Saudi cleric’s fatwa to kill satellite TV station owners

Sheik Saleh al-Lihedan – chief of the kingdom’s highest tribunal, the Supreme Judiciary Council has issued a fatwa making it permissible to kill the owners of satellite TV stations that show “immoral” content. Another Saudi cleric has recommended that the cartoon character Mickey Mouse should be killed, because under Islamic law, rats and mice are considered ‘repulsive’ and as ‘soldiers of Satan.’

The fatwa about killing TV station owners has caused considerable anxiety and fear. According to Khaleej Times, “Several channels based in Dubai declined comment. One network representative said the staff was taking the fatwa very seriously, but he did not want his name or channel revealed. ‘Why select yourself as a target by commenting on it?’ he said.”

This controversial fatwa will only serve to prove that Muslims are fanatics who will kill anyone without any reason. It may be remembered that two men were killed in Pakistan after some mullahs in a religious talk show said that killing Qadianis is permissible in Islam.

Will these so-called guardians of Islam ever change their mindsets and start living in the twenty first century? I doubt it.


Posted

in

by

Tags:

Comments

4 responses to “Saudi cleric’s fatwa to kill satellite TV station owners”

  1. Asad Aftab Avatar
    Asad Aftab

    I am not a big fan of the saudi clergy as well. They are extremely narrow minded. What i am trying to emphasize is it’s not necessary to believe the media in whatever they say because someone already has a personal disliking for an individual or institution. Today’s media are in the clutches of power that are only interested in making money or sensationalizing issues. Muslims in particular have to be aware of it.

    Sh. Laheedan has given this explanation. Please follow this link
    http://www.arabnews.com/?page=1&section=0&article=114314&d=15&m=9&y=2008

  2. Shakir Lakhani Avatar

    Mr. Asad Aftab, for further info on this topic, please read the Khaleej Times of 19 September, 20 September and 21 September. The man may have changed his position later, after the uproar created by the media, but his thinking remains the same: to kill everyone who doesn’t agree with his perverted version of Islam. Next thing you know, he will ask the government to ban the internet, because of pictures of semi-naked girls on Yahoo and MSN home pages!

  3. Asad Aftab Avatar
    Asad Aftab

    The author should take into consideration one thing which sadly most people miss i.e. media twist and political spin. The “fatwa” was in a response of a QA session on the radio. So it wont qualify as a fatwa, it’s just his opinion. Then he himself has come forward in light of the furor to explain his position on the issue. As the chief of the Supreme Judicial Council in Saudi Arabia, the last thing he can justify is extra judicial killing. He has explicitly said that such measures are to be taken by the law , not by anyone who feels like it. Whatever he said was twisted and manipulated by the media to serve their purpose.

  4. Mohammad Yusha Avatar

    A good, funny and interesting post.

    Third paragraph clearly tells us what these so called Islamic Channels are doing. I suggest you also write on these so called ‘religious’ and ‘islamic’ channels.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *