Iran Ahl al-Bait Assembly slams Wahhabi fatwa to destroy churches

Iran’s Ahl al-Bait World Assembly condemns a recent fatwa (religious decree) issued by Saudi Arabia’s top religious official who has called for destruction of all churches on the Arabian Peninsula.

The latest fatwa by Grand Mufti Sheikh Abdulaziz Al al-Shaikh came in the context of a response to a Kuwaiti civil society organization that proposed for the new Kuwaiti constitution, approved by parliament last week, a new article that would forbid the building of new churches in the country.

“First of all, Wahhabi muftis are not representing Islam. The world should know that the religion which is now being publicized in Saudi Arabia is not true Islam,” Ahl al-Bait World Assembly said in a statement published by Ahl al-Bait News Agency (ABNA) on Tuesday.

The statement added that the content of the new fatwa was against the commands of God as well as the tradition of Prophet of Islam Muhammad (PBUH) and his descendants and is, therefore, rejected not only by Shias, but also by Sunni Muslims.

Ahl al-Bait World Assembly noted that throughout its history, Islam has coexisted with Christians and Jews and such a fatwa has never been issued by the Prophet of Islam (PBUH), his progeny, and subsequent Muslim caliphs.

The statement added that apart from the Prophet of Islam (PBUH), his companions and their descendants, no Muslim scholar has ever issued such a fatwa during the past 1,400 years.

“Therefore, the grand mufti of Wahhabis has issued a fatwa which has no precedence in [Islamic] jurisprudential circles…and has never been issued by great scientific centers of Muslims…,” it said.

The Assembly stated that the fatwa is also a clear intervention in the internal affairs of other Muslim countries because the Saudi mufti has not confined his fatwa to Saudi borders but has included the whole Arabian Peninsula.

The Assembly also slammed the “deadly silence” of Muslim scholars in the face of such fatwas which distort the image of Islam.

“Aren’t scholars of various Islamic sects in Egypt, Iraq, Tunisia, Syria, Lebanon, Yemen, the Arabian Peninsula and other parts of the world supposed to react to such unprecedented fatwas which depict a distorted picture of Islam in the world?” it asked.

The Assembly criticized international human rights organizations as well as Western and Christian governments for their support of Wahhabi terrorists saying, “If you had not offered various forms of support to Wahhabi and Takfiri terrorists when they martyred Muslims in Iraq, Pakistan and Iran, today you would not be attacked in this manner.”