RIYADH – Grand Mufti Sheikh Abdulaziz Al-Sheikh urged governments and fellow Islamic scholars across the Muslim world to punish the Lebanese Shiite group Hezbollah for its intervention in the Syrian civil war against the mainly Sunni rebels fighting to oust President Bashar Al-Assad. In a statement issued Thursday, he also hailed the stance taken by the renowned Islamic scholar and President of the International Union of Muslim Scholars Sheikh Youssef Al-Qaradawi against Iran and Hezbollah. In a reaction to the recent statement of Sheikh Qaradawi, the Grand Mufti, who is also the President of the Board of Senior Ulema, emphasized that Saudi Arabia — since its foundation at the hands of King Abdul Aziz until the time of Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah — has been supporting Muslim causes as well as just causes in all places; and this was based not on rigid political calculations but stems from the Islamic ideology that calls for justice and forbids injustice and oppression. “We ask Allah to save our brothers in Syria from this injustice and tyranny and give to them (rulers) of their choice.” “We urge all politicians and clerics to take substantial measures against this repulsive sectarian group (Hezbollah) and all those backing it so as to deter this aggression. It was revealed beyond doubt that it is an ‘agent' party bringing nothing other than disgrace and ignominy,” the Grand Mufti lambasted. Al-Sheikh said that he was briefed on the statement of Sheikh Qaradawi, in which the scholar comments on the naked aggression carried out by the so-called Hezbollah, in solidarity and cooperation with the oppressive Syrian regime against the sisterly Syrian people, Saudi Press Agency reported. “In the statement, he has returned to the stance taken by the Kingdom's top scholars and backed it. It was clear from the Saudi stance that this is a sectarian repulsive movement ever since it was created.” Al-Sheikh was referring to Sheikh Qaradawi's previous position of backing Hezbollah, particularly after its 2006 war with Israel. The Grand Mufti said: “We thank the Sheikh for his (new) stance, which reminds us of the positions taken by senior scholars throughout ages to return to right when they were enlightened with a rationale position. The Grand Mufti supported Sheikh Qaradawi in his stance while calling all clerics of the Muslim world to stick together and cooperate during this critical moment in its history, he added. Last Saturday, Sheikh Qaradawi criticized the Lebanese Shiite militia group for its military intervention in Syria and called for Jihad against it. Addressing a festival in the Qatari capital Doha, he said that every Muslim trained to fight and capable of doing that must make himself available for Jihad against Assad and Hezbollah in Syria. “Iran is pushing forward arms and men, so why do we stand idle?” he asked, describing Hezbollah as the “party of Satan.” “The leader of the party of the Satan comes to fight the Sunnis... Now we know what the Iranians want... They want continued massacres to kill Sunnis,” Sheikh Qaradawi said. “How could 100 million Shiites (worldwide) defeat 1.7 billion (Sunnis)? Only because (Sunni) Muslims are weak.” Sheikh Qaradawi said he was mistaken in his previous support of Hezbollah and Iran, in front of Saudi scholars. “I defended the so-called Nasrallah and his party, the party of tyranny... in front of clerics in Saudi Arabia,” he said. “It seems that the clerics of Saudi Arabia were more mature than me,” he added.— SG/SPA
