Top Saudi scholar Saleh Al Luhaidan dies aged 90

The late religious scholar had held many positions in the kingdom and wrote books on Islamic jurisprudence

Sheikh Saleh Al Luhaidan at one of his lectures. SPA

Senior Saudi religious scholar Saleh Al Luhaidan, a member of Saudi Arabia’s Council of Senior Scholars and the former president of the kingdom’s Supreme Judicial Council, has passed away at the age of 90.

His death was announced early on Wednesday by his family on Twitter, who said he had died after suffering from a long illness.

Funeral prayers for the scholar will take place after afternoon prayers at the Al Rajhi Mosque in the Saudi capital Riyadh.

The late religious scholar had held many positions in Saudi Arabia and written books on Islamic jurisprudence.

Al Luhaidan was born in the city of Al Bukayriyah in the Qassim region in 1931, and graduated from the College of Sharia in Riyadh in 1959. He built a career with the kingdom’s judiciary, where he worked as head of the General Court in Riyadh and a member of the Supreme Judicial Council, before he assumed the presidency in 1982.

In 1992, Al Luhaidan became the head of the Supreme Judicial Council in both the general and permanent councils. He had also been a member of the Council of Senior Scholars since its establishment in 1971.