Sudais with Arnoud Van Doorn, the Dutch Islamophobe who recently converted to Islam. I am sure Sudais comments will ‘secure’ his new faith…
Abdul Rahman Ibn Abdul Aziz as-Sudais is the Wahhabi appointee for the Imam of Mecca mosque by the Saudi Ministry of Religious Affairs. This is Islam’s holiest site and it means that as well as his Quran recitations being coveted throughout the Muslim world and selling millions, he leads Muslims in prayer when they undertake their sacred pilgrimages to Mecca.
His Wikipedia page tells us that he has spoken out against extremism and suicide bombing. More on that later, but he clearly forgot when he said this about the assassination of Sheikh Ramadhan Al Bouti (along with around fifty other people) during a sermon in a mosque (of all places) by a suicide bomber:
The following are some of his comments (For those who can read Arabic, I have put the news agency below)
Every believer should rejoice as this is glad tidings وهذا مما يستبشر به كل مؤمن ويفرح
Sheikh al-buti was the head of ahli bid’a and dhalalah (deviance) فالبوطي كان من رؤوس أهل البدع والضلال
He is a mujahid in the name of The Devil فهو مجاهد في سبيل الشيطان بلسانه وبيانه
He is the imam of deviants and evil/deviance lessened due to his death من أئمة الضلال، الذين يخف الضلال والشر بموتهم
http://arabic.cnn.com/2013/middle_east/3/24/saudi.alsedays/
Now we Muslims, extremely unfairly, get a hard time for being ‘violent fanatics and terrorists’ and the BBC has lately even taken to talking about ‘Islamic terrorism’. It is also abundantly clear that both suicide and killing of non-combatants (and killing by fire) are expressly, comprehensively & irrevocably forbidden in Islam.
But Muslims have to expect criticism when no less than the Imam of Mecca says that it is the duty of every believer to rejoice in the fact that an 84 year – old man has been killed in a suicide attack along with fifty others. We will leave the stuff about speaking ill of the dead alone as that pales into insignificance next to the massive own – goal that his ‘rejoicing’ in the death of a pensioner in a terrorist attack represents (though here is a sample: “When a friend of yours (brother etc.) dies, leave him and do not backbite him, do not expose their secrets (belittle him e.g.do not say he was bad, and did such and such etc)“ (Abu Daud, 49, IV /275) .
Before people start saying that this is ‘justified'(!) since Al – Bouti was allegedly supporting Assad’s regime (he was not and even if he was, that does not justify suicide attacks), then they need to realise that they too have just supported suicidal terrorism, thus giving gravity to the worst caricatures of Islamophobes (as ‘Imam’ Sudais has done).
Unsurprisingly, the comments have not been widely reported: from the ‘Wahhabis’ for obvious reason and by the West due to the issue of Salafist support for the Syrian insurgency and their ambivalence towards an apparent supporter of the regime.
The incident also demonstrates how the ‘Dawah’ organisations in the U.K are in fact actually mostly directed towards making Muslims ‘feel good’ and not towards always towards clarifying & refuting misconceptions about Islam: Not one of them has spoken out explaining Sudais’ comments or tried exonerating Islam from his gaffe. Because, you know, the Imam of Mecca supporting a terrorist strike (and even the head of Syrian opposition called it thus and decried it) has no bearing on the perception of Islam does it!?
It is all the more embarrassing that the Dutch convert Arnoud Van Doorn, whose conversion resulted in much celebration in the Muslim world, regretted his prejudiced opinion of Muslims and on his pilgrimage received a copy of the Quran from Sudais (pictured above). I wonder how he will feel about his prejudices when he hears of Sudais’ outburst?
Sudais’ ‘Wikipedia’ page sheds more light on this disturbing and unhinged individual; it says ”Al-Sudais has called for efforts to combat terrorism, discussed ways to combat terrorism, and has preached Islam’s opposition to “explosions and terrorism”.
Yeah, combat it by ‘rejoicing’ in it’s outcome.
Interestingly, the article then contradicts itself and shames Sudais:
”Al-Sudais has been described as an antisemite for publicly praying to God to ‘terminate’ the Jews,[18][19][20] and as a result has been barred from conferences in the United States and been refused entry to Canada…In a May 2003 interview with NBC‘s Tim Russert, the foreign policy adviser to the Saudi crown prince, Adel al-Jubeir, confirmed al-Sudais’s statements, agreed that they were “clearly not right”, and stated that he was reprimanded, but was still allowed to preach. He also said that “if he [Sudais] had a choice he would retract these words – he would not have said these words.”[20] Al-Sudais not only attacked Jews, but other non-Muslims as well, such as Hindus and Christians…Ware pointed out the discrepancy between Sudais’s sermons to Saudis with his speech to Western audiences.[3]”
With Imams like these, who needs enemies!?
If people now accuse the Wahhabis’ scholarly elites of advocating that the best way of dealing with ones’ dissenters is by killing them, they only have themselves, and Sudais, to blame.
Asharis: Assemble 
What a freak, celebrating a suicide bombing while takfiirring those who don’t believe Allah has a body, place, two right hands etc. How repulsive.
