Three suicide bombings in Saudi Arabia yesterday are the latest in a string of attacks by jihadists in the holy month of Ramadan. The Muslim world can only react with horror and disbelief because a month for prayer, piety and fostering brotherhood with people of all faiths has been turned into a month of mayhem and bloodshed. Hundreds of people have been killed and wounded in these attacks – in Orlando in the US, in Istanbul, in Dhaka, in Baghdad and now in Saudi, though the death toll in the Saudi attack is yet to be ascertained. It’s tragically ironic that a vast majority of the victims in these attacks are Muslims though their perpetrators claim to be defenders of the faith.
But the attacks in Saudi show that terrorism is entering a new, and its most dangerous, reprehensible phase. World’s Muslims are in a state of huge shock and anger that one of the three sites targeted yesterday was the Prophet’s Mosque in Madinah, one of the holiest sites in Islam. A suicide bomber detonated a device near the security quarters of the mosque. The other two blasts took place outside a Shia mosque in Qatif in eastern Saudi and near the US consulate in the Red Sea city of Jeddah. Eyewitnesses reported body parts at the attack site in Qatif.
The attack in Madinah conclusively proves what ordinary Muslims all over the world, their governments and religious leaders have been vociferously proclaiming all these years – that these terrorists have nothing to do with Islam, which is a religion of peace and harmony, and that they are driven by a deviant ideology which doesn’t have even the remotest connection with faith. The jihadists are out to achieve their nefarious agenda which could be political, sectarian or regional. They have now proved that no symbol or foundation of Islamic faith is beyond their reach. Which article of faith can they quote to justify an attack on Prophet’s Mosque, when the world’s Muslims have gathered there in piety and prayers and that too on the last day of the holy month of Ramadan when Muslims are preparing for Eid Al Fitr?
Though terrorist attacks have happened in Saudi before, coordinated and multiple attacks are rare, which show that militants have been able to establish a certain network. The Islamic world and the international community must stand in solidarity with Saudi in this time of crisis. The fight against terrorism will be long and difficult, but this is a war that we must win.
Three suicide bombings in Saudi Arabia yesterday are the latest in a string of attacks by jihadists in the holy month of Ramadan. The Muslim world can only react with horror and disbelief because a month for prayer, piety and fostering brotherhood with people of all faiths has been turned into a month of mayhem and bloodshed. Hundreds of people have been killed and wounded in these attacks – in Orlando in the US, in Istanbul, in Dhaka, in Baghdad and now in Saudi, though the death toll in the Saudi attack is yet to be ascertained. It’s tragically ironic that a vast majority of the victims in these attacks are Muslims though their perpetrators claim to be defenders of the faith.
But the attacks in Saudi show that terrorism is entering a new, and its most dangerous, reprehensible phase. World’s Muslims are in a state of huge shock and anger that one of the three sites targeted yesterday was the Prophet’s Mosque in Madinah, one of the holiest sites in Islam. A suicide bomber detonated a device near the security quarters of the mosque. The other two blasts took place outside a Shia mosque in Qatif in eastern Saudi and near the US consulate in the Red Sea city of Jeddah. Eyewitnesses reported body parts at the attack site in Qatif.
The attack in Madinah conclusively proves what ordinary Muslims all over the world, their governments and religious leaders have been vociferously proclaiming all these years – that these terrorists have nothing to do with Islam, which is a religion of peace and harmony, and that they are driven by a deviant ideology which doesn’t have even the remotest connection with faith. The jihadists are out to achieve their nefarious agenda which could be political, sectarian or regional. They have now proved that no symbol or foundation of Islamic faith is beyond their reach. Which article of faith can they quote to justify an attack on Prophet’s Mosque, when the world’s Muslims have gathered there in piety and prayers and that too on the last day of the holy month of Ramadan when Muslims are preparing for Eid Al Fitr?
Though terrorist attacks have happened in Saudi before, coordinated and multiple attacks are rare, which show that militants have been able to establish a certain network. The Islamic world and the international community must stand in solidarity with Saudi in this time of crisis. The fight against terrorism will be long and difficult, but this is a war that we must win.
