Saudi clerics battle over fatwas

Saudi's ultra-conservatives hold on to old views as Islamic progressives push for modern fatwas.


"Clerics have opened up a pitched battle in Saudi Arabia over who can issue fatwas, or religious edicts, as hardline and progressive religious scholars, judges and clerics have taken the fight public.

Much of the fight in the past week has focused on a fatwa endorsing music issued by Adel al-Kalbani, a Riyadh cleric famed as the first black imam at the Grand Mosque in Mecca, Islam's holiest city.

Kalbani, popular for his soulful baritone delivery of Koranic readings, said he found nothing in Islamic scripture that makes music "haram", or forbidden.

But, aside from some folk music, public music performance is banned in Saudi Arabia, and some ultra-conservatives say it is forbidden even in the home.

"There is no clear text or ruling in Islam that singing and music are haram," Kalbani said.

Also in recent weeks, a much more senior cleric, Sheikh Abdul Mohsen al-Obeikan, raised hackles with two of his opinions.

First, he endorsed the idea that a grown man could be considered like a son of a woman if she breast-feeds him.

The issue is seen by some as a way of getting around the Saudi religious ban on mixing by unrelated men and women.

It brought ridicule and condemnation from women activists and Saudi critics around the world.

But Obeikan, a top advisor in the court of King Abdullah, who is believed to be supportive of less severe rules in his kingdom, also angered ultra-conservatives when he said the compulsory midday and mid-afternoon prayer sessions could be combined to help worshippers skirt the intense heat of summer.

While the choice is allowed for individuals in certain circumstances, conservatives say such a broad ruling for everyone is wrong.

The comments by Obeikan and Kalbani brought rebukes from top-level clerics in a debate that has erupted into freewheeling public discussions in the media and on the Internet. " More of this article on Middle East Online