Saudi Grand Mufti Sheikh Abdul Aziz al-Sheikh on Tuesday slammed Al-Qaeda and Islamic State militants as "enemy number one" of Islam, Saudi Gazette reported. The statement comes at a time when hundreds of young Saudis are believed to have traveled to Syria and Iraq to join rebel and militant groups.
"The ideas of extremism, radicalism and terrorism... have nothing to do with Islam and (their proponents) are the enemy number one of Islam," the Kingdom's top scholar said in a statement issued in Riyadh on Tuesday, citing militants from the Islamic State, which has declared a "caliphate" straddling large parts of Iraq and Syria, and the international Al-Qaeda terror network.
"Muslims are the main victims of this extremism, as shown by crimes committed by the so-called Islamic State, Al-Qaeda and groups linked to them," the grand mufti said, quoting a verse from the Holy Qur'an urging the "killing" of people who do deeds harmful to Islam, the official Saudi Press Agency (SPA) said.
Sharing the growing international hostility toward Islamic State militants, known for their brutality, he warned, "In Islam, after heresy, dividing Muslims is the greatest crime."
IS jihadists, already well established in Syria, launched an offensive in Iraq on June 9 and rapidly seized control of vast swathes of Sunni territory there. "In the circumstances the Islamic nation is living through, several countries have been destabilized" by extremists, who "divide Muslims" in the name of religion, al-Sheikh said, urging "tolerance, which was at the origin of Islam's growth and longevity."
"Saudi Arabia labeled Islamic State, Al Qaeda, Syria's Al-Nusra Front and other groups as 'terrorist' in March and imposed long prison terms for offering them public support or giving them moral or material aid," according to Saudi Gazette.
Meanwhile, Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah recently vowed "not to allow a handful of terrorists, using Islam for personal aims, to terrify Muslims or undermine our country and its inhabitants."
While Saudis have strictly been warmed by authorities against traveling outside for the purpose of fighting alongside militants, Muslim scholars and leaders have also been urged to fight against militant groups bent on creating havoc in society.
