Saudi dissident rejects al-Qaida

Well-known Saudi dissident Shaikh Nasir bin Hamad al-Fahd has become the country’s second radical cleric to repent and denounce a deadly suicide bombing in Riyadh in less than a week.

The al-Muhaya bombing was the latest in a string of Saudi attacks

“Several of our fatwas (religious edicts) and our declarations enacted hatred and contained other issues about which we were deceived … That is why I renounce several of these fatwas,” said al-Fahd in an interview on state television.

The Shaikh says he requested the interview.
  
Al-Fahd’s about-turn is the second this week after fellow religious leader Shaikh Ali bin Khudair al-Khudair withdrew religious edicts and support for 19 al-Qaida suspects on state television on Monday.
  
Both men were arrested and released for supporting the Saudi militants wanted by the authorities, and al-Khudair urged the remaining suspects to give themselves up. 

Haram 
  
Following Khudair’s example, al-Fahd also denounced the 8 November bombing of the al-Muhaya residential compound in the Saudi capital.

“By no means do we approve of such acts … Those who kill Muslims and children cannot pretend it is in the name of jihad”

Shaikh Nasir bin Hamad al-Fahd

“The al-Muhaya blast was a very big shock for me in that it took place during Ramadan,” the Muslim holy month of fasting, he said.

“By no means do we approve of such acts … Those who kill Muslims and children cannot pretend it is in the name of jihad (holy war),” he said, stressing that those who blow themselves up are “not martyrs … it is suicide.”

Suicide is haram, or forbidden, in Islam. 

Rejection
  
Speaking about Usama bin Ladin’s call to expel non-Muslim foreigners from Muslim countries, al-Fahd said he was against any attack against expatriates living in the oil-rich Saudi kingdom.

He called it forbidden to take up arms against Jews and Christians in order to eject them from Arabia.
  
The al-Qaida group claimed the 8 November suicide car bombing against a residential compound in Riyadh which killed 17 and wounded 122 others. Most of the victims were Arabs.

Source: News Agencies