Oman’s chief cleric to Echourok: Muslims have to unite around one goal

The cleric of the Sultanate of Oman Echeikh Ahmed Ben Hamed Al Khellili has indicated in a lengthy interview with Echourok that the major threat that undermines the Islamic nation’s unity is the ethnic groups’ dissentions, adding that the sole beneficiary of this conflict is the enemy.

• He also asserted that the problem of terrorism should be dealt with from its roots starting with teaching people the right principles and forcing the regimes and the leaders to abide by the Islamic law which is the solution for all the problems.
• Q: The Islamic nation is divided against itself due to deep ethnic dissentions putting its future at stake, what’s your opinion about this issue?
• A: The Islamic nation has to work for the benefit of its people and vice versa, what leads to dissention is forbidden by God and Muslims alike and whoever tries to tear apart the unity of the nation using the sensitive string of ethnicity and ideology is actually weakening the nation.
• Q: Who is taking advantage of this situation?
• A: The sole beneficiary is the enemy who is working on disbanding the links and tearing apart this unity to weaken the Islamic nation. The Islamic world has nothing to gain from these dissentions.
• Q: Some say Muslims have to either follow the same ideology or wage a war against each other, is there any other option?
• A: I don’t see any outlet for this problem but reconciliation between the different parties, there must a common hope for a common suffering and one vision as well as one principle. Reconciliation doesn’t exclude differences of opinions; there were many among the Prophet’s close followers but they have never split.
• Q: How do you see the conflict between the “Ibadhi” and “Maliki” trends in Algeria?
• A: Algeria has one people sharing the same goal, the Algerian people has to work for ingraining reconciliation as it was before. When I heard about the conflict between these two groups I sent a letter warning them of the aftermath of this crisis; I’m calling on the wise men from both sides to work for settling the conflict.
• Q: What would be your message for the young Muslims and the Arab regimes? 
• A: I would simply advise them to get back to their religion and follow the prophet’s model (PBUH) and most importantly bare the route for the ignorant who use religion for their own purposes.