RIYADH: Saudi Arabia has appointed Sheikh Dr. Saleh bin Fawzan bin Abdullah al-Fawzan as the new Grand Mufti of the Kingdom.
The appointment was made through a royal decree following a proposal from Crown Prince and Prime Minister of Saudi Arabia Mohammed bin Salman, the Saudi Press Agency (SPA) reported.
Under the royal decree, Sheikh al-Fawzan will also assume the roles of Chairman of the Council of Senior Scholars and President of the General Presidency of Scholarly Research and Ifta, holding the rank of minister.
Sheikh Saleh succeeds former Grand Mufti Sheikh Abdulaziz Al-Asheikh, who passed away on September 23.
He previously served as a member of the Council of Senior Scholars and the Permanent Committee for Scholarly Research and Ifta. He was also a member of the Islamic Fiqh Council, affiliated with the Muslim World League, and a member of the Supervisory Committee for Preachers during the Hajj season.
Born in 1935 in Al-Qassim, Sheikh al-Fawzan completed his early education in Buraidah before earning both his master’s and doctoral degrees in fiqh (Islamic jurisprudence) from the College of Sharia in Riyadh.
He later became the Director of the Higher Institute of the Judiciary. In 1992, he was appointed to the Permanent Committee for Scholarly Research and Ifta.
Sheikh al-Fawzan is also a prolific author, having written numerous books, and is well known for his participation in radio programmes, most notably the widely followed Nur Ala Al-Darb.
