Two Saudi men watch the live bombardment of Baghdad on the Qatar-based Al-Jazeera satellite channel

RIYADH, March 23 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) - Saudi Arabia's grand mufti, the highest religious authority in the kingdom, appealed Sunday, March 23, for calm, patience and "obeying the leadership under all circumstances" in light of the U.S.-led war on Iraq.

"Amid such events, believers must be patient, composed and calm, and should reject baseless rumors," Sheikh Abdulaziz al-Sheikh told Okaz newspaper on how Muslims should react to the new conflict with neighboring Iraq, reported Agence France-Presse (AFP).

"We must also obey our leader under all circumstances, especially at times of hardship," he said, urging Saudi citizens to show unity and solidarity behind the government.

Don’t Rush For Jihad!

He also advised young Saudis not to rush to heed calls for jihad, or Muslim holy war. "No one rejects jihad. But what jihad, under what banner and conditions? "Who declares jihad?" the mufti asked.

"Jihad is declared by the imam of the ummah (a Muslim community) and its leader ... we should not drag ourselves into matters whose goals we are unaware of," he said.

Several groups and religious scholars in Saudi Arabia, the birth place of Islam, have called for jihad against the United States if it attacked Iraq.

Interior Minister Prince Nayef bin Abdul Aziz last week said he was unaware of reports that young Saudis had traveled to Iraq to fight the Americans, reported AFP.

Although no demonstrators have gone out on the streets of Saudi Arabia, the Saudi press have, ever since the U.S. war on Iraq started, blasted the U.S. and its allies.

‘What Good Can War Bring’: Press

On Sunday, the press warned of the catastrophic consequence for the war on Iraq and the whole region.

"What good can we hope to get from hundreds of thousands of soldiers spreading death and destruction on their way to Iraqi presidential palaces?" asked Okaz daily in an editorial.

"However the U.S.-British diplomacy tries to justify the strike and find a legal cover for it, it will fail to convince the world that it's a morally justified war against one member of the 'axis of evil'," the paper said, reported AFP.

The U.S.-British alliance will remain "exposed in the United Nations, before world public opinion and in front of their own people and the Arab and Muslim peoples," it added.

Al-Bilad daily warned that the scope of U.S. goals in waging war far exceeded Iraq, stretching to the region and the whole world.

"The U.S.-British war aims at reformulating the international law under which America and its allies will have a preferential status. The world will then be divided into two parts, one American," and the other non-American, it said.

English-language Riyadh Daily said the merciless bombardment will make Iraqis hate the Americans. "The merciless aerial pounding will make the Iraqis hate those who have been sending death to them and encourage them to offer resistance," the daily said.

‘Bloody Play’

Saudi Gazette questioned the future of the United Nations after the war. "Is the United Nations destined to go the way of the League of Nations of yore? This is the question on everyone's lips," the daily said. Other dailies called for protection for Iraqi civilians.

"It is unfortunate that the chapters of this bloody play are continuing, which means that losses will multiply and likewise the misery," Al-Jazirah daily said.

The same paper on Saturday, March 22, said that the world is "following the war which would not have been launched had not a handful of maniacs mastered the force and believed it is the only means to resolve disputes between nations."

"When human madness combines with oppressive power, the result will be oppression, destruction and bloodshed everywhere," the daily said.

On Sunday, the U.S. embassy in Riyadh and consulates in Jeddah and Dhahran announced a return to normal operations after a one-day closure due to heightened tension over the war with Iraq.

Mission employees and dependants however "will continue to restrict their movements to essential official and personal business only," a statement added. Mission children have been allowed to go to school.

The embassy and consulates were closed to the public on Saturday to "allow us to assess the security situation," in Saudi Arabia.

American citizens were warned Saturday that "the current hostilities may disrupt commercial air service temporarily."

About 30,000 to 40,000 Americans and around 30,000 Britons live and work in Saudi Arabia, many in the oil-rich Eastern Province around Dhahran.

The number of U.S. troops stationed in Saudi Arabia has doubled to more than 10,000 in the buildup to war, but Riyadh has repeatedly said it would not take part in military action against Iraq.

In response to a questions asking if Muslims are obliged to rebel against rulers who commit acts of disbelief and sin, IslamOnline's Fatwa Editing Desk said: "It is not right, at this crucial time that we need to defend the Muslim nation from those who plot against it, to be divided and each one of us fighting against the other. On the contrary, we want to join hands and put the heads together and stand one hand, rulers and subjects, against the wicked conspiracy against Islam and Muslims."

Shedding more light on this thorny issue, Sheikh Muhammad Saleh Al-Munajjid, a prominent Saudi Islamic lecturer and author states:

“The basic comprehensive principle of Shari`ah is that it is not permitted to remove an evil by means of a greater evil; evil must be warded off by that which will remove it or reduce it. Warding off evil by means of a greater evil is not permitted according to the scholarly consensus (Ijma`) of the Muslims.

"If removing a despotic ruler, who is openly committing Kufr, is possible, in the sense that it will pave way for a good and righteous person to replace the incumbent one without that leading to greater trouble for Muslims then that is okay.

"But if rebellion would result in greater trouble and lead to chaos, oppression and taking the lives of people with no right, and other forms of major evil, then that is not permitted. Rather it is essential to be patient and to hear and obey in matters of good, and to offer sincere advice to the authorities.

"Besides, one should pray for those rulers to be guided to the way that pleases Allah and bring welfare to the subjects. This is the correct way which should be followed, for it serves the general interests of the Muslims, helps reduce evil and increase good and makes peace prevail in society .”