http://www.gulf-times.com/site/topics/article.asp?cu_no=2&item_no=371540&version=1&template_id=37&parent_id=17
Religious edicts spark heated debate in Saudi
Publish Date: Wednesday,30 June, 2010, at 11:30 PM Doha Time
AFP/Riyadh
The head of Makkah's religious police, Ahmed al-Ghamdi, shocked many by
endorsing mixing by men and women
One cleric's endorsement of breastfeeding for grown men and another's saying
music is not un-Islamic have sparked a controversy in Saudi Arabia over who can
issue fatwas, or Islamic religious edicts.
Conservative and progressive religious scholars, judges and clerics have taken
the fight public in what some describe as outright "chaos" over the setting of
rules that govern much of life in the kingdom.
Much of the debate 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 Makkah.
Kalbani, popular for his soulful baritone delivery of Qur'anic 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 conservatives say it is haram 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, both of which could be considered
fatwas.
First, he endorsed the idea that a grown man could be considered as a son of a
woman if she breastfeeds him.
The issue, based on an ancient story from Islamic texts and source of a furore
last year in Egypt, 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 adviser in the court of King Abdullah, also angered
conservatives when he said the 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
seeking to get control of a debate that has erupted into freewheeling public
discussions in the media and on the Internet.
In his Friday sermon at Makkah's Grand Mosque, the influential Sheikh Abdul
Rahman al-Sudais lashed out at what he labelled "fraudulent" fatwas, likening
their originators to market vendors selling fake or spoiled goods.
The effect, he said, goes so far as to undermine the country's security.
Meanwhile, the country's grand mufti, Sheikh Abdulaziz al-Sheikh, warned of a
crackdown.
"Those who offer abnormal fatwas which have no support from the Qur'an should
be halted," he said on Al Majd television on Sunday. "If a person comes out
(with fatwas) and he is not qualified, we will stop him," he said, comparing
such a person to a quack doctor allowed to treat patients.
The government is moving to build a consistency in the Shariah law-based legal
system, where judges are all clerics for whom fatwas play a crucial role.
The government wants only one body, controlled by the powerful Council of High
Ulema, to issue fatwas, which other clerics must accept. Some people want
fatwas more attuned to modern life.
"The people are governed by old ideas," historian and columnist Mohamed
al-Zulfa said.
"People are forming a new mentality. (Many) have been waiting for such fatwas
for a long time," he said about Kalbani. "We are part of the world. We have to
develop the legal system to meet the needs of the modern time," he added.
Earlier this year there was an embarrassing fight over the head of Makkah's
religious police, Ahmed al-Ghamdi, who shocked many by endorsing mixing by men
and women. He was fired, and then reinstated, in a behind-the-scenes skirmish.
Hamad al-Qadi, a member of the Saudi Shura Council, called the fatwa fight this
week "chaos". "The Islamic world follows whatever comes out of our country and
its scholars concerning Islam," he said, according to Al Hayat newspaper. For
his part, Kalbani said he was open to discussion on the issue. "The problem is
that there are some who do not accept debate at all," he said.
He clarified that he was not endorsing all music, using two often risque
Lebanese pop singers as examples. "I am talking about decent singing, which
contains decent words, and supports morality," he told the online newspaper
Sabq.org. "I am definitely not talking about the songs of Nancy Ajram or Haifa
Wehbe or other indecent songs." alamHowever, "if Nancy Ajram sang a song with a
positive message, then she would be within my fatwa."
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