Published: Feb 20, 2010 12:35 AM Updated: Feb 20, 2010 1:29 AM
RIYADH: Saudi Arabia’s top religious authority on Friday denounced terrorism as un-Islamic and condemned the killing of civilians, saying such attacks have nothing to do with Islam.
“Terrorism is criminal and spills the blood of innocents,” said Grand Mufti Sheikh Abdul Aziz bin Abdullah Al-Asheikh, chairman of the Council of Senior Islamic Scholars.
“It attacks security, spreads terror among people and creates problems for society ... Such acts are forbidden by Islamic law,” he said in a statement carried by the Saudi Press Agency.
“It is necessary to fight the attempts of some to attach terrorism to Islam and Muslims with the goal of distorting the religion and assailing its leadership role in the world,” he added.
Al-Asheikh’s statement came on the eve of a workshop on combating terrorism and its financing. The workshop, to be held in Riyadh, has been organized by the Commission for Investigation and Public Prosecution in association with the UN Office on Drugs and Crime in the Middle East and North Africa. Eleven international experts are to take part in the program.
“Saudi Arabia has been fighting terrorism for many years. It has a wealth of experience in successfully combating terrorism and terror financing,” said Al-Asheikh emphasizing the need to make use of Saudi Arabia’s expertise in the field.
He said Islam has prohibited killing innocent people. “If anyone kills a person, and this killing is not in retaliation for a murder or is done to spread mischief in the land, then it is as if he has killed the whole of mankind. And if anyone saves a life, it is as if he has saved the whole of mankind,” the mufti said quoting a verse from the Holy Qur’an.
Al-Asheikh called for international cooperation to fight terrorism, something that threatens not only Muslims but the whole of mankind. “We should dry the sources of terror funding and their sources of weapons,” he said.
The three-day workshop in Riyadh will include 16 sessions, which will focus on expanding international cooperation and developing judicial systems and regulations to confront terrorism and exchanging information among countries and international organizations.
Topics such as the Kingdom’s experience in combating terrorism, the UAE’s anti-terror legislation and the efforts of Naif Arab University for Security Sciences in fighting terrorism are also to be discussed at the workshop.
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