muslim top cleric orders destruction of all churches in Arabian peninsula

5 March, 2012 - Saudi Arabia's highest Islamic authority said no Christian churches should be allowed in the Arabian Peninsula.

Sheikh Abdul Aziz bin Abdullah, the Saudi grand mufti, said it is "necessary to destroy all the churches in the region."

The sheikh was responding to a question by a delegation from Kuwait asking about a Kuwaiti parliamentarian's call to remove all churches there.

Abdullah cited an Islamic hadith quoting the prophet Mohammed on his deathbed, who said, "there are not to be two religions in the [Arabian] Peninsula," meaning only Islam can exist there.

Later the sheikh clarified his remark, saying that "Kuwait was a part of the Arabian Peninsula and therefore it is necessary to destroy all churches in it."

Christianity is forbidden in Saudi Arabia and there are no churches there.

Other nations included in the Arabian Peninsula are Yemen, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, Oman, and the United Arab Emirates.