Fatwa issued by top Saudi scholar says Muslims can pray in churches and synagogues

Nov 14, 2017 by Jill

by Jardine Malado, The Christian Times:

A top Saudi scholar has issued a fatwa, or a religious advisory opinion, stating Muslims may pray in Shiite or Sufi mosques, as well as churches or synagogues.

Abdullah bin Sulaiman Al-Manea, a member of the Council of Senior Scholars, said that Muslims should feel comfortable praying in houses of worship of other religious groups, noting that all land belongs to God.

“The earth has been made a place of prostration and a means of purification for me,” the scholar said, citing the words of the Islamic Prophet Muhammad.

He contended that Islam is a religion of coexistence, adding that Muslims cannot have differences in the basic principles of the Islamic creed, but they may differ in branches.

Al-Manea also referenced an account when Muhammad reportedly received a delegation of Christians in his mosques and allowed them to pray facing Jerusalem.

He stressed that Islam was able to spread in many countries because of the good manners of Muslim merchants, which attracted the people to embrace the religion.

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