri Mar 23 23:22:40 2012.

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And yet, we insist upon keeping our dependency on their oil over there instead of alternative energy. Well then ... let's get over there and start knocking down some churches. Maybe it'll bring down the price of gas. :(

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Bishops respond (Grand Mufti of SA: ''Destroy *all* the churches'' in the Gulf)

Posted by Olog-hai on Sat Mar 24 01:24:40 2012, in response to Grand Mufti of Saudi Arabia: "Destroy *all* the churches" on the Arabian peninsula, posted by Olog-hai on Fri Mar 23 23:22:40 2012.

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Reuters

Europe bishops slam Saudi fatwa against Gulf churches

By Tom Heneghan, Religion Editor
Fri Mar 23, 2012 7:49pm EDT
PARIS (Reuters) — Christian bishops in Germany, Austria and Russia have sharply criticized Saudi Arabia's top religious official after reports that he issued a fatwa saying all churches on the Arabian Peninsula should be destroyed.

In separate statements on Friday, the Roman Catholic bishops in Germany and Austria slammed the ruling by Grand Mufti Sheikh Abdulaziz Al al-Shaikh as an unacceptable denial of human rights to millions of foreign workers in the Gulf region.

Archbishop Mark of Yegoryevsk, head of the Russian Orthodox department for churches abroad, called the fatwa "alarming" in a statement on Tuesday. Such blunt criticism from mainstream Christian leaders of their Muslim counterparts is very rare.

Christian websites have reported Sheikh Abdulaziz, one of the most influential religious leaders in the Muslim world, issued the fatwa last week in response to a Kuwaiti lawmaker who asked if Kuwait could ban church construction in Kuwait.

Citing Arab-language media reports, they say the sheikh ruled that further church building should be banned and existing Christian houses of worship should be destroyed.

Archbishop Robert Zollitsch, chairman of the German Bishops Conference, said the mufti "shows no respect for the religious freedom and free coexistence of religions", especially all the foreign laborers who made its economy work.

"It would be a slap in the face to these people if the few churches available to them were to be taken away," he said.

Sheikh vs. King?

At least 3.5 million Christians live in the Gulf Arab region. They are mostly Catholic workers from India and the Philippines, but also Western expatriates of all denominations.

Saudi Arabia bans all non-Muslim houses of prayer, forcing Christians there to risk arrest by praying in private homes. There are churches for Christian minorities in the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Kuwait, Bahrain, Oman and Yemen.

The bishops conference in Austria, where Saudi King Abdullah plans to open a controversial center for interfaith dialogue, demanded an official explanation from Riyadh.

"How could the grand mufti issue a fatwa of such importance behind the back of his king?" they asked. "We see a contradiction between the dialogue being practiced, the efforts of the king and those of his top mufti."

In Moscow, Archbishop Mark told the Interfax news agency he hoped that Saudi Arabia's neighbors "will be surprised by the calls made by this sheikh and ignore them".

The Catholic Church has urged Muslim states in recent years to give Christian minorities in their countries the same freedom of religion that Muslims enjoy in Western countries.

There are few Orthodox Christians in the Gulf region, but the Moscow Patriarchate — which was mostly silent during the decades of Soviet communism that ended in 1991 — has become increasingly vocal in defending the rights of Christians around the world.

Bishop Paul Hinder, who oversees Catholic churches in the United Arab Emirates, Oman and Yeman, told Catholic news agency KNA that the fatwa had not been widely publicized in Saudi Arabia. "What is worrying is that such statements have influence in part of the population," he said.

(Editing by Louise Ireland)

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Re: Bishops respond (Grand Mufti of SA: ''Destroy *all* the churches'' in the Gulf)

Posted by SelkirkTMO on Sat Mar 24 01:29:33 2012, in response to Bishops respond (Grand Mufti of SA: ''Destroy *all* the churches'' in the Gulf), posted by Olog-hai on Sat Mar 24 01:24:40 2012.

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And we still want to buy oil from them and pay them for our approval of all this instead of putting a global effort into alternative energy. :(

Oh yeah ... that'd be "science" ... this is better.

