Saudi Arabia’s highest religious authority, Grand Mufti Sheikh Abdulaziz al-Sheikh, has urged Muslims across the world to use the internet and social media to wage a war on terrorism, reported state-run news agency SPA.
“Sheikh Abdulaziz al-Sheikh assured that it is important to combat terrorism and misleading ideologies by cooperating between the assigned authorities and intellectuals and members of the society to raise the upcoming generation in a good manner,” Saudi Arabia’s SPA reported on Sunday.
The Grand Mufti made those comments during a meeting with a group of scholars, students, social scientists, and military chiefs.
“That who called for joining deviant groups is mistaken and offending, because these deviant groups kill each other without mercy and took advantage of our young people, unfortunately, killing many of them and taking many of them prisoners. So, we should not be silent about them,” said the Saudi cleric, referring to the Islamic State (ISIS/ISIL).
Al-Sheikh described ISIS as a criminal group.
The Grand Mufti reportedly condemned ISIS savagely burning prisoners of war, such as Jordanian pilot Muath al-Kaseasbeh, arguing that such actions have “no basis in Islam and that their attempts to justify that through Islamic Shariah is baseless.”
Al-Sheikh also urged all Muslims and Muslim nations to act as one entity to “eradicate evil and corruption, adding that it was the duty of every Muslim to exert all efforts to protect Islam and refrain from such acts.”
The Saudi cleric called on the media to spread awareness about the damaging implications of joining groups like ISIS.
“Given that unemployment leads to delinquency, improper behavior such as smuggling, and the promotion of deviant ideas, more efforts should focus on providing more job opportunities to the youth,” he said.
In August 2014, Saudi Arabia’s Grand Mufti denounced ISIS and al Qaeda as enemies of Islam.
Saudi Arabia is part of the U.S.-led coalition battling ISIS.
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