Shaikh Al Faleh, Deputy Director of the Prophet's Mosque, and others visit a man who was injured when a suicide bomber attacked a Jeddah mosque on Monday, at a hospital in Medina, Saudi Arabia. AP/SPA
Jeddah - Muslim world unites to condemn deadly attack near Prophet Muhammad's mosque in Saudi Arabia.
Published: Tue 5 Jul 2016, 1:42 PM
Updated: Wed 6 Jul 2016, 10:13 AM
The Muslim world has united to condemn a deadly attack at one of Islam's holiest sites - the Prophet's Mosque in the Saudi city of Madinah.
World leaders, politicians, groups and activists expressed their outrage on Tuesday, a day after terrorist bombings in Saudi Arabia, one of which targeted security forces near Al Haram Al Nabawi, which resulted in four security men being killed and others injured, in addition to the other two blasts near Al Qatif.
A spokesman for Saudi Arabia's interior ministry described the triple bombings as "despicable acts that did not respect the sanctity of place, time and innocent people".
Read: Jeddah suicide bomber was a Pakistani
Here are some of the reactions from around the world following the suicide attacks.
UAE condemns; stresses terrorists have nothing to do with Islam
The United Arab Emirates has strongly condemned the despicable terrorist attacks which hit the cities of Saudi Arabia.
Shaikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan, UAE Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, said:
"We stand in solidarity with our brothers in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in their fight against the crimes of terrorism whose goals are to spread fear, takfir (branding others as infidels) and incite strife".
"Based on this fact, we believe that these crimes target the United Arab Emirates, its cities and people. We are fully confident that the Saudi leadership will be able to eliminate the threat posed by terrorism and all its forms and manifestations, and that this deviant group of people will not succeed in achieving its goals, thanks to national solidarity and cohesion which recognises the futility of their goals, blood-thirsty crimes as well as the deviance of their claims."
Shaikh Abdullah stressed that Islam has nothing to do with this deviant and extremist ideology that has nothing to do with this religion nor with our traditions and history.
Muslim Council of Elders condemns attacks in Saudi Arabia
The Muslim Council of Elders has condemned in the strongest terms the despicable terrorist attacks which hit the Saudi cities, leaving a number of security officers dead and wounded.
In a statement, the council, headed by Grand Imam of Al Azhar, Shaikh Ahmed El Tayeb, stressed that
"The perpetrators of these villainous attacks which shed the blood of innocent people and violated the sanctity of places where Allah is worshipped, have neither ethics nor conscience and are not deterred by religion from killing innocent people and bomb the most sacred places on Earth."
It added: "Allah Almighty threatens to afflict those, who seek to wreak havoc on the Prophet's Mosque and other mosques, with disgrace in this life and the worst torment in the afterlife." The Council extended condolences to the King, government and people of Saudi Arabia and the families of the victims of the attacks.
Mohammed bin Jassim Al Thani, the foreign minister of Qatar
Nawaz Sharif, Prime minister, Pakistan
Joko Widodo, the president of Indonesia, tweeted:
Najib Razak, the Malaysian prime minister
Melvut Cavusoglu, the Turkish foreign minister
Here's what the celebrities had to say:
Film celebrities like Adnan Sami, Hansal Mehta and Ali Zafar on Tuesday condemned the blasts which took place near mosques in the holy Saudi city of Medina and in Qatif.
Shock, disappointment from worshippers
Worshippers across the world expressed shock that such a prominent holy site could be targeted.
"That's not an act that represents Islam," said Altayeb Osama, a 25-year old Sudanese visitor to Madinah and resident of Abu Dhabi who heard two large booms about a minute apart as he was heading toward the mosque for sunset prayers on Monday.
"People never imagined that this could happen here." The Prophet's Mosque was packed on Monday evening with worshippers during the final days of the holy month of Ramadan, which ends in the Kingdom on Tuesday.
Local media say the attacker was intending to strike the mosque when it was crowded with thousands of worshippers gathered for the sunset prayer. Qari Ziyaad Patel, 36, from Johannesburg, South Africa, was at the mosque when he heard a blast just as people were breaking their fast with dates.
Many at first thought it was the sound of traditional, celebratory cannon fire, he said. "I actually felt the ground shake," he said.
"The vibrations were very strong. ... It sounded like a building imploded." State-run news channel Al Ekhbariya aired live video of the mosque filled with worshippers praying hours after the explosion.
The attack in the eastern region of Qatif did not appear to cause any injuries, said resident Mohammed Al Nimr. His brother, prominent Saudi cleric Nimr Al Nimr, was executed in January after a court found him guilty of sedition and inciting violence for his role in anti-government protests - charges his supporters reject.
The Interior Ministry said it was working to identify the remains of three bodies at the site of blast, suggesting there may have been three attackers.
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