King Abdullah, Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, has issued a Royal Order that only the Board of Senior Ulema and those given special permission are allowed to issue fatwas or religious edicts. In the Royal Decree issued Thursday, the King said this order excludes unannounced individual private fatwas on the “issues of rituals, dealings and personal matters”. The Royal Decree banned tackling any subject that is considered of “strange views or obsolete”. The order said anyone violating this arrangement will be punished. The order was meant to “glorify Allah's religion and purify it from anything that may adulterate it by those who do not have the necessary knowledge to handle purely jurisprudential issues”. It was to prevent fatwas being issued by people who want to “create rifts among Muslims”. “We have been carefully following this matter and have detected encroachments and excessiveness which we cannot allow and tolerate,” the Royal Order said. The order was issued to the Kingdom's Grand Mufti and Chairman of the Administration of Religious Research, Ifta and Chairman of the Board of Senior Ulema. Others who received copies of the order include Prince Naif Bin Abdul Aziz, Second Deputy Prime Minister and Interior Minister; the ministers of Islamic Affairs, Dawa “Islamic Call” and Guidance; Higher Education; Justice; and Culture and Information. Copies were also sent to the General President of the Affairs of the Holy Haram and Prophet's Mosque; and the Chairman of the Supreme Judiciary Council.
