Saudi regulates fatwa issuing

One down.. ;)

Controversial Royal Court adviser Sheikh Abdul Mohsen Al-Obaikan has been stopped from presenting his daily morning radio show after King Abdullah restricted the issuance of fatwas to certain scholars.

Sources at Qur’an Radio said the sheikh was stopped from going on air as he used to issue fatwas to members of the public. In a royal decree from the king, only members of the Council of Senior Islamic Scholars (CSIS) can issue fatwas.

The sources also said another live daily program from Sheikh Abdullah Al-Rukban, a former member of the CSRS, was also taken off air as it was similar to Al-Obaikan’s show.

Al-Obaikan used to appear every day on the program “Fatwas on Air” to answer queries and issue rulings on a number of contemporary Islamic issues.

the sex thing or the women priests?

The vatican just released a report saying that they need to put the sex abuse episode behind them and deal with it quicker in future and in the same document they said they must stand firm against women preists at all costs!! Shocking.

blasphemy is not in the dictionary of the Catholic Church!

You're right. Its disgraceful that the catholic church will not ordain female priests or bishops yet covers up systematic child abuse for years. Its a corrupt institution whose time has passed.

Heero

isn't this funny to you those who can't accept woman as pope but often do cry for women rights?

I was thinking the exact same thing:-)

Eco having rules etiquette law discipline as a part of your life does not make you any superior enough to be so judgmental and harsh on the ummah!!!!!!!

"BARELVI self" bad judgement again

Now what will happen to the 'adult breast feeding program' fatwa?

life. So dont worry I dont get choked with rules. What I dont like is double standards. hope you will keep your barelvi self chained for few more days

Eco I know ur zakir naik thread got deleted by mod ......I pity you for posting mods message in every forum........I pry that may ALLAH bless you with some politeness and soft heart

discussion.

Eco you should know the rules by now. Religious teachings is a good place to dump the loony preachers that bore everyone else, not for topics that are actually interesting.....

Mods message

Remember, Qatar Living is for people of all ages, nationalities, cultures and religions!

Threads about religion should be posted only in the Religious Teachings group, where all are welcome to further others understanding and have discussions.

Funny...and somewhat ironic...

It'll be a fight to the death..... The Saudi reformation

Mods message

Remember, Qatar Living is for people of all ages, nationalities, cultures and religions!

Threads about religion should be posted only in the Religious Teachings group, where all are welcome to further others understanding and have discussions.

MAKKAH: Grand Mosque Imam and Khatib Sheikh Saleh bin Abdullah bin Humaid used his first Friday sermon of the holy month of Ramadan to praise the royal decree banning unqualified people from issuing fatwas.

"Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah has safeguarded the process of issuing fatwas and protected Shariah law from infringements of unqualified people who deviate from the path of the Prophet (peace be upon him) and his true followers," said the sheikh, who is also chairman of the Supreme Judicial Council.

http://arabnews.com/saudiarabia/article101789.ece

Many editorials welcomed the Saudi king decree, while many conservative Saudis expressed their resentment over twitter. Extreme salafis in a famous local Internet forum " qatar shares" debated the decree and accused those who supported the decree of being secular.

I think local conservatives are so naive to think that the Saudi king had gave in to the liberals. It's all a matter of politics I guess, Only time can till

As written in the OP, the fatwas were spread online as explained also by fathimaH. With the very limited freedom of expression through the press in the entire region. Most people in our region now get their information online. Over the past two years ,tens of public forums, FB groups & blogs were created. Each with it's own agenda. Clash of ideologies (liberal & salafi) took place in both online & printed media. Most notably in Saudi, Kuwait and Qatar. Governments in the region started to get attention to those forums(specially in Saudi ) after the issuance of takfeeri fatwas

A wise move by the King....at last.

Shukran habibthy...Alhamdullilah truly truly happy to hear that. I do make much dua to Allah to give me the ability to say what's right so I will not misguide anyone. So if I've achieved this Maashallah,I'm thrilled!

We can only hope & pray for the future. But as of today Mashallah the grand mufti, Abdul-Azeez ibn Abdullaah Aal ash-Shaikh, hafidhullah, and his council are truly capable of handling such tasks under pressure, and Allah knows best.As I stated before fatwas are issued based on the teachings of the Quran & Sunnah and on the current state of the world.The scholars upon the haq, excel at this. They know how best to advice the king & the lay man. Just as the scholars of the past have. One must understand the manhaj of advising a ruler or a scholar is far different than advising a layman. So while it may seem to some like the scholars are "puppets" to the rulers (as many ignorant folks claim)the truth is they know the manhaj/method of giving dawah and issuing fatwas to each individual in the light of the sunnah and for the betterment of the ummah in todays world. They are the experts and may Allah grant them success to do what's right and not fear the blame of the blamer..Aameen!

Deleted

for your input in all the so called "religeous" and "arab" forums.... you really do put everything so simply and clearly, that even someone like me who has a hard time understanding things sometimes, can understand. And not once have I ever known you to be judgemental:-) You are a breath of fresh air.

Alhamdillilah that you decided to join QL when you did, I have learnt so much from you over the last few weeks:-)

Thank you Genesis, very informative as always.

See anyone can get a platform & start preaching about. But why action had to be taken was because these individuals were suddenly getting "heard" around the world & people were attributing these wacky so called fatwas as "accepted" by the Saudi govt! Example being the whole "breast feeding" controversy. Around the world it was spreading that "Saudi" deems it acceptable for women to breastfeed grown men and not just some so called "scholar" ! Subhanallah!

I also heard that the Friday sermon has to be cleared through the Ministry of religious affirs or the interior ministry.

However, these clerics have always been pretty free to do what they want and have a following...

