Gulf | Saudi Arabia
Edict against liberals raises violence fears
A religious edict by a prominent Saudi cleric suggesting liberals are not real Muslims has inflamed debate over reforms in the country, with self-professed liberals fearing they will be attacked.
- Reuters
- Published: 00:25 July 9, 2007
Riyadh: A religious edict by a prominent Saudi cleric suggesting liberals are not real Muslims has inflamed debate over reforms in the country, with self-professed liberals fearing they will be attacked.
Responding to an online request for a religious edict, or fatwa, Shaikh Saleh Al Fozan said last month: "Calling oneself a liberal Muslim is a contradiction in terms ... one should repent before God for such ideas in order to be a real Muslim".
The fatwa said liberal in this context meant "freedom which is not subject to the bounds of Sharia."
Al Fozan was recently forced to issue a clarification in Al Riyadh after Islamists hailed the fatwa as a declaration that liberals are infidels.
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