Minister of Islamic Affairs, Endowments, Call and Guidance Sheikh Salih bin Abdulziz Al Alsheikh praised the efforts of the Interior Ministry in confronting the deviant group and their destructive acts and the preemptive efforts of the security men in uncovering the plots of this group and their foul crimes of sabotage, terrorism, murder, wreaking havoc, targeting the homeland's assets and resources and disturbing peace at the Muslims' holy sites. In a statement on the occasion of what has been issued by the Interior Ministry on arresting and detaining a group of people organizationally and intellectually linked to the activities of the deviant group, he said, "The uncovering and aborting of these plots are great efforts by the security men and their leaders, topped by Prince Naif bin Abdulaziz, the Interior Minister, his deputy and his assistant. These efforts are extension of the previous efforts through which lives have been saved and properties have been spared chaos and irresponsible frivolity." The minister stressed the responsibility of all groups and institutions of the society including those in charge of mosques to confront the deviant thoughts. The minister talked about the problem of takfeer (flagging people as infidels) and the bombing which many Muslim countries suffer from. He said some young people were misled and taken to the realms of takfeer where they judged people, and even some leading scholars of Islam and scholars, as infidels. He added, "Hence, if the imam (prayer leader) and khateeb (preacher) don't move to teach the young people and know how to speak with them, they will become cells and we will not notice them. So, the imam and khateeb should be vigilant to those good young people and take them to the realms of knowledge, society, guidance and goodness." The minister added, "The takfeer and the subsequent bombing by those extremist outlaws should be confronted and we should work on immunizing the young people before they are influenced by others. If they come to the mosque, the imam and khateeb should pay careful attention to them. If the imam recognizes them, he should devise a sufficient program for them, talk with them and alert their parents and relatives or scholars in his area so that they don't become outlaws. Our message is to make people love their God, the Almighty, obey Him, then obey the Prophet, peace be upon him, and then adhere to the mainstream Muslims and always be with them." --more
