Shaykh Maher Hammoud:

Arrest of Sheikh al-Assir turning point in Lebanon

Rasa – A senior Lebanese Sunni scholar has called ISIL terrorist Ahmad al-Assir and his supporters modern-day Kharijites and added that the arrest of the “Shaykh of Sedition” has opened a new page in the country’s political and religious arenas.

News ID: 3206

Date: 22 August 2015 - 23:09

RNA – Speaking on the Lebanese satellite channel al-Mayadeen, Shaykh Maher Hammoud, the general-secretary of Lebanon’s Union of Scholars in Support of the Islamic Resistance, stated that Ahmad al-Assir’s confession is based on my name being on the list of potential targets for assassination. “This announcement is not surprising because this cleric seeks only violence and the Lebanese security forces had warned me several times that Takfiri groups are planning to assassinate me,” he said.

al-Assir, a staunch supporter of the ISIL terrorist group, was detained at Beirut’s airport last week while he was trying to leave the country for Nigeria via Egypt in disguise. He was on a wanted list since June 2013 after clashes between his Takfiri followers and the Lebanese army claimed the lives of 18 soldiers in the southern Lebanon city of Sidon.

The Lebanese Sunni scholar added that he was the first person to expose al-Assir’s seditious actions. “He had several plans to assassinate me. The actions of such a ruthless person, who killed many security forces, is not unexpected.”

Shaykh Hammoud stressed that al-Assir and his supporters are modern-day Kharijites as they martyred Shaykh Muhammad Sa’id Ramadhan al-Bouti, a notable Syrian Sunni scholar and supporter of Bashir al-Asad’s government and condemned Takfiri terrorists.

“[al-Assir] enjoined Islamic acts of worship outwardly, such as fasting and prayer, but in reality, he had no faith in his heart and deviated from Islam. Without knowledge of politics, he suddenly entered the political arena and only received his information only from the enemies intelligence agencies. He did not even have any knowledge about religious issues,” he explained.

He stated that the capture of the “Shaykh of Sedition” opened a new chapter in the Lebanese political and religious arenas and led to the end of the seditious activity in Sidon which he managed. “The lies that have been raised about his arrest do not make any difference,” he said.

In another part of his speech, he referred to the crisis in Syria, saying: “Public thought has condemned that which has been introduced as a ‘Syrian Revolution.’ It is obvious to everyone that what is occurring in Syria is a great conspiracy to harm the Arab world and Islam.”

They also seek to harm the Syrian people and to weaken Syria’s position on Palestine and the Islamic Resistance. What is happening in Syria must not be considered as a revolution – it is a conspiracy and seditious move against this country.

Shaykh Hammoud referred to the actions of Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood in the in the region as a mistake, saying: “Unfortunately, due to the great void of religious culture in the Sunni communities in the region, including Egypt, an atmosphere of sedition has been created, which has led to the actions of Ahmad al-Assir and groups such as ISIL and the al-Nusrah Front.”

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