Reactions:
1. What took him so long?
2. Why did Dr Saleh Bin Fouzan Al Fouzan not condemn attacks carried out by Al-Qaeda in places other than Pakistan?
3. When he said that “jihad did not permit the killing of innocent people, but was a way to spread Allah’s message,” he was apparently approving of jihad activity against unbelievers in order to impose Islamic law (Sharia) upon them.
4. When he said that “the youth who were carrying out suicide attacks and killing other Muslims had no knowledge of Islam or jihad,” he was apparently indicating that carrying out suicide attacks and killing non-Muslims would not pose the same kind of moral problem.
After all, Islam forbids a Muslim to kill a fellow Muslim (Qur’an 4:92), but calls for jihad warfare against and the subjugation of non-Muslims (Qur’an 9:29). The willfully ignorant and willfully blind may hail Dr Saleh Bin Fouzan Al Fouzan as some kind of “moderate” or “reformer,” but others will know better.
“Saudi cleric condemns Taliban, Al Qaeda,” from the Daily Times, July 9 (thanks to Sr. Soph):
ISLAMABAD: Dr Saleh Bin Fouzan Al Fouzan, a member of the Senior Clerics Commission of Saudi Arabia, on Wednesday condemned terrorist activities carried out in Pakistan in the name of Islam by Al Qaeda and the Taliban. According to a statement issued by the Saudi embassy in Islamabad, Dr Saleh said Al Qaeda and the Taliban did not pursue jihad but anarchy, adding that jihad did not permit the killing of innocent people, but was a way to spread Allah’s message. He said the youth who were carrying out suicide attacks and killing other Muslims had no knowledge of Islam or jihad, adding that picking up a weapon and resorting to mindless violence was definitely not jihad.