Saudi Gazette report

ABHA — The imam and khateeb of Al-Zainab Mosque in the southern city of Namas has said he was attacked while he was preparing to deliver the sermon the other Friday by a fellow member of his own tribe probably because he spoke against Saudi citizens who helped foreigners to illegally run businesses in the country under the "tastattur" arrangement in his sermon the previous week.

A tasattur operation is a business arrangement where foreigners run and control a business in exchange for a fixed regular payment to the registered Saudi owner. Such arrangements violate investment and trade regulations in the Kingdom.

The imam was stabbed inside the mosque by one of the worshippers after he climbed to the podium to deliver the Friday sermon.

Speaking to the Arabic newspaper Makkah about the attack from his hospital bed in Namas, a famous tourist city in the Asir province, the imam confirmed that the attacker was a member of his own tribe and they never had any disagreement in the past.

He said the man was previously diagnosed with psychological problems.

"It never occurred to me that such an attack would take place inside the mosque. The assailant had acted weirdly during the sermon the previous Friday when I talked about the danger of tasattur business cover-ups," the imam said.

"He was sitting in the middle of the mosque. He suddenly stood up and interrupted the sermon to voice his objection to what I said and then walked away," he added.

"On the day of the attack, I came to the mosque through the special door for the imam in front and took my seat on the podium waiting for the call for prayer to end to start the sermon. I saw the would-be assailant sitting in the front row wearing a knife around his waist, which is normal practice for many people in the south," the imam said.

However, the man suddenly stood up and stormed through the door holding the knife in his hand, said the imam.

"I was shocked to see him in front of me and he stabbed me in the shoulder. Other worshippers came to my rescue. They overpowered him and then handed him over to the police," the imam said.

The imam was discharged from the hospital later after given necessary treatment as the wound was not life-threatening.