RIYADH, 15 September — Sheikh Saleh Al-Laheedan, chairman of the Supreme Judiciary Council in Saudi Arabia, has denounced Tuesday’s attacks against US installations and innocent civilians as a “horrendous crime” which Islam totally rejects.
“Killing a person who has not committed a crime is one of the major sins and a terrible crime in Islam.... What happened in America is undoubtedly a grave criminal act,” he told Saudi Television.
Laheedan, who is also a member of the Council of Senior Islamic Scholars, said Islam strictly forbids bloodletting and does not condone the killing of innocent people, especially in a collective manner.
“There is no surprise that Saudi Arabia condemned this incident, because it is an Islamic country ruled by Shariah law. It was acting in accordance with the teachings of Islam,” he added.
Quoting verses from the Holy Qur’an and the Sayings of Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him), Laheedan said Islam prohibits the killing of innocent people.
“O my slaves, I have prohibited myself from doing anything unjust and have forbidden you from doing anything unjust as well. So don’t do anything unjust,” the Prophet (PBUH) said God had revealed to him. Even in times of war, Muslims are not allowed to kill anybody except the one who is engaged in face-to-face confrontation with them. They are not allowed to kill women, old people, children, or even a monk in religious seclusion.
“So the crimes like the one which took place in America, which did not differentiate between babies, women, the old and the sick, and had a detrimental effect on people’s wealth is a major, dangerous and atrocious crime,” Laheedan said.
Pointing to the horrible scenes that were created by the attacks, he said: “Those behind them are the most dangerous criminals and no Islamic scholar will permit such acts.” Laheedan pointed out that Saudi scholars had earlier prohibited the hijacking of planes and called the action as an injustice to people who are terrorized without any reason. The Saudi scholar called upon America and other Western countries not to link the attacks with any states, which know nothing about them.
