By Mustafa Abu Amsha, IOL Correspondent

RIYADH – A galaxy of prominent Saudi scholars has spoken out against insults by a Saudi preacher for Iraq’s top Shiite authority Grand Ayatollah Ali Al-Sistani, asserting that sowing division between Sunnis and Shiites plays into the hands of Islam’s enemies.

"Muslims should have a candid dialogue without directing insults and affronts," Sheikh Abd Al-Muhsin Al-’Abikan told Islmonline.net.

Muhammad Al-’Arifi, an imam at Riyadh’s central mosque, had delivered a sermon about the Houthis Shiite rebel group, which is fighting the Yemeni government and has clashed with Saudi troops.

He criticized the Houthis for choosing Sistani as a mediator to help solve the political stand-off, dismissing the revered Shiite scholar as an "infidel and debauched."

Saudi Arabia was drawn into the conflict between the Yemeni government and the Shiite rebels last October after a Saudi border guard was killed and two villages were briefly seized by the rebels.

"The pulpits of mosques shouldn’t see such controversies," stressed Sheikh Al-’Abikan, who is also a royal advisor.

"Muslims should opt for dialogue, and avoid reasons of discord."

Other prominent scholars and thinkers agreed, saying the inappropriate remarks are impermissible from a Shari`ah point of view.

"Calling somebody an infidel or disbeliever is a very serious matter," Mohammed Mousa Al-Sharif, a prominent Islamic thinker, told IOL.

"One needs clear evidence to make such a judgment and if there is not, then it is impermissible."

Harmful

Ali Badahdah, a prominent Saudi preacher, said Al-’Arifi’s remarks were inappropriate.

"Some international and regional powers could use such discords to attack Saudi Arabia not only as a state but as a symbol of Sunni Islam."

Al-’Arifi’s comments already drew political fire.

Iraqi President Jalal Talabani has called on Saudi King Abdullah bin Abdel Aziz to intervene and stop insults against Iraq’s revered Shiite scholar.

"The insult to Sistani causes division and quarrel that sparked the flames in Iraq, Saudi Arabia and other countries," he wrote in a letter to the monarch.

Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki had also slammed the comments as "hateful and hostile."

The Iraqi parliament has urged the umbrella Arab League and the Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC) to condemn the remarks.

Grand Mufti of Saudi Arabia Sheikh Abdulaziz Aal al-Sheikh stressed that those delivering Friday sermons should take into account the intellectual level of worshippers.

"The educated and the ignorant come together to the mosque…and they have different capabilities with regards to comprehending [complex issues]. Everybody should leave the mosque with a [positive] result."