Houthis enemies of Islam: Osama-loving Pak cleric asks Muslims to back Saudi Arabia

A senior Pakistani Islamic cleric who was recently stripped of an award given by the UK's Archbishop of Canterbury for praising al-Qaida founder Osama bin Laden, and was accused of protecting a "blasphemy blackmail gang", has called the Iran-backed Shia militant group Anasar Allah (better known as the Houthis), "terrorists" who have "nothing to do with Islam".

According to a report by Pakistan's state-run news agency, Associated Press of Pakistan (APP), the remarks were made by Hafiz Muhammad Tahir Mehmood Ashrafi on Monday at a two-day conference titled, "The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia's Efforts in Countering/Confronting Intellectual (Ideological) Deviations", which was being held at the Islamic University of Medinah, Saudi Arabia.

Ashrafi is chairman of the Pakistan Ulema Council, a Pakistan-based Muslim clerics' organisation whose members include Islamic scholars and legal scholars from different Islamic traditions. The council was founded in the 1990s to promote religious and interfaith harmony in Pakistan.

Ashrafi was recently in the news after he received the 2026 Hubert Walter Award for reconciliation and interfaith cooperation from the Archbishop of Canterbury, Dame Sarah Mullally, on September 11, the 25th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks. But, days later on September 17, the award was withdrawn after his past remarks resurfaced in which Ashrafi had praised Osama bin Laden in 2007 for "fighting for Islam against the Russians, Americans and British," according to the BBC.

The UK-based Telegraph, meanwhile, reported on September 24 that Ashrafi had defended a criminal outfit accused of using blasphemy allegations to blackmail victims. The newspaper reported that the group was allegedly led by Ashrafi's brother.

Speaking at the conclusion of the two-day conference in Medina, Ashrafi framed the Houthis as being "backed by the enemies" of Saudi Arabia and declared them terrorists with "no connection to Islam".

"The terrorist Houthis have nothing to do with Islam," Ashrafi stated in a snippet of his speech that was uploaded on X by the news platform, Saudi News 50. For context, the Houthis, who have enjoyed backing from Iran for more than a decade, in a lightning offensive seized much of Yemen's Red Sea Coast and took control of the critical Bab-el-Mandeb Strait earlier this month. Since then, the Zaidi Shia group have been hammering Saudi infrastructure with periodic missile and drone strikes.

Referring to an incident on September 15, when Riyadh activated emergency alerts warning of a "potential danger" in the holy city of Mecca in the midst of a Houthi missile strike on Saudi targets, Ashrafi declared the Houthis as "true enemies of Islam and the enemies of the Ummah".

He added, "They dare to target Makkah and Madinah, a supreme transgression whereby their actions replicate the historical precedent of Abraha and the Army of the Elephant."

The Ansar Allah or the Houthis, according to Ashrafi, were "terrorists", who "rejected" generous Saudi assistance to Yemen.

"This war is not between two countries. It is waged by a terrorist faction and group that seeks to attack innocent people, targeting children, women, the elderly, and the youth in Yemen," Ashrafi stated, adding, "And what is the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia's crime? The Kingdom aids the Yemeni people with billions of dollars for security, stability, education, and healthcare, yet they [the Houthis] reject this."

The APP, meanwhile, reported Ashrafi as saying that the Houthis "invoked the names of Islam and Palestine, but allowed Israeli ships passage while targeting Saudi ships." Such conduct, he said, "had no connection with Islam, Islamic ethics or genuine support for the Palestinian people."PAKISTAN STANDS SHOULDER TO SHOULDER WITH SAUDI ARABIA, SAYS PAK CLERIC

Hafiz Muhammad Tahir Mehmoof Ashrafi also stated that Pakistan, which is a member of the Mecca Defence Alliance alongside Saudi Arabia and Turkey, would stand "shoulder-to-shoulder" with Riyadh in its conflict against the Houthis.

"Anyone who opposes the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia opposes Islam and all Muslims. Pakistan's government, armed forces, scholars and entire populace stand shoulder-to-shoulder with the Kingdom, led by the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, King Salman bin Abdulaziz, and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman," Ashrafi said in the speech on Monday.

That being said, while the chairperson of the Pakistan Ulema Council is thundering in Saudi Arabia that Pakistan would do all it could to protect the Kingdom, Islamabad has itself refuted calls from Riyadh to strike the Houthis in Yemen, instead saying any actions by Pakistani forces would be restricted to defending Saudi soil.

Beyond his remarks on the Houthis, the APP reported that Ashrafi said Pakistan had endured 45 years of conflict, with 100,000 Pakistanis falling victim to terrorism since 1990. He called for confronting groups that mislead young people "in the name of Islam and jihad", including the Taliban, al-Qaida, Daesh (ISIS) and the Houthis.

The Islamic cleric's remarks come at a time when Saudi Arabia is struggling to contain a newly resurgent Ansar Allah, or Houthis, which has seized large parts of Yemen.

The Houthis have, for their part, warned Pakistan not to get involved in the conflict with Mohammed al-Bukhaiti, a senior leader of the Ansar Allah, having stated earlier in September that, "By God, if Turkey or Pakistan get involved, we will strike them with an iron fist. And just as we are disciplining Saudi Arabia today, we will discipline them as well."- Ends(Written by: Shounak Sanyal)