Leading Saudi Cleric Publicly Denounces Bin Laden

Leading Saudi Cleric Publicly Denounces Bin Laden

africa.reuters.com

A leading Saudi cleric has publicly denounced Osama bin Laden, a rare move among clerics in his native Saudi Arabia who have avoided direct criticism of the al Qaeda leader.

Salman al-Awdah issued his "open letter to Osama bin Laden" on his Web site this week (www.islamtoday.net) and read it out on a show he presents on Saudi-owned pan-Arab channel MBC.

(visit the link for the full news article)


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He blames Al Qaeda for the suffering of muslims in Iraq and Afghanistan, I was ranting in another thread that Muslims need to reject the path that OBL is taking, so I am pleased to see this Cleric step up and show displeasure with Al Qaeda.



africa.reuters.com
(visit the link for the full news article)

At least it's a first step but many more need to come clean. This alone will not stop the preaching of hate. They need to get rid of teaching the younger generation to kill Christians,Jews, and anyone that is not a Muslim.

Good.... excellent even. Despite the rhetoric of some here Al Qeada does not represent main stream Islam and is more a political/criminal element than a religious or military one and should be delt with as such.

A war on terror will only make more terrorists... The Europeans have the right idea, go after them like the Mafia.

Hopefully this is the beginning of the end for Al Qaeda's movement, I read a story the other day about a suicide bomber (who survived), who was lured into Al Qaeda but has since denounced them as well.

This person was told he was delivering supplies in support of AQ but was actually driving a bomb laden truck.

I wonder how many of these suicide truck bombings were actually murder bombings?

I am going to try and find the article. I will post it here as soon as I locate it.

Here is the article I ws referring to in my previous post:

Failed suicide bomber turns on al Qaeda

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia -- Ahmad al Shayea is the rarest of truck bombers -- he survived his suicide mission in Iraq even though the blast from his bomb was strong enough to kill 12 bystanders.

Al Shayea, who was disfigured during the attack, claims al Qaeda tricked him into becoming a bomber by asking him to deliver a tanker truck, which they had rigged with a bomb.

I also found this article concerning another ex AQ member who has rejected the movement:

Why I joined the British jihad - and why I rejected it

As a third generation British Muslim I was raised in an integrated and well established family; four of my mother’s siblings are doctors. I had absolutely no problem making friends and was in the highest sets in school, later going on to study law at university. How did I – at the tender age of 17 – subscribe to and then devastatingly propagate radical Islamist ideas? Why was I prepared to abandon my degree for such a cause?

Hmmm... I'm feeling pessimistic. I wonder how long before this gets buried again under Islam-bashing headlines and articles. I wonder how long before people forget again and start the accusations of "no outrage" or "no public denouncements of terror." I wonder how this even got out in the first place?

Originally posted by Beachcoma
Hmmm... I'm feeling pessimistic. I wonder how long before this gets buried again under Islam-bashing headlines and articles.

I am trying to be optimistic.

I am hoping that this could help bring more public condemnation of Al Qaeda from the Muslim community.

His is publicly denouncing Bin-laden because he knows that bin-laden is death, this is nothing more than a move to look like they care.

Here is a piece from MEMRI breaking down what Saudi Cleric Salman Al-Odeh said in the religious TV show on Saudi television:

Saudi Cleric Salman Al-Odeh Slams ‘Brother’ Osama bin Laden, Warns Him He'll Be Responsible for Deaths of Millions, Reminds Him He Must Face Allah

"How Much Blood Has Been Shed, And How Many... Have Been Killed... In The Name Of Al-Qaeda?"

Salman Al-Odeh: "I say to my brother Osama [bin Laden]: How much blood has been shed, and how many innocent people, children, elderly, and women have been killed, displaced, or banished in the name of Al-Qaeda? Would you be pleased to meet Allah while you bear responsibility for hundreds or even millions of people?"

reply to post by JacKatMtn


JacKatMtn

A star and a flag for this thread. I found the article Why I joined the British jihad - and why I rejected it to be especially interesting and enlightening. It reveals one person's experience of being unduly influenced and how he managed to find the truth when the opportunity was right. Excellent post!

Actually, there are quite a few articles denegrating OBL's activities. More than will ever see the light of the MSM.

Other than the above two, one of the most recent presented quite good arguments IMO.

A blogger in Iraq, (Mohammad), slams OBL, and "political Islam" in this article, and a previous one.


[edit on 9/20/07 by makeitso]

reply to post by jsobecky


Thanks, though they are hard to find I think it is very important that these types of stories are spread far and wide.

They have been ignored by many (myself included), hopefully many more examples of these stories will help in this fight against terror.

reply to post by makeitso


I read the Iraq the Model blog you linked to and it sounded good, almost too good, so I checked out the comments and that's when I said WHAT?!!!!

So I did some checking and found out that if you go to

pajamasmedia.com... and look down the right side to their blogroll you will find

Iraq the Model along with some others like Neo Neocon, Neocon Express, GOP3, etc.. etc...

It seems like some type of agenda there, so I don't know if that blog is on the up and up.

It could just be me but it got my antenna up.

This cleric smells like a snake. Why the change in tone now? Why not six years ago? I don't trust the Saudi religious establishment one bit. Any country that requires a separate "morality" police force should be very carefully watched....

Originally posted by JacKatMtn


I also found this article concerning another ex AQ member who has rejected the movement:

That was a good link you posted Jack, I just want to say that I think these two paragraphs that I have below get a lot of good information across.

It slowly dawned on me that what I had been propagating was far from true Islam. I began to realise that what I had subscribed to was actually Islamism sold to me in the name of Islam. And it is with this realisation that I can now say that the more I learnt about Islam, the more tolerant I became.

Now I am involved in trying to counter the black and white mindset that I once so vehemently encouraged. Although I was young when I was recruited to Hizb ut-Tahrir, I take full responsibility for my actions. I made the decisions that I did and I am responsible for undoing them. With this in mind I hope to publish a series of papers reevaluating certain core Islamist ideas that are essential to their message.

sorce

Originally posted by marg6043
His is publicly denouncing Bin-laden because he knows that bin-laden is death, this is nothing more than a move to look like they care.

Marg, I fear you could very well be right with this statement. In nations where religious leaders also mean political clout that is something that must be considered. Unforchanet but true.

reply to post by JacKatMtn


Yup, a lot of people speculate about them. I won't take the time to defend them, other than to say that I've read their blog for quite some time now, and that if you went thru their blog you would see lots of criticism of all sides. They seem quite comfortable to bash Bush, Maliki, Sadr, etc. as their circumstances change from day to day.

However, they were just an example. There are a lot of blogs coming out of Iraq now that they aren't murdered for typing their thoughts. Most people don't think to look for Iraq blogs, perhaps since the MSM is so accessible. But if they did, they might just be suprised by what they read of these people, their beliefs, daily life, and hopes for the future.

I won't list any here, as it may be another example you would perhaps reject for yourself, I'll just leave you with the awareness that these information resourses are there, if you look.



[edit on 9/20/07 by makeitso]

reply to post by makeitso



Thanks for the info, I didn't know if you had seen this about the blog, it just hit me the wrong way, nothing against your post.

I will keep an eye on the blog and get a better assessment, my first impressions could be unjustified.