Indeed Semsav: his comment pushes the envelope of bad taste and stupidity. Not to mention that it means that Muslims, when on hajj etc. are praying behind a guy who is apparently a genocidal maniac…Although the Mujassim ideas are bad enough…
Seriously freak ? You seemed upset brother when I wrote about homosexuals, yet one of the most prestigious imams is a freak ? What he said was Salafai mixtape 101, but a freak ?
I think anyone who celebrates a suicide bombing is a total mentalist. And he is prestigious why exactly? Because he was appointed by the Ministry Of Religious Affairs Of Saudi Arabia? Is that a meritocracy?
Salam Alaykum,
The matter with Shaykh Al-Bouti (RA) is one thing, but praying against Jews and other non-Muslims is not of the same category as far as I know. Please clarify, as per your knowledge, what we should ask Allah concerning the non-Muslims who hurt Islam.
Uh…perhaps what the Prophet (SAW) did, pray for their guidance rather than generalise ALL Jews as Sudais did? Or perhaps you think his comments about Jews and non-Muslims are valid? We do not ‘pray against non-Muslims’ or indeed anyone: we pray FOR them.
And these are not ‘different things’. A man unhinged enough to approve a suicide attack on a mosque study circle, has no authority to comment on Jews (or anything else).
People who take such an individual as their ‘Imam’ live up to the worst stereotypes of Islamophobes
Salam Alaykum,
Well, of course, for many of the the pseudo-Salafis, the Ash’aris/Maturidis are deniers of Allah to begin with, so perhaps that is why they would rejoice at the death of Shaykh al-Buti (RA), regardless of his political views.
Concerning the supplications concerning the Jews, is there any classical text, preferably of present-day scholars, that give guidelines as to how our relations with non-Muslims should be, with respect to the Duas we make to Allah regarding them?
Thank you, Wa Salam.
Sorry for the late reply:
Firstly, do we have any classical narrations commanding or recommending us to invoke ill prayers on the non-Muslims as Sudais did? So there is no need to prove the alternative but consider the following accounts, well known to Muslims from China to Europe for the past thousand years or more:
There is the famous story of the Prophet praying to God to strengthen Islam with Umar (RA) or Abu Jahal. He prayed for their guidance, not for their destruction, even as they were out to kill him, he did not curse them. That should be enough for you.
He did not curse the lady who lived next to him and threw rubbish at him daily. Instead he visited her when she became sick
The Prophet (SAW) had a Jewish neighbour, he did not invoke curses on him or his people and he attended his funeral when he died. Compare this with Sudais.
The Prophet (SAW) obtained Jewish tutors for no less than his own wives.
Imam Al Ghazzali says in his book ‘Deliverance From Error’ that if a Muslim sees an non-believer, he should think that maybe Allah will favour that man over him i.e do not feel superior to anyone.
The kind of idiotic statements from Sudais are what one expects from someone who has not studied manners, adhab and Ihsan/Tasuwuff. but his ignorance of even the Islamic narrations (since they harp on about how they are using only ‘The Quran and Sunnah’) is laughable.
You are absolutely correct that his real reason for celebrating is his rabid aversion to Sunni Islam in the form of Ashari/Maturidi aqeeda.
Many thanks, and keep up the good work on your blog.
Okay in the regard to the jews, are we suppose to be bff with them ? Perhaps you do not see the power structure of jews in England as it is in America.
And far as the news not being reported, well it is Saudi Arabia, a country that sole existence is hypocrisy 101. Not the first time a prestigious Saudi cleric has said something like that and probably won’t be the last.
Sorry to go off topic, but this Imam Sudais is not a picture of health. To put it gently, he is very fat (unlikely to be some rare medical cause).
Should we really be following people who are clearly not in control of their abdominal girth?
Isn’t it one of the basic fundamentals, not to over eat! For me, I can’t explain it, but its always a turn off when the muslim people in charge/power are morbidly obese. Maybe its just a girly thing.
People don’t talk about stuff like this Sarah – Jane.
Perhaps they should.
I’ve re-posted on my FB.
https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100005432195714&ref=tn_tnmn
I think you have made a point which people would do well to think about.
Very daring. But perhaps necessary/
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Hello, just wwanted to say, I loved this post. It was practical.
Keep on posting!
Buti died and Alhamdullillaah a scum from Heads of Ahlul Bidaah died, he clearly died upon Nifaaq by supporting Alawi Assad, thus he was upon Rafidah, though we condemn any act of suicide bomb but buti may he never find peace in grave or in aakhirah aameen
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Dear AshariAssemble,
Salaams, I was shocked by Sudais’s statement, so I put the cnn archive site you sent me through google translate.
It seems to be denying he said this.
I don’t understand Arabic, unfortunately, and automated translation is very hit and miss. Please could you check?
Yes, several weeks later a Saudi spokesman (not Sudais himself) ‘denied’ it. but we can ignore this since he refused to clarify himself and the original story is unexplained. Interestingly, CNN changed their link to it as well.