Allegations Against Top Saudi Islamic Scholars Refuted

Allegations Against Top Saudi Islamic Scholars Refuted
P.K. Abdul Ghafour, Arab News


JEDDAH, 2 August 2006 — Sheikh Abdul Aziz Al-Asheikh, the grand mufti, yesterday issued a statement refuting charges made by a former Kuwaiti minister against two leading Saudi scholars.

Yousuf ibn Hashim Al-Rifae, former Kuwaiti state minister for Cabinet affairs and an Islamic thinker, said in an interview published by Kuwait’s Assiyassa Arabic daily on May 27 that the late scholars Sheikh Abdul Aziz Bin Baz and Sheikh Muhammad Othaimeen promoted takfeer (the branding of other Muslims as infidels) and extremism in their books.

The mufti said in his eight-page response that the allegations made by Al-Rifae would discredit the two scholars who made immense contributions to Islamic learning and research during their lifetimes.

Al-Asheikh denied the accusation that Bin Baz had called those celebrating the birthday of the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) as polytheists.

“This is a false allegation,” he said.

Bin Baz had published a letter in which he called the celebration of Meelad Al-Nabi as a sinful innovation in religion and for that he cited the teachings of the Prophet.

The mufti’s statement came a day after he rejected the call by a Kuwaiti writer for stopping taraweeh prayers in groups at the Grand Mosque in Makkah in order to give more room to pilgrims. The mufti said the special Ramadan prayer had been performed in the mosque since the time of the Prophet.

“Muhammad was the greatest prophet who conveyed divine messages to his people in the best form. If the celebration of Meelad Al-Nabi were part of religious matters approved by God he would have celebrated it during his lifetime. But neither the Prophet nor his companions celebrated the event and this shows it has nothing to do with Islam,” the mufti said.

Al-Asheikh also refuted the allegation that Bin Baz had called those who celebrate the Prophet’s ascension to the seven heavens polytheists. “Sheikh Bin Baz also did not say that visiting the Prophet’s Mosque was a religious offense,” the mufti said.

Bin Baz had however insisted that no travel plans should be made for the purpose of just visiting the grave of the Prophet or others. The Prophet encouraged the faithful to visit graves in order to remind them of the hereafter.

Referring to Al-Rifae’s accusation that Bin Baz did not believe the landing of astronauts in the moon until Prince Sultan ibn Salman made his space journey, the mufti said the allegation went against facts as Bin Baz had written an article on the prospect of people visiting the moon years before Sultan’s birth.

In his statement, carried by the Saudi Press Agency, the mufti said he did not expect such baseless allegations from a person like Al-Rifae against the two revered scholars.

“We don’t claim infallibility for our scholars, but one should know that making false accusations against people is a big sin and becomes even more heinous when they are leveled against respected scholars,” he added.


http://www.arabnews.com/?page=1&section=0&article=77248&d=2&m=8&y=2006