Peace in KSA ‘is essential for Ummah’

Peace and stability in the Kingdom are essential to the well-being of Muslims all over the world, said imam and khateeb at the Grand Mosque in Makkah Sheikh Saleh Al-Talib in his sermon on Friday.
“Every man on earth should realize that the security of the land of the two holy mosques is the security of every Muslim on earth.” He said the country’s leaders are not being complacent about protecting the Kingdom.
Al-Talib said that Muslims fighting each other around the world are playing into the hands of Islam’s enemies.
He said that Saudi Arabia protects the rights of all groups because the country has a constitution based on Islamic law. “In the Kingdom, there are people who believe in creeds different from the majority faith but live in total amity.”
“The country has protected them, never persecuted them for their faith, or forced them to flee from their land. They are treated far better than [those living under] secular governments in Muslim countries, or governments in countries where Sunnis are a minority,” Al-Talib said.
He said the enemies of Islam are attempting to stoke division between the citizens in the east of the country, but have not been successful. “Almighty Allah has foiled their plots and protected Muslims from their evil even though they shed the blood of innocent citizens and committed heinous crimes,” the sheikh said.
At the Prophet’s Mosque in Madinah on Friday, imam and khateeb Sheikh Abdul Rahman Al-Hudhaifi said Islam considers all life precious and outlaws murder, which is punishable by “eternal damnation” for perpetrators.
Al-Hudhaifi said it was unlawful for a Muslim to kill another man or destroy the property of others in the name of jihad. “Jihad can be invoked only when a number of legal stipulations are fulfilled, and even when such stipulations are fulfilled, only a ruler, not just any person, has the authority to call for an engagement in jihad,” he said.
In his Friday sermon at the Imam Turki bin Abdullah Mosque in Riyadh, Grand Mufti Abdul Aziz Al-Asheikh warned scholars to be careful when issuing religious opinions. “Any statement about a religious matter without the right knowledge is a serious sin,” Al-Asheikh said.