Abdulaziz Al Sheikh

Abdulaziz bin Abdullah Al-Sheikh (Arabic: عبد العزيز بن عبد الله آل الشيخ ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz ibn ʿAbd Āllah Āl ash-Sheikh; born 30 November 1940) is a Saudi Arabian scholar who is the current Grand Mufti of Saudi Arabia.[2] As such he is head of the Council of Senior Religious Scholars and its sub-committee, the Permanent Committee for Islamic Research and Issuing Fatwas.

Sheikh
Abdulaziz Al Sheikh
Personal
Born (1940-11-30) 30 November 1940
Mecca, Saudi Arabia[1]
ReligionIslam
NationalitySaudi Arabian
DenominationSunni
LineageAl ash-Sheikh family
JurisprudenceHanbali
CreedAthari
Alma materImam Muhammad ibn Saud University
Grand Mufti of Saudi Arabia
Assumed office
1999
MonarchsFahd
Abdullah
Salman
Preceded byAbdulaziz Bin Baz

Biography

Abdulaziz Al Sheikh is a member of the Al ash-Sheikh family. In 1969-70 he assumed leadership at the Sheikh Muhammad Bin Ibrahim Mosque in Dukhna, Riyadh. In 1979 he was appointed assistant professor at the College of Sharia, Mecca.

In June 1999, King Fahd appointed Al Sheikh as Grand Mufti of Saudi Arabia, following the death of Grand Mufti Abdulaziz Bin Baz.[3]

Proclamations

Following Pope Benedict XVI's quotation of a Byzantine emperor in a lecture, the grand mufti called the Pope's statement "lies", adding that they "show that reconciliation between religions is impossible".[4]

In 2007, the Grand Mufti announced plans to demolish the Green Dome and flatten the dome.[5]

On 15 March 2012, the Grand Mufti declared that, "All churches in the Arabian Peninsula must be destroyed". This declaration caused criticism from some Christian officeholders. Roman Catholic bishops in Germany and Austria responded sharply to his fatwa, concerned about the human rights of non-Muslims working in the Persian Gulf region. Russian Orthodox Metropolitan Mark, Archbishop of Yegoryevsk, said the ruling was "alarming". Most of the world overlooked the statement.[6] Mehmet Görmez, the most senior imam in Turkey, blasted Al Sheikh's call to "destroy all the churches" in the Persian Gulf region, saying that the announcement totally contradicted the peaceful teachings of Islam. Görmez, the president of Diyanet İşleri Başkanlığı (Presidency of Religious Affairs), said he could not accept Al Sheikh's fatwa, adding that it ran contrary to the centuries-old Islamic teachings of tolerance and the sanctity of institutions belonging to other religions.[7]

In April 2012, the Grand Mufti issued a fatwa allowing ten-year-old girls to marry insisting that girls are ready for marriage by age 10 or 12: "Our mothers and grandmothers got married when they were barely 12. Good upbringing makes a girl ready to perform all marital duties at that age."[8] However, he is opposed to the practice of marrying off very young girls to older men, emphasizing its incongruence with Islamic tradition.[9]

In June 2013, Al Sheikh issued a fatwa demanding the destruction of statues of horses placed in a roundabout in Jizan:[10] "The sculptures [must] be removed because they are a great sin and are prohibited under Sharia".[11]

The Grand Mufti issued a fatwa on 12 September 2013 that suicide bombings are "great crimes" and bombers are "criminals who rush themselves to hell by their actions". He described suicide bombers as "robbed of their minds... who have been used (as tools) to destroy themselves and societies."[12]

In late August 2014, the Grand Mufti condemned the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant and al-Qaeda saying, "Extremist and militant ideas and terrorism which spread decay on Earth, destroying human civilisation, are not in any way part of Islam, but are enemy number one of Islam, and Muslims are their first victims".[13]

On 25 September 2015, one day after the Mina crowd crush disaster which (according to the Associated Press) killed at least 1,399 foreign Muslims performing Hajj, Al Sheikh publicly told Muhammad bin Nayef, then-Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia, that he was "not responsible for what happened", and "as for the things that humans cannot control, you are not blamed for them. Fate and destiny are inevitable." Prince Muhammad was also the country's interior minister, responsible for safety in Mecca, and the Grand Mufti's words immunized the Crown Prince from possible public criticism within Saudi Arabia, which set the official death toll for the Mina tragedy at fewer than 800 deaths.[14]

In January 2016, while answering a question on a television show in which he issues fatwas in response to viewers' queries on everyday religious matters, Al Sheikh ruled that chess was forbidden in Islam because it constituted gambling, was a waste of time and money and a cause of hatred and enmity between the players.[15][16]

In September 2016, the Grand Mufti ruled that the Iranian Leadership is not Muslim and is the "son of the magi".[17][18] The Grand Mufti was on a list of religious scholars included on a death list by ISIS.[19]

In November 2017, the Grand Mufti made a fatwa calling Hamas a terrorist organisation and stating that fighting against Jews is forbidden for Muslims. In response, Israel's Communications Minister Ayoub Kara, praised this religious ruling and invited him to visit Israel.[20]

