SHAME AND DISGRACE.

I was taken aback the other day when I read about the outburst of Shiekh al-Oreifi a Riyadh based Wahabi shiekh against Ayatollah Sistani. This is totally un called for. First of all I don't know whether al-Oreifi knows anything about Ayatollah Sistani other than what is reported in the media. What I want to bring to the notice of everyone is the level to which the dialogue and discorse in the muslim world has descended to. There have been two major consequences of the emergence of the Wahabi school 1) violence and 2) intolerance. I remember the days when I used to discuss religous matters and matters of differences with my Sunni brotheren The atmosphere used to be charged but one always made sure that amidst passionate discussions one strictly adhered to Islamic ethics of disagreement. At the end of the discussions we were left with no bitterness. The atmosphere was one of mutual respect if not love. The approach was "I give my point of view and you produce yours without any personal acrimony'. At the end both sides were satisfied that they elobarated their view point and it was the discretion of the other party whether they accepted or rejected. This atmosphere of mutual tolerance and these ethics of disagrrement have been abondoned since the Wahabi elements started gaining ascendency in the Sunni school of thought. Like Kharjites, intolerance is the essence of Wahabi approach. This is not dinegrating anyone. This is their general approach Like kharjites they start with a basic premise that they are the only ones who are right others are wrong. This might not be so bad but the worst part is their very low threshold of takfir. They feel no problem in declaring everyone who disagrees with them as either a kafir or a mushrik. Because of this arrogance and intolerance you cannot discuss with them. I feel that this attitude can be corrected only by our moderate and decent Sunni brotheren who I feel have been side-lined. It is their duty to come forward and censure these extremist elements and show them the path of reason and moderation. This attitude of Wahabis is creating problems even for us who follow the line of the Imams of Ahlulbait because it strengthens the ranks of the extremist elements even on this side of the sectarian divide. Shiekh al-Oreifi during hid friday prayer sermon called Ayatollah Sistani "an atheist debauch". I leave it to the discretion of my Sunni brethren to decide about this matter. In the mean time I would like to quote Albert Hubbard here who said " If you can't answer a man's arguments, all is not last; you can still call him vile names'. There is only one word to describe al-Oreifi's tirade SHAME.