By :
Luiza Oleszczuk ,
Christian Post Reporter
March 15, 2012|4:56 pm
Sheikh Abdul Aziz Al-Asheikh,
the Grand Mufti of Saudi Arabia, the highest official of
religious law in the Sunni country, reportedly declared
this week that it is "necessary to destroy all the
churches" in the region, implying that no other religion
besides Islam will be tolarated on the Arabian Peninsula
-- as there are currently no churches in Saudi Arabia.
Al-Asheikh made the statement Monday during a meeting with
a delegation of a Kuwait-based NGO, Society of the Revival
of Islamic Heritage, in response to a question of what
Shariah law says about building churches, reported an Arabic
Christian publication, Linga.org.
The question was a reference to a recent controversial
statement by a Kuwaiti member of parliament who reportedly
called for the "removal" of churches. The MP reportedly
specified later that he merely meant that no churches
should be built in Kuwait. In February, a legislation was
introduced in the parliament to remove Christian churches
from Kuwait and impose Islamic law, according to Catholic
News Service. Party officials said later the legislation
would not remove the churches but prohibit further
construction of Christian churches and non-Muslim places of
worship in the country.
Saudi Arabia is a country that is officially 100 percent
Muslim, and other religions are forbidden. Nevertheless, a
small minority of Christians is known to worship there,
unofficially. According to one 2008
estimate, there were 800,000 Catholics living in Saudi
Arabia at the time. Although there are no official church
buildings, Christians are allowed to worship at homes and
some other designated buildings.
Saudi Christians often include foreign immigrants.
Recently, a Christian watchdog organization informed The
Christian Post that a group of
Christians from Ethiopia had been imprisoned in the
Saudi kingdom for holding a prayer meeting in a private
apartment.
In Kuwait, however, there are church buildings.
The Kuwaiti delegation reportedly wanted to confirm with
the Grand Mufti what Islamic law says concerning the
building of churches, and Al-Asheikh stressed that Kuwait
was part of the Arabian Peninsula, and therefore it is
necessary to destroy all churches in it. He referred to one
of the phrases believed to have been uttered by the prophet
Muhammad in which the prophet said that there are "not to be
two religions in the [Arabian] Peninsula," which has always
been interpreted to mean that only Islam can be practiced in
the region.
The Grand Mufti's words evoked some heated reactions.
Raymond Ibrahim of Jihad Watch, a blog critical of Islamic
laws considered extremist or intolerant, said that if a
similar event took place in the Western world, its religious
leaders would surely be shunned.
"Considering the hysteria that besets the West whenever
non-authoritative individuals offend Islam -- for instance,
a fringe, unknown pastor -- imagine what would happen if a
Christian counterpart to the Grand Mufti, say the Pope, were
to declare that all mosques in Italy must be destroyed;
imagine the nonstop Western media frenzy that would erupt,
all the shrill screams of 'intolerance' and 'bigot,' demands
for apologies if not resignation, nonstop handwringing by
sensitive politicians, and worse," Ibrahim, a Shillman
Fellow at the David Horowitz Freedom Center and an Associate
Fellow at the Middle East Forum, wrote.