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Re: Grand Mufti of Saudi Arabia: ''Destroy *all* the churches'' on the Arabian peninsula

Posted by orange blossom special on Sat Mar 24 10:05:15 2012, in response to Grand Mufti of Saudi Arabia: "Destroy *all* the churches" on the Arabian peninsula, posted by Olog-hai on Fri Mar 23 23:22:40 2012.

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Didn't even know they had any churches. Thought that was banned under international law.

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Re: Bishops respond (Grand Mufti of SA: ''Destroy *all* the churches'' in the Gulf)

Posted by SLRT on Sat Mar 24 10:19:16 2012, in response to Re: Bishops respond (Grand Mufti of SA: ''Destroy *all* the churches'' in the Gulf), posted by SelkirkTMO on Sat Mar 24 01:29:33 2012.

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Simply calling calling on "science" doesn't make usable energy happen. The current approach to alternative energy is simply to throw megabucks (actually gigabucks) at different schemes and HOPE that something good happens.

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(923066)

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Re: Bishops respond (Grand Mufti of SA: ''Destroy *all* the churches'' in the Gulf)

Posted by Fred G on Sat Mar 24 10:23:46 2012, in response to Re: Bishops respond (Grand Mufti of SA: ''Destroy *all* the churches'' in the Gulf), posted by SLRT on Sat Mar 24 10:19:16 2012.

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What's your understanding of the recent problems with alternative energy investment?

your pal,
Fred

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(923067)

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Re: Bishops respond (Grand Mufti of SA: ''Destroy *all* the churches'' in the Gulf)

Posted by SLRT on Sat Mar 24 10:38:49 2012, in response to Re: Bishops respond (Grand Mufti of SA: ''Destroy *all* the churches'' in the Gulf), posted by Fred G on Sat Mar 24 10:23:46 2012.

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Well, pal Fred,

My understanding is that the government is trying to pick winners the way a bettor with too much money picks horses: place plenty of bets with insufficient knowledge of the field and figure that one of them is bound to pay off.

It might do well to study technological advance at the turn of the 20th century: there were a number of reasonably practical schemes for electric streetcars. The inventors and their backers took personal risks to try to be the one. There were running commercial lines with, for example, Van Depoele technology. But Sprague blew them all away.

Much more recently we had the government specify that the SLRV was what everyone would have to buy if they wanted "public" funds. Good thing San Diego decided to go their own way and buy a proven technology.

your pal,
SLRT

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Re: Bishops respond (Grand Mufti of SA: ''Destroy *all* the churches'' in the Gulf)

Posted by Rockparkman on Sat Mar 24 11:13:57 2012, in response to Re: Bishops respond (Grand Mufti of SA: ''Destroy *all* the churches'' in the Gulf), posted by SLRT on Sat Mar 24 10:38:49 2012.

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Corporations are the biggest welfare pigs out there with NO regulations, miniscule taxes and all the rights of people with NONE of the responsibilities.

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(923073)

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Re: Bishops respond (Grand Mufti of SA: ''Destroy *all* the churches'' in the Gulf)

Posted by SLRT on Sat Mar 24 11:35:42 2012, in response to Re: Bishops respond (Grand Mufti of SA: ''Destroy *all* the churches'' in the Gulf), posted by Rockparkman on Sat Mar 24 11:13:57 2012.

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Non-sequitar time on SubChat.

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(923075)

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Re: Bishops respond (Grand Mufti of SA: ''Destroy *all* the churches'' in the Gulf)

Posted by Fred G on Sat Mar 24 11:41:40 2012, in response to Re: Bishops respond (Grand Mufti of SA: ''Destroy *all* the churches'' in the Gulf), posted by SLRT on Sat Mar 24 10:38:49 2012.

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I hardly think that solar and wind energy is a new science tho.

your pal,
Fred

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Re: Bishops respond (Grand Mufti of SA: ''Destroy *all* the churches'' in the Gulf)

Posted by Rockparkman on Sat Mar 24 11:49:17 2012, in response to Re: Bishops respond (Grand Mufti of SA: ''Destroy *all* the churches'' in the Gulf), posted by SLRT on Sat Mar 24 11:35:42 2012.

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Nazi. Corporations need TOUGH love.

