Makkah Imam Equates Riyadh Bombing With Israeli Terror
P.K. Abdul Ghafour, Arab News Staff

JEDDAH, 15 November 2003 — Saudi Arabia’s Islamic affairs
minister and imams of the two holy mosques have condemned
Saturday’s terrorist bombing at Al-Muhaya compound in
Riyadh as a gruesome crime and likened it to Israeli terror
against the Palestinians.

The bombing of a residential compound in the capital last
Saturday, which killed at least 18 people and injured 120
others, violates the sanctity of the holy month of Ramadan,
Islamic Affairs Minister Saleh Al-Asheikh said.

“It is in itself a big crime and would have been tantamount
to declaring war on God and the Prophet if it had taken
place in any other month. But it becomes the worst of
crimes when it is committed in the holy month,” the
minister said.

Dr. Saleh Bin Humaid, the imam of the Grand Mosque in
Makkah and chairman of the Shoura Council, compared the
actions of the suspected Al-Qaeda bombers who carried out
the attack last week to Israeli terror in Palestinian
territories.

In his Friday sermon to over one million faithful who
thronged the large mosque complex, the imam said the
terrorists who bombed the Riyadh compound were seeking to
sow strife among Muslims.

“Are the terrorism of Israel and the terrorism of those
(militants) coordinated?” Dr. Humaid asked. “Is the purpose
to kill more Arabs and Muslims and create more violence and
instability?”

“It is inevitable that we should draw comparisons between
the women and children who are being killed in Palestine
and the homes that are being razed and the women and
children who were killed in Riyadh while they were in their
homes,” the imam said.

Many of the casualties in Riyadh were women and children
and the attack shocked Muslims worldwide.

Dr. Humaid urged everyone in the Kingdom including security
forces and the media to combat terror and extremism.

In his sermon at the Prophet’s Mosque in Madinah, Sheikh
Hussein Al-Asheikh said Muslims all over the world were
shocked by the Riyadh terrorist bombing. “Pen and tongue
will be unable to give an exact picture of that tragedy and
the impact of that gruesome crime,” he said. The Muslim
world as a whole was unanimous in condemning the Riyadh
bombing, he added.

In his statement, Islamic Affairs Minister Saleh Al-Asheikh
said killing an innocent person, especially a believer,
without any reason was one of the biggest crimes in Islam.
“Protection of a person, his property and dignity are among
the main objectives of Shariah,” the minister said.

Al-Alsheikh urged all Muslims to stand united in the fight
against terrorists. “It is the duty of every scholar and
preacher, student, khateeb and imam of mosques and all
other Muslims to work together against this common enemy.

“This is a flagrant act of hostility and a war against
Islam and its followers in the home of Islam in the month
of the Holy Qur’an,” he said.

“Muslims must weep when they see this assault on sanctity,
these people who do not heed the holy month, and when they
see the fundamentals of Shariah violated,” the minister
said.

“God has given the utmost importance to security. It is a
great blessing. God has promised that He will give
believers peace and security after they lived in fear,” he
said quoting a verse from the Qur’an.

“Worship of God, the spreading of the truth, the
implementation of Shariah, the establishment of justice...
can only flourish in safety and security. It is therefore
the duty of every Muslim to protect them,” the minister
added.



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