JEDDAH // In an effort to contain the controversy between senior scholars in Saudi Arabia, an imam of the Grand Mosque in Mecca has labelled the media irresponsible for publishing the mistakes of senior scholars and publishing opinions of scholars he considers "short of knowledge".
Sheikh Saleh al Talib warned in his sermon on Friday that Islamic teachings become distorted as they are accessible to any person regardless of his knowledge of Islamic affairs. He added that the media is helping in this by interviewing scholars who are "talib elm", a rank that does not allow them to make their opinions public. Mr al Talib was referring to Sheikh Ahmad al Ghamdi, a senior member of Saudi Arabia's religious police, and criticised him for liberal statements he has made recently. Mr al Ghamdi had riled conservatives in April by approving of gender mixing and allowing shops to stay open during prayers, practices that are banned by the religious police and rejected by Saudi scholars. Mr al Ghamdi has become somewhat of a spokesman for Saudi progressives, including much of the mainstream media, which have been increasingly vocal in criticising the religious police.
Mr al Talib's criticism of the media came a few days after Al Watan newspaper published stories about two senior scholars who made controversial statements, including whether Muslims can sing and listen to music, which is considered a sin by a majority of Saudi scholars. Sheikh Adel al Kalbani, the first black imam at the Grand Mosque in Mecca and a colleague of Mr al Talib, sparked controversy after he expressed tolerant views towards music in an interview with Al Watan on May 25. However, in the same interview, he accused another senior scholar, Sheikh Ayedh al Qarni, of using music as a form of vanity when he collaborated with Mohammed Abdu, a prominent Saudi singer, to make a religious song.
"It was known from the beginning that I don't prohibit music completely along with other scholars such as Sheikh Yusef al Qaradawi, so it's acceptable for me to collaborate with a singer," he told the paper. "What is not acceptable is to see someone like Sheikh al Qarni who prohibits music to announce that he will write a lyric for a singer just because he likes his voice." Another controversy among the senior scholars were statements made by Sheikh Abdulmohsen al Obaikan, a member of the kingdom's consultative body, the Shura Council, and a consultant to the royal court. Al Watan published a story on May 26 saying he permitted mature women to breastfeed unrelated men in order for them to be able to mix freely and lawfully. Mr al Obaikan told the paper that he had been misunderstood when he first discussed the issue on a television show.
Mr al Obaikan's views sparked an onslaught of criticism from liberals and fellow scholars against conservatives. Liberals mocked the clergy for trying to find solutions to gender mixing quandaries when the liberal line had been to allow unconditional gender mixing. Mr al Talib denounced the articles, saying that the media is not a suitable medium for scholars to conduct religious debates because lay people might get distorted by the way in which the debate is presented.
Despite these public gaffes made by senior scholars, Mr al Talib asked people to stand by them because they are the "guiding stars" of Muslims. He said he acknowledges that understanding Islamic teachings is not limited to sheikhs and senior scholars but at the same time they should be addressed in a proper manner among specialists away from the media. @Email:wmahdi@thenational.ae
