Yemen Scholars Association rejects statement by Saudi Council of Senior Scholars
The Yemen Scholars Association has rejected a statement by the Saudi Council of Senior Scholars, accusing it of spreading false allegations against Yemen, including claims that it targeted Mecca and Medina, and of labeling Yemen as a terrorist state in line with Israeli and US rhetoric.
The association also condemned the statement’s call for Muslims to fight Yemen under the pretext of defending Islamic holy sites.
In a statement, the association said the Saudi council’s position directly rejected Al-Azhar Grand Imam’s call to form a committee of wise and sincere figures from Arab , Islamic countries to end wars and divisions and promote Muslim unity. The association and the Sanaa government had welcomed the initiative.
The association said the Saudi scholars should fear God and refrain from spreading false accusations to incite Muslims against one another, a move it said serves Israel’s interests.
It added that they should instead urge the Saudi regime to maintain good-neighborly relations, lift its blockade and end its aggression against the Yemeni people, stop financing and mobilizing its supporters inside Yemen to fuel divisions, and refrain from seeking assistance from Jews and Christians in its aggression.
The Yemen Scholars Association reiterated its rejection of dragging holy sites into suspicious political agendas that ultimately serve the Zionist project, stressing that holy sites are too sacred and precious to be used for such nefarious purposes.
The following is the full text of the statement:
Praise be to Allah, Lord of the Worlds, and peace and blessings be upon our Master, the Messenger of Allah, his pure family, his righteous companions, and all those who follow them in righteousness until the Day of Judgment.
The Yemen Scholars Association has reviewed the statement issued by the Saudi Council of Senior Scholars, which repeated blatant falsehoods and grave slander against Yemen, the land of faith and wisdom, accusing it of targeting Mecca, Medina, and other allegations. The statement also branded Yemen as a terrorist entity, echoing the rhetoric of the Israeli and American enemies, and called on Muslims to fight Yemen under the pretext of defending Islamic holy sites.
While categorically rejecting the statement in its entirety, the Yemen Scholars Association affirms the following:
1. The Association considers the Saudi Council of Senior Scholars’ statement an explicit rejection and direct response to Al-Azhar Grand Imam’s call to form a committee of wise, reasonable, and sincere figures from various Arab and Islamic countries to end wars and disputes and promote brotherhood and religious bonds among Muslims. The Association welcomed this initiative, as did the government in Sana’a.
2. The Saudi Council of Senior Scholars should have exercised restraint and feared Allah instead of making such grave false accusations against the people of faith and wisdom by repeating the lie that they had attempted to target the Islamic holy cities of Mecca and Medina. Such allegations are intended to incite Muslims to fight one another, ultimately serving the Zionist enemy.
Instead, the Council should have called on the Saudi regime to maintain good-neighborly relations, lift its blockade, and end its aggression against the Yemeni people. It should also have urged the regime to stop using its money to mobilize mercenaries inside Yemen and foment discord among Yemenis and Muslims, and to refrain from seeking the assistance of Jews , Christians in its aggression and transgressions.
Allah Almighty says: “Those who convey the messages of Allah and fear Him and fear none but Allah. And sufficient is Allah as a Reckoner.”
3. The Association questions where the Saudi Council of Senior Scholars was when the Saudi regime disrespected the Holy Kaaba by creating a replica around which atheist women danced. Where were they when the world saw a piece of the Kaaba’s covering beneath the feet of the Zionist criminal Epstein? Why did we not hear their voices when Trump posted an image of a garbage bin and likened it to the Kaaba? What is their position on the so-called General Entertainment Authority, which promotes immorality , vice and spreads reprehensible acts witnessed by the Muslim world in the Land of the Two Holy Mosques? And what is their position on the Saudi regime’s imprisonment of numerous scholars?
Allah Almighty says: “Indeed, those who conceal the clear proofs and guidance that We sent down, after We made them clear for people in the Book, those are cursed by Allah and cursed by those who curse, except for those who repent, reform, and make things clear. It is they to whom I turn in forgiveness, and I am the Most Accepting of Repentance, the Most Merciful.”
Where did they stand regarding the heinous crimes committed by the Zionist enemy in Gaza, which it continues to commit to this day against our brothers in Gaza and Palestine, including killing, destruction, desecration of holy sites, siege, and starvation? Is Al-Aqsa Mosque considered an Islamic holy site in their view, or not?
4. Yemeni scholars reject the exploitation of holy sites for dubious political purposes that ultimately serve the Zionist project. Holy sites are far too sacred and precious to be used for such nefarious ends.
5. Anyone genuinely zealous about Islamic holy sites does not endorse fabrications and lies for political purposes or to incite discord. If their concern were sincere, it would be directed toward the sacred Al-Aqsa Mosque, which remains under Jewish occupation and is subjected to daily Zionist violations.
6- Calling on Muslims to fight Yemen, the land of faith and wisdom, serves the Israeli and American enemy. The Association stresses that the true duty of all Muslims is to stand united against the Israeli enemy, which is attacking Al-Aqsa Mosque, Gaza, Palestine, Lebanon and Syria, and threatening Egypt, Jordan , the region under the pretext of a “Middle East transformation” and the so-called “Greater Israel” project. This is the real threat to Mecca and Medina. The difference between the Saudi Council of Senior Scholars’ call and that of the Association is immense. Allah Almighty says: “The blind and the seeing are not equal, nor are those who believe and do righteous deeds and those who do evil. Little do you reflect.”
7- The statement issued by the Saudi Council of Senior Scholars reflects nothing but personal whims, contradicts divine guidance, and serves only the interests of rulers of injustice, tyranny, extravagance and normalization. It fully aligns with the hegemonic agenda, its propaganda, falsehoods, pretexts for invading , occupying Muslim countries, subjugating their peoples, and making them serve anyone but Allah.
8- The Association calls on scholars, reasonable people and wise figures in southern Yemen, as well as all our brothers in the occupied areas, to protect their children and refrain from involving them in serving the Saudi enemy. It warns against joining its ranks and its sectarian mobilization campaigns, and urges them not to believe the voices of extremism and sedition in the south that brand millions of Yemenis as infidels , accuse them of polytheism in the service of oppressive rulers and advocates of global hegemony.
Issued by the Association of Yemeni Scholars
11 Jumada Al-Awwal 1448 AH
October 22, 2026