Hmmm, "top Saudi cleric" Sheik Abdul Rahman al-Sudeis thinks
the West is scaring people away from Islam ...

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West scaring away people from Islam: Saudi cleric
[ Tuesday, January 10, 2006 04:44:21 pm REUTERS ]

MECCA (Saudi Arabia): A top Saudi cleric told Muslim pilgrims marking
the climax of Haj on Tuesday that the West was using the global
phenomenon of terrorism to scare people away from Islam and discredit legitimate Muslim causes.

Sheikh Abdul Rahman al-Sudeis, the state-appointed preacher at the
Grand Mosque in Mecca, also called for stability in Iraq and said
Islam was innocent of the charge of "terrorism".

"The campaign against Islam has become fierce and Muslims are being
described in insulting terms to distort the image of Islam and scare
people away from it," he told the 2.5 million pilgrims in a sermon to
mark the Muslim feast of Eid al-Adha.

He accused Western countries of hypocrisy in promoting freedom and
democracy, citing the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

[...]

Full article at "Times of India" ... http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/msid-1366000,curpg-1.cms ========================================================================

Luckily for the "top Saudi cleric", a "Saudi Professor of Islamic Law"
has a solution: "Positive Hatred" of Christians. Yes, that will provoke
a response from the West. It might not be the response he is expecting.

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January 11, 2006 No.1069

Saudi Professor of Islamic Law on Saudi TV Exhorts Muslims to
"Positive Hatred" of Christians

[...]

Muslims Must Hate Christians With "Positive Hatred" - December 16,
2005, Al-Majd TV

Al-Fawzan: "Someone who denies Allah, worships Christ, son of Mary,
and claims that God is one third of a trinity - do you like these
things he says and does? DonAEt you hate the faith of such a polytheist
who says God is one third of a trinity, or who worships Christ, son of
Mary?

"Someone who permits and commits fornication - as is the case in
Western countries, where fornication is permitted and not considered a
problem - don't you hate this? Whoever says 'I don't hate him' is not
a Muslim, my brother."

[...]

"This is not racism, my brother. We don't hate a polytheist because
of his color, gender, blood, country, or because he is American,
European, Chinese, or Asian. They are our partners in humanity. An
American Muslim may be better in Allah's view than all the Arabs."

[...]

"But if this person is an infidel - even if this person is my mother
or father, God forbid, or my son or daughter - I must hate him, his
heresy, and his defiance of Allah and His prophet. I must hate his
abominable deeds. Moreover, this hatred must be positive hatred. It
should make me feel compassion for him, and should make me guide and
reform him."

[...]

Full article at "Middle East Media Research Institute" ... http://www.memri.org/bin/opener_latest.cgi?ID=SD106906

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Cheers, Steve..

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* Origin: Xaragmata / Adelaide SA telnet://xaragmata.thebbs.org (3:800/432)