See also

References
  1. "حقيقة وفاة مفتى عام السعودية الشيخ (عبد العزيز ال شيخ)". نجوم مصرية. Archived from the original on 1 August 2017. Retrieved 19 January 2017.
  2. Schmitt, Eric; Shanker, Thom (2008-03-18). "U.S. adapts cold-war idea to fight terrorists". The New York Times. Saudi Arabia 's top cleric, Grand Mufti Sheik Abdul Aziz al-Asheik, gave a speech last October warning Saudis not to join unauthorized jihadist activities, a statement directed mainly at those considering going to Iraq to fight the American-led forces.
  3. Eur (22 November 2002). The Middle East and North Africa 2003. Taylor & Francis. p. 950. ISBN 978-1-85743-132-2. Archived from the original on 23 June 2013. Retrieved 1 September 2012.
  4. "Hässliche, unglückliche Äußerungen: Erdogan fordert Entschuldigung des Papstes" Archived 2012-02-08 at the Wayback Machine, Netzeitung, 17 September 2006 (in German)
  5. Jerome Taylor (24 Sep 2011). "Mecca for the rich: Islam's holiest site 'turning into Vegas'. Historic and culturally important landmarks are being destroyed to make way for luxury hotels and malls, reports Jerome Taylor". The Independent. Archived from the original on 16 June 2017. Retrieved 19 September 2017. A pamphlet published in 2007 by the Saudi Ministry of Islamic Affairs, endorsed by Abdulaziz Al Sheikh, the Grand Mufti of Saudi Arabia, stated that "the green dome shall be demolished and the three graves flattened in the Prophet's Masjid".
  6. "Europe bishops slam Saudi fatwa against Persian Gulf churches". Reuters. March 24, 2012. Archived from the original on December 16, 2012. Retrieved April 8, 2012.
  7. "Diyanet'ten Suudi Müftüye Kilise Cevabı (Answer to the Saudi cleric from the Religious Affairs Directorate)". Religious News (Turkish), 7 April 2012. Archived from the original on 10 April 2012. Retrieved 8 April 2012.
  8. Huffington Post: "Sheikh Abdul-Aziz Al al-Sheikh, Saudi Arabian Mufti, Says Girls Ready For Marriage At 10 Years Old" By Simon McCormack Archived 2013-10-27 at the Wayback Machine April 24, 2012
  9. Schleifer, Abdallah; Ahmed, Aftab (2016). "Sheikh Abdul-Aziz Aal Al-Sheikh" (PDF). The Muslim 500 (2016): 62–63. Archived (PDF) from the original on 26 January 2016. Retrieved 6 August 2016.
  10. "Horse statues demolished in Jazan". 13 June 2013. Archived from the original on 11 May 2016. Retrieved 19 January 2017.
  11. Arabian Business News: "Saudi's Grand Mufti vents against horse statues" By Courtney Trenwith Archived 2013-10-21 at the Wayback Machine June 13, 2013
  12. "Saudi grand mufti says suicide bombers will go to hell". en.alalam.ir. Archived from the original on 2017-10-20. Retrieved 2014-01-23.
  13. "Saudi Arabia's Grand Mufti denounces Islamic State group as un-Islamic". Reuters. 25 August 2014. Archived from the original on 27 August 2014. Retrieved 18 November 2014.
  14. "Saudi Mufti: Hajj stampede beyond human control". Al Jazeera. September 26, 2015. Archived from the original on September 28, 2015. Retrieved October 8, 2015.
  15. Melvin, Don (21 January 2016). "Checkmate: Saudi grand mufti makes move against chess". CNN. Archived from the original on 22 January 2016. Retrieved 22 January 2016.
  16. Kareem Shaheen (January 21, 2016). "Chess forbidden in Islam, rules Saudi mufti, but issue not black and white". The Guardian. Scott Trust Media. Archived from the original on February 13, 2016. Retrieved February 10, 2016.
  17. Matt Payton (September 7, 2016). "'Iranians are not Muslims', says Saudi Arabia's Grand Mufti". Independent. Archived from the original on October 23, 2017. Retrieved October 23, 2017.
  18. "Saudi cleric calling Iranians 'non-Muslims' and deriding Zoroastrians is religion-based persecution - Firstpost". www.firstpost.com. 8 September 2016. Archived from the original on 2017-11-19. Retrieved 2017-11-20.
  19. "ISIS Launches Campaign Calling To Kill Prominent Islamic Clerics Such As Yousuf Al-Qaradawi, Saudi Mufti 'Abd Al-'Aziz Aal Al-Sheikh, Former Egyptian Chief Mufti 'Ali Gum'a". MEMRI. February 14, 2017. Archived from the original on June 28, 2018. Retrieved February 25, 2017.
  20. "Saudi Arabia's Top Cleric: Fighting Jews Forbidden, Hamas a Terror group". UWI. 16 November 2017.
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