A Cry in the Desert

If you're reading this at work, you might want to use celo tape to keep your jaw shut for a couple of minutes so as not to attract any suspicion. This is huge.

MOUNT ARAFAT, Saudi Arabia (AP) -- Raising their hands to the sky, about 2 million Muslim pilgrims prayed for salvation Wednesday at Mount Arafat, where Saudi Arabia's top cleric said the greatest test for the nation of Islam comes from its sons who are "lured by the devil," a reference to violent Muslim militants.

Many pilgrims' eyes welled with tears as they prayed on the most critical day of the hajj, the annual pilgrimage the faithful believe will wipe away their sins.

While speaking at a mosque on the plain of Mount Arafat, Sheik Abdul-Aziz al-Sheik, the kingdom's grand mufti, referred to the violent campaign waged by Muslim militants affiliated with the al Qaeda terror network against targets in the kingdom, attacks Saudi authorities have been battling the past two years.

Al-Sheik said the greatest test for the Muslim nation is its own sons gone astray, and he warned them not to be used by enemies of the nation to weaken it.

"The greatest affliction to strike the nation of Islam came from some of its own sons, who were lured by the devil," he said. "They have called the nation infidel, they have shed protected blood and they have spread vice on earth, with explosions and destruction and killing of innocents."

Now, I don't agree with everything he has to say. For example...

Al-Sheik also said that campaigns were being waged against the people of Islam -- "military campaigns, thought campaigns, economic campaigns, and media campaigns.

"They are all against this religion. The nation was described as a terrorist nation, that we are terrorists and backward," he said. "Conferences have been held and conspiracies have been woven ... all unjustly and unfairly."

Al-Sheik urged worshippers to abide the words of God and his prophet and not be "fooled by a civilization known for its weak structure and bad foundation."

... that. What's important, though, is that Saudi Arabia's highest-ranking cleric has said that the violence and destruction caused by Islamofascist "militants" and "insurgents" (terrorists) is an affront to Islam. He can claim that Western Civilization is weakly structured and backward, and that the criticisms of Islam are unfair; I can respectfully disagree with that, and believe that he has no clue. The important part is that he and I, and most of the rest of the world, can agree that there is no place for the violence being waged against innocent people in the name of Islam. In fact, this basically demonstrates Usama bin Laden's stated goal of attacking any and all Americans, military or civilian, male or female, adult or child, is bollocks when it comes to Quranic backing.

If you ask me, this is a big deal.