Saudi Arabia has appointed Sheikh Saleh bin Fouzan Al-Fouzan as the new Grand Mufti of the kingdom

saudi arabia Late Wednesday night a prominent ultra-Orthodox scholar was appointed the country’s new Grand Mufti, the kingdom’s top religious scholar.

Sheikh Saleh bin Fouzan al-Fouzan, 90, took up the post, the state-run Saudi Press Agency reported. This decision was taken by King Salman on the basis of the recommendation of his son Crown Prince. mohammed bin salmanThe report said.

Sheikh Saleh, who was born on September 28, 1935 in Saudi Arabia’s Al-Qassim province, reportedly studied the Quran with a local imam after his father’s death. He became a prominent scholar who spoke to believers through the “Nur Ala al-Darb” or “Light the Way” radio show and through the numerous books he wrote and television programs. His fatwas, or religious orders, have also been shared via social media.

Sheikh Saleh has faced criticism in the Western media for some of his pronouncements in the past. Human Rights Watch reported in 2017 that when Sheikh Saleh was asked whether Sunni Muslims should view Shias as their “brothers”, he replied: “They are brothers of the devil.”

Shia “lie.” GodHuman Rights Watch separately quoted Sheikh Saleh as saying at another moment, “Their Prophet, and the consensus of the Muslims… There is no doubt about the disbelief of these people.”

Such comments about Shias from religious leaders are common in Saudi Arabia, especially amid political tensions between the kingdom and Iran. Sheikh Saleh also criticized Yemen’s Houthi rebels for firing missiles towards holy sites in the kingdom.

In 2003, Sheikh Saleh was quoted as saying: “Slavery It is a part of Islam. Slavery is a part of Jihad and as long as Islam exists, Jihad will remain.

The Sheikh also issued a fatwa in 2016 to ban the mobile game “Pokémon Go” as a form of gambling. Saudi Arabia, under the leadership of Crown Prince Mohammed, now owns a majority stake in the gaming division of Nintendo and Niantic, the maker of “Pokemon Go.”

Sheikh Saleh took over the position in September following the death of Sheikh Abdulaziz bin Abdullah al-Sheikh, who held the position of Grand Mufti for a quarter of a century.

The al-Shaykh family, descendants of Sheikh Mohammed ibn Abdul-Wahhab, had long seen their members serve as grand muftis. Sheikh Mohammed’s ultraconservative teachings of Islam in the 18th century, widely known as “Wahhabism” after him, had guided the state for decades, particularly after the 1979 Islamic Revolution in Iran as the state became even more conservative.

The Grand Mufti is one of the top Islamic clerics in the Sunni Muslim world. Saudi Arabia, home to the holy cities of Mecca and Medina, hosts the annual Hajj pilgrimage required once in their lives for all able-bodied Muslims, making the grand mufti’s pronouncements more closely followed.

Saudi Arabia has liberalized socially under King Salman, allowing women to drive and opening movie theaters as the country tries to shift its economy away from the dominance of its oil industry.