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(923083)

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Re: Bishops respond (Grand Mufti of SA: ''Destroy *all* the churches'' in the Gulf)

Posted by SLRT on Sat Mar 24 12:45:58 2012, in response to Re: Bishops respond (Grand Mufti of SA: ''Destroy *all* the churches'' in the Gulf), posted by Fred G on Sat Mar 24 11:41:40 2012.

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I prefer this to revolutionize water transportation.

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Re: Bishops respond (Grand Mufti of SA: ''Destroy *all* the churches'' in the Gulf)

Posted by Rockparkman on Sat Mar 24 13:17:42 2012, in response to Re: Bishops respond (Grand Mufti of SA: ''Destroy *all* the churches'' in the Gulf), posted by SLRT on Sat Mar 24 12:45:58 2012.

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i bet you'd like to be the "duck"
;-)

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Re: Bishops respond (Grand Mufti of SA: ''Destroy *all* the churches'' in the Gulf)

Posted by Olog-hai on Sat Mar 24 13:20:20 2012, in response to Re: Bishops respond (Grand Mufti of SA: ''Destroy *all* the churches'' in the Gulf), posted by SLRT on Sat Mar 24 10:19:16 2012.

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Simply calling on "science" doesn't make usable energy happen

Won't make the terrorists go away either.

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Re: Grand Mufti of Saudi Arabia: ''Destroy *all* the churches'' on the Arabian peninsula

Posted by Olog-hai on Sat Mar 24 13:21:33 2012, in response to Re: Grand Mufti of Saudi Arabia: ''Destroy *all* the churches'' on the Arabian peninsula, posted by orange blossom special on Sat Mar 24 10:05:15 2012.

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"International law" can't eliminate over two billion Christians . . .

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Re: Grand Mufti of Saudi Arabia: ''Destroy *all* the churches'' on the Arabian peninsula

Posted by orange blossom special on Sat Mar 24 13:32:26 2012, in response to Re: Grand Mufti of Saudi Arabia: ''Destroy *all* the churches'' on the Arabian peninsula, posted by Olog-hai on Sat Mar 24 13:21:33 2012.

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One country at a time. More has been eliminated in the past 100 years than the few hundred before that.

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Re: Bishops respond (Grand Mufti of SA: ''Destroy *all* the churches'' in the Gulf)

Posted by WillD on Sat Mar 24 15:31:07 2012, in response to Re: Bishops respond (Grand Mufti of SA: ''Destroy *all* the churches'' in the Gulf), posted by SLRT on Sat Mar 24 10:19:16 2012.

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That's because it's been beset by entrenched interests from the left and the right. The left wants solar and wind because their impact is ostensibly zero, even though they do not have the reliability to supply peak demand, let alone provide base power. And of course both power generation arrangements definitely have an environmental impact. The right wants coal, biofuel, and natural gas, except that biofuel is not an energy source, coal isn't a transportation fuel unless you get into synthetic fuels, and natural gas is already an imported fuel source. You're not going to get a good solution to our energy needs when we have so many hands grasping for every red cent their congressman can procure for their constituents. Unfortunately the Bush-Cheney energy policy effectively removed the role of the free market from determining energy generation fuel sources and we got the mess we find ourselves in now.

At this point I'm putting my stock in Thorium fueled Molten Salt Reactors. If a company like Flibe Energy can start churning out safe, clean liquid fueled reactors from a production line so they can be installed as 100 to 500MW units effectively replacing the distributed networks of gas turbines now in use then we'll stand a chance of avoiding a major energy crisis. A Thorium breeder reactor may run very hot, but it also runs at nearly atmospheric pressure, so there's little or no danger of radioactive gas release. And that heat allows for the use of extremely small, very efficient turbines in the generators as well as providing the ability to provide process heat to other things like synthetic fuel production and desalination. Here's hoping they reach criticality on their design for the US Army in 2015 so we can stand a chance of a commercial thorium plant by the 2020s.

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Re: Bishops respond (Grand Mufti of SA: ''Destroy *all* the churches'' in the Gulf)

Posted by SelkirkTMO on Sat Mar 24 17:01:20 2012, in response to Re: Bishops respond (Grand Mufti of SA: ''Destroy *all* the churches'' in the Gulf), posted by SLRT on Sat Mar 24 10:19:16 2012.

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Ah well ... the oil party is already hard at work perfecting science ... I'm sure we'll have our flying cars soon ...

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