Qabbani Says Attack on Saudi Mufti 'Offensive to All Muslims'

Grand Mufti Sheikh Mohammed Rashid Qabbani rejected on Sunday statements attacking Saudi Grand Mufti Sheikh Abdul Aziz al-Shaikh, considering that this is an “offense to all Muslims.”

"An attack on the Mufti of Saudi Arabia is an attack on all Muslim due to the noble religious status he represents in the Arab and Islamic world,” Qabbani said in a released statement, adding that al-Shaikh is a “renowned Islamic and international reference in religious matters.”

He noted: “Fools are attacking our top clerics and people are silent despite insults against their scholars.”

"It is not acceptable for any man to offend another because he disagrees with him. So how can we accept offense against the Saudi Mufti?”

"It is a foolish thing to allow disagreements to lead to insults and the demolition of ethics," the Mufti stressed.

Tawheed Movement leader Wiam Wahab called Abdul Aziz on Sunday morning a “handicap,” asking him as well as Sunni cleric Youssef al-Qaradawi to “clean their mouths before talking about Hizbullah's resistance.”

Saudi Arabia's top cleric on Thursday urged governments and fellow clerics across the Muslim world to punish Hizbullah for its intervention in the Syrian civil war against the mainly Sunni rebels fighting to oust President Bashar Assad.

"We urge all politicians and clerics to take substantial measures against this detestable sectarian group (Hizbullah) and all those backing it," Shaikh said in a speech carried by the official SPA news agency.

Meanwhile, Qaradawi, who has millions of supporters around the Arab world, particularly in the ranks of the Muslim Brotherhood, said he had been at fault for previously backing Hizbullah and urged Sunni volunteers to join the Syrian rebels.

Hizbullah fighters spearheaded a devastating 17-day assault on the Syrian town of Qusayr near the Lebanese border which culminated on Wednesday with its recapture from the rebels.

Hizbullah chief Sayyed Hasan Nasrallah had previously justified the group's involvement in Syria by saying they were defending Lebanese-inhabited border villages inside Syria and Shiite holy sites.

But during a May 25 speech marking the 13th anniversary of Israel's military withdrawal from Lebanon, Nasrallah said the Takfiris are the “most prevailing group in the Syrian opposition,” warning against a defeat against them in the ongoing war in Syria.

He said: “If Syria falls in the hands of the Takfiris and the United States, the resistance will become under a siege and Israel will enter Lebanon. If Syria falls, the Palestinian cause will be lost.”