"Fatwa By Saudi Sheikh: Soccer Players Are Infidels," from MEMRI a la Spencer:
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| On several sites..... |
Tell this to fans in Argentina, Brazil, Spain, England.................
On December 5, 2012, Saudi sheikh Suleiman Al-'Alwan, a popular Salafi-jihadi cleric, was released after being imprisoned without a trial for nine years.[1] Al-'Alwan's trial began only recently; he is accused of having ties to Al-Qaeda and issuing fatwas permitting terrorist attacks in Saudi Arabia and targeting Western interests in the world and in the Saudi kingdom.[2]Since his release, Al-'Alwan has received many visitors, including sheikhs and former students, and has been asked to give his opinion on religious questions. On December 23, 2012, in response to a question posed by a Saudi youth, Al-'Alwan said that soccer was a form of heresy: "Soccer is a Masonic game meant to distance Muslims from their religion and faith, and most of the public that follows [soccer games] is loyal to the infidels." Al-'Alwan called soccer players criminals and infidels: "[When] a man watches a [soccer] game, God forbid, he is watching deviant criminals and sinful infidels, even if they are Muslims." He added: "There is a serious problem with [soccer] games, which is the refereeing, which follows manmade laws, not Allah's laws."[3]It should be mentioned that shortly after his release, Al-'Alwan also accused Egyptian President Muhammad Mursi of heresy for failing to implement shari'a law in Egypt, and condemned Egypt's new constitution because it guarantees religious freedom and treats Christians as equal to Muslims. In addition, he held Mursi responsible for causing the deaths of Salafis in Sinai.[4]Al-'Alwan's fatwa was harshly criticized by Saudi columnist Muhammad bin 'Abd Al-Latif Aal Al-Sheikh, who wrote in the Saudi government daily Al-Jazirah that Al-'Alwan reminds him of Taliban sheikhs....