Former Imam of Mecca: KSA, ’ISIS’ Share Same Thought!

Local Editor

By their words, they are condemned. "We share the same thought as "ISIS"."

                                   

A former Wahhabi imam of the Grand Mosque in Mecca has said that the "ISIS" terrorist group follows "the same brand of Islam as officially espoused by Saudi Arabia."

Footage translated by British think tank Integrity UK on Wednesday showed leading cleric Adel al-Kalbani speaking to the Dubai-based channel MBC about what he believes are the roots of "ISIS".

"We follow the same thought [as "ISIS"] but apply it in a refined way," he said. "They draw their ideas from what is written in our own books, from our own principles."

The cleric said that "we do not criticize the thought on which it ["ISIS"] is based".
Kalbani repeated the oft spread conspiracy that unnamed intelligence agencies had played a role in the rise of "ISIS".

"Intelligence agencies and other countries might have [helped] Daesh to develop, providing them with weapons and ammunitions, and directing them," he said, using an Arabic acronym for "ISIS".

In his MBC interview, which was broadcast on 22 January, Kalbani said "ISIS" and "Salafists" in Saudi Arabia shared the same opinion on apostasy.

Kalbani also spoke about the killing of journalists by "ISIS", including Americans James Foley and Steven Sotloff, which drew global condemnation in September
2014.

He said "their blood was shed according to Salafist fatwas not outside the Salafist framework."

Source: News Agencies, Edited by website team