Islam has no link with these thugs

[Valin]

Gulf News:

 

Islam has no link with these thugs

Tariq A. Al Maeena

7/8/12

 

There is a war of sorts going on today in Timbuktu in Mali, a West African country. It is a war against culture and civilisation. And those perpetuating it are a band of thugs and criminals who are operating under the cloak of ‘Islamists’.

 

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This band of terrorists has recently turned their guns and fanaticism against the historical shrines that had made the city of Timbuktu a beacon of learning through so many centuries. They have used pick-axes, shovels, hammers and guns to destroy earthen tombs and shrines of local saints in the desert city of Timbuktu, claiming that they are doing so to defend the purity of their faith against idol worship. They are behind the destruction of at least eight Timbuktu mausoleums and several tombs, centuries-old shrines in what is known as the ‘City of 333 Saints’.

 

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The Organisation of Islamic Countries (OIC), deplored the destruction of historical sites in Timbuktu by religious extremist groups, and said that the sites were part of the rich Islamic heritage of Mali and should not be allowed to be destroyed and put in harms way by bigoted extremist elements.

 

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Tariq A. Al-Maeena is a Saudi socio-political commentator. He lives in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.

 

 

One could ask some embarrassing questions of Mr. Al-Maeena. Questions like...Whatever happened to all the Shia & Sufi Tombs and Shrines that once dotted the landscape of Saudi Arabia? Did their destruction have anything to do with the Saudi State Version of Islam? It would also be enlightening to know if there is any connection between the Ansar Dine and the Wahhabists of The Magic Kingdom? Inquiring minds would dearly love to know his answers.