Brit,Fatimah & Genesis

I'm no one to ask, but since genesis has started this topic i've a little query.

If a society is so restricted for Jumma Khutaba's, then how come a cleric is free for issuing a Fatwa specially in Arab world and particularly in Gulf?

I wonder how he talks to his family, does he call his daughters whor-es and his brothers pimps....

I think he needs to get out more. I'd love to take him to a gay pride, feminist rally in San Fransisco and I'll even buy the coffee....

Not to mention, he describes men who approves gender mixing as pimps!!!

Thanks genesis that man calls a lot of people infidels and says a lot of people should be put to death! In his world the earths population would be about 20 million....

The fatwa was against gender mixing

As reported in the news, A prominent Saudi cleric has issued an edict calling for opponents of the kingdom's strict segregation of men and women to be put to death if they refuse to abandon their ideas.

http://www.alarabiya.net/articles/2010/02/24/101355.html

Shaikh Abdul-Rahman al-Barrak said in a fatwa the mixing of genders at the workplace or in education "as advocated by modernisers" is prohibited because it allows "sight of what is forbidden, and forbidden talk between men and women."

"Whoever allows this mixing ... allows forbidden things, and whoever allows them is an infidel and this means defection from Islam ... Either he retracts or he must be killed ... because he disavows and does not observe the Shariah," Barrak said.

"Anyone who accepts that his daughter, sister or wife works with men or attend mixed-gender schooling cares little about his honor and this is a type of pimping," Barrak said.

The monarch dismissed a cleric from a top council of religious scholars in October after he demanded that religious scholars vet the curriculum at a new flagship mixed-gender university.

In 2008, Barrak issued a fatwa that two Saudi writers should be tried for apostasy for their "heretical articles" and put to death if they did not repent after the two wrote articles that questioned the Sunni Muslim view in Saudi Arabia that Christians and Jews should be considered unbelievers.

He has also denounced Shiite Muslims as "infidels" in another edict that coincided with sectarian tensions in Iraq.

"" Whoever allows this mixing ... allows forbidden things, and whoever allows them is an infidel and this means defection from Islam ... Either he retracts or he must be killed ... because he disavows and does not observe the Shariah " Classic khawaarij mentality!

Thanks genesis.......those were few very harsh words I would say, very much an extreme approach.

its puzzling why these "xenophobics" have a problem with the attractions of Ramadan tents being called "local culture" As long as they don't claim to be "Islamic culture" what's the problem? Of course its known these tents are not aimed at the "religious" so its only natural to feature such activities. Such people should in that case have a problem about 5 star hotels in general,right? Guess they just woke up...lol

Thanks Brit....That is a great news.

A positive step towards moving ahead. Hope the Fatwa would be issued about serious and real issues now rather than on every other topics. Well done.

KAUST is the first university in Saudi Arabia where boys and girls will study together.

This caused some clerics to issue fatwas that this was against Islam and the culture of the country.

Good move no doubt....

And what was that gender mixing fatwa issued few months back?? Was it for or against gender mixing?

While Saudi took a giant leap to curb the extreme ideology , an extreme xenophobic ideology is growing in Qatar through local Internet forums. Brain washing the local public with claims like RAND plot to destroy the local youth , gender mixing, women dress code in public & other social aspects that they claim is an attempt to westernize the country

An article in a local daily yesterday titled "this Is Doha not beirut", where a local writer demanded that the authorities( in particular the ministry of Islamic affairs) addresses what they claim a non Islamic manifestation and close down the Ramadan tents in hotels around town because it encourages gender mixing, shesha smoking & playing music that represent the Levant culture depicted as local culture.

The main reason behind this decree was the gender mixing fatwa issued few months back by a senior cleric upon the inauguration of KAUST. This fatwa split the public in the whole gulf region(Qatar in particular). Only after this fatwa, locals started questioning gender mixing in the workplace and education city.

This is normal as societies change. Thosediehards against change use whatever propoganda they can to bolster support.

However, as history shows us - change is inevitable.

This was long over due.

He is saying that only senior clerics are permitted to issue fatwas, or Islamic religious edicts.

The text of the decree says that only members of the Council of Senior Ulema (scholars) will be allowed to issue fatwas.

The ruling comes during the first week of Ramadan, the holy fasting month for Muslims worldwide.

He has also asked the grand mufti, who heads the council, to submit a list of others who are qualified to issue fatwas.

The issue is not in England and The King is not Henry VIII..

King Abdullah did a wiser decision than that of Henry VIII

........

This isn't about khutbas dot.com..its about issuing religious verdicts or fatwas which should only, correct-fully, be done by righteous and knowledgeable(in all aspects) scholars..those who follow the Quran & Sunnah by the understanding of the Sahabah , who can make proper ijmaa' based on these teachings and also taking into account the current state of affairs as well. The King is, Maashallah, capable of appointing such 'ulamaa. So Inshallah this is a wonderful decision!

imam of masajids in entire gulf were not recieving written khutba for every friday from govt controlled authorities???

or were they free for their speeches???

Maybe he should go the full way and declare Saudi a secular country with him as head of the govt and religious freedoms for all

Sounds like the beggining of a reformation...... Sounds very similar to henry viii when he split from the pope and put all the power in his hands by making himself head of the church.

Finally..well done King Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz!May Allah grant him success in this world and the next..aameen! Guess this won't go down well with em crazies though. Pretty soon they'll start confirming the king's so called "kuffur" by this decision..Audubillah!

I had the same thought ;)

I think Saudi will witness many reforms in the upcoming months.

Will save them the embarrassment caused by some silly Fatwas.

After a string of strange fatwas flowing around recently, I think this is a great step to curb extreme ideology

A good move. It will help control the "extremist" clerics..