The Grand Mufti of Saudi Arabia is the most senior and most influential

Muslim Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abrah ...

religious and legal authority in

Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in Western Asia. It covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula, and has a land area of about , making it the fifth-largest country in Asia, the second-largest in the Ara ...

. The holder of the position is appointed by the King. The Grand Mufti is the head of the Permanent Committee for Islamic Research and Issuing Fatwas.

Role

The Grand Mufti is the most senior religious authority in the country. His main role is to give opinions (''

fatwas A fatwā ( ; ar, فتوى; plural ''fatāwā'' ) is a legal ruling on a point of Islamic law (''sharia'') given by a qualified '' Faqih'' (Islamic jurist) in response to a question posed by a private individual, judge or government. A jurist i ...

'') on legal matters and on social affairs. The Saudi court system is heavily influenced by the opinions of the Grand Mufti.

History

The office was created in 1953 by

King Abdul Aziz Abdulaziz bin Abdul Rahman Al Saud ( ar, عبد العزيز بن عبد الرحمن آل سعود, ʿAbd al ʿAzīz bin ʿAbd ar Raḥman Āl Suʿūd; 15 January 1875Ibn Saud's birth year has been a source of debate. It is generally accepted ...

with the appointment of

Muhammad ibn Ibrahim Al ash-Sheikh Muḥammad ibn ʾIbrāhīm ibn ʿAbd al-Laṭīf ibn ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Ḥasan ibn Muḥammad ibn Abd al-Wahhāb Al Shaykh Al-Tamīmī (1890–1969), was a Saudi Arabian religious scholar who was the Grand Mufti of Saudi Arabia from 1953 to ...

. Usually, the office of the Grand Mufti has been filled by a member of the

Al ash-Sheikh The Al ash-Sheikh ( ar, آل الشيخ, '),Using the term ''the Al ash-Sheikh family'' is a pleonasm as the word ''Al'' already means ''family''. See Etymology. It would, in theory, be correct to use the term ''Family of the Sheikh'', but, unlik ...

(the descendants of

Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab ibn Sulayman al-Tamimi ( ar, محمد بن عبد الوهاب بن سليمان , translit=Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd al-Wahhāb ibn Sulaymān al-Tamīmī; 1703–1792) was an Arabian Islamic scholar, theologian, preacher, ac ...

) In fact, there has only ever been one Grand Mufti of Saudi Arabia who was not an Al ash-Sheikh. In 1969, King Faisal abolished the office of Grand Mufti and replaced it with a Ministry of Justice. The position was restored in 1993 with the appointment of Abdul Aziz bin Abdullah bin Baz. The current mufti Abdul-Aziz ibn Abdullah Al Sheikh was appointed in 1999 by

King Fahd Fahd bin Abdulaziz Al Saud ( ar, فهد بن عبد العزيز آل سعود ''Fahd ibn ʿAbd al ʿAzīz Āl Suʿūd'', ; 1920, 1921 or 1923 – 1 August 2005) was a Saudi Arabian politician who was King and Prime Minister of Saudi Arabia fro ...

after the death of

Ibn Baz Sheikh Abd al Aziz ibn Abdullah ibn Baz ( ar, عبد العزيز بن عبد الله بن باز, ʿAbd al ʿAzīz bin ʿAbdullāh bin Bāz, 21 November 1912 – 13 May 1999) was a Saudi Arabian Islamic scholar who served as the Grand Mufti of ...

List of incumbents

1953–1969 * Position abolished 1969–1993 * Abdul Aziz bin Abdullah bin Baz 1993–1999 *

Abdul-Aziz ibn Abdullah Al ash-Sheikh Abdulaziz bin Abdullah Al-Sheikh ( ar, عبد العزيز بن عبد الله آل الشيخ ''ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz ibn ʿAbd Āllah Āl ash-Sheikh''; born 30 November 1940) is a Saudi Arabian Islamic scholar who is the current Grand Mufti of Sau ...

1999–present

References

{{Authority control Religious leadership roles Lists of Islamic religious leaders

Role

History

List of incumbents

See also

References