(MEMRI) Wael Al-Abrashi - Most of the Wahhabi sheikhs have in the past forbidden the study of geography, English, philosophy, and drawing. Wahhabism bans democracy, seeing it as an alternative religion to the religion of Allah. Wahhabism attributes great importance to the [outward] forms of Islam - growing a beard, ankle-length garments for men, and the requirement to use toothpicks instead of the satanic Western toothbrush. The extremist religious groups have moved to the stage of "annihilation and destruction," in accordance with the strategy of al Qaeda - which Saudi authorities must admit is a local Saudi organization that drew other organizations into it. All the organizations emerged from under the robe of Wahhabism. In all cases of terror that harmed Egypt [in the 1980s and 1990s], I determined that there was not a single case in which Saudi Arabia was not the main station for the extremists. The only solution for the Saudi crisis is to trim the claws of Wahhabism, and to purify it and empty it of its content, so that it can become mainstream, moderate Islam. The author is deputy editor of the independent Egyptian weekly Roz Al-Yousef, and an expert on Sunni terrorist movements.
2003-06-23 00:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive