Ramadan ends in blood

AS LONDON commemorated the eleventh anniversary of the London Underground bombings of 7 July 2005 in which 52 people were killed and at least 700 injured, a wave of takfiri terrorism swept the world.

The memorial date coincided this year with the ending of the holy month of Ramadan, which has become synonymous with an ideology of violence against those deemed kafir [unbelievers or apostates] - both non-conformist Muslims who condemn jihadism, and non-Muslims.

The main exemplars of takfirism today are the terror group Islamic State (ISIS), Al Qa’eda, and the Taliban, and they believe war against ‘apostates’ and infidels is a religious obligation.

ISIS is driven by a metastasized form of Wahhabism, the official interpretation of Islam in the kingdom of Saudi Arabia, which holds that all outside its own sect are kufar.

Al Qa’eda represented a less virulent but still deadly iteration of the Wahhabi creed.

The Taliban emerged out of Deoband in north India, a school of neo-fundamentalist Islam increasingly and inextricably linked with Saudi Wahhabism.

While protagonists of the terror offensive may have acted autonomously without direct coordination by ISIS, their takfiri goal is always the same: slaughter.

In Orlando, Florida on 12 June; at Istanbul airport on 28 June; in Bangladesh on July 1; and on 4 July in three cities of Saudi Arabia, takfiri fanatics spilled blood.

The Bangladesh atrocity has been linked by Indian media to Zakir Naik, a video proselytizer known throughout the Muslim world as an inciter of contempt against those he deems insufficient in their religion and character.

Naik was banned from the UK, with its large South Asian Muslim community in 2010.  

His media platform is a television network, Peace TV, broadcasting in English, Arabic, Urdu, Spanish and other languages from Saudi Arabia, the Gulf state of Dubai, and Mumbai.

The Saudi kingdom is the global centre of Wahhabi takfirism, where the radicals have turned against the monarchy that depended on the sect for legitimation. 

In the 4 July attacks, the US consulate in Jeddah, the Saudi commercial capital, was assaulted, with the death of the bomber and injuries to two people

Saudi authorities identified the Jeddah bomber as Abdullah Qalzar Khan, 34, a Pakistani who worked in the kingdom as a driver.

Saudi officials say they prevented even worse consequences of the Jeddah terror incident.

The Prophet’s Mosque in Madinah, where Prophet Muhammad is said to be buried, was bombed the same day, leaving four security officers dead and five wounded.

Saudi Wahhabism is now devouring its parent.

Next, Qatif, a Shia Muslim majority city in the Saudi Eastern Province, saw two blasts near a mosque at Souk Mayyas.

The campaign of violence in Saudi Arabia epitomizes the irrational, hateful doctrine of metastasized Wahhabism.

It struck the US consulate on 4 July, the American national holiday (Independence Day). 

The ultra-Wahhabis of ISIS targeted the leading Western power despite the fact it has protected the Saudis militarily for many decades.  

In the onslaught at the Prophet’s Mosque, the Wahhabi basis of Al-Qa’eda and ISIS was blatantly exposed. 

Wahhabis condemn honours to the Prophet, as well as the construction of tombs, claiming they represent a form of polytheism and idol worship (shirk).

The behaviour of Wahhabis in dishonouring the Prophet of Islam is incomprehensible to Jews and Christians.

In the Qatif attacks, the Wahhabi denunciation of Shia Muslims as alleged unbelievers, a posture absent from traditional Islam, was brutally expressed with the murder of three unidentified victims.

The takfiris chose the end of Ramadan for their new offensive in a manner that discredits Muslims everywhere. 

Saudi Arabia must confront and break with the Wahhabi legacy for the security of the world.