Imam and Khatib at the Grand Mosque in Makkah Sheikh Saleh bin Humaid said yesterday that resorting to kidnapping diplomats is against Islamic law.
“Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) told two messengers of Musailimah, a bitter enemy of the Prophet (pbuh), that he would not kill them because he is not killer of messengers,” Bin Humaid said while delivering the Friday congregational sermon at the Grand Mosque.
This Islamic precedent showed that no envoy or consul of a country should be harmed as the official comes under the category of messengers.
The sheikh was referring to the abduction of Saudi diplomat Abdullah Al-Khalidi in Aden about a month ago.
“The Kingdom refuses to submit to any form of extortion particularly if it is by any terror act or criminal band,” Bin Humaid said, adding that the Kingdom will not make any bargain on its law, administration and policies and it will not surrender any of its citizens to unidentified people of doubtful reputation.
The sheikh said any gang that resorts to kidnapping people are far removed from religious rules. “They are not following the teachings of Islam, which they claim to adhere to,” he said.
The rules of Islam tolerate acts such as kidnapping only in the midst of a pitched battle or in the battlefield, he said. “Even then they are not allowed to harm a child, woman, old man, or to maim any man or animal or even cut a tree,” he added.
The sheikh said kidnapping of an innocent and lonely man is the proof of the criminal group’s bankruptcy, weakness, lack of sanity, fanaticism and criminality. He said that the group is controlled by deviants who thrive on hatred of the civilized people.
–Arabnews