Faizel Patel, 2016-03-02
Saudi Arabian scholar Sheikh Aaidh al-Qarnee and author of the book, “Don’t be Sad”, is recovering in hospital after he was shot and wounded in Zamboanga city in the Philippines.
It’s understood Qarnee had just delivered a lecture at the Western Mindanao State University yesterday when a man emerged from the crowd and shot him with a .45 calibre pistol.
The Guardian is reporting Qarni was shot in the right shoulder, left arm and chest while his companion, a Saudi embassy attaché, was wounded in his right thigh and left leg.
The Police’s Helen Limen Galvez says security forces killed the attacker.
“We pinned down the gunman. He’s dead.”
She says the gunman was apparently a Filipino and that two other Filipino men, residents of Zamboanga, were later arrested after eyewitnesses said they were with the attacker.
But Galvez did not immediately identify the gunman.
“We still do not know what this group is or the motives of the gunman,”
The Saudi embassy in Manila confirmed the incident but said none of Qarniee’s companions were wounded.
Saudi media have described Qarnee as a senior Islamic scholar with more than 12 million followers on Twitter.
Minutes before the incident, Qarnee tweeted: “Do not ask anyone about the level of his faith, but ask yourself about performing prayer, the frequent mention of God, relation with the Quran, guarding your tongue and the wellbeing of your heart.”
In his book Awakening Islam, the French academic Stephane Lacroix included Qarnee among “the most famous” Saudi preachers.
Qarniee’s name was among those of a number of Saudi scholars listed by ISIS in the latest issue of its monthly online magazine Dabiq in an article entitled “Kill the Imams of Kufr”.
ISIS accused the scholars of apostasy, and called on “lone wolves” to act against them.
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