a wall round the graves of the martyrs of Uḥud in order to keep people from entering and rubbing themselves against them. Claiming that the trappings of paganism are about to re-emerge in the land of monotheism under the present Saudi rule, they wrote— and I quote it verbatim (!) within parentheses:

“(Until last year, 1383 AH, there was no structure on the land that contains the grave of Ḥamzah and the other martyrs of Uḥud. This year, however, the Saudi government has erected on that site a wall of reinforced concrete, fitted with a large iron gate on the south side and an iron window at the far end of the eastern wall. When we saw this we regarded it as an evil portent and said, ‘This is a sign of impending trouble!’ It is quite possible that this is only a prelude to restoring the mosque and the domes over their graves, just as things were before the first Saudi rule, when the people were zealous for religion and lived by its rulings. This is the beginning of evil. If the matter continues in this way—showing laxity in applying the Law and daring to violate it—I would not be surprised if the manifestations of idolatry return to the land of tawḥīd, exactly as they existed before its rule.)”

Their words end here—words in which they abuse the scholars of the Kingdom and speak arrogantly of its officials.

I say, and Allah’s aid is sought: the hardest task is to debate someone who neither fears Allah nor hesitates to be obstinate, like the one who insists, “It is a goat, even if it flew!” For:

His claim, “I quote it letter for letter,” is an obvious lie; he has deleted phrases of mine with the sole purpose of misleading the reader and proving the alleged attack.

1 – After my words “lived by its rulings” I continued: “Yet Allah prevails over His affair. This is the beginning of evil, for I observed a breach in the window