Top Saudi Cleric Decries Iranians as ‘Not Muslims’ – IOTW Report

Top Saudi Cleric Decries Iranians as ‘Not Muslims’

Breitbart: RIYADH (AFP) – Saudi Arabia’s top cleric said Iranians are “not Muslims”, after Iran’s supreme leader launched a fresh tirade over the kingdom’s handling of the hajj pilgrimage, a newspaper reported on Tuesday.

“We must understand these are not Muslims, they are children of Magi and their hostility towards Muslims is an old one. Especially with the people of Sunna,” Grand Mufti Abdulaziz al-Sheikh told Makkah daily, referring to pre-Islamic beliefs in Iran and to the Sunnis who make up the main branch of Islam.

The grand mufti’s comments came a day after Iran’s Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said the Muslim world should challenge Saudi management of Islam’s two holiest sites in Mecca and Medina.

An aerial view shows Muslim worshippers praying at the Grand mosque, the holiest place in Islam, in the holy city of Mecca during Ramadan July 14, 2015, on Lailat al-Qadr, or Night of Power, on which the Koran was revealed to Prophet Mohammad by Allah. REUTERS/Ali Al Qarni - RTX1K9VS
REUTERS/Ali Al Qarni

The verbal sparring, ahead of the annual hajj which this year starts on Saturday, follows months of tension between Sunni-dominated Saudi Arabia and its Shiite regional rival Iran.  MORE

12 Comments on Top Saudi Cleric Decries Iranians as ‘Not Muslims’

  1. And Arabs are descendants of sun-worshipping pagans. So? Does this ignorant Sheik think his people were Muslims since the dawn of creation? What he is actually betraying is the deep and ancient hostility between Arabs and Persians, which is barely veneered over by the religion that ostensibly connects them. He is also telegraphing the profound Arab parochiality of Islam. Even though it is found among many cultures, it is essentially an expression of ancient Arab paganism dressed up in borrowed Hebrew-Christian accoutrements.

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