Abdul Rahman Al-Rashid

It was not the loss of members of their organization, the failure of their plans or seizure of their stockpiles of weapons that has left the Takfiriyeen — those that turn other Muslims into apostates — and all those that back them in a state of shock and dismay. It was the loss of the two aces in their pack.

These were the two most eminent religious authorities on whom they had relied so heavily in the past to prod people into joining their ranks, donate money to the cause and incite young men to kill in the name of jihad.

The two sheikhs were as shocked as millions around the world by the bombings of the Al-Muhaya compound in Riyadh, and they very publicly renounced their previously held beliefs on Saudi television.

After the appearance of sheikhs Ali Al-Khudair and, later, Nasser Al-Fahd in interview with Sheikh Ali Al-Qarni, the preachers of takfeer were left in a state of disarray.

Some have mockingly said that perhaps the next retraction would come from their third sheikh, Ahmad Al-Khalid.

The scholars came under fierce verbal attack: “When will certain preachers and sheikhs awaken from their slumber?” — “Will the people of the peninsula not fear God?” This of course begs the question: Is there anyone left that hasn’t been turned into an infidel or made to look foolish?

One person expressed the feelings of many: “People were truly shocked at the interview with Ayed Al-Qarni because Ayed was greatly loved.”

What then of the sheikhs that turned on their own? A member of the group at first defended Sheikh Al-Khudair saying that he was being too hastily stigmatized and turned from a believer into a hypocrite. But then he became more aggressive, attacking and mocking him: “If the sheikh really believed what he said, he has condemned himself to ‘kufr’ (disbelief).

“Anyone who claims that Turki Al-Hamad and Mansour Al-Naqeedan are apostates is no longer an upright person and his fatwas (edicts) can no longer be accepted.”

He went on to say that the sheikh condemned himself to ignorance, “putting out dangerous fatwas and then backing away from them. He is naive and gullible.”

He closed by demanding that Al-Khudair be punished. “He admits that he contributed to besmirching the face of Islam and the reputation of scholars — therefore he must be punished. It is everyone’s duty to pay no attention to such nonsense.”

Where is the nonsense? What the sheikh said when he declared killing lawful or when he confessed that it was forbidden?

The reality is that these people have been forsaken by their sheikhs and no longer have an audience. They have exhausted their standing as scholars, seekers of knowledge, volunteers and financers.