The following are excerpts from an interview with Saudi cleric Abd Al-'Aziz Fawzan Al-Fawzan, that aired on Al-Majd TV on October 7, 2008.
Sheikh Al-Fawzan is a professor of Islamic law at Imam Muhammad bin SaudUniversity in Saudi Arabia. In the past, he taught at the Institute of Islamic and Arabic Sciences in America (IIASA). [1] Sheikh Al-Fawzan speaks frequently on Saudi TV, has previously made anti-Christian statements (see http://www.memritv.org/Transcript.asp?P1=992 ) and has called on Iraqis to wage jihad.
To view the MEMRI TV clip of the interview, visit http://www.memritv.org/clip/en/1888.htm.
"America is Collapsing, According to the Same Scenario of the Russian Collapse"
Abd Al-'Aziz Fawzan Al-Fawzan: "A few years ago, the Socialist Communist system ended in a devastating collapse, and it was followed by the Soviet republics one after another. Russia gave up its competition against American hegemony, and the United States became the unipolar leader ruling the world.
"Now, Allah be praised, America is collapsing, according to the same scenario of the Russian collapse.
[...]
"This tremendous economic power, which is unparalleled in history, was bound to collapse one day because it is based on injustice.
[...]
"Will the West acknowledge the collapse of capitalism? I am convinced that they will not. We are used to their obstinacy and arrogance. They always turn the facts upside down...
Interviewer: "But they will have to admit..."
Abd Al-‘Aziz Fawzan Al-Fawzan: "Now they have begun to adopt the principles of Islamic economy - only they do not call it "Islamic." The prohibition on short selling, the prohibition on the expanding and the selling of debts - this is Islam!" [...]
"These Criminals Want To Take Control Over The World, By Spreading Fear, Death, And Destruction"
"They committed crimes that only God knows of. Either they [the U.S] were accomplices in 9/11, or else they carried it out, even though they have deceived the world about this. They carried out many terror operations around the world, and the president of Yemen revealed two days ago that a terror cell that was captured was using Islamic slogans, but in fact belonged to Israeli intelligence.
"These criminals want to take control over the world, by spreading fear, death, and destruction, and at the same time, they give the impression that they are the victims. Because of 9/11, they killed millions of people, and if their skulls were placed one on top of the other, the pile would be higher than the WTC."
[1] http://www.islamway.com/?iw_s=Scholar&iw_a=info&scholar_id=334. On January 29, 2004, The Washington Post reported that the U.S. State Department had revoked the diplomatic visas of 16 people affiliated with the Institute for Islamic and Arabic Sciences in America, as part of a joint U.S.-Saudi attempt "to curb the spread of extremist Islamic rhetoric in this country and ensure that all Saudi Embassy employees are engaged in legitimate diplomatic activity." The paper went on to say that "the State Department's move to revoke the diplomatic status of institute staffers came after Riyadh decided that the institute and its staff would no longer be attached to the embassy," following "accusations that the institute, a satellite campus of al-Imam Muhammad Ibn Saud Islamic University in Riyadh, was promoting a brand of Islam that critics say is intolerant of other strains of the religion as well as Christianity and Judaism." The Washington Post, January 29, 2004.
